2015 In Retrospect: How I Balanced Blogging And My Full Time Job
As seen on MissTechy
I am not sure how many of you know this, but when I started MissTechy earlier this year, I was working as a Digital Strategist at one of the top digital agencies in Nigeria. During this phase, It wasn’t easy, but with determination, passion, consistency, hard work and most importantly the God factor, I was able to survive.
HOW I STARTED MISSTECHY
I have always been a techy by default (Thank you Google), as a matter of fact, back in my university days, if there was something wrong with your laptop and you couldn’t fix it yourself, Tobi Ayeni might be your best bet. But it was until January 2015 that I decided to create MissTechy.
I started with the design (P.S MissTechy’s header was designed by me, I couldn’t afford a graphic designer), downloaded a free theme and even learnt a bit of coding (I love you Google) to fix some things I didn’t like.
During the period of designing & creating, my weekends were the best days because I could fully work on Misstechy without my job interfering. So I used it well and got my blog up on the 9th of February.
For those who don’t know, this is how my blog looked like when I first started.
MY BUSY SCHEDULE
Before I started, I kinda believed that It wouldn’t be soooo difficult, boy was I wrong! Due to the nature of my Job, I mostly had time for Misstechy in the wee hours of the morning, usually before 8 am. If you’ve been following MissTechy then, you will remember that during this period, I was only able to post 1-2 articles per day.
My schedule was simple, wake up really early, find an interesting post, go to work, come back in the evening usually by 7 -8 ish (sometimes 11 pm), look for something to post, then follow that cycle the next day.
ROAD BLOCK: SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
However, despite my effort, I wasn’t getting great results. Also, due to an illness back then, I alienated myself from my friends who could have helped me with a RT or pushed my blog on social media. Finally, my divided attention was beginning to tell on my work performance.
So, I reduced the number of posts I did to 1, then relied on Facebook ads for the first month, but stopped after I realized that the people who came through Facebook ads hardly returned the next day. (I still needed to use my money to bring them back and I was in my Ojuelegba zone).
HOW I FOUND A BALANCE
The truth is, not everybody will have the type of job that requires you being online all the time, but I had and I used it to my advantage – for every time I was less busy in the office and during lunch breaks, I’d ensure I got more stories to post.
Another thing that helped me was my consistent article pattern, I found a pattern that was easy and short, with it, I could read a new story, understand it and try to make it interesting without breaking a sweat.
Also, God brought me readers like you who could make me smile with their comments, honestly, your comments made everything worthwhile.
Finally, the fact that I was super passionate about technology ensured I didn’t throw in the towel even when the going got tough. It wasn’t easy, but I was very passionate and I had a goal, I wanted to get MissTechy out there and I was willing to lose sleep and work extra hard to see that my goals were achieved.
DID I ACHIEVE MY GOALS?
My answer:
I haven’t achieved everything in my book, but I haven’t lost focus either.
LESSON LEARNT.
I survived, thanks to the fact that I was passionate, knew how to manage my time and made SMART goals.
Hehe, anyway, by SMART, I mean your goals must be:
Specific: What exactly do you want? The more specific you are, the more likely you are to achieve your goals.
Measurable: How will you track your progress?
Attainable: Ensure you are setting a goal that is attainable, an unattainable goal is wanting your blog to grow like Linda Ikeji’s in a month.
Realistic: How ready are you to take the necessary steps to achieve this goal?
Time-Bound: You should always ensure your goals are timely. I wanted to acquire Google Adsense in the first month and I did.
I am going to end with this: If someone says it’s going to be easy, BIG LIE!! It is going to be really hard, but if a smallie like me can survive this, You can!! You should also remember that you have the ability to get to where you want to, but it is up to you to get there. Finally, find a balance that suits you and ensure whatever you are doing is fun.
There you have it, really long, but I hope you can learn a thing or two from it.
I am not sure how many of you know this, but when I started MissTechy earlier this year, I was working as a Digital Strategist at one of the top digital agencies in Nigeria. During this phase, It wasn’t easy, but with determination, passion, consistency, hard work and most importantly the God factor, I was able to survive.
HOW I STARTED MISSTECHY
I have always been a techy by default (Thank you Google), as a matter of fact, back in my university days, if there was something wrong with your laptop and you couldn’t fix it yourself, Tobi Ayeni might be your best bet. But it was until January 2015 that I decided to create MissTechy.
I started with the design (P.S MissTechy’s header was designed by me, I couldn’t afford a graphic designer), downloaded a free theme and even learnt a bit of coding (I love you Google) to fix some things I didn’t like.
During the period of designing & creating, my weekends were the best days because I could fully work on Misstechy without my job interfering. So I used it well and got my blog up on the 9th of February.
For those who don’t know, this is how my blog looked like when I first started.
MY BUSY SCHEDULE
Before I started, I kinda believed that It wouldn’t be soooo difficult, boy was I wrong! Due to the nature of my Job, I mostly had time for Misstechy in the wee hours of the morning, usually before 8 am. If you’ve been following MissTechy then, you will remember that during this period, I was only able to post 1-2 articles per day.
My schedule was simple, wake up really early, find an interesting post, go to work, come back in the evening usually by 7 -8 ish (sometimes 11 pm), look for something to post, then follow that cycle the next day.
ROAD BLOCK: SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
However, despite my effort, I wasn’t getting great results. Also, due to an illness back then, I alienated myself from my friends who could have helped me with a RT or pushed my blog on social media. Finally, my divided attention was beginning to tell on my work performance.
So, I reduced the number of posts I did to 1, then relied on Facebook ads for the first month, but stopped after I realized that the people who came through Facebook ads hardly returned the next day. (I still needed to use my money to bring them back and I was in my Ojuelegba zone).
HOW I FOUND A BALANCE
The truth is, not everybody will have the type of job that requires you being online all the time, but I had and I used it to my advantage – for every time I was less busy in the office and during lunch breaks, I’d ensure I got more stories to post.
Another thing that helped me was my consistent article pattern, I found a pattern that was easy and short, with it, I could read a new story, understand it and try to make it interesting without breaking a sweat.
Also, God brought me readers like you who could make me smile with their comments, honestly, your comments made everything worthwhile.
Finally, the fact that I was super passionate about technology ensured I didn’t throw in the towel even when the going got tough. It wasn’t easy, but I was very passionate and I had a goal, I wanted to get MissTechy out there and I was willing to lose sleep and work extra hard to see that my goals were achieved.
DID I ACHIEVE MY GOALS?
My answer:
I haven’t achieved everything in my book, but I haven’t lost focus either.
LESSON LEARNT.
I survived, thanks to the fact that I was passionate, knew how to manage my time and made SMART goals.
Hehe, anyway, by SMART, I mean your goals must be:
Specific: What exactly do you want? The more specific you are, the more likely you are to achieve your goals.
Measurable: How will you track your progress?
Attainable: Ensure you are setting a goal that is attainable, an unattainable goal is wanting your blog to grow like Linda Ikeji’s in a month.
Realistic: How ready are you to take the necessary steps to achieve this goal?
Time-Bound: You should always ensure your goals are timely. I wanted to acquire Google Adsense in the first month and I did.
I am going to end with this: If someone says it’s going to be easy, BIG LIE!! It is going to be really hard, but if a smallie like me can survive this, You can!! You should also remember that you have the ability to get to where you want to, but it is up to you to get there. Finally, find a balance that suits you and ensure whatever you are doing is fun.
There you have it, really long, but I hope you can learn a thing or two from it.
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