One of my favorite things about running this site is that I get to “meet” a ton of different people. I'm fortunate that even early on in this site's life, I have readers from all over the world with totally different goals and dreams.
Some people want to become debt free, and some people want to become full-time bloggers and work from wherever they want. It's cool because I get to write about multiple topics instead of just personal finance or self-employment.
A lot of people are really curious about my life because my job is so weird (which I totally understand). Almost EVERY conversation I have with new people I meet has to do with how I make money or what I do every day.
There are definitely awesome things about being self employed. However…there are a few drawbacks too (not that I'm complaining too much). Check it out!
The good and the bad of being a professional blogger
The good:
I make my own hours
When I was a band director, I woke up at about 5:30 am and worked from 7:15 am until 7:00-8:00 pm. People don't realize how much time extra-curricular teachers/coaches spend at the school!
I don't really have a set time that I wake up now honestly. Sometimes I wake up super early when my wife does, but usually it's closer to 7:00 am. The big thing for me is that I start working almost immediately after getting up now (checking my phone, sending emails, writing, etc.).
I'll explain when I stop working later in this post.
All I need to make money is my laptop (and internet)
It's true! Most of the time I don't actually need internet to work, but it makes things easier. My entire business is run on a 13″ Macbook. I tried working from an office when I first quit my job, but I found that I wrote better content when I was either at a coffee shop or at home.
I guess the other thing I NEED is music/headphones. I can't write without that.
I make more money than I used to
If you've been following my story for any amount of time, you know that I'm super fortunate to make much more money than I did when I was teaching. If you were wondering – it doesn't feel much different making $10k/month instead of $3,500/month.
I really don't take very much money out of my company, so my lifestyle hasn't changed too much.
You can see my last few income reports below:
December 2016 Online Income Report: $12,581.87
November 2016 Online Income Report: $11,173.63
October 2016 Online Income Report: $11,343.22
September 2016 Online Income Report: $10,127.27
I can work wherever I want
There are a bunch of bloggers that work from super cool places like RV's or Sailboats. It's brilliant (in my opinion), because it brings in different types of readers that also want to travel and work at the same time.
My wife still has a normal job, so we aren't planning on full-time traveling any time soon. We also like the area we live in a lot! It's close to the lake, the beach, and downtown Houston.
Maybe we will travel someday though. Who knows.
It's fun
I'm thankful to wake up and do what I do every single day. I know that this is rare and could be over at any time if blogging falls off the face of the earth.
The bad (not actually bad…just not as good):
It can be a little lonely at first
A TON of people keep telling me I need to read The 4 Hour Workweek. I guess it mentions in the book how working the way I do is a big adjustment at first.
I can tell you – it's true. You never realize how much different the world is when you don't have a normal job. If I go to the store in the middle of the day, it's freaking empty. It's very much like The Walking Dead sometimes haha!
I'm pretty good at being alone during the day now honestly. I'm not sure if it's just my personality type or something, but I'm good at staying occupied with work. I also talk to a ton of people online, and my wife gets off pretty early most days.
I did actually adopt a dog recently to hang out with during the day (while my wife was out of town…not sure if that was gutsy or stupid yet). His name is Strider!
Nothing is guaranteed
Every once in a while I freak out a little bit when I think about making money the next month. I have some steady work and I feel like I can find ways to make money, but there's nothing guaranteeing that I don't have a few bad months this year. Hopefully that doesn't happen!
You're never really “off”
99% of the time when I'm not working, answering emails, or posting on social media, I'm thinking about work. Every self-employed person I've ever talked to says the same thing, and I still haven't mastered the art of turning the switch off.
But still…I can't really complain. I'm a full-time blogger. Cool, right?
Are you interested in starting your own blog? Take a look at my free blogging “how to” guide!
Question for you:
What do you think the best and worst thing about working for yourself would be?
> What do you think the best and worst thing about working for yourself would be?
Ha! The boss can be a real asshole.
Seriously though, the best bit is the freedom and the control. Fancy going to the beach instead of working on that presentation? Then go. Want to play in the parents versus teachers football game they organised at the last minute? Then play.
The worst bit is reputational harm really matters. Most new business is attracted via word of mouth recommendations, past clients raving about how the self-employed person’s awesomeness knows no bounds.
Therefore any average everyday assassination of the self-employed person’s character can have a material impact on their earnings.
I agree – there is a lot of freedom and control, but you don’t REALLY work for yourself. You work for clients, advertisers, etc. It’s just a shift, but still much better than working for a company (at least for me).
I really think creating your own schedule is the way to go. Everyone’s minds/bodies function better at different times and it sucks that we’re all stuck into a slotted time to be “on” each day. Boo.
I really would like the perks of setting my own schedule. I could wake up at a reasonable time (by 7 am – 8 am), fit in a healthy breakfast, and work out. Ahhhh. The day would be so nice. 🙂
As far as downsides, for me it would be figuring out all the tax and legal implications of being self-employed. The implications are pretty big if you don’t understand what to do.
Yes definitely on the tax and legal implications! I highly recommend that anyone who wants to start a small business needs an accountant and good legal structure!
Creating your one schedule is pretty nice!
Good reflection. I totally get the part about how many hours teachers/coaches put in, it’s insane. I think the thing that would be most difficult for me is “shutting down.” Like you said, you’re never really “off.” Especially in today’s fully connected world, unless you leave your phone, laptop, or internet connection, you will always have that urge to check those things. I would have difficulty with this, in fact, I do have difficulty with this in my own person job right now. Good stuff!
