How to blog and keep your day job

Hi! I’m Jessa. I write over at Fit Traveler Blog. It’s a travel, fitness, and lifestyle blog where I write about our travels and life. I am also a certified personal trainer with online training. I am so thankful Ady is letting me take over the blog today to talk about blogging and keeping your day job. My full-time job is working at a local gym where I live in Illinois. I do a little bit of everything there: train clients, teach group fitness, work the front desk, marketing and membership. There are a lot of parts of my job that overlap, but I love being able to balance both.

Full disclosure, I have thought about wanting to be a full-time blogger. I have also thought about being my own boss with several businesses. Right now, I love what I do. I love helping people at the gym. I am so thankful I have the balance. Who knows, maybe one day that might change, but right now, I love being able to balance both. It’s not always easy, and sometimes I feel like I am failing at both. Then I remind myself it’s a journey, one with lessons, and I can learn from it.

Here are 5 tips that I have learned along the way:

1. Love to Write: I have loved to write since I was little. Even now I have so many notebooks and pens I use everyday. I am still a pen and paper girl. Trust me I have tried going completely electronic and I just can’t find a way to stay organized. (If you have a way, message me. Let’s talk!) I have started and stopped several times, BUT I always came back because I loved to write. I felt like something was missing in my life.
2. Find your Voice: This one was actually really tough for me for a really long time. I wanted to fit in, and wrote about what everyone else was writing about or doing to try and fit in. When I was doing that, I hated what I was writing about because it wasn’t authentic to me. I had to spend some serious time getting to know myself again, and what I wanted to write about.
3. Set Guidelines: I try to do everything for everyone including myself. It look me a very long time to set guidelines for myself and others. I have tried different techniques to stay organized and productive outside of work. Right now, I use a batching technique. One day I’ll write, next day I research, then edit, etc. I have found that I do my best when I batch my work this way. In the past, I tried working hard on topic for 75 minutes followed by rest. This took a lot of time, and still does. I’m still trying to find the best routine for me. Try not to get caught up with what works for one person.
4. Network: Blogging has changed over the years. I actually miss the community aspect of blogging. Right now, I feel it can be too much of selling and promoting of things. Back in the day, we would post random stuff and get to know people. We even did link ups like Throwback Thursday. Getting to know other bloggers is very beneficial because we know what each other is going through. It makes writing sometimes a little easier.
5. Have a Plan: This has been a struggle for me because I am a planner, and when things don’t go EXACTLY the way I want I get a little annoyed. So I have had to learn to plan and be ok with fluidity. I create a content calendar about 1-2 months out. If something comes up that I want to write about more, I’ll move stuff around. Another fitness blogger does a quarterly business meeting with herself. Right before the next quarter she takes a weekend either at hotel or office, and plans the next 3 months of her business. Find a routine that works for you and stick with it.

I hope these tips have helped you. I would love to know what you would add to the list if you balance both. Tell me in the comments.