If You Could Go Full-Time With Your Blog, Would You?

June 30, 2009

I asked this question on Twitter yesterday and here are some of the answers I got…

@miklb said:

Absolutely, because I dig not wearing long pants and shoes. :P

@CardCycle said:

Hi David! Not sure because I just started. What do you enjoy about it?

@ShannonAlbert said:

Yes. Freedom to live anywhere while doing something creative and helpful to others.

@CrystalsQuest said:

Absolutely I’d love to make a living with my blog. It’s my passion, and it connects me with great and like thinking people worldwide.

So, I extend this question to my blog readers.

If you could go full-time with your blog, would you want to? Why or why not?

Please leave a comment and let us know.

And before I end off and wait for your replies, I wanted to let you know that I just uploaded an audio version (MP3) of the Six Figure Blogger Blueprint. Once you claim your copy of the PDF version, you’ll get immediate access to the MP3 (narrated personally by myself) so you can listen to it in the car, at work – wherever.

Be sure to carve out some time and go through that report or listen to the audio. The material in that report goes DIRECTLY at the heart of the very question you’re about to answer.

So, here’s what I want you to do:

  1. If you haven’t gotten the Blueprint report yet, go get it now.
  2. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts on going full-time with your blog, which of course means a full-time level income.

I look forward to talking with you soon.

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  • Going full-time with blogging is exactly what I am going to do. I committed to the effort months ago and continue to march toward that end.

    Many will find the sound of this very attractive, but should realize that this is a firm commitment to working hard and long hours for many months while you are building your brand.

    In the end however, the rewards realized with positioning yourself to work a few hours daily and to create projects of your choosing will make the initial uphill climb well worth it.

    Many bloggers will come and go, particularly those who think this will be fast and easy, but in the end the blogosphere will be loaded with quality professionals.
  • Good question David,

    Based on my experience up to this point I'm sure I'd enjoy doing it full time. My full time is 20 hours a week though :-)

    For me blogging over at TonyTeegarden.com has become a fun place to let go and blog about what I want and still monetize it. Niche blogging can be fun however I believe it requires a lot more focus and effort.

    I'm known for breaking the rules and blogging about what the hell I want when I want goes against the grain of blogging 101 but I still enjoy it and my readers do too.

    Short answer? Would I go full time? Sure, as long as my blog developed me freedom and I wasn't a prisoner of it. Leverage and true freedom is based on systems. I believe a blog can do that if set up properly.
  • Darren Slaughter
    David,

    Great question. And for most people it really is the "dream." Problem is, once it goes from being a passion to source of income and a proper business, it also looses some of it's luster.

    Not to mention, making money, real money, as in replace your current income, blog on the beach type money doesn't happen all that often.

    I have talked to so called A-listers that confirm not making enough from their blogs to pay the bandwidth bill. So, while blogging for a living is a fantastic fantasy, reality says otherwise.

    You of course, are an exception, but you don't only blog to make a living either if I am not mistaken, right?
  • If I could go full time blogging, I'm sure I would. Currently I make about 1/2 the income on my blog that I do at my day job. Obviously that's not enough.

    The question is, at what point would I be comfortable enough with the income so that I'd be ok with dropping the security and benefits of a full time day job? My day job supplies a good number of benefits - health insurance, 401k/etc that i would have to provide for myself. I think I'd probably want to be making close to six figures before I made the leap.


    David, what is your experience with that being self employed, as far as providing your own insurance, paying your estimated taxes, etc?
  • I'd go for full-time with my blog, or maybe full-time *income* to be more precise..

    Why? The financial freedom is a compelling thought and something that inspires me to keep going. And I can't deny that it feels good to put my experiences and expertise out there, with hopes that it will help others.

    p.s. thanks for making the SFB Blueprint available as audio!
  • I'm on my way of making full time income from my blog(s). I hit my first goal a few years ago of making all of my income via online. Now, I'm hoping that with my own blogs, I'll be able to become self-employed sometime early next year.
  • The more and more I see my blog as more of a business and less of a blog or hobby, I can't help but want to grow that business into a full-time adventure. The great part is there are virtual no start-up costs required!!
  • shane
    Like the rest of thease great guys comments .I would love to make a living out of blogs .I am just new to this game and i reckon it would be an uphill struggle .Dont get me wrong i used to work 14 or 15 hours a day in my previous jobso im used to putting in hours of work to building up my blog site but also without shooting myself in the foot here when would enough be enough (money that is).Having said this any advice or help i can get in building my blog site i will gladly take onboard .....I guess its up to the individual how far they want to take it and how serious they want their new income to become regardless of the consequences ...
  • Yes and no. If you mean, "Would I go full time bloging and quit my current single job income status?" Yes! That is why I am hear. And the call is stong. I have to resist until I can support my family with it.

    But if you mean, "Would you replace your single job income with single blog or blogs only income, and fore go pursuing your other ideas?" Then no.

    Writing my blog has been fun, and I am looking forward to it earning enogh money that I can replace my income and have more time to pursue my other ideas. But if I were forced to chose between my blog and all of the other ideas and projects that I have and want to start. The blogging would have to lose out. Thankfully, blogging makes no such demand, (unlike my current w-2 employeer), and so it will never need to be abandoned.
  • Going full-time with my blog is actually my ultimate goal. Although my blog is only 4 months old, I honestly feel that writing is what I love to do for many reasons, including that I can teach people, I can express my opinions, and I can network with a lot of great people.

    I also feel that I am a talented writer, and my reason for feeling this way is because I feel very comfortable comparing my writing with other more experienced writers. Unfortunately, I do not see myself accomplishing this goal any time soon because I have a well paying I.T. job and will require an equivalent yearly salary at a minimum before I can dedicate 100% of my time to blogging.

