I can title this blog as hobby blogger no more, because it is an accurate statement for me, but not one I am completely happy to have accepted the transformation it has brought. Of course the financial benefits have been fantastic, and the lifestyle that I can live is just what I wanted. But I do miss the camaraderie, the friendships, the fun.
I know what I will say in this article may offend a few people, but believe me, what I say is always 100% true.
For a year I was a hobby blogger with no business on line of any sort. Now I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, whose sales have increased over the last year by 500%. Since deciding to progress from a hobby blogger to a pro blogger. I make money directly from my blogs through adsense, affiliate links and advertising sales. As well as generating from my blogs many clients for my coaching practice. Then of course there’s my ecommerce shops from which I make much of my income from selling products. And I must not forget the courses I run.
When I was a hobby blogger it brought a lot of fun times. I chatted frequently with some great people whose company I enjoyed and their wealth of knowledge inspired me. But as bloggers we all have to evolve, and sometimes this includes moving on. When blogging is a catalyst behind our income generation then we have to go where it takes us.
I really would love to get myself back into the blog world where you exchange the courtesy of ‘I’ll read your blog and comment if you do the same for me’. But I know this will never be able to happen. I have to many responsibilities, and to many people that genuinely need my time to help them improve their lives as well as their blogging skills. From the beginning of my early days in blogging, my goal has to try to help people. That’s why I became a hobby blogger in the first place.
Alas for those of us who have multiple sites to run, and a 7 day a week blogging schedule this eventually becomes too much to handle. The end result is you lose lots of readers who you call friends, and worse still you can say goodbye to their comments. It was nice while it lasted I hear you say. And of course you’re right. You probably felt good too, particularly if like me your blog was all about making the difference, offering knowledge for personal growth. You also enjoyed the time you got to read these very different blogs.
Not stuff you’d normally get to look at, but that quickly became enjoyable part of your life. Alas your online business starts eroding away the time you have, and you have to sacrifice these things that you enjoy but which are time consuming. You’re a good blogger, you get the SEO part too, and google is sending you over 500 visits a day. So you have to sacrifice your 20 friends, these regular commenters, and pray they get enough out of your blog to want to come back, even though you can no longer get to their blog.
It is hard and takes a lot of work to make an income online, well a very good income. You have to work very hard to get there. The transition from hobby blogger takes some time. It’s a big mindset change. And you also have to mix up your channels of communication. It takes connecting with different people through Twitter, Facebook, or returning blog comments, forums, tribes, or whatever. But remember you are going from being a hobby blogger to being serious and making a business out of it, and never forget the saying ‘Time is Money’, so ‘Spend your time wisely’.
The truth is if they don’t come, others will, and these will now want to learn off you. Because not only do they see that the subject you write on you know a lot about and do it very well, but also they know that you can help them improve as bloggers as well. So your community changes, you make new friends. Its part of the evolution as a blogger. Sad but true. I may have lost connection to my hobby blogger friends but I have made many who are on the journey of entrepreneurship. I think I better teach them how to comment on my blog (jokingly said, I think).
Once you make the commitment of becoming a pro blogger or maybe it’s an online entrepreneur, you have to ensure you spend the time in the right places. I still read a large number of blog posts every day, but they tend to be in my niche. Many of them are written by people like me who are now bloggers with online businesses, and where I may comment on some of the posts I read, I have no expectation of them coming to visit me and return the favour. There’s no pint. I only comment when I think I have something to contribute, not in an attempt to wave a flag at them so they or their readers notice me.
As a final contribution from me today, I’d like to share with you these quotations on blogging.
Your blog is your unedited version of yourself. Lorelle
The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful. Ron Dawson
Enjoy your blogging journey.
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