More people than ever have been able to quit their day job and blog for a living- doing something they love while earning money in the process. And there’s no wonder, good blogs are highly sought after by sponsors, and you have the potential to do really well. However, when it comes to this kind of work, it can be a little unreliable. If most of your income is coming from sponsors, then there’s no predicting how often these will contact you. You will have busy and quiet weeks which can be a little unnerving when it comes to your income.
Blogging as a business is a good choice when you don’t have a lot of funds up front. All you really need is a computer, an internet connection and a little upfront cash for your domain and good hosting. Cheap WordPress hosting isn’t always the best choice since there are no support options available, but even so these things aren’t too expensive. Unlike other businesses which can be incredibly costly to get started. The issue comes with the regularity of the work, but thankfully there are things you can do to supplement your income. If you’re having a quiet week when it comes to blogging, here are some of the ways you can earn some extra money.
Tutor
If you have a skill in a certain area, why not utilize it? You could pass your knowledge onto someone else. Even if you only see one or two clients a week, it’s regular income which can help when blogging is slow. Whether it’s homework help for kids, teaching a musical instrument or becoming a life coach, it’s something you can do from home and fit it in around everything else. You could even use Skype and tutor people elsewhere in the world via video chat. Unlike being a teacher, you don’t usually need official qualifications to become a tutor- just a passion and knowledge for the subject. But you could always go on a couple of courses and get certification if you wanted to take it further.
Freelance
Freelancing sites can be extremely useful, as the work is almost always there and you can pick and choose how many projects you take on. If you’re having a slow week, month or even longer with blogging, freelancing can help to pick up the slack so you can afford to live and aren’t falling behind on bills, it’s a good insurance policy and is useful to have that buffer there. If you’re hoping to take the plunge into working as a blogger full time, the uncertainty can prevent you from doing so. But when you have a backup source of income which is always available it can help things to run a lot more smoothly. Whether you’re a talented writer, designer, editor or something else completely, there is likely to be work out there on freelancing sites you can take on. Once you do some work to a good standard and build your rating up, you’re more likely to get accepted for future pieces too.
Set Up a Home Business
If you really want to keep busy, and have something else to run alongside your blog how about setting up a home business? You could sew, bake, design or craft items which could be sold on online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. Set up your own little store and go from there, while there are fees each time you sell it makes it easy for customers to find you (compared with setting up your own website). It means you don’t have to do much promotion since your products and shop will come up in listings when people search for whatever you’re selling. It’s another opportunity to be creative, and since it’s from home, it’s something that would run harmoniously with your blogging.
Start a Youtube Channel
As well as blogging about your passion, why not start a Youtube channel on it too? It’s another way to get content out there, and your videos and posts could run alongside each other. For example, if you blog about cooking you could create a video showing how to make the dish with the blog post providing the full information and recipe. It is another chance to attract sponsors as well as build up an audience for your blog.
What do you do to supplement your blogging income when it’s a little quieter? Have you tried any of these things?