With towers of moving boxes all around me, I sat alone in our new house. It was quiet. My husband just left for work. We had just PCS’d to a new duty station and I was four months pregnant at the time.
Of course, we had to go from one of the most expensive duty stations in the military to another expensive duty station in the military (Hawaii to San Diego, for all you nosy people). I was gainfully employed in Hawaii, and had to give it up in order to be near my husband. To be perfectly blunt. We needed money. San Diego was expensive as hell.
Could we survive on one income? Maybe. Would we feel financially comfortable? Probably not. He had credit card debt. I had student loan debt. A baby was on the way. I had to work, I had to make some money somehow.
So at our new home in Sunny (and pricy) California, my days consisted of unpacking, settling in, and finding a company that would employ someone who was halfway through her pregnancy.
I searched the local facebook groups to see what I could do.
“Sell wraps”, “Work in a call center”, “Sell makeup”, “Work retail”, “Sell leggings”
As much as these ladies were helping me, I think they were forgetting that I was about to have a newborn. A crying newborn that would need as much attention as possible. I couldn’t possibly work for something that required me to talk on the phone or for me to host a party with inventory I needed to sell.
I not only needed flexible hours but I needed a job where *I* decided on my hours (or should I say hours that the baby decided on whether or not to cooperate)
Then, after a day on Pinterest searching for home decor, I stumbled upon a pin that said “Start a blog”.
After doing as much research as possible (well what else was I going to do? I was unemployed), I found out that there’s only minimal investment in starting a blog (like around a $3-6 a month, and maybe $20 in startup fees). So I set my goal.
I’m going to making money as a blogger.
It’s been two years since then, and I’ll be honest, blogging kicks ass!
Here’s the facts.
-I work maybe 15-25 hours a week on my blog (after baby and husband go to sleep or during nap time). It does not take much time to get started blogging at all!
-I average anywhere from $2,000 – $3,000 a month (on those 15-25 hours alone!)
-I’m having fun!
Here’s the average monthly income breakdown.
Ad Network $1000
Product Sales (including ebook) $1000
Sponsored Posts $400
Affiliate Income $300
Here’s December 2016 income.
Ad network $1256
Product Sales (including ebook) $1190
Sponsored Post $400
Affiliate $205
=$3,051!
Again, working part-time!!!
What exactly do I do as a blogger?
- Write posts or create products for the blog
- Promote those posts for the blog
- Try to grow my social media influence
- Repeat
My goals
- Increase pageviews
- Increase social media numbers
- Increase revenue
The Best Part of All of This?
I can blog anywhere. My husband’s career doesn’t hurt this job, it actually helps it! Military life is one of my niches. The more ingrained I am in it, the more it helps. It doesn’t matter if we PCS, or he’s deployed, or our new duty station doesn’t offer any jobs in my career field.
We will always have this blog as an extra source of income. And who wouldn’t want that?
When I look back, I remember how in the beginning I only committed to spending $4 a month for blog hosting, and today I’m making over $3,000 a month.
I’ve come to the point now where I’ve decided to help out fellow military spouse would-be bloggers. Under the “Blogging” category, I will write all about my lessons learned and provide tips for you on on how to make money on a blog whether you want to do it full time, part time, or just for fun. I’ve since gotten a job since we moved, but I still have the blog. Like I said 15 hours a week for an extra potential $3,000 a month? Sign me up!
It takes maybe $50 for an entire year of blogging so even if you don’t like it, you didn’t lose too much.
Just review these questions.
Do you have to be an awesome writer? Nope.
Do you have a story to tell or tips to share? If the answer is yes, then you could join the blogging world as well.
Do you have to write about military life? Absolutely not. Write about recipes, parenting, traveling, makeup, fitness, finances, whatever you want! It’s your blog, you have total control!
For those who are ready to learn how to make money on their military spouse blog, go to the first step: How To Start A Military Spouse Blog
If you want the fast track plan to blogging in 4 easy steps, check out 4 Steps to Launch A Military Spouse Blog
