Are you planning on launching your own blog sometime soon?
Or
You have a blog & wondering how to maintain your blogging routine while keeping your day job?
Blogging for full-time is the coveted for many first-time bloggers and it is rightly due to the flexibility it has to offer.
If you have taken into account the pressures and scheduling issues of maintaining a successful blog ran full-time, there is something else to consider prior to the same. If you do not happen to have a decent amount of blog readers from your previous venture, which is in most cases, you might rethink of giving up your day job on optimistic fantasies of becoming a full-time blogger.
If the above-said words have put you in a turmoil, you may now unwind and read on further to find out how maintaining a blog along with a full-time day job is possible.
Not only holding on to your full-time day job while getting started on your blogger journey is advantageous, it is vital. We will not go on further arguing about how maintaining your full-time day job while launching your blog is necessary.
Getting started on your new blog is an extremely tedious task and requires a lot of hours and efforts from your end. It is not definitely a ‘build-it-they-will-come’ strategy and requires serious initial effort to plan ahead for a full-time blogging career sometime in the future.
While it has been established that maintaining a day job while launching a blog is essential and that serious blogging requires serious efforts, how can one maintain a blog effectively in the process?
How to maintain your Blog while keeping your day job?
Just like many bloggers at the ShoutMeLoud Community, I too have maintained my first blog along with my day job as a full-time student and it does get hectic.
For working professionals, this might get even hectic depending on your workload and working hours. However, there are certain strategies that you can leverage to maintain an effective blog while working your full-time day job.
Read more to find out about the five ways how you can maintain a beneficial blog while working a full-time job.
1. Identify your target audience and become specific
If you are in your initial stages of launching a blog or are planning to do so, it is essential that you nail down your target audience and blog niche.
One of the rookie mistakes of which even I was a victim of was to write about everything. It would be extremely difficult to pick out a particular niche to write about if you possess varied interests. When you are beginning out with blogging, start small.
Start with a single topic of your utmost interest and you can build upon it as you work on growing your blog. Having a ton of article categories and aiming to write about everything would quickly exhaust you out of your energy, time and creativity just a few months into it.
List down some of the things that inspire you the most and see if you can come up with at least 20 article titles in the said category. This is one good creative exercise to choose ‘The Niche’ for your blog when you are starting out.
Even if you have launched your blog recently, it is not late to tone it down and target the particulars you care about. A target audience of ‘anyone and everyone’ is something that would never work out for new blogs, even though there are a reported 3.17 Billion Internet users on this planet!
A toned down blog operating in a particular niche is something that would make your work easier as you begin your blogging journey while maintaining a day job.
2. Plan out your long-term Content Strategy
If you are planning on taking up your blog as a full-time career sometime in the future, it is essential that you maintain a proper strategy. This is another factor that I completely overlooked while beginning out and something that many newbie bloggers fail to put some thought into.
As mentioned previously, if you are starting out and have decided out on a target niche/audience, the next step is the content strategy. You need your first few months of content and social media strategies laid down to make things easier while getting started.
Many new bloggers quit due to the extreme requirements in terms of hours and creativity in the first few months and surviving this stage is particularly essential.
A content strategy would comprise of but not limited to article title ideas for next few months by addressing the niche’s core problems, a publishing calendar, and social media publishing strategy. Planning out ahead for the next few months in terms of strategies to publish your content is one great way to manage your initial blogging journey and maintain your full-time job in the process.
As Benjamin Franklin would put it, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”.
3. Write Early in the Mornings or Late in the Night
This is one useful tip that I have found myself to be of great help and something many now full-time bloggers recommend for new bloggers.
Be it a full-time student, employee or parent, early mornings and late nights are easily the best times for writing content on your blog.
Although writing late may sometimes be not desirable if you have to leave for work early, writing early in the morning is certainly something you can consider. Â It is also often quoted that some of the best writers to have graced this planet have been early risers for getting sure their writing of the day was done.
Moreover, apart from just letting you concentrate during the silent periods of the day, writing during these times will also help you form a daily ritual around the same. Writing daily or even weekly requires a lot of discipline and showing up daily is the key to success here.
Setting a daily time for writing in this way will also help you cater a portion of your day to writing. Make sure that you remain true to yourselves and to your schedule.
4. Open up to Guest contributions and Collaborations
Guest blogging is how collaboration in the Blogosphere works.
Either accepting guest posts from other bloggers or guest posting at other blogs is one great way to collaborate on content between blogs that share similar audiences. The one major reason accepting guest posts would be beneficial to you would be that you can generate new content in the process when you get too busy to write off the week.
Not all guest posts are of the highest standards of expectations, and hence it is your duty to make sure that only the content your audience deserves gets published.
Teaming up with other beginner bloggers or to find suitable authors from your early subscribers is one great way to build relationships for your blog and brand. Guest posts could help your blog generate relevant and interesting content while allowing you to tackle the most important articles that define your blog.
Although some people are sceptical about accepting guest posts, a thorough screening of the incoming posts would get you quality content that bloggers love to share.
5. Seek inspiration for content outside your Blogging time
If you are working a full-time day job, there is a high probability that you are not working on your blog during work!
There is always a scope for zoning out and some break time even during your work. This is the time of seeking inspiration for your blog. Be it with talks at the water cooler or through observations while you’re traveling to work, always make sure you keep your mind open to new ideas.
A good idea for a blog post is never too far away and keeping a notebook with you all the time is a surefire way to grow your blog big.