    I never give up though. Wish me luck!!!
  • I don't think I can rely only on income provided by blog, I would quit my 9-5 and concentrate on blogging and doing freelance project. However 9-5 does provide security and to be honest, it would be difficult to give up.
  • Whilst going full-time with a blog would be great if it were constantly generating at least enough money for a full-time income and to enable the owner to live a good life, I feel at the early stages, before it begins doing so, that it would be a better idea to have one's irons in more than one fire.

    Also there may be a danger of developing complacency over time if blogging were one's sole occupation and income-stream, which would be noticed by the readers and result in a loss of traffic. I'm not saying this would definitely happen; but it may be a possibility.
  • Well in my position in life at the moment kind of force me to go full time blogging since looking for a job in my area was a bust. No jobs available gives me time to focus on blogging. As for a full time income, I am working on it. It's a lot harder than it sounds and a lot easier than most people make it out to be. Last month I made $600 so this month I am focus on $1,000. If I can keep growing month after month then I am sure a full time income will come from blogging. I love blogging and helping others so I am sure that it will pay off sooner or later.
  • I'm a child to the blogosphere, a pure amateur...the motivation behind my writing is purely as a creative outlet. I have few readers and haven't spent much time thinking about this activity as anything but a "creative outlet." It didn't even occur to me when I started that making money was a real possibility. My only problem with this idea is that if I turned what, to me, is an enjoyable pastime (on a daily basis) into a "job," it would inevitably become just that, and I would find myself looking for a different activity that could remove me from the routine. I guess what I'm saying is, if I made "money" the focus, then I would lose the enjoyment of what I do. and ultimately, that's the payment I'm looking for. Of course, this doesn't REALLY answer the question. Would I? Yep, I'd still probably take the chance to stick a little coin in my pocket and do what I love...even if it means risking the satisfaction it gives me on a personal level. It couldn't possibly be worse than working in a cubicle all day...
  • I certainly like the idea of being able to go full-time on the internet in some form, though I think it is a mere pipe-dream at the moment. I certainly find some of the articles on this site an inspiration toward the goal of making a full-time income from blogging, but whether I am cut out for it is another matter. The attraction of full-time blogging for me would be the flexibility to work when and where I wanted, allowing me more 'quality time' with the family.
  • David,
    After a little contemplation, that's a no. My passion is online research. Blogging is a side product of that, grown out of my attempt to help independent musicians learn to manage and promote themselves, what I learn about cleaning products and uses and research programs and applications. So to me my blog(s) are tools used to accomplish other goals than an income stream. Yes, I'd love it if they made money, of course. However, I'd use the extra free time after being able to stop cleaning apartments for a living to expand and accelerate my research education/career.
  • I decided to try this last September. I quit my job because it was holding me back from everything. I was finishing up university, and my fiancee traveled all the time for his job and I couldn't go. So I decided to try blogging for a living by spending more time on the blog I created 6 months before that. In a year and a half I have only made $44.00 in total from my two blogs, so I'm obviously doing something wrong, lol. I think there are many people who struggle though, and we admire people like you, John Chow, Shoemoney, and Yaro.
  • Matthew
    I took the step of going full time blogger back in the first week of March. It's been a fantastic 4 months so far. I am still fairly busy as I devote more time to my blog(s) but as revenue rises I will outsource more.

    The freedom is fantastic. It's nice not having to set the alarm. It's nice being able to travel to see extended family when we (the wife and I) feel like it rather then having to work it out with work.

    I also get to spend more quality time with our 15 month old daughter.

    It took from May 2006 to March 2009 for me to be in a position to make that jump but it was well worth the wait.
  • Hey,

    To answer your question - I would rather go full-time with some niche sites or a big project or two. For me blogging doesn't quite push all the buttons, I'd rather dominate a particular niche :-) ....well, try to anyway!

    Alex
  • In my opinion blogging and most other online ventures are too risky to rely on for your only income. I would have to have a very diversified business before I quit my day job. However, when it comes to retirement time, I'm out of there.
  • I am not trying to reach one six-figure blog.

    Instead I am planning a lot of four- and five-figure website.

    Then you can spread the risk.
  • I take a "4 hour workweek" approach to my answer. I do not have any desire to spend 40 hrs per week writing and managing a blog for income. I DO have a desire to create a full time income that supports my family (and our dreams) without committing 40+ hrs per week. That's where outsourcing, time management, and the 80/20 rule come in.

    So yes, I want the full time income and "be my own boss" upside, but I don't think it is the end goal to just trade one time investment for another. The object is to free up "work time" and convert it to "play time".
  • Hey, David what plugin are you using that automatically hyperlinks keywords and links to affiliate promotions? That is Ultra Cool ...sorry it's off-topic but I noticed the hyperlink on "time management" in my post above and had to ask you.
  • Absolutely

    krissy knox
    follow me on twitter:
    http://twitter.com/iamkrissy
  • Yes, I plan to retire in just over 2 short years from my railroading job and then want to spend about 4 hours a day internet marketing. That is why I am studying it now. I want to learn lots. I have been playing around for a number of years and made some money, but I just can't dedicate the time to it now when half my life is out on the road. I can hardly wait for retirement so I can have a normal life and start making some good money online.
  • I would love to go full time blogging. I'm new to blogging, but not online marketing. I've been full time online for about 2 years as an affiliate marketer. Generally, you have to have a lot of affiliate sites and the management and promotion of those sites can be a pain as they eventually flatline. Blogging seems to be more self perpetuating. Just downloaded the 6 figure blogging blueprint, looking forward to reading it and taking action!
    Jason
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