John's Corner - Hobby vs. Profession

In this edition of "John's Corner," I discuss a topic intimate with me that has made me both nervous and skittish. I blog because I love doing so. However, I am careful not to treat blogging too much like a profession. I do admit wanting to blog for money a long time ago. If I do want to profit from blogging, I want to do it the right way- posting quality material that people will hopefully enjoy and keep enjoying. Most of what I post on John's Blog Space (or any of my blogs for that matter) are all done by me. It may seem like a "wall of text" every time I post something, but it is all factual and useful. I've got nothing really to do with my life- if I'm on my computer, I'm likely working on blog posts (or something else).

Sad-but-true realities are...

This IS my living.

This IS my profession.

This IS my contribution to society (besides YouTube).

Blogging and being involved in posting this material to everyone is the thing I am best qualified for and what I enjoy doing. All I truly hope for I can get my loyal and respectful viewers and fans to support my work any way you can. I don't make my own money in any sort of way outside of blogging. So this is all I basically have.

--- Hobby vs. Profession: Basic Thoughts ---

You actually can profit from blogging. Certain people online demonstrate that you can actually profit from blogging. Two notables to me are Lisa Irby of 2createawebsite.com and Darren Rouse of problogger.net. These two are beacons of hope that people can actually blog and make a living. They are also credible and believable. One thing I was curious of was blogging for money. That's what I thought of when I was still blogging on my Myspace page. I became so much into blogging that I considered being a paid blogger. I felt like my dedication and passion for sharing my mind in blog posts warrants financial profit. However, I always wanted to stay fixated on offering real blogging material rather than become indulged with anything lucrative about blogging.

Here's the thing, though; and this is what has me worried about what I do. One of my biggest fears is that people may think I care more about making money than posting material for the world to see. I am very careful of doing certain things or even signing up for certain services. I do not want to leave the impression that I care more about money than posting quality material. That will never change as long as I am blogging or even doing videos.

The "John's Shop Space" (JSS) Influence.

Do you know why I don't market "John's Shop Space" much? It's because if I did, I would mostly feel like I am trying to make money rather than post quality material. John's Shop Space was created for two reasons: (1) decrease the workload in making blog posts where I think posting Amazon content would be beneficial for my readers in case they are interested, and (2) offers me a chance to post relevant material based on blog posts of mine and update them with content. Some posts on JSS are based on material from either of my other blogs. Some posts on JSS are completely original, meaning the topic originated on JSS rather than be introduced in my other blogs.

Here is a personal admittance- I can be very cheap sometimes. I often try to go as far as I can with something without having to pay anything. I'm too cheap to actually pay for and maintain a domain or a store, so that's why "John's Shop Space" is both a store AND a blog. If you want to visit JSS, follow the link at the conclusion of this blog post. That blog is in need of an updated layout. For real.

Gaining Support.

The one thing I hope for is that my audience can please support my work by buying material I've posted that may interest them and that they want to get. I put on this material into my posts for my readers and visitors to get involved with my content. Biggest thing I want is to be assured that my work means something to people who visit.

You have no idea how happy I get when someone loyal clicks on links posted in my blog(s) as well as connect with me on other social networking sites. I just wish I had more support. I will still keep on going with my work even if I have only so few fans. However, I do want more support from loyal people who visit and enjoy my work. So PLEASE- "Like" my Facebook fan page. Follow me on Twitter. Join my new Google+ page. Subscribe to me on YouTube if you like my videos. Just show me you care. Make me feel better inside that I have more loyal fans than just the ones who usually comment on my work. I just want more loyal fans to show their love for my online work.

Sponsorship.

I haven't pursued sponsorship for most of the reasons provided previously. Since my blog does not concentrate on one specific niche (not even fashion), it's tough to have something really become a concrete sponsor. And again- I fear any sort of commercialization getting in the way of letting me post about almost anything that crosses my mind. A lot of blog templates I've looked around for (I am considering a layout update in the future) have 125 × 125 slots for sponsorship. I certainly don't want any suspicious companies sponsoring my blog if I were open to sponsorship.

The Business Side of Blogging (Brief Look at Business).

Let me share with you a side of blogging most serious bloggers don't usually discuss. You see, you learn about something called SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. The reason why a number of sites and blogs do so well is because of how highly-ranked their content is in search engines. Those who don't have original content or a decent rank usually don't get all the traffic and all the attention.

Personally, I couldn't care less about these things because I am not a professional blogger. I am mindful of all of this, though. I still want my material to be among the trustworthy and credible sites.


Yes, I'm aware I didn't answer my own question in the previous section. That is why I am going to answer it in the next section. So read below...

--- My Blogging: Hobby or Profession? ---

Hobby means that I don't care about money for what I do. Profession means that I specialize in and profit from my work. Hobby notes I prefer doing things OTHER THAN a certain activity. Profession notes that I am deeply involved each day (or at least regularly) to what I do that my life somewhat depends on it. I am more in the middle here. But if I had to choose one or the other, I am more along the hobby line. However, it is a hobby I take part in with passion and professionalism. I do enjoy profiting from my work, but I hate to have the integrity of my work being damaged (or potentially damaged) by going in any such direction unfavorable to my readers/visitors.

Despite my blogging, I still have my own sort of life to live. Living life is always more important than almost any sort of occupation. This is a hobby I take professionally.





Just know this- I love blogging. I love what I do. This is my way to try to provide material that I'm hopeful people will enjoy and keep enjoying for as long as I'm doing this. This is my only my blog; I am not planning on having any sort of domain yet. Not because I'm too cheap, but because I don't want this to be my main site. I have other plans if I wanted to have a proper site. Regardless, thank you for visiting "John's Blog Space" and my other blogs. Speaking of which...

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