Normally, the main subjects of my posts are the recipes.
I’m actually somewhat shy and don’t like a lot of attention on myself.
But many people have asked what I do as a full-time blogger.
I do not just sit around and eat cookies all day. (Too bad, ‘cause that would be fun.) I work really hard! So today’s post is going to be a little different from the normal recipe posts.
A Day in the Life:
I wake up naturally around 5am, amble downstairs, and start replying to a massive amount of emails, comments, facebook messages, and tweets. If it’s a running day, I’ll eat pre-run snack, then and answer more questions while waiting for the food to digest. [Insert run here: a little over an hour]
Upon returning, I quickly check the computer again, then eat a real breakfast.
Yesterday’s breakfast was this: 5-Minute Chocolate Oatmeal.
With breakfast done, I go back over to the computer, this time to ensure the day’s post published as scheduled. I work on writing new posts for about an hour and a half, taking mini breaks to measure dry ingredients, get one or two things started on the stove or oven, and cook something else in the microwave. (I’ve become a master at multitasking.) Then I run upstairs for a quick shower, after which I do maybe 20-30 more minutes of blogwork (writing posts, editing photos, answering questions) whilst also making lunch.
After lunch, I take Henry and Batman for a walk (unless they’re at my parents’ house, in which case I go by myself). I come back and do a photoshoot or two, since it’ll usually be nice and light out by this time. I also do some taste-testing of whatever recipe experiments were cooked that morning. Yesterday, I tested chocolate peanut butter pie and peach cinnamon coffee cake.
About two hours after lunch I’m usually hungry again, so I’ll have a snack. Sometimes the day’s experiments have turned out so well that I’ll just eat them for snack.
Yesterday’s snack was one of my favorites: Fudge Brownie Energy Bars.
Yes, more chocolate.
Then it’s back to the kitchen for more recipe experiments (and washing dishes!). I also continue to check the computer intermittently, answering questions and emails. Y’all ask a lot of questions, which I love because it means people are reading and making the recipes. I do try to answer as many as I possibly can!
Some days I run errands, often with a friend (or my roommate, if she’s off from work) to keep me company. And then it’s dinnertime, which is often followed by hanging out with whatever friends (if any) have found their way over. Our house is quickly becoming the “hang out after work” place, and I take advantage of this by giving out samples of the day’s experiments, asking for honest opinions.
Not all my experiments turn out; it sometimes takes two or three trials before I arrive at a recipe worthy of publishing… or ten in the case of my Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies!
Sometimes we’ll watch tv (Gossip Girl, Friends, whatever sports are on), but I always have a notebook in hand to multitask—brainstorming recipe combinations, writing out new posts, making a to-do list, etc. After people leave (or even sometimes when they’re still over), I’ll schedule the next day’s post, continue to tackle the never-ending inbox, eat a nighttime snack—usually more chocolate!—and finally turn off the computer. I don’t take days off, and even if there’s no post for the day I’m still working on all the other components of the site. When it’s time for bed, I rarely have a problem falling asleep.
I know some people (a lot of people?) think blogging isn’t a “real” job, but truthfully it’s no different from saying my job is: photographer, photo-editor, recipe developer, writer, and often–too often!–web technician. It’s definitely never boring!
What do you do as your job?
Do you enjoy what you do? I love almost every minute of this (except when the site crashes or an experiment fails… those times are no fun), and I really hope to continue running this website for as long as people continue to read.
EDIT: By popular demand:
Part Two: Questions and Answers
I am a student living off my husband at the moment. No, but in all honesty, I have some summer work coming up, which helps. I’m doing the school thing second time around and I don’t know how I managed to work (midnights!) and attend school full-time. Now I’m having time just attending the school part! I guess having a 40 minute drive does add to that versus when I went away to university my first time around – I lived in the town where my school was!
I would certainly say it is a job, you do work hard on your recipes, your posts, you are constantly busy AND you make money from it – sounds like a job to me 🙂
I would be curious to know what was the turning point when you said ‘okay, I am doing this full-time”. I know you have blogged about that you are a 100% into it or not at all”-type of girl, and how much you loved it, and didn’t want to give it up. What I am wondering that when you decided on doing this as your full-time job, did you already have enough of an income from it to support yourself or was it more of a ‘let’s give it a try, I think I can make a living from this”.
Also, curious to know how many hits do you get per day…I mean you get at least a 100 from me (ok, not THAT many, but I certainly check back all the time and browse around :-)), I can’t even imagine with all the CCK-fans out there…wow!
