Think you’re ready to quit your job and become a full-time blogger?
Are you certain that you have what it takes to make it as a blogger?
Those are some of the questions you must answer before quitting your job and venturing into the blogging world.
Perhaps you have enough money saved up to take care of yourself for up to a year and feel like that’s all it takes.
Hate to burst your bubble but it’s not.
It’s not just about money, there are major risks involved in quitting your job to work for yourself.
The 4 Big Risks of Quitting Your Job to Become a Full-Time Blogger
Staying in a job you dislike is detrimental to your health. I am the last person that will tell you to continue working in a place that has you wishing every day was a holiday.
If your dream is to become a full-time blogger, I won’t be the one to stop you from making those dreams come true. On the contrary, I am here to help you.
However, there are risks involved in quitting your job to become a blogger.
Risk #1: You Fail and Now You’re Unemployed
Over 90% of bloggers make under $10,000 a year and roughly 70% don’t make any money at all.
In general, about 70% of businesses fail. and you’d be naive to think it couldn’t happen to you.
Risk #2: You Discover You Don’t Have What it Takes
I hate when people say that they don’t have what it takes to survive as a full-time blogger. However, I know that if that’s what they believe then it’s the truth.
Becoming a successful blogger isn’t easy and many give up because they don’t get the quick results they expected.
I believe we all have what it takes to be successful at whatever we decide to pursue in life, but without that belief, you might discover that you don’t have what it takes to make it as a blogger.
Risk #3: You Hate Self-Employment
I’ve come to realize that self-employment isn’t for everyone.
At first, just like a new love affair, it’s easy to fall head over heels with your new reality.
Then you start feeling isolated from the world, stressed out over traffic figures, and you realize the honeymoon is over.
Misery takes over and no one is there to hold your hand — you start to realize that perhaps self-employment wasn’t the answer to your problems.
Risk #4: You Can’t Make Ends Meet
This one sucks because you might not be able to control it.
Even if your blog is growing steadily and starting to generate money. You could suddenly, for no fault of your own, get wrongfully penalized by Google or have your most important social media account suspended.
Even worse, you could wind up too sick to work or be sidelined by a horrible life event.
8 Boxes You Must Tick Before Leaving Your Job
Now you know the major risks involved in quitting your job to become a self-employed blogger. And let’s be real — They’ll always be there.
However, if you tick the following 9 boxes, you’ll know that you’ve taken the proper steps to minimize those risks.
#1. You Know How Much Money You Need Each Month
The first thing you should do when you start contemplating the possibility of quitting your job to become a full-time blogger is to figure out how much money you need each month in order to survive.
Notice that I didn’t say “in order to keep your same lifestyle.”
Depending on the lifestyle you currently have, you might have to make some initial sacrifices in order to start your blogging career.
That means, figuring out how much money you need to survive each month.
Things you must include:
- Rent/Morgage payments
- Car expenditures (payments, gas, insurance, and maintenance)
- Food
- Health insurance
- Misc (cell phone, clothing, child support, activities, ect.)
- +10% for savings and emergencies
You want to figure out what you truly need. What activities you can do without, look into lowering your cell phone bill, perhaps even move into a smaller place.
The trick here is to simplify your life to minimize your expenditures.
Once you have this figured out, you’ll know exactly how much money you need before quitting your job and most importantly, how much you’ll need to earn from your blog to stay afloat.
#2. You Have a “Rainy” Fund that Can Sustain You for Six Months
If you took care of box number one, this one should be easy to figure out.
Multiply the amount you came up with by six.
Note: By rainy fund, I mean that this money will only be touched as a last resort.
You should set aside enough money to sustain yourself for a minimum of six months. Eight-to-twelve would be best.
That gives you enough time to properly grow your blog and start making money from it.
Don’t expect to make money from your blog right away. It takes a lot of hard work to make money online.
Trust me, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
The rainy fund is only to be touched if for whatever reason you are still not making enough money to sustain yourself after eight months or so.
This is the time where you should have a good idea of whether you’ll make it as a full-time blogger or not.
There’s no way of telling that within a month or two unless you just decide that blogging isn’t for you.
#3. You’ve Figured Out What You Want to Blog About
Quitting your job prior to knowing what you’ll blog about is a HUGE mistake.
Finding a niche that you’re passionate about is key to succeeding as a blogger.
You already hate getting up in the morning and going to your job, so you need to avoid having that same feeling as a blogger at all costs.
The only way to make sure of that is to find a niche that you are passionate about.
Doing so will make you want to get up in the morning and create epic content that your readers salivate over.
