This post contains affiliate links. See affiliate disclaimer here.
When we first considered blogging, we were in a tiny dark apartment (seriously, that apartment had some lighting issues).
My husband was constantly on the look out for ways to make money online so he could quit his soul-sucking corporate job and we could live our passion – full-time travel.
And as for me, I honestly didn’t believe in myself to make a living online. I had a lot of misbeliefs about my abilities and what I could do. So when my future-focused husband popped the idea of him working a corporate job (since he had a college degree and could make more money), while I stayed at home and worked on a way to make money online, I had some serious doubts. He told me that he would be working with me in the evenings after work, but I just couldn’t see myself doing anything except a part-time (or full-time if lucky) job at a local store.
It also really wasn’t easy to convince me when we were feeling the pressure of living paycheck-to-paycheck.
We needed the extra money another job could bring us, especially since our car kept on breaking down in the middle of winter and took away any savings we had.
Then one day, my husband found a quick way to start making real income blogging.
We had always heard from other bloggers that it took them FOREVER to make an income blogging (years), so when he listened to a podcast interviewing a blogger who started making $5,000 a month after a year of taking her blog seriously… I started to believe in a way to make money online.
Of course it took more convincing from my husband (a lot) to show me that I could do it and I could become a blogger.
Then finally after taking around 4 months to prep (writing content and setting up social media accounts) my blog before it launched (we had to wait since a friend of ours was kindly doing it for free and had a ton on her plate), and officially blogging with a live site for about two months… we started getting pageviews… MASSIVE pageviews.
Then after that third month our blog had launched… we knew it was time for my husband to quit his job.
And since then, I’ve been able to have experiences I would never have had before if I hadn’t taken the first step into starting my own site.
The Things I’ve Experience Because of Blogging…
I’ve gotten to stay in medieval towns on the Moroccan coast, experience amazing cuisine in Paris, take train trips from Istanbul to Vienna, and parasail in the Thai islands. Blogging opened up a door to a life I never knew I could live.
And that’s why I really want to go over the different ways blogging can change your life too!
I want it to open up the opportunities it opened up for me.
Side Note: If you’re interested in starting a blog yourself, then definitely check out my step-by-step guide on how to start your own blog in minutes! Also, if you do start a blog, then I would definitely go with Bluehost to host your WordPress blog (I am an affiliate of Bluehost so if you purchase through my link, I do get a commission at no extra cost to you). And if you decide to go through my link, know that you will get a FREE domain name and a special pricing of $2.95 a month (which I negotiated with Bluehost). But I’m not sure how long that pricing will last, so definitely check it out!
1. You Will Have More Time With Family & Friends
Now one of the biggest reasons why people love blogging is that it gives them the time freedom to be with their loved ones.
So whether you’re a mother who would love to have more time with her children or husband, or you’d like more time to talk with friends or move closer to your parents, blogging will give you this ability.
It’s the reason why we can come home every Christmas and take a few weeks to be with loved ones (instead of heading back to the grind once Christmas week is over).
And it’s the reason why we can (once we’re done with traveling), settle down into a home, spend time with each other, and then… have kids and spend time with them.
Side Note! Here’s a list of the tools I used to make over $10,000 a MONTH with my blog:
If you want to quickly start up your own blog for a cheap price (only $2.95/mo through my special link here), then I would definitely recommend Bluehost. It’s what I used when I first started out, and you need a hosting service if you want to make money through your blog more easily.
Check out my step-by-step guide here that shows you how to sign up quickly.
One of the BEST ways to make money blogging is with affiliate marketing. Basically, you recommend a product you love and when they click through your link and make a purchase, you get a commission at no extra cost to them. And a great place to learn is with the online course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. The creator, Michelle, makes over $50,000 a MONTH through affiliate marketing, so she definitely knows what she’s talking about.
Read my review of the course here to learn more!
Also, you can check out my interview with Michelle here.
If you want a course that will take you by the hand and teach you how to become a full-time blogger, then I would definitely recommend Elite Blog Academy (or EBA). They only open up once a year though (in early March), so it’s best to sign up for their waitlist here and they’ll let you know as soon as the cart has opened.
Read my review of Elite Blog Academy here.
One of the most important things you can do as a new blogger is to start up your email list right away. It’s what I wish I would have done when I first started out because then I would have a LOT more subscribers (and having an email list is the biggest way to make money blogging).
The email provider I use is Convertkit since they’re SUPER easy to use and give you 1 FREE month to try it out.
Read my Convertkit review here.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is one of the most important ways to get traffic to your blog. It’s basically optimizing each blog post so that it shows up in people’s search results on Google. And if you’d like to learn more on how to do that, then check out Stupid Simple SEO. It’s a course that opens up a few times a year and has REALLY helped us out!
Read the review of the course here!