This was my turning point: https://lett-trim.today/2011/08/02/my-big-decision/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> It was definitely more of a “I’m not sure, but I HAVE to try” thing… and it worked out much better than I’d ever hoped. Visitors are in the millions per month. Nothing like Perez Hilton’s 9 million per day thing, though ;).
Hey, in a few years, as amazing as you are, you will hit that 9 million easy 😉
Sounds like a fun job to have! I would love to be able to be in the kitchen being creative all day! Recipe developing would definitely my favorite part!
A blogger’s work is never done! I swear from the time I wake up until I fall asleep, the majority of my day involves food and blogging, which I love. I’m a small business owner (software and web development) but I’m also a blogger, so I have two jobs that have no real set schedule, but no official days off unless I take the. I was born into business ownership, so all I know is how to be my own boss, which means: your bills aren’t paid and you don’t have healthcare or any other benefit unless you work hard and do it for yourself! There’s nothing easy about it. There’s zero security, it’s not easy, but I love it.
Thanks for giving us a glimpse I to your days; my days are very similar. 🙂
Love these kind of posts, seeing more of you and your daily life 🙂
Thank you for this post!! I’ve always wondered how “serious” bloggers differ from those who just do it recreationally. Really interesting post!
That’s so funny that you posted this b/c I’ve often wondered how you schedule everything. As I’ve mentioned to you before, your blog inspired me to start my own which is something I desperately needed to do. I have a back injury that prevents me from working on a full-time basis, so the majority of the week I was at home twiddling my thumbs while the hubs went to work full-time. We are newlyweds (6 months on the 29th!), so I didn’t feel as if I was doing my part in our marriage. I started to get angry with myself and was starting to worry that my husband may eventually end up resenting me for not contributing more. I knew I had to find some way to set my own schedule and make money at the same time. Before I came across your site, I didn’t even know it was possible to make blogging your full-time job! After reading more and more of your posts, I started to realize that I could totally do the same thing. Cooking is a huge passion of mine, I have a BFA in Creative Writing, I studied manual photography, I have an awesome camera (but desperately need a new lens), and I always had friends asking me for my recipes. I had all the tools I needed, but had no idea how to start. I want you to know that I’m so grateful to you for posting your tips as well as your insight into what it takes to create a successful blog. Even if my site never takes off and I have no readers at all and I don’t make a penny, I am happier than I could have ever thought possible. I love every second I spend working on it, so much so that I’ve been running a fever all week and still managed to get a post up! I feel as if I’m actually doing something useful now. You have helped me more than you can ever realize, and because of that I will always have a platonic girl crush on you 😉
Aw you are entirely too sweet :).
And I think you have the PERFECT attitude to be successful with your blog long-term! Too many people email me asking how to turn their blog into a business, and I cringe because if you are writing a blog with the sole purpose of wanting to make money, you probably won’t be successful OR happy. My blog made little to no money for years, but it was successful because it was FUN.
Yay! I’m definitely having fun!
PS. I totally talked you up at whole foods today! The women in front of me were talking about chocolate, and I immediately jumped into their convo and told them all about your blog and your ultimate chocolate fudge pie! I’m no vegan, but I’ve totally slipped that one by both the hubs and my best friend. They had NO CLUE it had tofu in it and they both gobbled it up. SCORE!
Thanks Amber! I can’t even tell you how much that means to me!
Thanks for writing this up! I call myself a “work at home mom.” I spend my days taking care of my toddler, running errands and doing housework, and after she goes to bed, I am a freelance writer/editor. Often I work until 2 or 3 am. Then my child is awake by 8 and the day starts over again. Sometimes I work while she naps, but often I nap too, depending on how late I was up working to meet a deadline. Sometimes I miss having a “regular” job because I never leave my work. Even when I am not writing I’m thinking about my articles, and of course being a mom is work too. I don’t get weekends off or vacations. I would not trade it for anything because I am glad I can take care of my child (my income is not enough alone to live on but I am married and my husband works outside the home full-time), but it’s not all fun and games, either. =)
I enjoyed this post! I too love my jobs. It’s a nice position to be in. I am very curious about how you (and anyone) make a living by blogging….I’ve wondered that for a while.
Thank you for such a cool post – I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be a full-time blogger! I’m a medical technologist. I started out in research as a grad student, but then discovered the clinical laboratory world, got my MT license, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I currently do a specialized kind of oncology testing, where we diagnose and monitor leukemias and lymphomas of all kinds – it’s really fascinating stuff and very rewarding – there’s always a new challenge ahead. Plus my particular job is all day shift – not always a given for med techs! 🙂