Why I won’t ever be a Full Time Blogger…

When I set up my blog just over four years ago, I did it for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to keep my mind active. Having worked in an office environment most of my life, the thought of being on maternity leave filled me a little bit with dread. Whilst I loved the idea of being a Mum, I wanted something semi ‘work like’ to help me feel like my usual self in between the onslaught of nappy changes and breast feeds.

Fast forward to 2017, and the blog has become SO much more than I ever could have imagined. Not only has it bought me a wealth of opportunities both in terms of a second income and some wonderful experiences, but I have also become part of an amazing community of supportive and friendly parenting bloggers, many of whom I now consider to be close friends.

One thing is for sure however, no matter how much I love it, I could never be a full time blogger. Here’s why.

I would miss the company – Blogging CAN and IS sociable, however a LOT of time is spent on your own – glued to your laptop, updating your phone, editing videos, scheduling social media, checking out some of the new must have apps for bloggers as well as making sure you keep up to date with technical requirements and law changes such as the GDPR. It can be relentless. As much as I can cope doing it 3 days a week, I think I would struggle full time. Those of you who know me will agree, I am quite a talkative fellow, and enjoy a good chat whilst I work!

Physical workspace – Our home just isn’t set up for a ‘proper’ home office at present – I spend a lot of time blogging from my bed(!) which is probably both a) bad for my back b) not particularly instragrammable, and c) not an ergonomic safe haven for inspirational thinking!!

Team Building Events – Whilst bloggers have social meet ups and conferences (and lots of them) there is something special about seeing your otherwise formal work colleagues in a non business environment. I love a good Christmas Party, and have been lucky enough to go on some fab team building events like those arranged by CR Events – these are perfect for bringing colleagues together and helping encourage cross departmental communication! As a full time blogger, your colleagues are also effectively your competition, which makes it quite a bizarre set up!

Never switching off – Even blogging part time, I struggle to switch off. There is always a little bit of the blog buzzing around at the back of my mind. I set myself Blogging Goals in January, and I always seem to have them ticking away in my brain. When I go back to work part time in September, I will have three days of something else to focus on, and it will be a welcome change.

The Pressure – Blogging is fun, and has bought me a wealth of opportunities that I would otherwise never have been exposed to. That said, I find the quality side of blogging quite stressful – whenever we are offered an experience for the blog, I really do enjoy it, but I feel the pressure in trying to capture the moment with high quality images or video. By blogging just part time, I still have time free to go on lots of experiences that are unrelated as well. Although it’s unlikely the camera will ever stay firmly in my pocket – it is nice to not HAVE to take photos unless I want to.

Inconsistent Payment – I have learnt over recent months that the payment side of blogging is a bit of a minefield. If you are lucky, you will be paid within your 30 day payment terms. If you are super lucky, you are paid within a few days of your post going live. However, frustratingly a lot of bloggers regularly experience late payment, where it seems to be acceptable to need to chase 12 times before you finally get paid almost 90 days later. With a HR background I find it amazing people think anyone would be happy being paid 3 months after completing the work, but it appears to be increasingly common. I would feel incredibly uncomfortable if the blog was my only source of income, as not only is it seasonal and unpredictable, but the payments are far from reliable.

Confidence Crisis – The reality (and I am not ashamed to say it!) is that my blog will also never be good enough for me to wave goodbye to the day job. My images need work, my video editing leaves a lot to be desired and my face is very rarely behind the camera (I don’t think its something people would want to see!). That said, what started out as a hobby has now become a small source of income, and for that I am relatively proud.

Efficiency – Finally, and one I learned this week, is that I simply haven’t got the vlog and blog writing as slick as I would need it to be. I attempted to do one of my first vlogs this week and a 5 minute video took me almost all day. Embarrassing right? Based on that hourly production rate, I think I’d need to go back to work pretty darn quickly!!

Are you a full time blogger? What do you hate about it?

*This is a collaborative post*