The Catskills, New York State, USA
Do you want to know how to go from employed to blogger?
Before you believe I have only known a pro blogger lifestyle don’t forget that I worked jobs for years. I also started a side hustle while employed as a security guard.
Knowing well how busy you get working 5-6 days weekly while Forex and stock trading part time inspired me to write this post.
How to Go from Employed to Blogger
Some of my readers and blogging buddies feel exhausted blogging part time while holding down a full time job. Some driven part time bloggers work part time and attend university full time. However, most part time bloggers who work full time feel burned out sometimes. Transitioning from your employee career to a pro blogging gig seems impossible for most part time bloggers. But following clear steps turns impossible into possible, then possible into probable, then probable into a certainty.
I deeply respect part time bloggers hustling while working 40 or more hours weekly. Stress, overwhelm and a general fear of missing out on life plagues part time bloggers maintaining busy schedules. Cutting through these uncomfortable energies is necessary if you want to become a full time blogger.
I want to help you:
- ease your anxiety
- follow practical tips to optimize your time spent blogging
- put in the blogging time while maintaining a busy work or school schedule
to facilitate your transition to becoming a professional blogger.
You can do it and will do it by following a few steps generously, patiently and persistently.
How to Retire to a Life of Island Hopping through Smart Blogging eBook Idea
Do you work a job you despise right now? Or maybe you lack passion for your employment? Been there. Done that.
Being a pro blogger is a fun, freeing way to transition from your job. But shifting from employee to entrepreneur can be highly scary at times. I believe in you guys. I know you can do it. But the journey gets bumpy.
Remember; I made this transition 15 years ago, leaving behind my employee days to become a full time, professional blogger.
BUT….making the decision to BE a pro blogger energetically while still working a 9-5 or 4-12 or 12-8 job requires you to make a few freeing choices.
You begin the transition from employee to pro blogger by asking these questions.
1: Cut the Strings or Remain Employed?
Guys; everybody is different. I got fired from my security guard job, cut the strings, never worked a job again, and decided to be a professional blogger on meager savings. This decision forced me to embrace and feel deep fears which I’d not have experienced if I scrambled back to get a 9-5 job and steady paycheck.
Begin the transition by asking yourself: will I quit my job or keep it?
If you quit your job this ride can get real wild but you give a hefty chunk of your potential and energy to blogging. You may spend all your money, or go bankrupt but you will grow like a stinking weed. I did. Those situations sound horrible….until you realize that facing and feeling these fears makes you virtually fearless and positions you to be one of the most powerful people in the world. 99.99% of folks are burdened by common fears and live muted lives. Folks like me are in the 0.01%, having faced and felt and experienced the fear of losing virtually everything, so few things scare us.
If you keep your job you have a steady source of income to pay bills while blogging part time. You will have a safety net which also keeps you in your comfort zone much of the time. Growth will generally be slower. But you avoid nightmarish scenarios. All depends on your openness to embracing deep fears, or, to take a slower, steadier, seemingly safe ride.
Do what works for you.
2: Family or Solo Act?
If you support a family you probably want to keep your job. Having only 4 cents in my pocket felt bearable because I cared for only me during lean years. But if I had to buy baby formula, having only 4 cents may have been a problem.
If you are single…..you care for yourself. Quitting your job is a more viable option because everything works out in the end and you call the shots, with nobody else depending on you.
Ponder your general tolerance levels. Single bloggers may still want to keep their jobs to create:
- stability
- confidence
- a sense of detachment
about your blogging business. Blogging generously, patiently and persistently can feel easier if you have a decent chunk of savings and a steady paycheck. No one knows but you. Some bloggers only succeed by giving 100% of their professional attention and energy to blogging. Other bloggers thrive by blogging with a pad of savings combined with a weekly paycheck from their full time job.
3: How Much Do You Have Saved?
How much do you have saved now as an employee? $1000? $10,000? Or $100,000?
How long can you live off of savings without 1 cent flowing to you?
New bloggers usually do not see 1 cent of earnings for 3- 6 months to a year. Or longer. Why? Professional blogging demands you to:
- learn
- study
- practice
blogging. Learning, studying and practicing blogging to where you become a highly skilled blogger that makes a full time income takes years. Similar to how it takes years to become a successful lawyer or doctor. Different skill sets but many folks want to leave their 9-5 job as badly as they need legal or medical advice, so pro bloggers are fairly in demand.
