{"id":6352,"date":"2016-03-03T10:52:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T17:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=6352"},"modified":"2019-04-28T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T17:49:26","slug":"full-time-blogger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/03\/full-time-blogger\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Became a Full-Time Blogger: Reflections on Ten Years of ScottHYoung.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago I wrote the first entry<\/a> to this blog. Since then, it\u2019s gone from zero to hundreds of thousands of monthly readers, four books, three courses and over a thousand articles<\/a>. It\u2019s also been my full-time occupation for the last five of those ten years.<\/p>\n

Becoming a full-time blogger was little more than a fantasy when I got started. There were a handful of people who were full-time bloggers, but they were the best of the best. It took having a Top-100 blog in the world to even be making a six-figure salary. Needless to say, it wasn\u2019t exactly a well-worn career path to select.<\/p>\n

Today, the opportunities are much bigger. I know many people who blog full-time, and many more that are in a position where they could go full-time with just a little work. Nowadays, having a Top-100 blog almost certainly means you\u2019re a media organization, with dozens of employees. Blogging has become serious business.<\/p>\n

In this article, I want to share the history of growing this blog from the random typings of a high-school senior into a successful, full-time income. I want to try to share the behind-the-scenes which might not have been obvious, even if you were subscribed to my blog at the time.<\/p>\n

I want to do this because starting a blog and writing have done so much for me, that I want to give back. The world needs more writers, not less. We all benefit from having more viewpoints, ideas and experiences shared instead of left silent. If reading this encourages even one person to give writing a shot, I think the world will be better for it.<\/p>\n

An Exception to My Usual Policy<\/h2>\n

I try not to talk about online business too much on this blog. There\u2019s two reasons for that.<\/p>\n

First, like films about filmmaking or novels about writing, there\u2019s an excessive tendency for a medium to become self-absorbed. Second, because in the particular case of online business, people\u2019s online businesses increasingly become about teaching other people to start online businesses. The whole thing starts to look like a Ponzi scheme, and while I don\u2019t fault other authors that do it, it\u2019s a temptation I try to avoid.<\/p>\n

The truth is, most bloggers don\u2019t make their money selling blogging tips, and so the industry as a whole (while far from perfect) isn\u2019t the pyramid-scheme it can sometimes look like if you venture too far into the self-referential corners of online businesses telling you how to start online businesses.<\/p>\n

The 60-Second Highlight Reel<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s the quick view of the evolution of this blog as a business over the last ten years:<\/p>\n