Hello, friends. I hope you’ll excuse today’s post as it’s clearly not really about “healthy living.” But then again, maybe it is… When you tell people that you blog for a living you will usually get asked one of two questions: 1. How do you make money blogging? and 2. Can you help me do the same? As much as I wish I had the time to sit down with everyone and share the “hows” of blogging, it just isn’t feasible right now. Maybe one day I’ll write a post about it, but until then you can go check out my friend Jackie, The Paleo Mama, who DID write about it. It’s a pretty spot on post. (You can read it here.) A lot of people are drawn to the idea of making a living from blogging. And with good reason: It’s awesome! I mean, to take something that was simply a passion and hobby of mine and be able to create a business from it where I’m able to support my family and work alongside with my husband is amazing. But it’s not all kicks and giggles. It’s hard work. And just like any job out there there is a good side, a bad side, and an unfortunate ugly side to the business. Today I’d like to share that with y’all. (If you don’t care about blogging, by all means, just head on over to my recipe section and choose some yummy real food to make instead.) The GOOD side of blogging 1. I’m my own boss. For some people this may not be a big bonus, but for me it’s one of my favorite things about my job. And don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of amazing bosses in my life, but I still prefer to work for myself. I love making my own goals, my own rules, and my vision for my work. 2. I get to work from home. I don’t have to deal with traffic, cubicles, or professional attire. Most days I am checking comments in my pajamas as the sun is rising. I’ve always loved being at home so this is a real bonus for me. 3. I get to write about what I love. I LOVE writing about healthy living. I am humbled that I get to do it for a living. I love motivating and inspiring others to make positive changes. I love busting myths about food. I love getting people to try new things. It’s a real pleasure… most of the time. 4. I get to “meet” a lot of amazing people. The number of inspiring, loving, and simply amazing people that I’ve connected with through this blog is humbling to say the least. From my fellow bloggers to my sweet readers, I can honestly say that my life is richer from the folks I’ve met through this blog of mine. 5. I don’t have a set salary. While I probably won’t be featured on the cover of Forbes anytime soon, the sky is limit on my earning potential. I don’t start the year knowing what I will make. I never have to beg for a raise. Instead I have infinite potential to go beyond what I ever thought possible through this medium. Is it hard work? Um, yes. If you aren’t prepared to work hard don’t ever expect to make money blogging. Period. But I love knowing that I set my standard for earning instead of someone else. 6. I don’t have a set schedule. Want to take a long lunch with the family? Okay. I can do that. Want to take a week off to go on a vacation? No biggie. There are no time requests to make. No sick days to count up. I set my hours and am the master of my schedule. (Well as much as I can be with two small children.) 7. I get to put my ideas “out there” for the world. At the time of writing this post over 3.7 MILLION unique visitors have seen this blog since its inception a couple years ago. WHAT? That’s just plain crazy. And awesome. Never in a million years did I think I’d have such an audience to hear what I have to say. The BAD side of blogging 1. I’m my own boss. Yep. It’s good and bad. I have to make my own calls. I have to determine the best course of action for my business. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes I find I’ve made a terrible mistake and have to wade through the consequences… It can be stressful to say the least. But at least at the end of the day I know I won’t fire myself. I just have to remember to learn and do better. 2. I have to work from home. Despite this being one of my favorite aspects of blogging, it’s also one of the hardest. With two beautiful, needy, and amazing children it’s easy to get distracted. (Don’t worry, between my husband and I someone is always giving our children quality attention). It’s also easy to get unmotivated and fall behind my to-do list. Working from home is hard. Wonderful, but hard. 3. I feel pressured in my writing. I’m not a scientist. I’m not into the minutia of nutritional research. I don’t care about every little study done on… well, on any subject. I’ve always been more of a moderate in my approach: Eat real food. Move your body. Live toxic free. The thing is, you can only say that so many time before you feel like a broken record. Trying to come up with new content a couple times a week can be exhausting. Trying to write to a standard you feel your readers deserve doesn’t always happen. And yes, I feel guilty about that when it’s not up to par. 4. I don’t have a set salary. Books sales didn’t go off so well? Too bad. Did your traffic dive and cut into...
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