#4. You Tried Blogging on the Side for at Least Three Months
Building on point number three. You should start a blog and try blogging for at least three months prior to quitting your job.
If after three months of blogging on the side you still feel the hunger to become a full-time blogger, then you should run full-steam ahead.
Having a full-time job and blogging on the side can be a daunting task, but it’s important that you figure out a way to make it work.
Three months should be enough to get your feet wet and get your blog off the ground.
Use this time to learn everything you can about blogging so that when the time comes to quit your job, you’re fully prepared for what’s ahead.
#5. You’ve Written Down Your Short and Long-Term Goals
You already know that you want to quit your job and become a full-time blogger, but what will your goals be once you quit your job?
Have you ever worked hard all day and feel like you didn’t achieve a thing? That’s probably because you didn’t have a goal.
Bumbling about with no direction is a recipe for failure.
Set your goals in order to stay focused and moving in the right direction.
Short-term goals should be things that you feel 100% confident you can achieve in a short amount of time. Don’t make them too easy though.
Long-term goals should be bold and harder to achieve. These should be things you want to accomplish within a year or more.
Both should be written using the SMART goal formula coined by Brian Tracy:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timed
While coming up with your SMART goals, create progress checkpoints that you can check weekly, monthly, quarterly and on an annual basis.
Doing so is key in knowing if you’re heading in the right direction and to realize when things need to be tweaked in order to achieve your goals.
#6. You’ve Mapped Out Your Blogging Activities for the Next Three Months
If you’ve never worked for yourself before, you have no idea how easy it is to slack off when your boss isn’t breathing down your throat to meet specific deadlines.
It’s easy to get sidetracked and convince yourself to enjoy your newfound freedom for a while.
However, this can send you down a path of poor productivity and lackluster results.
That’s why you need to start establishing momentum from the onset, which can only be accomplished through consistent and continuous activity.
Meaning that your best bet against sabotaging your own productivity is to plan ahead and commit to following through with your plan.
To start, type up a detailed three-month action plan, so you know exactly what you should be doing at all times.
Next, find one or two people that you trust and let them in on your secret… ask them if they’d be willing to act as your boss.
In other words, they should be willing to support and encourage you on your journey. Not to mention that you will be responsible for reporting your progress to them on a weekly basis.
Note: If you don’t have anyone to play the “boss” role, then you must play the role yourself.
The key is to find a way to hold yourself accountable.
#7. You’ve Identified Several Alternative Work Locations
This might be where you think that I might be going crazy but hear me out.
Depending on your situation at home, quitting your job and going solo could potentially isolate you from most of the people you know.
While your colleagues, friends, and family are waking up heading to work, you’ll be heading towards your laptop.
Some bloggers don’t mind, while others dislike isolation and find ways to be around people.
I don’t mind working alone, but sometimes I like to work outside the house on days that I am not creating new content.
You might think that you won’t mind, but you can’t be sure until you’re living it. Therefore, identify several alternative work locations just in case.
#8. You’ve Taken a “Vacation”
Prior to quitting your job take a week or two off to give this blogging thing a try.
You might be OK with blogging on the side for a few hours a day, but would you feel the same way about blogging if you were doing it full-time.
This is just a precaution that I’d suggest you take prior to quitting your job.
See how it feels being a full-time blogger for a full week. If you can’t, no worries… if you followed through with all the suggestions listed on this post and still want to quit your job to blog full-time you should be OK.
But as they say:
Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes
Take this step if at all possible prior to quitting your job.
#9. Set a Date
This could just as easily be #1 because not having a date set in stone could allow your fears of failure take over and continually push back your “I Quit” date.
However, I left it for last because I want you to be fully prepared before deciding on this date.
Once you tick the eight boxes above you’ll be about as prepared as you can be for venturing into the blogosphere as a full-time blogger.
At this point, no one but yourself can stop you.
Set a date that allows you to give your boss a 2-weeks notice.
Don’t burn any bridges as no matter how well-prepared you might be, no one can predict the future.
In other words… flip your boss off in the nicest way possible :).
Ticked All the Boxes? Congratulations, You’re Ready to Quit Your Job
You know quitting your job and becoming a full-time blogger is not for the faint-hearted. It should excite you and make you feel like a kid again.
If you’ve ticked all nine boxes, you should ready to quit your job.
You’re prepared to go on this journey with a clear roadmap, a solid safety net, and a strong support team.
You’re ready to transition from being an employee to being self-employed.
No more feeling like your being held down by the man because freedom awaits.
What’s do you feel is the hardest thing about quitting your job and becoming a full-time blogger?