Thanks Kyle! Yes, I worked a ton as a band director haha. I don’t know if I actually work less now…I really need to track my hours one of these months. It’s definitely tough shutting it down though.
Cute dog! I get the adjustment from regular work to a non-regular schedule. Last year I had MLK Jr day off from school and it was awesome. This year, it’s kind of like every other day…Home with my kids, trying to keep them off the iPad as long as possible! It’s great not having a set required routine, but sometimes I miss that structure, oddly enough. Eventually I hope to find more time in the day for side-hustle work (blogging, freelance writing, and proofreading). I love reading your story; it is definitely inspiring!
Thank you! Glad you like reading 🙂
Yeah I’ve heard other bloggers say that they wish they could go back to a normal job. I’m not quite to that point yet haha!
I think you hit the nail on the head with NEVER turning “off”. I’ve decided to treat my blog like a business this year and I’ve started putting a ton of time and energy into it, alongside my full-time job in the pharma industry and my family and child. I try to schedule stuff on social media via Buffer (thanks to your suggestion) and try to do my writing after my daughter is asleep. But it’s tough. I’m going to give it 110% over the next few months and evaluate the progress. I’m taking your advice about how to build a blog. Maybe that could be a post after I’m super famous in the blogosphere in a year or two. I’d love to quit my W-2 to do this full-time. In the meantime, I’m working 2 full-time jobs and trying to manage a family. Crossing my fingers it pays off! Thanks for the inspiration!
Mrs. Mad Money Monster
Wow you’re busy! That’s awesome. Just remember to take everything slowly…blogs take time to build!
Thanks! I’ve been working on it over a year now, but I’ve decided to start to take it seriously and to treat it like a business in 2017. Hoping to see it grow in the upcoming year 🙂
Best thing: I got to take a fifteen-minute fishing break the other day because I was working at my grandparent’s lake house.
Worst thing: I don’t have a boss to tell me what the most important thing to do is and I have to learn to guide myself. Any advice on this on?
I enjoyed reading this. There are a lot of perks to self-employment, but it still reminds you that it’s not perfect, you take the good with the bad. Thanks for putting this together!
I’ve really found that you have to keep your long term goals in mind when you’re trying to figure out which direction to take. Usually if you do that, all the small things along the way will be taken care of. Glad you liked the post!
I think what brings the most amount of satisfaction in any pursuit is the amount of control you have. You have control over when and where you work, and to some degree, the amount of money you make. I hope to get there someday as I continue to build my site, but in the meantime I have a job I love that offers me a ton of control. No matter how much I like it, though, I’m still working for someone else. This drives me to reach financial freedom faster – so I have more options!
Thanks for sharing!
No problem! Yes I definitely have more control over different aspects of my day, which is awesome! But I do have to make sure that I am producing for my clients and providing great value on this site for readers. Definitely not easy!
A great example of the pros and cons of blogging. The great thing is that blogging only really takes time. There’s not a lot of other ways to start up a business for so little capital. It’s definitely a kill what you eat thing, though You’ve definitely seem like you have the business mind for it!
Were you always just a natural business person or did you really have to train yourself? The main problem I have is figuring out how to be confident in myself and value myself properly.
I was NOT a natural business person! I still struggle with undercharging sometimes and giving things away for free that I shouldn’t. I tend to be too generous (in my mind at least), which doesn’t necessarily work in the business world. I’ve actually learned a lot from one of my marketing clients. He’s a straight shooting businessman, and I’m trying to be more of that as this thing grows.
I do think you can be good at sales without being a natural salesperson, but you have to find the right medium. I’m much better at online sales than I am face to face.
I think the best thing is creating something from nothing. Also, I love the business development aspect of blogging where I cement a deal with the new client and grow that business.
I’m not sure what the downsides are anymore. When technical difficulties happen that’s a bummer. When needing to have to upgrade to HTTPS when everything is going fine is also a bummer.
What are your thoughts on publishing income reports? I’ve always taken the more Stealth Wealth approach, but it does seem like income reports are very popular for readers.
Sam
I think the income reports are a good tool – a lot of the readers really enjoy them it seems. It also helps me keep track of everything and see my own progress (which is kinda cool). Very awkward to do at first honestly.
Cool? It’s freaking Bas A$$!
I recently went back to school to get training to become a home inspector. Through doing home inspections, e-commerce, and blogging my goal is to become 100% self-employed. I jumped around a ton after college and every time I did it became more relevant that I was an entrepreneur at heart. I love the hustle. I love setting goals and smashing them. I love learning new things. I love building relationships with people.
2017 WILL BE EPIC!
Man,
I am so envious of that schedule!! If I ever start my own blogging making enough money to self-employ myself, I’d love to be able to wake up whenever I want. I work better at night anyway so I’d much rather sleep till 8 or 9am and work more after dinner.
Yeah I really tend to work late every night, but I like that so much more than waking up super early!!!!
The best thing would be the utter flexibility. I CRAVE that for not only my creative side, but for my kids. I could finally be the mom who goes to a field trip with them and then make up for the time by logging on at night after they go to bed. It truly seems like it would lead to a better quality of life. I am not afraid of hard work–I love to work hard. What I don’t like is watching a clock, wondering if this is it.
I think the cool thing is that you can make money online and it doesn’t have to be solely from your blog! There’s a ton of freelancing and marketing opportunities out there for people that have shown the ability to create a readership (of any size).