Coming Out As A Blogger
Posted by Sharon Hurley Hall on February 24th, 2008
Photo by Jacob Bøtter
This post has been submitted by Sharon Hurley Hall from Get Paid To Write Online.com.
Writers and bloggers, especially if we work at home, have a problem. It’s not that we don’t love what we do; it’s that we can’t get other people to take it seriously. For many, if you work at home it means that you:
- aren’t really doing anything
- have plenty of time to chat and do the laundry
- are too lazy to get a ‘real’ job
As for blogging, forget it! Only people who blog - and not even all of those - understand what blogging is. I’ve experienced this many times - watching people’s eyes glaze as I try to explain that:
- a blog doesn’t have to be an online diary
- there’s more to blogging than emptying your mind onto the screen
- you CAN have a quality blog - there are thousands of them
- you can make money from blogging
Stand Up And Be Counted
For all of those reasons, it can be difficult to stand up and be counted. I’m a freelance writer, and I’ve been blogging for a few years now, yet it’s only in the last year that I’ve actually called myself a blogger.
When I started my first blog, I did it to build traffic, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. Then I fell in love with the community aspect of blogging. Then I found that people liked reading my blog and discussing my posts. That was it. I was hooked, but I still didn’t call myself a blogger. I shilly-shallied around, saying that I had a few blogs.
If you read my author’s page on this site, you’ll notice that I describe myself as a born again blogger. Obviously, I got over my hesitation over using the term. So what made the difference? Two things.
Moments Of Clarity
The first was when I started my Get Paid To Write Online blog. I used everything that I had learned about blogging so far and created a successful blog. It has subscribers in triple digits, a regular group of readers, and a respectable number of trackbacks. Even better, I have made money on the blog through private ad sales and Google Adsense. For me, that made it not just a blog on a subject I’m passionate about, but a business. If others were taking me seriously, then it was time I did too.
The second moment was when I started blogging regularly for other sites. In addition to my posts here, I blog for pay on three other sites, and have also done a number of paid guest posts. Blogging is not only fun, but it’s a job, and since I’m making money blogging, then it’s fine to call myself a blogger.
So I’m coming out. No longer am I simply a freelance writer and ghostwriter. I am also a blogger - and proud of it. Have you come out as a professional blogger yet?
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February 24th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Ha ha, tell me about it!
I have decided to give blogging and website management a go, fulltime.
This past week (the first week) has been very hard to keep concentrating without daily life dragging me away. The gym, shopping and all the evening chores are getting into the day and then my partner wonders why I am still workoing in the evening.
Oh well a schedule will work out and I will succeed
February 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
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February 24th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Way to go, Forest Parks. It just takes a bit of persistence.
March 15th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
A great post. Personally i have only been blogging for about 5 months now, and at first i only started doing it to build traffic to my business site, but i too fell in love with it and decided i wanted to become a ‘pro blogger’. I am proud to say im a blogger, but many don’t understand what its all about so having to explain it to friends and family can be a bit tedious, but in all honesty, im very proud to be a blogger, and i intend to carry on blogging for many years to come.
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:46 am
This really struck a chord with me, since I’ve yet to really come out. When I talk to people about why I’m so busy and distracted, I normally just tell them that I’ve been doing a lot of writing, which is true. I haven’t really started making any money, so I don’t have those legitimating conditions yet.
I had to have a talk with my wife about it a few weeks ago so she understood what I was up to. Basically, it boiled down to understanding that I’m approaching blogging as a business that I’m passionate about. This is not merely a hobby. I’ve yet to tell my family.
Why are we so secretive about it when there’s nothing wrong with it? Shouldn’t we be able to pass the buck and ask why they watch so much TV instead?
Great post, Sharon.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
@ Andy: Well done. So do I; I really love blogging
@ Charlie: Thanks. It can be difficult to explain, but as you say there is nothing wrong with it. I can think of worse obsessions and addictions.