Victoria EverleighFriends, I’m opting out of the career rat race. Truth be told, I’m just tired of trying to be “the best (fill-in-the-blank du jour).” Since I quit my job last month, I started devoting a lot more time to this blog — prompting all sorts of questions about whether this is where God is leading me.
Livin’ the Dream?
When I started this blog last summer, I had dreams of monetizing it and being able to work from home full-time like all those other six-figure bloggers I’d read about. In fact, they all made it sound so simple: do this, then that, post this, post that, etc.
With all these blogging success stories, I felt like a real loser when I could hardly crack 50 readers my first month. What was I doing wrong? Was my content really that bad? Maybe I need to drop a few hundred dollars on some kind of blogging course.
I really had no idea what I was doing when I started: WordPress.org vs WordPress.com (what?!), affiliate marketing, SEO, Google Analytics. I thought this was supposed to be easy!
As I do with anything I decide to “throw myself” into, I consumed all the free information I could find, including articles and podcasts along the lines of, “Why You need to Market on Pinterest NOW” or “How I Increased my Readership by 10x in One Month” or “How This Hairstylist-turned-Blogger Makes $10K per month.” If all these people could do it, then so should I.
It was getting to the point where I thought my head was going to explode if I read one more article or heard one more blogger mention a “sales funnel” or “building an e-mail list.”
Heeding Counsel from the Holy Spirit
Well, it’s funny that it took this long, but I finally decided to consult the Holy Spirit about it – because this whole process of blogging seemed to be less about writing (my true passion) and more about marketing/branding (yuck – no offense to people who enjoy marketing, but it’s not my thing).
To my relief, I discovered that my reckless abandon approach to blogging is not my calling. I’m still going to write, but the self-imposed weight to make money or be the best has been lifted. Thank God!
I could feel Him reassuring me gently, saying there is no pressure to be the best Catholic blogger, to write the most-viewed or most-adored blog, to have the best content or graphics, or to be the 2nd-best or 3rd best at anything. I feel relieved that this doesn’t have to be a six-figure or four-figure or two-figure blog. By blogging standards, I’m unsuccessful and in the red (I spend more on this blog than I bring in).
But it’s my blog and it’s beautiful – just like yours. In my own way, I feel like I’m being God’s little helper here on Earth.
“God has not called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.” – Mother Teresa.
It might sound like I had this radical mind shift very quickly, but the seeds were planted long ago and I’ve been watering them in the form of Adoration, Catholic podcasts and blogs, and prayer. Leaving my job was a big step for me, and I’ve felt like God is reminding me that this is a time to slow down, not just pick a new hobby/career to throw myself into.
Supporting Myself
Ironically, part of the reason I’m able to not worry about the site’s finances is that I was part of the rat race for a while. It’s a weird thing to reconcile with because I wouldn’t recommend my career path to others – it was unbalanced and unhealthy. Yet, by the grace of God and the generosity of my grandparents to allow me to live with them, I saved up enough so I could leave my job. It reminds me that nothing is all good or all bad.
I worked very hard at my former “day job” so that I don’t have to worry about whether this blog ever brings me a cent of income – and I like it that way. Most importantly, I don’t feel God calling me to make this my full-time job (if that changes someday, then of course I’ll listen). This blog is my gift to everyone.
Yes, I do have a “Catholic White Pages” where I make a small percentage if you purchase something from one of the links. I’m going to be honest, as of July 23, 2018, I’ve made less than $1 from that page – and I haven’t received that money because you have to have made at least $100 to get paid out. But that’s OK!
Do I want more readers? Yes because I truly think my content will help people, especially with their personal finances – I find that stress in that area often keeps people from growing deeper in relationship with Christ.
Finally, I want to say that I have a ton of respect for bloggers who do make a full-time living out of this. It’s not easy to build a business around blogging, and if it weren’t for all of the free content they’ve written, this blog would not be here today. Thank you!
And even though I’m not trying to be the best, I want to do my best and help my readers in some small way.