Breakfast:
Today’s breakfast was this recipe: Eggless Breakfast Scramble.
See? Proof that I don’t just eat chocolate! It’s an older recipe, with terribly old photos, but I still love it. There are actually quite a few old recipes on the site that I missed when archiving the recipe page, and I’m trying to go back to find them all. It’s like a Where’s Waldo…
Tomorrow I’ll get back to the chocolate recipes.
Promise.
Today’s post, though, is a follow-up to Thursday’s Day In The Life post, since so many people had the same questions. I figured it’d be best to answer them all in the same place.
I also wanted to apologize.
In my last post, I stressed the fact that I work hard at my job; that running the website takes up a majority of the day—nights and weekends, too. But re-reading my post, I’m cringing at how it almost sounds like I’m complaining about the amount of work.
Perhaps I chose the wrong words; it was definitely not my intent to compare my job to those of people who do manual labor or spend long hours at tedious jobs they hate. I can see now how my post could’ve sounded privileged and insensitive. If you took offense, please accept my embarrassed apology, as well as my gratitude for enabling me to have this job that I love.
To answer the questions…
How can I become a full-time blogger?
To be really honest (and blunt), I think that if your goal in starting a blog is to turn it into a career, you’re going to fail. You should blog because you love it, not because you want to make money. I didn’t set out to make this my job, and I happily blogged for years without getting much (or any) pay. My goal in blogging has never been to earn tons of money; it’s just to make enough money that I can continue doing what I love. I’d still run this website if it made absolutely nothing; I’d just be forced to devote less time to it.
If it turns out—without your trying—that you can blog for a living, that’s a happy coincidence. But I think if you specifically tailor your content to become a full-time blogger, people will see through you and see that your heart really isn’t in it.
So… how many visitors does your blog get?
At first I wasn’t going to answer this question. But the truth is, I’m curious too, and I’d love it if more bloggers shared.
My website received almost 8 million visits for February and March. If you’ve ever told your friends or family about Chocolate-Covered Katie, or shared my website on facebook, I am forever grateful to you… I’d bake you a giant batch of “thank you” cookies, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough!
(Seriously, it wouldn’t.)
Are you going to blog forever?
I don’t know what the future holds, but I’d love to continue running this website for as long as anyone cares to read. There is something else I’m working on, and many of you already know about it because I’m lousy at keeping secrets. I’m planning to finally announce it officially on the blog next month!
How does a person make money from a blog?
I have a sponsor, Foodbuzz. Their ads are on the side of my blog, and in return they pay me. This amounted to a few dollars a month when I first started out. But if a blog gets popular enough, you can actually make a living from it. I’m sure there are more lucrative ways to make money from a blog, but I haven’t looked into it. As I said earlier, I’m not interested in making a huge amount of money—just enough to pay the bills, cover the expense of my baking supplies (I go through a lot when doing recipe experiments!), and pay the server costs for website hosting.
Can I make a donation to your blog?
I actually don’t have a donation page… I know many other bloggers do, but I’d feel weird asking for donations when there are so many charities out there more in need than my need for money for baking supplies. But if you made a donation to your favorite charity in my honor, that would absolutely make me so happy!!
Do your parents financially support you at all? Does your husband?
My parents don’t, and my husband definitely does not support me. Unless you mean my imaginary husband. In that case, yeah he gives me tons of money. 😉
How do you make friends when you work alone?
I’ve kept in touch with some of my college friends and high school friends, and I’ve made more friends through their friends; plus many of my roommate’s friends and coworkers have also become my friends. Then I also have you all! Reading your comments makes me feel like I’m getting to know you and like we’re friends. I love being part of this online community and can’t understand how a blogger could take comments for granted and ignore his or her readers. You all teach me so much, and I wish there were more time in the day to respond to every comment and to try all the recipe ideas people send me.
(2015 edit: It’s so fantastic how many real-life friends I’ve made from people who have recognized me on the street from my blog! If you see me, please do feel free to say something!! Meeting new people is one of my favorite things, and it’s one of the top reasons I enjoy living in DC.)
First off, I can’t wait to see what those cookies are. They look absolutely amazing!
I can tell that you love blogging! You are so genuine and you blog about things that you love. And you’re teaching people that there are so many other options when it comes to food/desserts. How awesome is that! But you’re right, blogging can be hard, and it does take up a lot of time 🙂 But speaking for myself (and I think the rest of your readers) I’m so glad you take the time! I seriously stalk your site to satisfy my sweet tooth every single day.
