Blogging

Blogging Isn’t As Easy As It Might Look

As a person who has been blogging for over 5 years now, I have had my share of people who just don’t get it at all, and even my explanations does nothing for them. I usually get the ‘oh, so you get free stuff then. I should start a blog’ and wonder how cheeky people can be. You wouldn’t say that to any other profession, so why mine?
I can tell you something right now, blogging isn’t easy!

It’s not just a case of signing up with Blogspot or WordPress and off you go. If you want to make a real go of it, being an influencer, reviewing and getting paid, then it takes time. A lot of time in fact. 
And it costs too. I have to pay for a lot of things that you wouldn’t even notice. The ownership of my URL, social sharing applications and scheduling tools. All of these, before I’ve even made any money. It’s a case of getting out what you put in. 
The one thing that really bugs me though, is monetising my blog. I don’t have sidebar ads on my blog anymore as I found that they just didn’t work for me, and I didn’t like the look of them. I do sell advertising though in other forms and write about companies too. It’s a great way of making a comfortable living. 
Even this brings a whole new aspect to blogging. Learning how to invoice, what to put on invoices and the legalities. And then there’s the wait. Some companies pay instantly, some within 30 days and some 60. I’ve even had ones that haven’t paid at all, but that’s a whole new ball game. 
I have my own draft invoice which I alter to fit the brief (again, this was something that was made and designed for me, so another expense). It has my full details on it and I then always put the companies details too, outline to brief, a description and link to what I’ve done, the fees involved and then my bank details with my payment terms outlined. 
And then it’s the big wait. I mean some months I can be due from various different places and being stuck not knowing when anything is going to arrive in my account. That’s the hard part. Working on the pay-roll and an employee means you know exactly when you get paid each months, but for me, and all other bloggers and self-employed persons I’m sure, I don’t have that option.
That’s why companies like Market Invoice can drop in to help. They are a business finance intermediary, which allows businesses to sell their unpaid invoices to provide working capital. Meaning that I can free up some of that money that’s stuck in invoices. 
Reading through all of this, I do wonder some months how I actually cope with it all. The deadlines are short, the work can be rough and it can be long hours. But you know what, it’s all worth it. I love my job. In fact, I adore my job. From this, I have gained a new found love of writing and my sons have had some amazing opportunities coming from this. 
And as long as it still works for us, then blogging will be something that I’ll keep doing. 

2 Comments

  • Susan Smith

    Good for you, i am not a blogger, but i do read peoples blogs and keep myself updated and you all do a wonderful job, so what if you get a few gifts in the process, people are only fed up because they dont

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