Risking It for a Biscuit With Blogging

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Risking It For A Biscuit

Have you heard the phrase risking it for a biscuit? Well the phrase pretty much means taking a risk to get a potential reward. As a blogger I guess I take risks and chances on a regular basis. Starting a blog was a risk for me. I was risking sharing my life, my health story and family with the hope I could help myself and others along the way.

Deciding to become a professional blogger, particularly a lifestyle blogger was a risk. There was a chance I might fail, a chance my efforts would go down the drain, but then there was the chance of succeeding, of building a better future for my family and creating a business from nothing.

Sometimes in life if we want a reward or a prize we have to sacrifice, put in the effort and take risks. Some people think blogging is just a hobby and a load of crap. I recently read a troll comment about a successful blogger which said, “oh she’s a blogger, so technically she is unemployed”.

Reality of Blogging

The reality is blogging, can be and is a real profession. It’s a job that requires sacrifice, time and effort on the bloggers part. It often requires sacrifices from the whole family. A bloggers life is often open to the public eye and like anyone who shares parts of their life, a blogger can be easily critiqued by the general pubic.

Bloggers don’t get freebies. They don’t get free products to review or get paid to write or share content without doing a lot of work. For example, in order for me to review toys regularly, I spent two years reviewing toys and products in the home and writing about them. I spent hours upon hours engaging on social media, building an audience, pitching, marketing and promoting my blog.

A blog is like an online version of a magazine. However as a blogger you are often the editor, the columnist, the journalist, the marketer, the photographer, the sales person, printer and the techy person. As a blogger there is a lot to do.

Blogging has not been around for decades. It is a relatively new profession and I mean that, “Profession”. As a blogger you have to learn as you go, like an apprentice, study and do the practical all at once. I remember the first year of writing my blog, I did not watch TV. I spent every night working on content and although I wanted to watch TV and relax at the end of the day, like so many of my friends do after their 9-5 job, I could not. Not if I wanted to succeed.

Blogging is hard work. It is harder for me than both my degrees which I got from University. It requires a sacrifice. You have to give up time and work many more hours than you would in a ordinary day job. You may even spend the first few years working hard for hardly any return.

Blogging Is Not Simple

Blogging is not as simple as setting up a wordpress page and writing. Some say, “if you write it they will come”. It is not true. A blogger has to promote. Write 20% of the time and promote 80%. In order to run a blog you need a domain, a blog host. You may need social media scheduling tools, editing software, camera and video gear, light boxes and other tools of the trade.

A professional blogger can get to the point where they need to hire staff, a VA, social media manager and pay for courses for professional development. For every brand collaboration, or paid instagram promotion, you have to create your own unpaid content.

A Newspaper or magazine does not just have ad’s. It has original content and as a blogger you have to create your own content alongside content for companies and brands. Just like any business, you have to put money in and invest for your blog to grow and develop and that can mean huge financial sacrifices for the family.

Blogging is a risk, it’s a risk I was willing to take and a risk I continue to take. I know anyone who works hard can be a successful blogger and what you put in is what you get out.

Working On Instagram

This week I have been thinking about my Instagram feed. I decided I am going to change it up a little. I know it’s a risk, a huge risk. My Instagram followers may like it or they may hate it. I do not know but if I do not test the waters and do what I feel may work, I will never know.

I’m going to start alternating pictures from the past with pictures from the present. Yes it’s not as Instant as Insta used to be and I am going to use this platform to tell my story, my story of the past and my story of the present. It’s not how others do it but it’s an idea I’ve had and I will try it out to see how it goes.

If people hate my new idea then so be it. I may lose followers, but there is a chance I will be successful and so I am going to risk it for a biscuit. If you want your blog or Instagram to stand out then you need to be unique and different. I am going to do just that and it will either work really well or not.

I’m going to take the risk and see how it goes. Wish me luck and please do pop over and visit my Instagram in the coming days, I have a story to share.

Angela x