Blogging to make a living

From a cup of jo

Joanna of NYC talks about her story on blogging- how blogging as a hobby finally turned into a career.

When did your blog start making money?
As I said here, shifting from blogging-as-a-hobby to blogging-as-a-career was a very slow transition and one that I had never anticipated. After a year or so, I started featuring a few ads on my blog to earn some pocket money. And after a couple years, I quit my job to focus on freelance magazine writing and grow my blog, so it became about half my income. But only about a year ago did I finally realize that my blog had officially become my full-time job—both financially and time-wise. And I was happy and surprised. (Also here's my work/life balance post, if you'd like to know more.)

What are your favorite parts of blogging?
* Having a close relationship with my beloved readers. Starting the Motherhood Mondays column took the relationship to a new level, because we started discussing marriage, breastfeeding, depression, infertility, everything. Having these conversations has been an incredible, eye-opening, heartwarming experience.

* I LOVE LOVE LOVE when readers stop us in the street because it's so awesome to meet readers in person. Blogging can feel isolated sometimes, since you work on a laptop at home, so it's amazing to meet people. (And everyone is always so nice and cute!:)

* Writing about a bunch of different topics. If we do a bedroom makeover or I read a fascinating parenting book or I'm itching to write a guide to NYC, I can just do it. That's great, since when you work for a magazine, your "beat" tends to be much more limited. And the great thing is, if I start feeling in a rut, I can just shake things up. It's a real gift to have editorial control.

* Working with photographers, designers and illustrators. Now and again, I've worked with super talented people, like Jamie Beck, Jenny Komenda and Gemma Correll. It's been such a pleasure and honor. I'd love to do more collaborations in the future.

* Alex being awesome. Alex helps a lot with my blog, not so much in the nitty gritty, but just overarching conversations about ideas, worries, etc. He jokes that I'm the CEO, but he's the chief strategist, director of communications, personal chef, mailroom guy, and psychotherapist for Cup of Jo. :) And he's written a couple posts, including 8 confessions of a new dad and his side of the birth story.