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How to Think About Giving up Your Day Job for an Online Business
In today’s lesson I want to tell you a story - a story of advice I was given when I was starting out that I ignored - a story of regret and a story that I hope might move you to taking some action!
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Further Resources on How to Quit Your Job and Build an Online Business
Becoming a ProBlogger - A story in Many Parts
How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps
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Hi there, its Darren from Problogger and welcome to Episode 175 of Problogger podcast. As I said, my name is Darren Rowse and I’m the blogger behind problogger.com; a blog, a podcast that you’re listening to now, an event, a job board, and series of ebooks all designed to help you as a blogger to grow your audience. And if you haven’t started a blog, to start a blog too and to make money from that blog. You can find out more about problogger at problogger.com.
In today’s lesson, I want to tell you a story. It’s a story of advice that I was given when I was just starting out, advice that it turns out I completely ignored. It’s a story of regret and a story that I hope might move you into taking some more action in your blog and your business.
Have you ever been given the advice don’t give up your day job? Back in 2004, I was given that advice numerous times, quite a few in fact. I’ve been blogging for about a year and a half and I just discovered that you could make money from blogging. Now, by no means was it much money. I was only making a few dollars a day at first but I was beginning to see the possibilities of monetizing blogs. The dream of going full time as a blogger had begun to grow in my mind.
At first, I didn’t tell anyone about this dream of going full time with my blogging but as my income begin to grow, I couldn’t help myself. I began to tell a few friends and family members about these dreams. Whilst most of my friends and family were very encouraging, or at least they humored me without saying anything negative, I did get that advice quite a few times when I would tell them that one day I might become a full time blogger. Their advice was “don’t give up your day job.”
Often, those words were said in a gentle, joking tone. It was kind of almost like a “don’t give up you day job.” It’s kind of a funny saying people would say. But sometimes, they were actually telling me not to give up my day job and their advice was well meaning. And in some ways, it was wise advice too because who had ever heard of a full time blogger back in 2004? Most of my friends didn’t even know what a blog was, let alone know of anyone who was a full time blogger. There was some wisdom in their advice and it was well intentioned.
I didn’t take it to heart and I certainly didn’t let those words have much of an impact upon me because basically over the coming years, I did begin to give up my day job. I would say actually it was day jobs because at that time, I was working a number of part time jobs. I was working as a youth worker and a minister in a church. I was working in a factory packing parcels, I was working in an catering kitchen putting food on trays, I was working as a casual laborer doing things like assembling Cirque De Soleil tents. I only did that one day, it was too hard for me. I was also studying part time. I had the luxury of having lots of different jobs that I was working.
Gradually over the coming year or so, I began to give up those day jobs. It was a gradual process, it certainly didn’t happen overnight and it took me a year or so to really give them all up to the point where I was a full time blogger. I will link in today’s show notes to the full story if you are interested in reading that.
Over that time, I did begin to give up those day jobs. The before and after shots of my life from 2003, 2004 to now in 2017, they’