I’M WEARING: SCOTCH & SODA JACKET – SIMILAR STYLE | FOREVER 21 PANTS | MISSGUIDED HEELS

Ever have one of those days when you feel somewhat “belittled” (directly or indirectly) for calling your blog a full-time job? Whenever I candidly tell someone that I have 2 jobs, this being one of them, I get 2 types of reactions:

1) the smile & nod – which really translates to “eye-roll”

or

2) the genuine & intrigued – which replies with follow up questions to explain the process of how I make this a profitable business.

Unfortunately I feel I get #1 response more often and in an effort to avoid becoming bitter, I’ve changed the way I answer the question, “So what do you do for a living” to briefly explain that my blog helps me with my rent so I get the attention of the person who’s asking immediately.

What many people don’t realize is how much time and work goes into a single blog post, let alone maintaining a consistent schedule of content each day, each week, each month, all leading up to four years (personally.) It’s draining, exhausting and calls for sacrificing how you spend your “free time” especially if you work a normal 9-5 job like most of us do. But it’s also incredibly rewarding, inspiring, and if your lucky, something you can call a profitable passion project.

As my blog’s readership has grown, the demand for more content – and different types of content – has increased. This is a great thing! But this also means more time will need to be spent on curating such requests that will satisfy your readers and have them coming back for more.

How much time? Here’s a general breakdown of how my typical Wednesday (the day I take off each week from my other job to dedicate to my blog) goes when I’m curating content for both my readers and my livelihood of running a blog as a second, full-time hustle:

• 1-2 hours: Plan 5-6 outfits (one for every day of the week plus one extra backup) to shoot in the early morning hour the following day – this includes trying on the outfits to make sure they work, etc.
• 2 hours: Photographing all these planned looks
• 3 hours: Editing all photographs (usually 6 photographs per outfit, so 36 photos min..)
• 1 hour: Uploading photos to blog & drafting a post (note: 1 hour per outfit, so 6 looks = 6 hours of drafting & scheduling.)
• 2 hours: Answering emails and planning editorial calendar for upcoming weeks (I get close to 100 genuine (not spam) emails a day FYI…)
• 2 hours: Run personal or blog errands, clean my apt, do laundry (maybe) – oh yeah, and eat something…
• 1-2 hours: Plan out the next day when you do it all again to some degree & when you can dedicate a night to be social

This equals out to be a 14+ hour day if you do it all NON-STOP; of course, life happens and nothing can be guaranteed to go to plan. But yes, this much time is a ballpark idea of what it takes to provide high quality content & get paid for representing your clients to the best of your ability – because at the end of the day, you work to make money and if you work hard & well, you can make more.

GUYS…A 14+ HOUR DAY = IMPOSSIBLE & UNREALISTIC.

I can never nor will I ever achieve such a time frame in one single day. But if you really wanted to break it down for someone, that’s what you can confidently say how much time it takes. But to be honest, blogging is a 24/7 job – you have to be a normal human to maintain sanity.

So instead of celebrating Thirsty Thursday happy hour socializing out on the town, I’ll pour myself a glass of wine and socialize with the people who’s emails I’m answering pertaining to the projects I’m working on. Weekend plans? Most of us make them – but if I know I’ll have zero time in the next week to dedicate to curating content, I’ll raincheck those brunch plans and get up at 7am to work on my blog instead.

I’M A ONE MAN TEAM

I don’t have an assistant (as much as I need one) because I can’t comfortably afford to have one yet. So until then, my nights will remain late and my social life will sometimes be on hold for pressing projects. If I want to make it work (which I do) then this is the sacrifice I’m more than willing to take.

I’M NOT COMPLAINING

I absolutely love both my jobs and this is what I signed up for. But next time you hear someone blogs for a living or as a side hustle, take a moment to listen and appreciate how much goes into it. Blogs (of all types!) are great platforms for individuality and I’m sure many of us would be sad if they didn’t exist.

OK END RANT – THANKS FOR READING MY VENT SESH THAT WAS VERY THERAPEUTIC FOR ME TO WRITE.

Hopefully this will clear the foggy air about what type of dedication goes into a quality blog & why/how people do this as a profession.

What appears as a glossy, generous lifestyle full of free product and social media engagement is not everything it appears to be. In fact, the time to even take a picture to post (for a sponsored brand or even personally) can take longer than a quick tap, type, tap to publish.

It needs to match your content, be visually appealing (which can require staging and proper lighting) and most importantly, meet the needs and requirements of the brand sponsoring you for the post (if applicable.)

It’s important to recognize that a millennial-focused career still holds the same (sometimes more) standards of a 9-5 office job if it intends to be successful. It’s an old-school method that will always work, you just have to adapt your business with the modernized times.

 [Linked up w/: Thursday Moda, What I Wore, Spotlight Weekly, Thursday Fashion Files, WIWT, Thursday Favorite Things, Labour of Fashion, No Rules]