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Episode 6Sep 4, 2020· 10:21

Taking the Leap From Hobby to Professional Blogger

▸ Show notes from the creator
Is it time for you to go pro as a blogger my bloggy friend? Perhaps! In this episode, I'm sharing my key indicators to look out for that will tell you when it's time to take the leap from hobby blogging to professional blogging. Thanks for listening. May your page views be high, and your bounce rate be low! You have more than a love for writing. You catch yourself making a plan. You’re making enough money from your blog to quit your day job. You have to claim blogging income on your taxes. A post or two has gone viral. You ooze expertise. Ideas flutter from your brain like migrating monarchs. Self-starting is no problem. You’re good at interacting with your readers and other bloggers. Words like branding, marketing and reach are in your vocabulary. When you start treating your blog like a business, you’ve definitely gone pro. More Show Notes From This Episode: What’s up my bloggy friends! I'm slowly updating the show notes for this and every episode of The Bloggy Friends Show. My new home base for all things Bloggy Friends can be found here: https://www.famousashleygrant.com/podcast/ Be sure to follow me on social: Facebook | Instagram | X | LinkedIn | TikTok | YouTube ------------------------------------------------------------------- This podcast is supported by affiliate partnerships. Please check out a few of our partners below: – Start a podcast today here: https://rss.com?via=famous – Create content from your own voice with Castmagic's Suite of AI Tools: https://get.castmagic.io/dcjy15cirnts – Want to help support our show? Buy a girl a drink perhaps? https://ko-fi.com/famousashleygrant – Need content for your podcast or blog? Check out Tools for Motivation! The links above are affiliate links. This means my podcast will receive a small commission if you order through any of them at no additional cost to you. Affiliate commissions are one of the ways my podcast makes money so that I can create episodes free of charge. If you do purchase anything from my links, I sincerely would like to thank you for your support!
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About this episode
Is it time for you to go pro as a blogger my bloggy friend? Perhaps! In this episode, I'm sharing my key indicators to look out for that will tell you when it's time to take the leap from hobby blogging to professional blogging. Thanks for listening. May your page views be high, and your bounce rate be low! You have more than a love for writing. You catch yourself making a plan. You’re making enough money from…
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Full transcript
00:00
If people are picking up all that knowledge you're
00:02
laying down, then I think you might be flirting
00:04
with professional blogger status. Now you can
00:07
lay the groundwork to set yourself up as an expert
00:09
in the industry that you're already writing about
00:11
and go after those big game articles and book
00:14
deals. What's up, you guys? Famous Ashley Grant
00:33
here, and I know it has been a hot minute since
00:35
the last time I released an episode, and I am
00:37
truly sorry about that. I guess what they say
00:40
is true whenever you start podcasting. If you
00:43
don't stick to a schedule, you can easily just
00:45
miss a few weeks, and before you know it, it's
00:48
been a couple months, and I definitely want to
00:51
bring my podcast back to life because I really
00:54
enjoyed the episodes I did produce, and it's
00:57
definitely time to jump back on the train. So
00:59
I'm here, I'm back, and hopefully I can start
01:03
making this a lot more regular of a thing so
01:05
that I can share all my knowledge with anyone
01:08
who wants to hear it. So without further ado,
01:10
let's go ahead and jump right into today's episode.
01:14
In today's episode, what I want to talk about
01:16
is when to take the leap from hobby to professional
01:19
blogging. One of the questions that I am asked
01:23
frequently is when it's time to take that leap
01:26
from going from a hobby blogger to a professional
01:29
blogger. And I got to tell you, the answer is
01:32
different for everyone. However, what I thought
01:34
I would do today is just share with you my key
01:37
indicators that it's time to jump off the hobby
01:40
blogger train and into the glorious world of
01:42
professional blogging. So let's get started.
01:45
Indicator number one, you have more than a love
01:49
for writing. When you go from enjoying the act
01:52
of writing to actually living it, breathing it,
01:54
and not being able to imagine a single day without
01:57
it, you have found that sexy, passionate kind
02:00
of love that tells you this is something real.
