This is the last method I am trying to monetise, and is the last of financial decisions bonus series. It’s a bonus because not everyone will want to go into side hustle culture, and that’s fine. It’s completely optional.
This is a different one for me. The blog was created because I made so many mistakes, and have been learning so much about being an adult, that I thought it was worth sharing my journey. I also enjoy making content online, so the Instagram account was a way to put into pictures and videos what I have been writing about here.
Thus, the blog was born. I learned that there is potential to make money from adverts (ads), whilst planning to start the blog. So, this idea combined something I enjoyed doing, with the ability to make a little extra cash on the side, so was a no brainer. If you’re reading this and there are no ads, just know I am still struggling to get that part set up, so enjoy the ad-free content.
A little background on the blog
I have been doing this for over a year now. When I started, I was so scared that I barely posted once a week. Once I started being more consistent, I started an IG for it, and that’s when I started telling people about it. Now I have people from work and my childhood who follow me (hi guys), and it’s so weird. What amazes me are the people who don’t know me personally, but engage with my content and follow me, because they think I can provide some value (or entertainment), and I am grateful for you too.
My goal is to get this website monetized, because an extra £1-£10 per month, is better than nothing. And I do really enjoy keeping up with this, as it gives me some joy in existing, compared to the 40hr job I am paid to do.
How did I start the blog?
I followed someone on YouTube who owned started a blog. A blog about my adulting journey sounded like a good idea, because I wish I had some questions answered with a simple Google search, rather than going through some trials and tribulations.
I started off by making a mistake and not checking if the youtuber had more up to date videos about their blogging journey, and set up my blog on a wordpress.com site. If you do it here, it can’t go on google, and I had bought by domain (Adultingforlife.co.uk) from there. It was about 3 months in when I found the mistake, and the cost to migrate to wordpress.org, and find a hosting site (Bluehost) was a lot. But now you can google my domain, and I come up in the results. And as I figure it out more, I improve my blog. Such as cookie settings, and GDPR, CCPA, privacy policies and disclaimers. Whoo! There is so much to do to comply with internet safety, it’s insane. But I enjoy it.
Where is the blog now?
Right now, I am trying to improve the user interface, so then I can get approval for Google Ads. There is so much you need to do to meet the criteria, but every time I fail, they don’t even share what I need to improve on. I have never so desperately wanted to hear feedback, and Google is gatekeeping. But I think it’s because I actually have so many things to change, that they can’t be bothered to list all my mistakes.
Like I said at the start, I’m not trying to make money so then I can leave my 9-5. This is to give me some income, so I have the flexibility to try new things. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and sitting in a job that gives me little value or training, towards trying new things, is not improving my situation. I have accepted to wait for the opportunities to come to me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t prepare for them.
This blog is teaching me a lot about being online. Such as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) which I am still not that great at. It forces me to write, so I am becoming better at communicating things in text. I have to create content and manage the social media. And I have found a creative outlet, that takes me away from my completely STEM driven career. I used to think that since I am so STEM focussed, that I had nothing creative in me. But turns out, just because I can’t draw, it doesn’t mean I can’t show my creativity by other means. This blog and my IG use my strengths and interests, and wouldn’t it be great to make a little extra on the side with that?
Closing remarks
I have ideas and plans for the future for the blog, but first I need to overcome my internal fears about putting myself out there. Then I can make the leap. These ideas are like a mailing list, a small online store with some digital download tools that people could use for their journeys. Maybe even starting a YouTube channel. If you are reading this, and any of these things have happened, just know that I didn’t find it easy. I feel so self-conscious but I enjoy what I put out there at the same time, it’s a really irritating mental block that I have to overcome with each new upgrade.
In the meantime whilst I overcome these, I hope you’re enjoying my content.
Moral of my story:
- Starting anything new is overwhelming – Don’t think that because I started this blog, that I knew what I was doing. I am learning something new every few weeks to months.
- I have hopes to be officially an owner of a side hustle – I am trying to monetize, it’s just a lot more complicated as I try to figure it out myself, and using the free resources I find online.
- A side hustle doesn’t have to replace your main income – Nope! Not having to commute to a job that I don’t like is what I want to achieve.
- Trying out different side hustle ideas is fine – You have seen that I have tried 3 different methods, and there are so many available out there to try, if you want.
A side hustle is optional, not culture – You don’t have to if you don’t want to. If you have found your balance between living, working and enjoying your existence, then you have achieved what all the people who are trying a side hustle want to achieve.
