Are Bloggers Socially Accepted?
I went out this morning to have breakfast with one of my good friends and our conversation turned to my work online pretty quickly. We have been friends for years and can talk openly about anything and everything.
The one thing though that she can’t seem to grasp is what I do for a living, at least not the part of being so persistent in wanting to achieve a better way of living by bogging and affiliate marketing.
It wasn’t an easy decision to give up on a permanent contract as a car salesperson and I can’t say it has all been a life of roses since that moment, so I can surely understand her worries about my job. She even tried to “open my eyes and face up to the truthâ€, her truth being that it is almost impossible to earn a decent living by bogging, especially after yet another failed little project or learning curve, as I prefer to call them.
Our conversation this morning though made me think. There have been a few positive developments recently which have given me more strength and a new found source of persistency and stamina, upping my self esteem and believe in my abilities to actually get where I want to go.
And when talking about these things, she pointed out to have a big admiration for all the effort, work and time I am putting in, never seeming to give up and that now, after all this time she felt like she could understand better where I was coming from.
I certainly have a better understanding of her worries and realize that I myself am the cause here. You see, I have always been quite vague when being asked what I do for a living. “I work online†used to be my response and people would automatically respond with “so you make websites for clients?†…
By this time I would start to stutter and blush a bit and either just say “yes, something like that†or if I felt more confident I would try to explain a bit more about the concept of blogging and affiliate marketing in all its varieties. That would usually be the moment I would get weird sighs and confused looks and the attention span would be gone.
So after a while I just gave up on explaining, I gave up on trying to get respect for what I do, even when pay checks started dripping in little by little, giving me a real touchable proof of it being possible and achievable.
Today, after the chat with my friend, I realize this is where I went wrong big time, because every time I was not able to explain with confidence what it is I am doing in order to try and make a living, I would tear down my own self-esteem and confidence in my own abilities, almost starting to feel ashamed to be an online affiliate marketer and blogger, as if it isn’t an honourable job.
This particular blog though, 2 months into it’s existence is what is getting me back on track and focussing more on tasks at hand, sorting out my own thoughts and things I needed and still need to learn.
And maybe things aren’t growing as fast as “they shouldâ€; maybe this blog hasn’t got great monetizing potential, maybe the stats aren’t all that they should be after 2 months. My own private and personal stats are going up and up though, giving me the strength on a daily base to keep believing in myself.
Now, that is a pretty impressive reward in itself, don’t you think?
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My name is Mirjam and I welcome you to my blog about personal growth and the things I think about. I´m on a journey of improving my life and I hope you will drop in often and participate. Thanks for visiting!
Your have a dream. You can either make that dream happen or let others take it from you. I have no doubts that in time you will develop your success. Don’t stop believing in yourself. Wehn some one asks what you do, smile and realize this is your chance to educate them on something that you have a passion for. Use your passion to build your confidence. Be passionate in talking about what you do and how you do it. This time last year I worked for Blockbuster Video. trust me I got plenty of eye rolls when I told people that. But a long time ago I learned that self worth is just that self worth. I place my worth on me and no one else. Sure I have taken plenty of hell over the years for a number of choices I have made. But they were my choices and I do not regret any of them. If this is where your passion has taken you then follow your passion and make it work. The worst thing you could do to yourself is to let anyone take away your self confidence or to to strip it away your self. You may not make it to where you want to be quickly but any endeavor worth pursuing is taking the itme to do it right. Don’t get discouraged and keep doing what makes you happy and what works best for your life. No one has to live your life, you live your life.
Jim - Just a Guy’s last blog post..Probably the funniest thing I have ever read.
I believe it was the passion shining through this morning, the confidence I was radiating that lead to understanding, and it were those same feelings that inspired me to write this post.
What to reply to your comment other than saying that I am really grateful and touched, thank you Jim!
I am currently refinancing my house. I tried explaining what I did to the loan officer. Then I tried again. Then again. Then again. You get the idea. Then I should him my tax records from last year. He said, “We can do this”. At first it’s hard to justify your job and then people get jealous and think you have an easy job. There is no pleasing people.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..First Things First
I still have a bit to go for people to get jealous of what I am doing, … it is a real shame that people are valued for the money they have and not for the person they are…
I gave up justifying my job a long time ago.
Love the cartoon! A buck a day from adsense? lolol I can relate!!
hello Cajun Man…
there are a lot more hilarious cartoons on that page, I was doubting between putting this one and another, “meeting the no-bloggers parents”, which you might want to check out
Some bloggers call it “their own business,” some call it “freelance writing,” some say “I run my own websites and I earn income from a variety of sources,” but whichever one you choose you do need to say it with confidence!
You should be proud of your blog, you have a great writing style. So much so that I’ve off to subscribe right now!
Christy’s last blog post..Been Depressed…
Hi Christy, welcome to my blog and thank you for making me blush
Hi there! I’m also a relatively new blogger and I understand the daily joys of a nice burst of traffic! I do think society would generally look down on someone saying that this is how they are going to make their money, unless you can actually provide some sort of concrete results (2 months in is not long-term enough, as you know!).
