Blogging for Fun or Profit
It is a curious thing, this blogging caper.
Writing about stuff, recording audios, recording videos, sharing posts on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube – trying to get your voice heard above the noise.
These days, every man and his dog has a blog. Even cats have blogs. Some blogs are gems, most are awful.
So, how do you and I get our blogs noticed by the internet surfing public ?
How on earth do we turn our hobbies, our passions, our hopes and our dreams into something more than just a vanity piece and a waste of digital space ?
Blogging for fun is certainly a good way to start.
But how can we find some – or preferably lots of – fanatical fans who hang on every word we write, every podcast we create, every video we post ?
Short answer – dunno.
Long answer – it takes time, effort, commitment, learning, engagement, constant action and just a little sprinkle of luck and fairy dust, mixed in with frustration, self-doubt and nagging.
Since starting this blog here at Calming Music Weekly, I have had my mind opened to the possibilities of blogging success. I have goals of working from where ever I want (mostly from home), location independence, saying goodbye to working for The Man.
Google has most certainly been my friend.
The internet is an amazing place. The amount of information available on any possible topic you can think about is simply incredible. This includes the general topic of “blogging”.
Some blogs / websites / resources stand out in this area.
BoostBlogTraffic.com by Jon Morrow,
ProBlogger.net by Darren Rouse,
and BeABetterBlogger.com by Kevin Duncan are arguably the most informative and relevant blogs on the topic of “blogging as a business” or “professional blogging” or “make money from blogging”.
Ed Dale via his famous 30 Day Challenge and his EdDale.co is a genius when it comes to “selling stuff”, engaging your tribe and being awesome online.
It’s astounding.
I have learnt soooooooooooo much from these four gentlemen. Their time, dedication and unselfish sharing of their knowledge via their enormously popular blogs is astounding. The number of highly informative articles by them and their guests is simply amazing. I would strongly recommend that if you are looking to find out about professional blogging then you should visit their sites immediately.
Shameless self-promotion: If, however, you are looking for some beautiful and relaxing calming music then click here !
Time is Fleeting.
Or, perhaps more accurately, time is a commodity that I wish I had more of.
Like presumably many others, I love the fact that I am a husband and a father. My wonderful wife and my amazing daughters are my world and my life. However, this makes things just a little tricky for me.
First World problems – such as full time employment far too far away from my house, commuting, paying the bills, paying the mortgage, buying new shoes for ever growing feet, the ever increasing cost of living, the never ending car shuffle / taxi service driving my girls to their various activities – take a toll on my time.
Not that I am complaining as I wouldn’t swap it for anything….well….the mortgage part would be nice to get rid of….as would the working full time for someone else….. and the commute….. (I’d better keep going with my online activities then)….
And, to be honest I actually enjoy driving my daughters to where-ever it is that they want to go because I get to spend time with them, usually one on one.
Domestic bliss at its finest !
But, it means that my endeavours to strive for a better life for me and my family can only be actioned within a few carefully scheduled minutes every day.
Madness takes its toll.
And so I possibly am in a minority. A minority where I am constantly trying to better myself, better my blog, better my businesses, engage with readers, connect with influential bloggers in my various niches and put my hand up and shout “I’m over here” without sounding like a pushy salesman.
I am certainly not implying that I am “better” than everyone else ! I am suggesting that improving my lot and aiming towards my goals and aspirations, for me, is better than giving up and accepting the status quo.
So, with the current and debateable wisdom of updating twitter, facebook, youtube, google +, sending emails, moderating comments, writing articles for the pages of both my blogs and that of others for guest post opportunities, there is simply not enough time.
Not enough time to just hang with my kids.
Not enough time to just chill with my wife.
Not enough time to play my saxophone or my keyboard.
Not enough time to catch up with my friends.
Not enough time to just have fun.
Yet.
To move beyond blogging for fun and towards blogging for profit, I knew it would be hard word. I knew it would take consistency. I knew it would take dedication.
I will confess, however, to underestimating the time it takes to do the “extra” stuff.
I naively thought when I first started that “blogging” meant “writing”. How hard can it be ? After you set up your Hosting and WordPress theme (a little technical, but not difficult) then away you go – you write a few sentences, publish them, rinse, repeat. Then watch the cash pour in, right ?
What I didn’t realise was the messing around that comes before, during and after the “writing” part.
For the uninitiated, WordPress is a sensational blogging and website platform. It will cook your lunch, tuck you into bed at night, read you a bed time story, sing you a song and give you a goodnight kiss if you want it to. The way it does this is with little bells and whistles that WordPress calls “plugins”.
There are approximately 43 million plugins available for WordPress blogs and websites, give or take a few. Some are free, some cost a few $$$, some cost a lot of $$$. Trawling through those that are available and finding the plugins that would benefit your website takes time.
Blogs require promotion. In much the same way that you can organise a wonderful party with champagne, canapés, a live band, balloons and streamers, it is a complete and utter waste of time if you forget to send out the invitations. Promoting your blog is exactly like sending the invitations to your party.
If you do it correctly, it will be the party of the century, everyone will love you and life will be rosy.
It is, however, much easier to do it incorrectly, where you become socially inept and awkward and others can feel and smell your desperation from a mile away… and they stay away in droves.
I have found that it is easier to schedule in time for “technical” blogging and “creative” blogging sessions. “Technical” sessions, for me, involve tweaks, modifications, testing, analysing, installing and uninstalling – lifting the WordPress hood and tinkering with the engine and workings underneath. “Creative” sessions involve writing, recording, creating content for me or for others.
Separating these two important components of blogging makes it easier, for me anyway, to keep moving forward. It makes it easier for me to keep taking one more step closer to my goal.
Blogging for profit is my goal. And I plan to have a large amount of fun along the way.
It is not hard. However, it takes time, effort and just a bit of sacrifice.
This, I suppose, is the same for all things that we humans strive for. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Are you blogging for fun, or for profit, or both ?
What are your goals, for your website, for your blog, for your business or for yourself ?
Are you working hard to achieve your goals ?
Please leave your comments below and please share this post by clicking on some of the buttons on the left of this page.
Thanks,
Matthew
CalmingMusicWeekly.com
Flickr images by Kris Olin, Kristina B and Darren Tunnicliff.
