How to make your blog your job

About a year ago, I ran a series on Blogging & PR and I also mentioned that I was writing an eBook – well, it turned out that a lot of what I wrote in those posts was what I wanted to include in the eBook, so I’d given away that content for free, d’oh! Nevertheless, that series is still there to read and still very relevant. But a few people wanted to know more about how I made my blog into my job.

I also recently read Amber’s (from Forever Amber) eBook called My Blogging Secrets: A guide to becoming a pro-blogger which got me thinking about this a bit more. I’ll have more of a review coming up in one of my book posts soon, but for now – if you’re wanting to get more serious about blogging, go buy it and read it! It’s fun as well as informative, promise!

Now I’m not a pro-blogger and I’m not sure I want to be a full time one either. I love blogging but the flipside is that I also love my job in digital media marketing at Bronco. Some of you might even know me from there – hi! I’m definitely not prepared to leave the job any time soon, but there are two sides to this story:

1. My blog is now monetised.
2. My blog got me my job.

So basically, my blog is a job and my blog became my job. Prior to working at Bronco, I was teaching and miserable – I lasted only that one year before becoming one of those statistics. So I wanted to give a few tips on how I got to that stage.

Get off the free platforms

I recommend this time and time again but I’m going to keep reiterating it – get off free platforms like Blogger (which gives you the .blogspot.com address). Use platforms like this to buy your own domain, get yourself some hosting, and get used to using WordPress.Okay, I started on Blogger and was completely loyal to it for years, and I was actually offered my job when I was still on a Blogspot domain, but fortunately they could see my potential through that (I hope!) and the company actually got me my own domain and hosting after that.
Having your own domain means that you look far more professional – this means that if you’re trying to break into the digital industry, it looks like you already know your stuff as you’ve set up your own “real” blog. It will give you the opportunity to work with more brands on your blog, as will being self hosted – brands are looking for more self hosted blogs nowadays.

Check your grammar and spelling

Another obvious one that comes up everywhere but needs to be reiterated – make sure that if you’re writing, you’re writing well. (And please don’t go back through my posts finding errors now – I’m only human and wish I had more time for checking for errors!). It’s completely understandable if you’re not great at writing or you have a condition like dyslexia that makes it difficult, but imagine if what you’re writing is for an actual job – it is going to be read by lots of people, and in fact sometimes you might be being paid to write it on your blog – you wouldn’t get away with shoddy work then!

Add your blog to your CV

People are often wary of doing this, but don’t be! It’s especially important if you’re applying to a digital job, but anything that includes writing, outreach, knowledge of SEO, it can be useful for. Even if you’re not applying to an obviously related job, a blog still shows off your dedication to something you’re passionate about and can show how you’re able to stick to deadlines, organise and motivate yourself.

Show off your best assets

Your blog is your opportunity to show off what you can do to the best of your ability – it can be on any topic, so show off your hobbies, what you’re passionate about, how well you can write, how good a photographer you are, even how well you can use social media. Use it, and use it well.

Network and make contacts

Whether that’s within the blogging community itself to find brands and companies that might be willing to work with you or other bloggers you can share tips with, or relevant people within the industry you’re looking to break into, this is really important as these people might be happy to help you out in future.

Do you have any tips on making your blog your job?