Btw let me know if you ever need an extra hand 🙂
thank you so much for this post! i’m always really curious about how professional bloggers manage to get by. it’s really fascinating to me. plus i just love how you always emphasize just how much you love what you do. it makes the rest of us all the more excited about your recipes!
as for the preview…it’s too little, but i think i see some red in there. some sort of cookies with some cranberry or rasberry swirl? whatever it is, i’m sure it’s delicious!! 🙂 lisa
Even if it doesn´t make a big deal I will still like you and share your blod with my friends,just because if find your recipes pure genius and very yumy:)))
And as far as I´m concerned,i don´t think you sounded whiny or insensitive in you last post,i think there´s way easier to work at someting you love,but in the end hardwork is hardwork.Just because i enjoy lifting weights doesn´t mean i won´t feel the pain of it 😉 I wish you will blog for a long time tho:D llooooooongg time:)))
Thank you! And I wish you could teach me how to love lifting weights ;).
Thanks for answering all those questions! As other commenters have implied, I don’t think you sounded privileged or insensitive at all in your last post. As with pretty much all jobs, things can get difficult and stressful at times, and I think it’s important for people to realize that blogging is no exception.
Also looking forward to your next recipe! I just love “puffy” cookies 🙂
Hi Katie I have been reading your blog for inspration on a daily average! I just want to let you know how great your blog is and how I admire you greatly! Keep up the good work and enjoy it 😉 Debz xX
I wish you got money from non-USA readers – you’d be getting millions off of me alone!
As I said to someone else, I’m just as grateful for the non-US readers as US ones, and I really don’t care about the money. Non-US readers offer a different perspective, and I’ve learned a lot from you all. Plus, I get really excited to see people are reading my blog in places I’ve never even been, like Poland or Australia. 🙂
Glad you mentioned Australia 🙂 I definitely read your blog a lot and tell all my co-workers when they ask about a recipe of yours that I bring in. The chickpea desserts have been a huge success down-under. (No one in Australia says down-under, but since I’m an American-transplant I figure I can use it … hehe)
I’ll be happy to host you, if you ever decide you want to come visit 🙂
You never answered what you made…if you had given the cent amount I could have calculated it myself but you purposefully didnt. WHY CANT YOU JUST SATISFY OUR CURIOSITY
First of all, it’s a direct violation of the Foodbuzz contract to tell someone how much they’re paying you. Second of all, haven’t you ever heard that it’s rude to ask someone how much he/she makes?
Wow, are you serious? That is THE most offensive/rude thing you can ask someone. “oh, excuse me, how much do you make?” Lacking social skills and manners are we? And why on earth does it matter to you? She really didn’t even need to tell the whole world that she makes enough to support herself without help from others, that is also NO ONE’S business. Katie does what she does because she loves it. Katie needs to justify nothing nor did she even have to address the questions regarding making a living blogging but she did and she gave more than enough information. Can’t you be happy with that? Leave it alone already. You MUST have more important things to worry about than someone’s income, no?
wow.
Ah hah! I figured you got money per page hit and comments solely from the fact that you constantly link to other pages on your site, and end pretty much every blog with a question for your readers. Not that I blame you, I’d set it up that way too if its how I supported myself. Congrats on the blog. 8 mil views per month is incredible.
Don’t you think your comment is just a little rude? 🙁
Katie’s already written that she links back to old posts because she has been blogging for eons and has a ton of older posts, and she feels sad to have worked hard on them only to have people never see them again after the day they’re published.
Plus, for someone like me, who hasn’t been reading her blog from the beginning, I find this enormously helpful. For example, today I found a new recipe that I’m excited to make for breakfast tomorrow: tofu scramble!
And finally, pretty much every blog I read links back to older posts. Some do it way more than Katie. I don’t find her linking excessive or annoying. Rather, I am glad she does it because it helps me find new recipes or ones I’d forgotten!
I agree with Abby. And as for the question of the day I would agree with you, ah ha, IF Katie asked a question and then didn’t care about our responses. However if you read her blog regularly you can see that she’s VERY active in the comments section, so this discredits your theory.
Long live the questions of the day! 🙂
Hey Guys, I never said it was annoying that she linked back- in fact, I said I’d do it too. It was more just something I wondered. I don’t really see any fault in it. And anonymous- about the questions– she can still care about responding to them even if she’s happy to also make money off of it. I don’t see those two things as mutually exclusive at all.
Oh ok. I guess I just figured that, with the comment name you chose, you were trying to be snarky. The way I see it, we all benefit from concepts like this: Katie makes enough to keep blogging, WE as the readers don’t have to pay for a cookbook (not that I wouldn’t buy one, I’m just trying to make a point in general), and the advertisers are happy as well.