Ideas hit you at the most unexpected time, and being prepared for it beforehand is essential. Quickly jot down any post ideas or thoughts in your notebook and go through it once you’re back to working on your blog. You might, at least, know a handful of people at your work who are interested in your blog’s topics. Interacting with these people could help you gain further insights and discoveries which could let to new blogging opportunities.
Conclusion
All in all, the decision to maintain your full-time day job while working on your blog could and often does get hectic for most people. This is nothing less than working two jobs and requires a lot of hours, efforts, sacrifices, and dedication in the onset. Relationships are also something that ought to be taken into consideration and giving time for your family and friends is essential for a proper work-life balance.
So, what do you think of these five tips to maintain your blog while working a full-time day job? Feel free to shout out your thoughts and comments below. Don’t forget to share it on Facebook, I would feel good if you do that! 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful piece… It feels encouraging to know that you can balance between college or work and still grow although enough effort is really needed when starting out as a newbie blogger or any other person juggling between jobs
Thanks Shrikanth Ji for your Article. I read this article and I feel quite Motivate. I also start my Blog in Hindi Language.
Is it worth to do Blogging in Hindi Language.
My another question to you sir How to maintain consistency while doing Blogging.
Thanks Again and Please do answer ASAP.
Hi Srikanth, you are seriously a genious boy. I am glad that you wrote this article. This relates to me with every words. I have niche down my blogging to focus on “Writing”. Because I am a writer too, and poet also. Though aspiring to get success. Thanks for sharing this great insight.
A great post! But I think earning online is a very hard task at present.
It needs a lot of time, efforts and also lot and lot of patience.But one should never give up on his/her dreams 🙂
Hi SRIKANTH,
When I started my blog 2 years back, I was going through the same. You have done a job by sharing this amazing post and I hope that it will help many new bloggers.
Thanks for sharing.
Really nice article, am also a newbie and working on my blog as a full time blogger.i would like to note ur suggestions. Thank you…..
Very useful and valuable article , I think it really help in future . Thanks harsh.
Maintaining a blog with working 9am to 6 pm is really hard for most of People as it took hours to create a quality content for your blog. The above points are helpful in many scenarios.
thanx Harsh for useful tips, yeah may be i can write in mornings as i am an early riser…
Comment:Mr harsh thnx a lot. Failure Leads to success. I told myself that i will never be afraid of making mistake in life,” says felix “you know the old riddle achieving success? you must find success by gaining experience.and you gain experience by making mistake. So felix without failures, there is no success.I can never says there no way, there must be way to go.thnx
Thank you Harsh for pointing me to this article.
This is really inspiring. And I’m thrilled to read that the best times recommended for blogging are early morning and late evening.
I’m a morning person and most of my articles are completed in the morning. I don’t do much in the afternoon.
Whether you are holding a full-time job or not, I believe planning, scheduling, starting with a niche you’re most comfortable in is crucial is moving forward. The only difference I suppose is the amount of time that you are able to dedicate to your blog(s) – between those who are in full-time jobs and those who are not.
I am not where I want to be yet (i.e. 5-figure income from blogging) but at learst I know I should hang around at places like this (shoutmeloud.com) for source of motivation!
Hi Harsh,
Happy to be here again.
Thanks a lot for the kind notification via mail.
Yes, the information shared is a great secret!
Yes, let us be ourselves
Let’s spend quality time with our closed ones
And let’s cut short the unwanted activities
Let’s turn that time into productive activities
Thanks for telling about those valuable and useful apps.
I alm going to do that.
And ultimately thanks for directing me to this informative piece of Srikanth.
Thanks Sri for this valuable piece. I am sure the shared tips are worth to follow.
Reading is a vital part in a Blogger’s life! Read, Read and Read and accumulate the knowledge and share it with your fellow beings. Let this be our motto!
Yes, let’s share our blessings to others in whatever way we can.
Again, I like the concluding part!
Yes, spent quality time with our loved ones as well as friends.
Our day job with blogging shouldn’t be a hindrance to that.
All good wishes to you both and to the readers here.
Have a great time ahead with sharing and writing
Best
~ Philips
Dear Harsh,
i came through your email newsletter and really found it helpful. i just launched my Urdu Blog after long time of registration, i hope i can make it more lucrative by reading your given tips, and yest thank you very much srikanth for your valuable post, as i am also suffering the time management issue and i found your post really helpful for me.
Thanks very much for your great post. It’s going to be quite helpful for beginners like me. Though it’s really demanding, but with a good guide like this one, one stands a better chance of success.
It really works. Thanks for writing this. I read this article before few days and I implement on it because I’m a student, part-time jobber and also a blogger so, Sometimes I don’t handle this three things in a row. BUt, your article and your strategies are really helpful to me. Thanks again.
I must say this is a very useful post for me. I am also facing similar situation and some of the mentioned points are really helpful for me.
Thanks a lot !!!
Sometimes it’s actually easier to write with a day job. For one, when you only have a small window to write it gives you the urgency to be productive. Also, you have the income from the day job to support you while your blog is growing and making little to no money in the mean time. But I’m not trying to play devil’s advocate. Great write up!
Hey. SRIKANTH
It.s a great post for me and new bloggers..I really appreciate your all additional tips. Thanks a lot for sharing such kind of information… 🙂
Susheel
This is a great post! Having a full time job and my blog, things become very hectic at times. I now wake up very early in the morning and write which helps a LOT! Also, writing early in the morning allows me to spend quality time on writing a longer post with a fresh mind.
I can relate to this article as I am almost following the same steps in my blogging while having a full time job.
Thanks for the nice article.