If you’re new to creating images for your blog, and don’t have the money for Photoshop, then I would definitely recommend PicMonkey.com. I started out with it when I was a new blogger and still use it to this day! Also, the monthly price is the same as just a couple Starbucks drinks.
Related
How to Start a Blog & Quit Your Job!
2. You’ll Have the Time to Go After Your Dreams & Passions
So many of us just don’t have the time to do what we actually want to do in life. Instead, we’re told to:
First, go to college.
And Second, get a good paying job.
But.. whatever happened to having time to do what you really want to do?
And for you, if you’re a mother, your passion might be spending more time with your kids. Or if you’re single and working a full-time corporate job, your dream might be to move to a city that has more opportunities for acting, which brings me to my next point..
3. You Can Be Location Independent
Plain and simple, you can travel or live wherever you want.
So for instance, let’s say your family is on the east coast and you want to move back, but you have a job that’s keeping you around. Then you can start making money with a blog, quit your job, pick up your things, and be on your way back home.
Or if there’s a city you’ve always wanted to live in, starting a blog can give you the ability to scale your income so you can find a home in that city and move.
AND if you have kids and you know that there are better cities/towns with better school districts (or a better part of the city/town you’re living in right now that has better school districts), you’ll have the income to pick your things up and go.
Plus… you can travel whenever you want.
It doesn’t have to be full-time like us, but… wouldn’t it be nice to see London and Paris and NOT have it be a “once in a lifetime thing?”
Seriously… Paris is lovely in the fall. You should go!
4. You’ll Just Have The Time for YOU
I know I’ve talked a lot about time, but blogging does give you the ability to…
– Wake up when you want to (& NOT to an alarm!).
– Take care of errands when you want to.
– Take a relaxing bath.
– Drive to a coffee shop and read whenever.
– Explore the local food scene in your hometown or nearby cities.
– Listen to podcasts or read books.
– Take day trips.
– PLUS a nap if you need one.
There really is so much that blogging can give you in this area of your life.
5. There’s No Boss Telling You How Much You Can Make
How much you make blogging is all up to you.
There are bloggers who make $5,000 a month and are happy with that. However, there are others who have taken there income to over $300,000 a MONTH!
Think about that… That’s enough to afford a REALLY nice house in just a few months (or one depending on where you live).
It’s enough to pay for your kids colleges (not just one of them, ALL of them).
And… it’s enough to retire you in a few years. Isn’t that kind of crazy?
If this is already interesting you, then definitely check out my post on how to start a blog yourself (it takes 6 minutes! I’ve tested it!)
6. You’ll Make Some Amazing Friends!
Believe it or not, while blogging does mostly consist in an online world, you will get to make friend AND meet them in person.
As you reach out to other bloggers, you’re going to start forming deep connections and be able to help and promote each other. And when you have the time freedom to do it, you can head on over to where they live and stop by for a visit!
7. You’ll Get to Share Your Passion with Others!
Do you have a HUGE passion for something and you want to share it with others?
Blogging is a great way to do just that!
So whether it’s cooking or DIY projects, your crazy money saving skills, or awesome organizing hacks, you can share this with the world and have fun with it!
It’s an AMAZING creative outlet! And one of the best things is when you can do what you love for a living.
8. You can FINALLY Sell Your Products
Being on sites like Etsy is good, but if you can have your own blog to share about what you do, how you do it, and sell your own products (like cute knitted scarves or planners), then you have COMPLETE control over what happens.
You can customize and make your site look like how you want it to look, not have to deal with negative reviews which will drive down your sales, and also be able to share about your personal life. Now I think that’s pretty awesome, don’t you?
There are so many ways blogging can open up a completely different life for you if you let it. So go ahead, give it a try today, and let me know how it goes!
PS – You can find my step-by-step guide to starting a blog here.
Have a blog already? Tell me what it’s done for you!
Related Posts
Free Blogging Email Course for Beginners
How to Come Up with an Amazing Blog Name
How to Find Your Blog’s Niche & Make it Successful
How I Made $3,000 in My 3rd Month of Blogging
Why You Need an Email List & How to Set One Up
How this Blogger Went from $0 to Over $50k+ a Month Blogging
The Course That’s Turned Others Into Successful Bloggers
How to Actually Increase Your Blogging Income (Passively!)
3 Things Blogging Pros Do to Get Millions of Views
connect to post on how to change your mindset towards blogging.
Chasing Foxes was started in 2016 as a way for Grace and her husband, Silas, to start traveling. However, they started to realize that they had a passion for improving themselves, and wanted to help others level up their lives as well. So whether it's with cooking, travel, or staying healthy, they want to help you better your life bit by bit, as they do the same.
I totally agree – blogging can change a life. I wish my blog would change mine too. I’m dreaming about more freedom in life.
You can totally do it! I believe in you, keep on working and be consistent and testing to find what works! Don’t give up! ♥️
I totally agree – blogging can change a life. I wish my blog would change mine too. I’m dreaming about more freedom.