Win win win :).
I definitely don’t ask a “question of the day” for the extra page views. Even if a post got 100 comments, that would only translate to a few dollars worth of page views.
I ask the question because I love hearing from people. Sure, maybe on a particular day a certain question is a bit dumb or superficial (“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”) But it’s fun to see who answers, and how they answer. It’s fun to get to know other people through the comments. I know it sounds strange, but you really do start to get to know other people. Plus, everyone likes getting mail, right? This is the same idea :).
Katie, you definitely have a way with words, and that is a very good thing. It takes me quite a while to write a comment, memo or e-mail because when something is written you can’t see facial gestures or hear the voice therefore, it is very easy to misinterpret the intent. I have to reread my written words several times to make sure my comments aren’t taken the wrong way. You, however, do this all day long every day and always seem to respond in very effective and kind way. I like to believe that people don’t intentionally make rude comments maybe they are just misunderstood and/or speak before they think, but I’m certain there is info on the web to help them answer any questions they may have about blogging if they are indeed interested in getting this information in order to possibly start their own. Or maybe it would be more appropriate for them to ask you some question in the form of a private e-mail. As I’ve been following your blog for months it seem to me that you would be happy to help someone or give them advice. Some of the comments do come across as being rude and/or disrespectful with regard to how you support yourself; hopefully this was not their intent, but rereading before sending might have been a good idea. It’s really not polite to ask someone these questions and while I will admit I was curious about it too, I would have never asked. I’m happy for you that you can do what you love everyday and I’m sure there are those out there that are maybe jealous and would like to be successful working at something they love too and can’t quite verbalize that in an appropriate way. I wish they would take a few minutes to reread their posts before they hit submit and consider how others might interpret their words. I’m sure over the years you’ve learned to let these types of things roll off your back, but obviously some of your “follower friends” aren’t so good at it as we want to stand up for you. Maybe part of it is selfish on our part as well since we don’t want you to get discouraged by some people and stop doing what you are doing as that would affect all of us as well. However, it seems to me that the majority of the comments you receive are positive and you certainly have alot of people who will stand up for you and back you up because you come across as a nice, sweet and sincere individual. I can’t wait to see what that next dessert is. Keep up the good work Katie!
Katie, I think it is very sweet of you to address the many questions you get. People seem to think that having a blog, or putting yourself out there on the net…gives them a right to ask anything, say anything and assume a whole lot!
In the short time that I have been following your blog, I have seen you take several hits. You handle it well in the face of the forum. I certainly hope that you take the nonsense with a grain of salt.
I, for one, am glad you do what you do…Whether it is a paying gig or not, it shows that you give it your all!
😀
Thanks, Michelle! I’ve really had to learn to take criticism less personally. If you can believe it, there are actually entire websites devoted to bashing food bloggers! But I just don’t ever click on those sites anymore, so whatever they’re saying doesn’t bother me. Most of the people I’ve met through blogging are amazingly kind and caring.
Are you serious? My imaginary husband gives me millions too! ( in Monopoly money, but hey, its the thought that counts 🙂 ) Great post btw. I’ve been thinking of starting a blog (really, who wants to read a grammatically challenged post from some high schooler?) mainly because I might as well do all my yakking where people of taste WILL APPRECIATE my ramblings * sniffs in contempt at family members who will go unnamed* Seriously speaking, I have a passion for health and fitness as well as the issue of body image. I have dealt with these issues so I feel like I might as well share what I’ve learned. Problem is, it can be a little embarrassing and discouraging when you only have two views and one comment. And those two views are from your Grandma Opal and Uncle Jed. And the comment is from your mom. get a life, Sarah. Thanks for the inspiration though.
p.s.- i am nosy so i did some quick math with the few cents and 8 million views. I will not say the numbers but boy is that IMPRESSIVE!!! Congrats! 🙂
Sarah – Don’t be afraid to go for it. 🙂 I get very few regular comments and at first it was family primarily. But the thing is, I love the process of blogging. Truly I do. And the people I do comment that I would never have connected with outside the blog world I have always enjoyed and usually really look forward to (I think there was one advertising one that I just did a quick delete on).
You can always try it and destroy it later if you hate the process. 🙂
Good luck!
Do it! I’ll check it out and be your online cheerleader (as long as I don’t have to dress up!).
Thanks for the supportive words both of you!!! I guess I should seriously consider it- maybe not now but definitely some day! Good luck and God bless to both of you and your blogs.