02:03
Perhaps you in writing started dating casually.
02:06
Then suddenly... Everything in your life is giving
02:09
you more reasons to write. So you bump it up
02:12
to seeing each other on the regular. Before you
02:14
know it, you can't stop. You're going steady
02:17
with writing. You don't want to do anything else
02:20
but write. You've totally found the one and you
02:23
can't go back. Do you know the love I'm talking
02:25
about? Where everything you look at just gives
02:27
you something that you want to write about. You
02:29
want to tell the world. You want to write it
02:31
down. You want to put it on your blog. Indicator
02:36
number two. You catch yourself making a plan.
02:40
Now, remember back when you first started hobby
02:42
blogging and you just thought, oh, I'll just
02:44
do this once in a while. You used to post on
02:46
your blog when the urge struck. But then for
02:49
some reason, one day you sat down and you actually
02:51
created an editorial calendar in either Excel
02:54
or on Google spreadsheets. You started thinking
02:57
about what topics would get your reader's attention.
03:00
And oh, my God. You even pondered what the best
03:03
headlines were for clickability, and you weren't
03:05
even trying to do it for clickbait. You were
03:07
doing it because you wanted to give them value.
03:09
When you start making a plan, my friend, you
03:12
are so ready to go pro. Indicator number three,
03:17
you're making enough money from your blog to
03:19
quit your day job. Now, this one might seem a
03:22
little far -fetched, but I know some bloggers
03:24
that are making upwards of $10 ,000, $20 ,000,
03:27
$30 ,000, even $50 ,000 a month from their blog.
03:31
Now, I'll be honest, I'm not there yet, but I
03:34
am making a full -time living as a blogger, and
03:36
it is awesome. And if you're already making enough
03:39
money to pay the bills, why are you still working
03:42
in your pesky nine -to -five whenever you could
03:44
just do this full -time and perhaps make even
03:47
more money? Another big indicator is that you
03:50
have to claim blogging income on your taxes.
03:53
When you start making serious money and accountants
03:56
have to get involved, dude, you're a pro. Just
03:59
make sure you don't blow this chance to work
04:01
for yourself doing what you love. Be smart about
04:04
your bookkeeping. Another key indicator is that
04:09
a post or two or more has gone viral. Now, I
04:14
got to be honest with you, this might not mean
04:16
it's time to go pro. But a viral post could be
04:19
the perfect catalyst that you've been looking
04:21
for to shift from hobby to pro blogger. Strike
04:26
while the iron is hot. Another key indicator
04:28
is that you are oozing expertise. What happens
04:32
when you become an expert on something and you
04:34
start posting a bunch about what you know? You've
04:37
found your niche, my bloggy friend. Good for
04:39
you. If people are picking up all that knowledge
04:42
you're laying down, then I think you might be
04:44
flirting with professional blogger status. Now
04:47
you can lay the groundwork to set yourself up
04:49
as an expert in the industry that you're already
04:51
writing about and go after those big game articles
04:54
and book deals. Another big key indicator that
04:57
you should go pro is if ideas are constantly
05:00
fluttering into your brain like migrating monarchs.
05:04
Even though it may not seem like it, just the
05:06
fact that your mind keeps churning out blog ideas
05:08
is huge. Some of the biggest and best professional
05:12
bloggers that I know have trouble coming up with
05:15
blog ideas. So if they're coming to you nonstop,
05:17
this could mean that it's time for you to really
05:20
up your game and start professionally doing this.