Can you live solely off of savings for 2-3 years? Are you single? If yes and yes, consider leaving your job. If you answer “no” to either question, keep your job.
4: Blog for a Serious Hobby
Full time employees maintain busy schedules. Working 40 or more hours weekly consumes 8 or more hours of each day. Sleeping, eating and engaging in other day to day living activities – such as raising a family – make for a hectic life. What do busy people make time for? Hobbies. What do busy part time bloggers make time for? Serious hobbies.
By serious hobbies, I mean:
- activities you feel passionate about
- hobbies you make time for, no matter what
- hobbies drawing you toward the activity, versus chasing less passion-inducing activities
Let’s face it; part time bloggers who transition to pro blogging careers possess the spark, the energy, the drive and the focus to get the job done. Folks who pursue part time hobbies seriously, from a fun-loving, dedicated energy, ride out the emotional highs and lows of the blogging journey.
Pier Guard Trader Before Pro Blogger
I traded Forex and stocks part time while working 40-60 hour weeks as a security officer. Trading felt fun to me. I did not trade so much for the money but for a love of:
- learning how to trade
- buying low
- selling high
Trading mainly for the love of trading nudged me to trade from 10 PM to midnight each work night. Work slowed down after 10 PM. Versus watching DVDs – this was 2007 folks – or gossiping I pulled out my Investor’s Business Daily to work the charts. Trading felt like a serious hobby to me because I had fun trading but did not squeeze money out of following the stock market. However, since I loved trading I took trading seriously, buying and selling after long, hectic work days in a chaotic shipping terminal.
Find your blogging sweet spot by:
- blogging mainly for passion not profits
- picking a niche you would blog about if you never made a penny
Identifying your serious hobby energy edges you to blog no matter what. Do you work 12 hour days? Spending 2 hours engaging in the serious hobby of blogging every day feels like a labor of love to you. Cultivate this energy to blog part time while maintaining a busy schedule as a student or employee.
Why Blogging Mainly for Money Rarely Works
Picture yourself feeling exhausted after cramming for final exams. At 2 AM you just want to go to bed. But you check your blogging stats to see zero profits today. You have yet to earn a penny through blogging after blogging diligently for 3 weeks. Feeling frustrated at your poor results, you quit blogging all together.
Being passionate about the blogging process nudges you to blog for 30 minutes at 2 AM after cramming for finals because the blogging work is the blogging reward. Chasing profits scares you into quitting blogging because no part time blogger makes money for months and each day of zero profits for weeks dissolves your primary motivator, deflates your desire and pushes you to prioritize study or survival needs over blogging. Frustrated part time bloggers attached to money outcomes fall asleep at 2 AM after marathon cram sessions. Passionate bloggers blog at 2 AM after study blitzes because human beings act or do not act based solely on their intent-energy.
5: Clock Your Blogging Day
Employees work off of the clock. Students meet at specific times for lectures.
Part time bloggers who study or work full time need a time mechanism for blogging to create:
- order
- clarity
- a heightened focus
- increased concentration
amid the chaos of maintaining a busy schedule away from blogging.
I experience busy days circling the globe as a professional blogger because offline life events become more time-consuming any time I travel internationally. My wife and I walk the dogs on the beach for 60 minutes daily. Driving into town 1-2 times weekly to buy groceries consumes roughly 1 or more hours for each trip. One of the dogs attacked a porcupine on the beach the other day, got quilled and 3 hours later we drove home from the vet’s office. Times flies by even for professional bloggers with no employee or student responsibilities because life seems to test your blogging commitment from time to time.
Be flexible as far as blogging during specific time slots based on life intervening but do clock your blogging tasks daily to drink part time blogging truth serum. Block out 1-2 hours for blogging daily. At week’s end, review your time blocks. Did you blog for 7-14 hours by the end of the week? Or did you not blog for at least 7 hours?
Part time bloggers need to blog for a while before going pro. The only way to blog for a while is to clock your time spent blogging. Clock your work, be honest about your commitment and lay the foundation for a pro blogging campaign by putting in time and work over the long haul.
6: Learn Only from Professional Bloggers
Leveraging is huge for you; busy students or employees need to maximize their blogging returns in a minimum amount of time. Pro bloggers teach you how to engage in successful strategies. Engaging in successful strategies makes boosts your blogging effectiveness. Effective bloggers position themselves to succeed.
