Define - Full Time Blogger

 Define Full-Time Blogger

I know a fair few bloggers now who have decided to take the leap, quit their jobs and go 100% blog. Some post daily, weekly, monthly even. Some do web design on the side. Some do photography on the side, some are completely dependant on their blog. How cool is that?

My issue isn't that this is an option for them, hell - it's amazing. And I plan on hopefully gaining some income through mine while I am at university *yay*. My issue is with the term used to describe the role. "Full-Time Blogger"

I feel like the name is misleading. As if the time is only valid once you have given up on any other job you may have, and before this point, your time was somehow not classed as work? All the effort and time you invested in it? Was worth less than now?

Maybe I am looking too much into it.

Instead, I think we should consider ourselves "Professional Bloggers" once we go all in. I just think it sounds nicer, and it's more reflective of what you do. 

But I see lots of posts from "Full-Time" bloggers talk about "The realities of being a Full-Time Blogger" which include things that would affect any blogger, not just them. I think I am looking for help on how to actually take the plunge. How to work out charges, how to manage money, how to complete tax returns and deal with working for yourself. But instead, I am met with light-hearted, should be a "Realities of being a Blogger" kinda post. 

So I thought I would address the ones that annoy me the most. Cause I am in a feisty AF mood. Which I'm sure I'll regret the minute this post goes live.

The Realities of Being a Full Time Blogger with a Full Time Job 

1. Replying/Sending Emails. Instead of being able to tackle emails on a Monday Morning with a fresh look at the week, those of us who still work, go to college,  have to pick up on emails at night (I do the bulk of mine 20.00-22.00 on a Sunday night after an 8 hour shift at work)  I then have to attempt to deal with follow-ups or more urgent ones on my phone throughout the day. *sigh* 

2. No Holidays. HA. Try NO DAYS OFF. I consider a week off my job/college a day off, but then I spend the whole week getting ahead on blog posts. My days off I spend doing things for the blog. Every minute of my free time I spend on the blog. Because I don't get to do Monday-Friday blog. Trust me when I say, those of us who work alongside a blog which posts 4 times a week have no concept of free time nevermind a holiday. 

3. Never Fully Switching Off. See above. Non-Full Timers have the same issue. There is no difference other than the mountains of notifications to deal with after a shift. 

4. Knowing the Postman by Name. See, I don't know my Postman - because I am never home, so he doesn't get the hallmark moment of delivering my parcels. Instead, he got more and more pissed at having to carry them about and know I wasn't going to be in. So I now have to collect all my parcels from the Depot instead, which is a few miles away - where they all know me by name there instead. 

5. Dealing with PR/Meeting Demands. Working with PRs can be difficult at times, but the majority I have worked with are lovely, caring, helpful. I work with a fair few now, and my actual job has never been a factor in their decision to work with me. If anything my job/college just makes it more difficult to reply to on their Monday-Friday schedule. As for meeting demands, they have to be set to give you enough daylight to take the photos on "days off". 

6. Other Bloggers Underselling Themselves/Working for Free. This one is one I have found the hardest. The first brand to offer me a sponsored post I had NO IDEA what to charge. It's not a spoken about the subject of what rate should go with stats/content. It's SO hard to work out, and when you have an income coming in it's hard to value your time as a blogger. There is no how-to guide so we don't undersell blogging as a whole. 

Now, I'm not saying people who work alongside the blog work harder, I'm saying that we deserve credit equally for our time. So the term "Full-Time Blogger" should be abolished - or applied to everyone who posts frequently.  And we should all be helping out each other as much as we can. I think we need to start being more open, more realistic about the shit you face if do you make the plunge and be completely blog dependent. Write about the good, the bad and the ugly, not the safe topics. I want to see posts about the point you made the decision, how you value your time, how much time you spend with your accounts. The boring stuff, the stuff I don't have a clue about. Yet.

Here are some posts I have come across which have actually helped me to see the struggles of relying on the blog for income or addressing charging, knowing worth etc. (If you know any more let me know and I will add them in!) 

She Might Be Loved: My Blogging Rate Card and How I Value Myself

Thou Shalt Not Covet: How Much Do Real Bloggers Earn?
Hayley Hall: We Need To Chat About Knowing Your Worth 

I am reading more and more of these posts at the moment because I want to get to a point where the blog can help me through uni - when I do quit my job *EEEEEK*. So it's just frustrating to be looking for real-life results, and there not being much online about it - especially when we seem to share everything else about our lives. 

I'm hoping that this posts makes sense and isn't a rambling mess, but hey. It's done now. Let me know if you have the same issues, and if you have any advice! 

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