05:24
Here's what I will tell you, though. If you are
05:26
coming up with a bunch of ideas, write them all
05:28
down. You will regret it if you don't write them
05:30
down. At some point, you're going to get dry
05:33
on ideas. So if you have a list that you can
05:35
go back to at some point, that'll just help you
05:38
keep going with your pro status. Now I got to
05:40
share with you one of the biggest indicators
05:43
that it's time to go pro, self -starting is not
05:46
a problem for you. If you are the type of person
05:50
who can just get up and start working without
05:53
having a real boss telling you what to do and
05:56
your only boss being you, then it might be time
05:59
to go pro. You could post today. You could post
06:02
tomorrow. You could go on hiatus for a month
06:04
or longer. The problem is that the less frequently
06:07
that you post, the closer you move back to hobby
06:09
blogger status. And that's honestly one of the
06:12
big problems I'm having with podcasting right
06:13
now. Yes, I do want to go pro, but I keep setting
06:17
this up as a hobby. I keep treating it like a
06:19
hobby. And every time you treat your blog as
06:22
a hobby, that's what it is. It becomes just a
06:25
hobby. But if you have the self -discipline to
06:28
create a schedule and stick to it, you've got
06:31
pro status, my friend. Another indicator that
06:34
it's time to go pro is that you're good at interacting
06:36
with your readers and other bloggers. Because
06:38
here's the thing, the more you're engaging with
06:40
your community, the more traffic that you're
06:43
going to drive to your blog, period. Hobby bloggers
06:46
will comment on a few blogs. They might like
06:48
some sites on Facebook. They might engage occasionally
06:53
with people. But professional bloggers, they
06:56
use every single interaction as a tool to build
06:58
their credibility and forge real connections
07:00
while subtly marketing their page just by putting
07:03
themselves out there. The final key indicator
07:07
that it's time for you to go pro is words like
07:10
branding, marketing, and reach are in your vocabulary.
07:14
When you start trading your blog like a business,
07:17
you have definitely gone pro. Before you know
07:19
it, you'll be creating more spreadsheets, spreadsheets
07:22
of income, expenses. You'll be building lists
07:25
of potential sponsors and reviews that you want
07:27
to pitch. You'll be thinking of guest post ideas
07:30
for other blogs and even having meetings with
07:33
people to develop your blog into a household
07:35
name. The coolest part about these meetings is
07:37
that you can join them on Skype or Zoom and you
07:40
don't even have to do it in person with anyone.
07:43
Imagine being able to do your business while
07:45
you're still wearing pajama pants beneath your
07:48
professional facade. I do want to say one very
07:51
important thing. Obviously, this is by no means
07:55
a complete list of indicators that it's time
07:57
to take the leap from hobby to professional blogging.
08:00
But to me, most of the items that I've covered
08:03
today, they scream pro to me. But I want to know
08:06
what you think. What do you think about what
08:08
makes you a pro? What makes you a professional
08:11
blogger? Is it just the fact that you post every
08:13
day? Is it just the fact that you make money?
08:16
What is it that really sets a person apart as
08:19
a pro? I'd love for you to hit me up. on Twitter,
08:23
tweet me at Ashley is famous and let me know
08:26
what it is that you think makes a professional
08:28
blogger. And I also want to know if you have
08:31
plans on going pro with your blog. Is this something
08:34
that you want to just keep doing as a hobby to
08:35
see what happens with it? Or are you planning
08:38
on taking your blog to a household name status?
08:41
I'd love to hear from you. I'm also crazy excited
08:44
to report that Bloggy Friends is now on Google
08:47
Podcasts, and we're also going to be putting
08:49
ourselves on Spotify. And I'm going to add myself
08:52
anywhere else that I can think of. So hopefully,
08:55
like I said, I can take myself from a hobby to
08:57
a pro podcaster. But for now, I will just stick
09:01
to my professional blogging since I know I'm
09:03
good at that. But in the meantime, I'll keep
09:05
playing with my hobby status and see what happens
09:07
next. If you're thinking about going pro, but
09:11
you're not quite sure if you're ready to do that
09:13
yet with your blog, head over to the show notes
09:15
for this episode at bloggyfriends .com backslash
09:19
episode six, and I'll be sharing all kinds of
09:21
resources you can use to decide if you're ready
09:24
to go pro. And I'll also share some different
09:27
resources that you might want to consider if
09:30
you're thinking about starting a podcast as well.
09:32
If you made it this far in this episode, I just
09:34
want to let you know that I really appreciate
09:36
that you're listening. Hopefully it won't be
09:38
too long before I release my next episode. Until
09:42
next time, may your page views be high and your
09:44
bounce rate below. Thanks for listening. Catch
09:47
y 'all next time.