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How to Be A Successful Blogger While Working A Full Time Job
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Most bloggers start building their blogs while they are working a full time job.
Whether that job is as an employed worker or a student or a stay at home parent doesn't matter so much. Nearly all of us get started while having full lives to manage and work around!
I've been a full time stay-at-home mom since my son was born a little over 2 years ago. And before that, I worked 50 hours per week at a variety of jobs. To say that I've been busy while building my blogs would be a serious understatement!
I'm guessing that my life isn't too unlike yours in a way. If I know anything about other millennial women, it's that our days are buys and full of obligations we must meet.
The thing I really want you to know is that building a profitable blog while you work full time is totally doable!
It does take some sacrifices, and you will have to be careful with your time and productivity. But thankfully there are so many great options for speeding up blog success even if you only have a couple of hours per day to work on it.
I've consistently spent 2 to 3 hours per day working and have still managed to create a profitable blog in just a couple of years.
Time, education, and productivity all come together to give you a formula for your blog's success. The more you have of these resources, the more quickly success happens.
Today I'd like to share with you my tips for creating a profitable, successful blog while still working a full time job.
These are things I have actually done and seen results from, and I really think they'll help you too!
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1. Schedule Your Time And Stick To It
The first lesson I learned about trying to build a blog while working full time is that you need to set a work schedule and stick to it. Hoping to work when you get home, or thinking you might work a little on the weekends simply won't get you very far.
I found that I needed to actually write down in my calendar the hours that I would be working on my blog if I wanted it to happen. That way I could turn down that dinner invite, stay close to home on the weekends, and make other arrangements that would set me up for success.
Knowing the real hours you will put in to working on your blog is so important to seeing progress. It isn't enough to hope. You really have to make time!
If you can do this, you will be one step closer to building a business and not just a hobby blog.
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2. Automate As Many Blog Tasks As Possible
The second lesson I learned about creating a successful blog while working a full-time job is that you need to automate as much as possible!
We are so fortunate these days, because there are tons of online tools and softwares available that can automate so much of the time consuming work we need to do. If you don't take advantage of these resources, you're simply throwing time away and slowing down your progress.
Here are my favorite blog automation tools that aren't absolute must for me and my business:
Tailwind
Tailwind is an advanced Pinterest scheduler that brings in so much traffic to my blog, I can't even imagine not using it.
Tailwind takes the pins I create for my blog posts and automatically pins them to the right boards at the best time of day for my audience. It also has a new Smart Loop feature that re-pins my most popular pins every 5 or 6 months. This helps me keep viral pin traffic coming in on a regular basis, rather than just once in awhile.
A quick look at the my Tailwind dashboard
Around 80% of my traffic currently comes from Pinterest, and I'd estimate more than half of that is a direct result of Tailwind. The software is so affordable and so useful, I really can't imagine trying to get any blog traffic without it.
If the idea of taking on another scheduler makes you feel exhausted, don't worry.
I learned all about driving tons of traffic with Tailwind from taking Alex and Lauren's course Pinterest Traffic Avalanche.
It helped me nearly triple my traffic after a few months of implementing their strategies, and I recommend it to anyone who needs help getting more traffic from Pinterest.
ConvertKit
The other blog automation tool I couldn't live without is Convertkit. Convertkit is the email marketing service I use to automatically send out a series of emails to my readers as they sign up.
This is such an integral part to my business, because it makes sure that new subscribers always feel taken care of, and receive awesome content from me in a sequence that makes sense.
ConvertKit is also responsible for the majority of income my blog makes. Because most of a blogger's sales will come from their email list, a good email service that sends out sales emails at the right time is so critical.
I've dedicated an entire module to setting up Converkit and making money from it in my new course Build A Profitable Blog. The important part for you to know right now though, is that the smartest thing you can do is get started building your email list today.
You might not have anything for sale quite yet, but building that list and creating a great relationship with your readers now will pay off big time later.
3. Expedite Your Learning With Online Courses
The third lesson I learned (the hard way) is that is it so important to learn from people who have been where you want to go.
I spent several years thinking that I could learn everything I needed to know for free by researching online. And to be fair, I did learn a lot!
But there are two things I didn't realize that really hindered me.
The first was that there is a ton of misinformation online about blogging.
Sometimes the information is out of date, and sometimes it's simply wrong. The problem is, as a new blogger, you simply won't know what is true and what isn't.
And it's easy to follow information that sounds like it's accurate, and then you never get results from it, just years wasted.
The second thing I didn't realize is that I didn't know what I didn't know.
When I was a newer blogger, I simply didn't even know where to start. I didn't know what to start researching, or that there's even an order of operations that needs to happen to be successful with a blogging business. It really slowed down my progress.
Looking back, I wish I had found a mentor I really connected with and simply purchased their products and learned from them.
And to be honest, it really doesn't matter to me which person this is for you! It doesn't need to be me.
If you find a blogger who is where you want to be and you feel like you really jive with them, stick with them! Buy their courses, and learn everything you can from them.
You can speed up the learning curve so much if you just learn from someone who has been there and done that.
4. Hire A Virtual Assistant
This one was so hard for me in the very beginning! I didn't want to give up control, I didn't want to pay money I barely had, and I was so worried something awful would happen if I hired someone else to help me.
What a limiting belief that was. Since those early years I've hired several virtual assistants, graphic designers, and other experts to help in areas where I fall short.
And I'm so so glad I did! If you are working a full-time job, or you take care of your kids full time, or you're a full-time student, the most precious resource you have is your time. You simply can't afford to waste it on tasks that you aren't qualified to do.
It doesn't have to be today, but start to seriously think about what it would look like if you hired a virtual assistant to help you with your business. What could they take off your plate that would make room in your life for creative work and the real meat of your business?
5. Use Productivity Hacks to Get More Done
The last lesson I learned about trying to build a blogging business while working full-time is that you have to find the best ways to become productive.
This is certainly going to look different for everybody. Some people work best in the morning, and others work best at night. Some people like me can create content quickly by dictating, and others prefer to type.
The point is that you need to find the most efficient ways of getting your work done so that your limited time is put to good use.
Related Post- My Secret Productivity Hacks for Kick Ass Blogging
Conclusion
It isn't easy, but building a blogging business while working full-time is so doable. Thousands of bloggers do it every year, and you can too!
These are the lessons I've learned in the last 10 years about blogging with a full-time job:
- Create a work schedule and stick to it
- Automate as much of your work as possible
- Take online courses to learn from those who have been there
- Hire a virtual assistant as soon as you can
- Figure out what makes you most productive and stick to those routines
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