How To Become A Professional Creator (Blogger/YouTuber) & Be Your Own Boss

Around March-April 2009, I decided to quit my day job to become a professional creator. I started a blog and a YouTube channel.

• Save

It has been fourteen years since I made that decision, and not only am I happier now, but I consider this to be the best decisions of my entire life.

Becoming a professional creator was not something I had ever given a lot of thought to prior to the spring of 2009.

But somehow I was lucky enough to meet with some favorable circumstances, and I was brave enough to take that leap of faith and create a new reality for myself.

If you want to read more about my journey to professional creator, here are two posts which will give you a more complete background on my journey as a creator:

• Harsh Agrawal – My Creator Journey So Far
• After 2191 Days of Blogging, & video blogging All I Can Say is “Being a Creator is Incredible!”

Being a professional creator is not an easy job. A lot of skills, a lot of knowledge, and a lot of time are required to turn a blogging passion into full-time, income-generating work.

what does a professional creator do?

Professional creator requires following a schedule and being willing to walk in an unchartered territory. There are many daily, weekly and monthly tasks involved for a professional creator, which we will discuss in the later part of this guide.

Becoming A Professional Blogger: Are You Ready?

First, before you decide to walk down the path of pro-blogging, you need to know that a lot has changed in the past few years. Blogging is not a simple or easy way to make money. That said, blogging is one of the more reputable ways to earn money online, and if you are committed to working hard to learn how to do it properly, you can easily earn thousands of dollars a month blogging. (See SML’s income reports here.)

• Save

But always remember: If you are looking to make a living blogging, you need to be serious in your approach and treat it like a professional business.

When I started, there were many other bloggers jumping into the sea of professional blogging. But in 2011 and 2012, the Google Panda update and the Google Penguin update killed many blogs, and many of these bloggers began to transition to other aspects of online marketing.

In short, if you don’t persist, you will fail.

• Read: 3 Powerful Tips For Blogging Beginners To Achieve Success In A Short Time

The decision to become a full-time blogger as a profession involves many considerations, such as your social and financial situations.

I started blogging as a full-time career when I was a 22-year-old single man with no family responsibilities, so I was able to accept the risks involved.

In a nutshell, when I started blogging, I worked part-time as a software engineer and looked forward to a new job with Accenture. Instead, in March 2009, I decide to quit everything to become a professional blogger.

During that period, I was earning around $400-500 every month from blogging while working around 3-4 hours a day. So I was pretty confident that if I were willing to work 12-16 hours a day, I could increase my online income quite drastically.

By the time I left my “real job” to blog full-time, my income came in the form of direct ads, Google AdSense, affiliate marketing, and other blogging related services.

What I have learned during my own transition from part-time to full-time blogger is that in order to become a successful full-time blogger earning reliable income, many skill sets are required.

Professional bloggers need to have “professional-level” skills in:

• Writing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Management

If you are already a blogger, you may have already gained many of these skills. And from learning and implementing the things you don’t know, you can acquire any new skill set. This is how I have ultimately learned to become a professional blogger.

Essentially, you need to make yourself different from all the other bloggers out there. You need to be special. You need to be unique. You need to be better than everyone else in your niche.

• Save

And in order to do this, you need to focus on building up your weaknesses.

• If you’re a terrible writer, you need to practice writing.
• If you’re a boring person, you need to practice being more engaging.
• If you don’t know what’s wrong, you need to practice taking in feedback.

Identify What You Really Want

If you desire peace of mind while making your own transition to professional blogging, I would suggest that you first work toward earning a fixed recurring income from your blog. Once you’re sure that you can comfortably survive exclusively on your blogging income, then (and only then!) consider kicking your 9-5 job to the curb, and become a professional blogger.

Also, before taking this very significant step in your life, be sure to take some time to create a clear road map and business plan.

Think about things like:

• Where will your traffic come from?
• What will your marketing strategies look like?
• What will your sources of income be?
• How are you going to brand your blog?
• How will you draw attention to your blog?
• How do you intend to expand your blog?
• What new things are you willing to learn?

Really take some time to think about what you want your blog to be. This stage is very important for the future development and growth of your soon-to-be business.

Making The Decision: Becoming A Professional Blogger

It took me almost six months to finally decide to become a professional blogger. It was relatively easy for me in 2009, but recently, the blogging world has become massive. Nowadays, you need to be really well-equipped in order to be able to rely on blogging as your only source of income.

And there’s also something else to remember:

• “Never put all of your eggs in one basket.”

Because the blogging world is so volatile, when working as a professional blogger, you need to make sure you’re protecting yourself in the smartest ways possible. If your income source is from just one blog, you should seek to expand your empire to ensure that some unforeseen issue doesn’t ruin you financially.

That said, a good blog can typically start making a fair amount of income within 4-5 months.

A Tip for College Students:

• Save

I always suggest to college students to start their creator’s journey (blog/YouTube/Podcast/Social media), as early as possible. College offers us freedom, social engagement, and endless amounts of opportunities to set our lives up for success.

• Read: Why Engineering Students Should Blog

Have I missed anything? Are there any other points that one should consider before becoming a professional blogger? Add your thoughts in the comments section below.

And if you like this post, don’t forget to share it!

• Save