moretimeoffguy

Thanks again to all.

gpapadop

You can spend a lot of time (and years) of trying to become one of them super successful bloggers or you can refocus on your career. You know, enhance your skills ON your chosen career! Sometimes I wonder if all aspiring bloggers did that they would be happier AND the rewards would be MORE way earlier than the promise land of successful bloggers.

One more thing: Do not let others define what success means to YOU.

Blogging takes TALENT and STAMINA. After 5 years you can make less than minimum wage like me lol. For the record, I have not focused on monetizing. Some may differ on that :-)

Good luck.

sbm12

Why is this not an option as a career?

Odds of becoming a millionaire doing it are probably as low as making it as a starter in the NBA. But that doesn't mean someone cannot make a decent income in the space if they combine decent content and a decent marketing strategy. Lots of folks manage at that level.

gpapadop

All the work that will be put into that could go to obtain or enhance other more marketable skills. I don't know, coding, certifications, MBA, etc.

Or work assoff to become yet another travel expert who uses frequent flier miles to fly for "free"...with so many competitors doing it out there already.

I am not saying it can not be done. What I am saying is that it is EXTREMELY hard and the odds are not in your favor. Because of talent and stamina. And, you know, life happens. There are SO MANY dead blogs out there, the streets are littered with bodies

Must find voice, must ENJOY doing this, must KEEP at it for longer than you ever thought, blah blah blah...

Good luck to the OP.

I should do a post titled "Hey new blogger are you out of your frigging mind to think you can teach people how to fly for free when there are hundreds/thousands doing it longer than you?" Or something like that

sbm12

Because all of those are so easy??

And forget easy. What about personally rewarding?

Choosing a career (or just a job) just because it is easy or generates more cash is not the right choice for everyone. Dismissing the alternative so flippantly is unfortunate.

Raffles

Here's the thing. When you have kids you discover stuff like stampylonghead on YouTube, a British kid who films himself playing Minecraft. That's it.

It is one of the top 10 channels and the guy will earn more than every miles and points blogger combined, I'm sure.

Why even bother encouraging my kids to go to university if they can film themselves playing video games all day and earn 8 figures?

Richklhs

I've spent the last 9 years in a job that has been professionally and financially rewarding and enriching, but personaly leaving a void. I am leaving in two weeks after 9 years in the last job to attempt a full time living in this space. Granted I've done 4-5 years of prep work and it is indeed incredibly hard, but my family and I are willing to set forward a new, well prepped path, and face the possibility of failure rather than continue on a rat race that leaves us all unsatisfied. Is it terrifying? Absolutely. Is it exciting? definitely.

My advice to all looking to change careers, regardless of the fields, is to recognize the foundation work that must be laid over the course of months or years. You should also surround yourself with people smarter than you in areas of your self-recognized shortfalls before jumping ship. Hasty decisions and a lack of planning are the fast track to disappointment and hardship.

kokonutz

And Ronaldinho made $29.5 million playing football. May as well blow college savings on a new car and buy the kid a soccer ball instead. @:-)


Good luck to you! We're working on making our side gig lucrative enough to become our full-time gig and go digital nomad. But it's NOT in this over-saturated space littered with dead geese.

Are you listening?

gpapadop

I agree with your first sentence 100%.

The second one is flippant indeed, you missed my point.

gpapadop

Funny you mentioned that! My kid wanted to design video games when he was young. Sent him to a tech camp and was hooked. Even designed a game he still has! Thankfully, he came to his senses later on and is going well in college. I always told him he must LIKE what he does for a living, must have a passion for it. Otherwise, not worth it, we only live once.

If aspiring bloggers have a TRUE passion for it and not driven by the money first, sure take a crack at it. Life is not worth living with regrets. Okay...gotta pick up my daughter from dance camp lol.

gpapadop

Great post!

Leaving TPG to blog on your own? I always wondered why you didn't

Richklhs

One of my requirements to ever consider leaving is you link one of my posts.

Ekin Donmez

Travel blogging is a huge money source for travelers. Believe me! I will recommend you to collaborate with brands or guest blogging. I have 3 friends who are traveling in this way. They have no other job by the way. But they use some websites to earn money while traveling. (like Glocalzone) Also, they use Couchsurfing and blogging about that(İt takes lots of traffic).

Kagehitokiri

i see thread has been bumped

so i will note that this is hilarious >

kokonutz

And since this thread was bumped, the above is actually happening:

ReadyJetRoam ? Turning a passion for travel into a digital nomad lifestyle.

Don't worry, the blog is just for fun...no credit card huckstering or even ads....yet.