I always found being a blogger to be a very odd profession.
When I discovered it, I couldn’t believe that it was possible to make a living by writing on the Internet. Younger me couldn’t imagine living a successful life through writing about places, food, hobbies, and games.
But now that I’m here, actually writing blogs for a living, it’s time to reflect on how I got myself into blogging.
It All Started With Journaling
Growing up, I wasn’t much of a writer. Whatever I wrote on pen and paper or typed in a document file was simply done out of obligation. It was mostly for academic purposes, a not-so-fun reason for doing it.
The only time that I started to find writing enjoyable was when I started a journal.
At first, journaling was just a means for me to become productive. The very first journals I had were filled with schedules, notes, and plans.
I surely didn’t journal just for the sake of writing. Sometimes, it even felt like a chore. But I still did it anyway since I saw myself becoming more productive.
Things changed when I started doing self-reflections to get rid of my overthinking tendencies. My mind was always full of unresolved thoughts and I desperately needed an outline at that time.
Since then, my journals started to look like personal diaries rather than record books. I’d spend more time writing page after page pouring out all my thoughts onto paper.
Eventually, journaling became a hobby that I would do regularly.
Blogging As An Extension Of My Journaling Hobby
At some point, I realized I was writing every day – recording my thoughts and reflecting upon them in my journal. I kid to myself, “Why don’t I make a living out of this since I’m writing a lot anyway.”
So, I began my search on how to make a living by blogging. And I’m not gonna lie, what I found was fascinating.
I discovered there were digital nomads moving from place to place and sustained their travels as freelance writers. Many wrote about their hobbies, travels, foods, and whatever they put their interest in. But the ones that were paid really well were the copywriters, those who write to sell.
As it turns out, good writing is a valuable skill and many are willing to compensate well for its value. What I originally thought was silly became a viable career path.
With my newfound respect for bloggers and online writers, I sought out how I could do it myself – as an extension of my hobby and as a career.
And Here I Am Today, Blogging (And More) For A Living
The first thing I did was publish my personal website so I could have a place to showcase my writing. Many freelancers had a portfolio so I followed suit.
Using all my saved-up allowance, I bought a domain under my name, got it hosted, and set it up using WordPress. I was also just learning everything on the fly so I made my website very simple. All that’s needed is a place where I can post some blogs.
When everything was all set up, I wrote a few blog posts about my interests. If you checked my homepage, the blog posts that I wrote were about topics in art, science, or personal growth. They weren’t the best pieces I wrote but they were good enough for me.
With a “portfolio” under my name, I searched and landed a few jobs on freelance sites like UpWork and Freelancer. Sometimes I would even take on jobs that weren’t related to writing at all.
My biggest breakthrough was a year after I started when a marketing manager from an agency approached me directly regarding my services. I showed them my “portfolio” and got hired as a digital market specialist in charge of writing content for their clients.
The Digital Journey Continues
It took a while for this career path to take off, but here I am in this odd, fascinating place.
Nowadays, I’m doing so much more than just writing. I learned about SEO, Web Design, Advertising, and many more skills in marketing. It was a lot to process but it was a fun journey.
So, this is how I got myself into blogging. I’m by no means a great writer, but I’m excited to see which odd and fascinating places this small step I took will take me.