I plan on staying with the day job for the foreseeable future - any ad revenue I might get would be nice, but I’m mainly trying to connect with and help people, so that’s my primary reward. I’m trying to strike a happy balance between ads and usability.
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Rock On Mirjam!!
Don’t worry U will only be missing the Plastic Casio Watch + Handshake after Slaving/Working at a Corporate Prison* Yer way better off doing what U like to do + what makes U Happy*
That Comic is Hilarious!!
;)) Peace*
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very true and at present I love blogging more and more each day!
I’ve always felt that blogging is a therapeutic outlet for me (not that I need therapy–I don’t think).
I’m glad you’ve found your blog does the same for you. I suppose it’s true for writers in general. The act of writing releases us from some of the pressures of the world around us.
Periapex’s last blog post..Sundance Hooping Around.
That sure is true for me, thanks for your comment
Thanks for sharing this! As you note, and others do to, it doesn’t really matter what you do online as long as you can talk about it with confidence to others. Then they feel like you have your act together, and while they *still* probably won’t understand, at least they won’t be worried.
Keep at it, and those stats will go up. Each post you write is a little bread crumb in the trail that brings people here through search engines.
Jay’s last blog post..The Advisory Panel On The Move
thanks Jay, for your positive feedback. This was an important lesson to learn and I am glad I did
Hi Mirjam,
I’m moving country soon, and if I’d had another year to build things up, I’d have tried to go fulltime - not just with blogging, but with freelance WordPress work. From everything I’ve seen, it takes a year or two (or three) to build things up to the point where you can make a living from it.
If you have the time up your sleeve, go for it! You’re certainly on track for success with this blog!
Stephen Cronin’s last blog post..Creating A JavaScript Array Dynamically Via PHP
Thanks for the thumbs up on this blog Stephen, I appreciate that!
@Stephen - at least you have the cash rolling in to let your success speak to the bank officer. We’re new and we’re still not making money yet.
I think the second part of the question to whether bloggers are socially accepted is to reflect on who the audience of our blog is. Are we targetting bloggers or the general world wide web?
I’m finally realizing that the way I surf and the way my mom surfs are two completely different things.
I surf, I leave comments that are blogger friendly (commentluv, link juice on, etc), I lurk in forums, I think about how sites make money.
Lately I’ve noticed a lot of blogs about money-making don’t use AdSense. Probably because it doesn’t convert for serial-bloggers as well as an affiliate link to a product, or an e-book.
Is there a difference in the way you monetize a site like this and a site directed towards the general public?
WebDiggin’s last blog post..How to Pick a Good Affiliate Program
Sorry. Another question is whether blogging is a better lifestyle than the 9-to-5 stuck in the rat race job.
Did we join the blogosphere and become entrepreneurs to find freedom? Have we simply traded our steel handcuffs from our former employers to platinum handcuffs with our blogs?
Right now, we’re in the sponsored post stage of our blog. As in, if we don’t post, we don’t get paid. But we’re trying to build assets so that eventually our blog runs itself and pays for itself.
Anyone having any luck? Care to share your secrets?
WebDiggin’s last blog post..How to Pick a Good Affiliate Program
Hi again, “webdiggin”
I was more referrring to the “outside world”, people who don´t run websites/blogs and the lot in order to make money. For them it is quite hard at times to grasp the idea behind “blogging for money”, adsense, “paid reviews” and affiliate marketing and many frown on the idea of making money on the internet for those reasons.
As for your questions, I don´t monetize this site at this point in time, other than the project wonderful which has gotten me a whopping $2 so far and the occasional plug to something I really like. I might in future accept advertisements or maybe do the occasional paid review if I feel it to be inline with this blogs content. Basically because my goal with this blog is more personal than anything else, it keeps me “in line” so to speak, offering a nice place to share my thoughts, get feedback on ideas and the lot.
So yes, you could say there is a difference between this blog and others I run.
Whether the lifestyle is better? To me it is, I take the insecurity for now and the longer hours I make than I would at any other daytime job, not just because of the freedom but rather because I know what I am fighting for and am convinced this way offers a lot more possibilities to get ahead.
I agree. I’m in between jobs right now and blogging has filled the gap, but… I know when a decent job comes knocking on the door, it’ll be hard to say no to a steady paycheck… er, a paycheck at all.
Blogging is a great vehicle for learning. Sometimes I tell people I’m studying internet marketing and web design when people ask what I do. Then, if they ask what school I’m attending, we can launch into a discussion about blogging…
I imagine this is the school of hard-knocks - trying to make some coin on the internet.
WebDiggin’s last blog post..Integrity with Sponsored Posts
Yeah, I’ve had a hard time explaining the same thing. I’ve had a few people with the patience to listen openly long enough to understand what I do.
MMO isn’t really an impressive job. “I sit and get links all day”
I’d rather have the freedom MMO gives, than to impress people though.
Justin’s last blog post..Hello world!
Justin, in the end, it is the results that count