Today I thought I'd talk about something I've touched on before but never really spoken in depth about. Ive made it no secret that blogging is my full time job. I've always openly told people this and never shyed away from the fact I don't have a "traditional" job. A few years ago being a full time or pro blogger was really looked down within the blogging community it has become "the norm" recently with more and more people taking the risk on creating online content.
I started blogging while I was at university and it was 100% just a hobby up until the middle of 2011. When my blog took off I was working at New Look as a Visual Merchandiser. During my time at New Look my Graphic Design degree was coming to an end (plus the job was not working for me), So I decided to give it up. Then between my finishing at New Look to deciding to move to London period -my life just changed. I worked in my Mums shop on and off while getting more and more opportunities through my blog and I just sort of never went back into work. I feel sometimes that I just into full time blogging without really realising it.
In terms of pro-blogging, the making content is the part I enjoy the most and the business side is something I find such a bore. I'd happily sit down and photograph and edit 100 photos but replying to my emails is a chore. I'm constantly being chased up for work and coverage... I'm even terrible at remembering to send off things invoices especially so Im always getting more emails telling me off. I don't have a notebook where I write all my blog related stuff like a lot of people do - I once wrote my to-do list on the back of a Mcdonalds napkin. While Im incredibly self motivated and hard working, I find the pressure of being a part of that full time blogger clan hardwork - purely because that's the part of blogging which interests me least. Some people are just more organised than I am when it comes to sorting that stuff out!
I'll be 100% honest with you guys - as I always am... but I don't and never have looked at my blog as my business, it's just life. I just simply love creating content, sharing and posting online. I don't enjoy the writing notes or feeling forced by brands coverage because they want it. I hate feeling under pressure and I hate even more being hassled. I never wanted to be that person who think's they are some sort of online god because they write a "successful "blog. I don't want to be a writer or a journalist (a common misconception about bloggers) and I have no desire to be a beauty or fashion expert. I don't work in the fashion or beauty industry (another misconception). I just post stuff on the internet in the hope people like it.
Blogging changed so much in 2013 and I never know if it was for the better or not. As I mentioned before while I was having a physical and emotional trouble in 2013 - blogging completely levelled up. Long gone are the more innocent days when it wasn't about the samples you got, how many followers you had and all your posts weren't "edits" or began with "The". Not to get all "back in my day" but when I starter it was just a bunch of us posting stuff on the internet just because. Pro-Blogging has been brewing for a while around but definitely not on the scale it is now.
Its taken almost 5 years of blogging for me to 100% accept and understand how fortunate to have a job that I adore. I'm 24 years old and I live a life I'd never ever dreamed of. Im self employed, support myself and have the most amazing opportunities because of my decision to take a risk on blogging "full time". I don't think being a problogger is a bad thing - but I've seen in change so much in such a short time. I grew up without the internet and then bam it's become the norm. Blogging is such a new industry. It's exciting, ever changing and something that is so grassroots yet has become huge crazy in such a short amount of time.
