I realized something very important in the last few months. After I launched the Strange & Charmed Shop, things began to rapidly change for me. I was no longer focused on the same things that had once held my attention. My income streams had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks after the shop was up and running, and the fate of my blog held in the balance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am NOT about to tell you that I am closing the blog OR that I am going to stop blogging, that just isn’t going to happen! However, a shift in my perception left me thinking about how I use my blog, the things I share through it and the legacy that I want to create with it. Once it was clear to me that the shop was driving a large portion of my income, I lost a lot of anxiety around my blog and stopped actively seeking out sponsorships and ways to monetize the site. Once I became someone who was creating products, rather than merely someone who shared other people’s products, I realized that I was no longer a blogger. Instead, I am a business owner who blogs.
What is the difference between a blogger and a business owner who blogs?
To a member of my online community, the difference is subtle and perhaps barely even recognizable. When I was a blogger, I was intending to generate income from my writing and seeking the support of sponsors and advertisers in order to produce revenue. Because of this I was spending a good deal of time vetting emails from companies and brands that wanted to place products on my site as a form of advertising, or seeking out and building relationships with brands that I thought my community would want to see me working with. I was much more focused on creating content where I was showing my audience products, things to buy, and hoping to attract sponsors as well as new readers based on the products I was sharing.
Once I opened the shop and that began generating a regular income, it became clear that it was more effective for me to spend my time creating products and services that helped my customers, than simply curating items from other companies. Even though I had always held myself to a high standard when it came to what I shared, once I had the power to actually help solve issues that members of my own community were having through my products, a whole new world of possibility opened up to me. I am not sure if you have noticed, but lately, I have been much more focused on sharing tips, information and even glimpses into my life, more than I ever have before. Content creation back when I was a blogger was always focused on creating valuable content, but it was also compulsory that I found a way to integrate outside brands and companies so that I could monetize and sustain my work on the blog. It was so empowering for me once I made the shift from blogger to business owner who blogs, because I now had my priorities in order and my blog (and YouTube channel) had a new purpose.
I hope that over the last few weeks and months you have been enjoying these subtle changes in my content. For the most part, I doubt you can really feel the shift as a reader, but inside my own mind and at Charmed HQ things seem worlds away from how I used to approach content. It’s so much more relaxed for me to simply share knowledge with you all, give you my best tips and tricks and not have to worry about paying the blogging bills because I have a stream of income that is supporting not only my blog, but also myself and my family! Of course, I only have you, my readers and community, to thank for the success of my shop because you have really made so much more possible for me through your support!
I absolutely loved being a blogger, and for those of you who have never taken on the task you may not truly appreciate the time, effort and mental anguish that can sometimes come with being a full time blogger. If you have a favorite blogger out there on the internet that is constantly producing great content and working with brands and sponsors regularly, I highly suggest going over to their site and giving them a virtual hug and let them know how much you appreciate all they do to keep their content rolling in day after day and week after week. Bloggers sometimes get a tough rap and take a lot of slack for all the hard work they do to publish their content, so spread the love today and make your gratitude known. Thank you all so much for being here with me, and for giving me the opportunity to make this subtle career shift. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know!
xoxo,