However, most part time bloggers wing it, learn from new bloggers or follow pro blogger advice for a short time before quitting on proven strategies. Taking these routes makes your part time blogging journey difficult. How can you succeed unless you learn only from pros and do as they do? Pros follow the latest blogging trends. Pros keep you informed in a timely fashion. You have no margin for error, time-wise, because time is precious to busy students and employees.
Follow professional bloggers. Learn from these pros how to:
- blog successfully
- leverage your presence
- use your blogging time effectively
SEO-Optimizing on My Blog
Have you noticed the big changes on Blogging From Paradise recently? I paid close attention to the majority of pros who SEO-optimize all of their blog posts. Being open to optimizing posts for SEO allows me to use my limited blogging time effectively. Writing in-depth posts optimized for Google makes sense because I make the biggest impact in a minimum amount of time. When I am walking on the beach here in Panama, people find my blog through Google. Social media shares increased the moment I publish 2,000 word plus, thorough content because robust blog posts encourage organic sharing.
I achieve more in less time because I learn blogging solely from professional bloggers who achieve more in less time.
Invest money in:
- pro blogger courses
- professional blogger coaching
- pro blogger eBooks
to do as pros do. Doing as pros lays the foundation for a professional blogging career while you blog part time. Eventually, following professional blogger advice from a generous energy patiently and persistently leads to a pro blogging career.
7: Solve Reader Problems through Your Blog Posts
Listen closely to your readers. Solve their problems through your content.
Addressing reader problems draws traffic to your blog because people follow bloggers who make their lives easier. I spotted a problem; some of my employee readers struggle to blog part time. I listened to their needs, did my due diligence and wrote this blog post. Employee readers who find this blog post valuable share it with their network, expanding my reach.
Imagine readers:
- enjoying
- sharing
- endorsing
your blog posts around the clock, while you work your job, blog, enjoy time offline and sleep? Picture that traffic potential to listen closely to your reader’s needs.
Publish only content:
- related to your niche
- solving problems your readers brought to you
to make every blogging second count. If you only have a few hours daily to blog part time you better make those moments count.
8: Network Generously
Network generously to tap into the power of leveraging.
Promote fellow bloggers in your niche freely to do blogger outreach the right way. Ask for nothing in return. Expect nothing in return. Allow bonds to form organically. Then, while you are busy working your full time job, blogging buddies will promote you and spread your word. In essence, a large, loyal blog network does what you cannot do as a busy, full time employee. Friends make your blog work while you work your blog.
9: Monetize through Multiple Income Streams
Remember; you need to make money eventually to go from employee to blogger.
Begin adding 1-2 income streams to your blog every 3-6 months. Open income channels resonant with your:
- readers
- blogging niche
- passions
Blogging income channels are mere receiving streams for money. Do not get attached to any particular income stream. Simply keep adding channels slowly but steadily to increase income and to become a professional blogger.
Income Ideas
- affiliate marketing
- write and self-publish eBooks
- create online courses
- offer freelance services
Get comfortable with receiving money for premium products and services rendered. The only way to become a professional blogger is to earn income through blogging income streams.
10: How Much Attention and Energy Will You Give to Blogging the Right Way?
Full time employees: your transition toward becoming a pro blogger accelerates like a Ferrari Enzo if you spend 2-4 hours, 7 days a week:
- learning blogging from top professionals by buying courses and eBooks
- spending at least 30-60 minutes daily meditating or doing deep yin yoga or engaging in some form of self help
- studying blogging
- creating helpful content
- building strong friendships
- monetizing through multiple income streams
- being generous and acting abundantly
Blogging gradually gives you what you give blogging. Full time employees who spend 2-4 hours daily learning how to blog properly from top pros become highly successful, pro bloggers within years. Success is all but guaranteed. Full time employees who make excuses and give blogging little attention and energy struggle for years.
Can you be ALL FREAKING IN FROM DAY 1?
If YES, you begin your transition from employee to pro blogger from a clear, confident, energy. Perfect starting point.
Conclusion
Becoming a professional blogger feels freeing, fun and fear-filled, sometimes. Try not to get too high or too low as you evolve from being an employee to being an entrepreneurial blogger.
Stick to the basics to make the most of your blogging time. Busy employees need to do simple things generously for a sustained period of time before becoming thriving, professional bloggers.
Your Turn
Have you transitioned from being a full time employee to pro blogger?
What tips can you add to this list?
Do you dream of leaving your job to blog?
Blogging Resources
Check out my blogging courses and blogging eBooks if you need guidance:
