Part Time vs. Full Time Blogging

“Hello Lalit, I work as a computer operator. I have been writing blogs for over a year. Now I want to quit my job and get into full time blogging. How would you advise?”, Nadeem asked me in a chat conversation on Google+

Similar questions keep on coming to me regularly. The other day Rick from Australia wanted to know how to better manage his blog while he does a full time day job.

I told Nadeem that for blogging like a professional it is better to be a full-time blogger. Professional blogger is not just a fancy term that people like to attach with their names. It is actually a serious business -it is a business from which you earn your bread and butter. Let’s have a look at what blogging on part-time and full-time basis entail.

When you give anything less than 7-8 hours for your blog activities -you would be termed as a part-time blogger. You should not be surprised to know that most of the bloggers are part-timers. Majority of bloggers do not know how they can earn from their blogs -and that’s why they just write posts to express themselves and not to make living out of it.

Part-time Blogging is Safer

There is no doubt about it. From financial viewpoint, it is always safer to be part-time blogger. You should not keep all the eggs in one basket as diversification is the mantra of success in financial realms. Initially, for quite some time, blogging does not give you enough money to sustain your living. During this period, I would suggest that you keep a regular day job and slowly develop your blog by giving it only 2-3 hours every day.

I feel that part-time blogging is much harder. You need to maintain a day job and then after coming home, you would need to give some time to thinking, conceptualizing, writing, packaging and publishing at least one post. This could well be exhaustive for many. A number of bloggers struggle to keep their blogs running because they are left with just no energy after doing their full-time day job.

Both part time and full time approaches can work in blogging. Choice depends on your objectives.

Day Job Keeps You Confident

A regular income from a “regular” job would not only help you in paying your bills but also would keep worries out of your mind. You can not blog well with worries like “how am I going to pay electricity bill this month?” weighing on your thoughts.

A day job keeps you assured and helps you deal with the ups and downs of blog income. It doesn’t matter how much you earn from blogging -but the erratic nature of blog income often keeps you on toes. So, regular income is bliss even for a well established professional blogger.

As you progress well in your blog’s development -you can slowly increase the number of hours that you give to blogging activities. Switching from part-time to full-time blogging is a tricky decision that you must make with due consideration.

You should think of full-time blogging only after your blog begins to give you income that can sustain at least your basic life style (which includes paying for food, house rent, utility bills etc.)

It is possible that the first few months in full-time blogging may be a bit unsettling for you. Leaving a day job means no commuting to workplace and no set income. As full-time blogger, you would be working from home and spend most of your work schedule in reading, researching and experimentation. Funny as it is, your income may even take nose-dive in the very next week of your becoming a full-time blogger! That’s the nature of this business –you can’t be sure of income.

But once you’ve decided to be a full-timer, you should not get troubled by financial jolts and changed life-style. Give it, let’s say, six months of your complete time. If you stay afloat in these six months, keep going on as a full-time blogger as it can take you to new heights.

As we just saw, both these approaches have their pros and cons. Combining part-time blogging with a day job gives you more stability, confidence and opportunity to slowly develop your blog. In full-time blogging you can develop your blog very fast but overall monetary gain remains unpredictable. So, while switching from part-time to full-time, you must be at such a blog-income-level that you can offset one month’s loss by another month’s gain.

The best approach is to begin blogging on part-time basis and when you see yourself as established enough -then make a switch to full-time blogging.

While beginning full-time blogging, it is recommended to have some money as cushion to save you in case you don’t succeed or initially struggle to make enough money. Like any other business, full-time blogging has its own risks. A smart blogger knows all these aspects and makes informed moves at the right time.

I hope this article helped you in clearing your mind about how to get involve in blogging business. Keep reading TechWelkin to get more tips which will help your blogging in a big way.

And yes, don’t hesitate in asking questions. Just comment and ask me what you want to know.