So we started out this blog with a dream. We wanted to make blogging our full-time income. We started this website claiming that future for ourselves and delving into the art of blogging. And, it worked like a charm!
No, this blog is not paying my bills. Directly, that is. But as I write this I am currently employed, for the most part, to use my skills in blogging.
You can checkout my blogging now at www.empower.me, our parent blog and our teen blog.
Let me tell you the story
We started swimming in the world of blogging for the purpose of trading boring, dead-end jobs for something more fulfilling. We wanted this blog, and a few others, to take over our income so we could work full-time, blogging. And that has happened, somewhat.
We saw our earnings jump in one year from averaging around $5 per month in earnings from our websites to making well over $20 per month. But along the way we learned a lot more than just growing our ad revenue.
We learned the art of marketing from a new perspective. I had been involved in marketing for quite a few years. However, the idea of flat-out internet marketing wasn’t something that I spent a lot of time developing.
Until I started this blog.
In the last year I not only learned quite a bit about WordPress, but also the on-site SEO practices to make google love your site. We learned that there are all kinds of things you can do to increase your visibility on the internet. And through a lot of reading and research, the field of internet marketing began to make sense.
Then, the news came that we would be moving to Seattle, WA. A surprise to all of us, but that’s the life of a minister. Sometimes, God just has His own way of doing things.
So, we find ourselves in Seattle and me looking for a job.
The Job Hunt
I put in quite a few resume’s in the marketing field. I was able to get 3 interviews. The first, in person at a great startup in downtown Seattle. But, the interview did not go well as I was totally unprepared for everything they asked me.
The second was over the phone with a local charity. They were looking for a… wait for it… blogger! Not only that, but a Christian blogger. I thought I couldn’t miss with this one! Turns out, I wasn’t what they wanted.
Now, the third interview. I was 20 minutes late because I got my schedule mixed up. However, the interviewer was kind enough to wait on me. Turns out, it was the CEO of the company.
As I walked in and made an awkward joke about making great first-impressions, he asked me what I was looking for in a job. I told him I wanted three things: First, I wanted something that I could own and be passionate about; Second, I wanted something I could settle into and become a part of, rather than just punching a clock and looking for other jobs; Third, I wanted something that I could be creative with.
He really liked that answer and he asked me one question. He said, “have you done any blogging?” That lit up the excitement in me that is passionate about blogging.
As he explained the company, and what the position would be doing, I found that I could just about tell him what needed to be done before he got to that point. I was spitting out ideas and having a lot of fun. And all of the things I was talking about I learned blogging!
3 days later, I was in the office sitting across the conference table as I was given the first look at the branding guidelines of this company. That afternoon I received a simple e-mail, “ryan, we want to formally offer you the position, can you start on Monday?”
75% of my job description is blogging. And that’s not even the best news… listen to the blessings of God in this….
One of the highly desirable jobs in this area is to be a founding team member of a startup. Remember the stories of the 8 people who are now extremely rich because of Facebook? Everyone wants in on the ground floor of a startup.
You guessed it, I am a founding member of a real startup. It’s been launched for about 3 months and is already realeasing the second version of their system. I get to blog about keeping kids in school. I get to do the internet marketing that I have become passionate about over the last few months. I get paid really well for doing it. And, If everything works out like it’s projected to, in a few years I’ll be able to look at this growing company that I helped to build.
I would never have made it past the awkward moment in Starbucks with a startup CEO if I hadn’t spent the last year learning the art of blogging.
You should start learning it now! Maybe I’ll have my own startup one day and hire some bloggers for my marketing team. It could be you! Start blogging!
As a professional blogger at SPARKON, most of my time is spent on the internet. I spend time doing research, reading other bloggers, being social with my network, and trying really hard not to get too distracted with the enormous Time Monster, also known as, the Internet.
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