6 Reasons Why Blogging Is A Great Business For Parents
As parents, there are a few things that we pretty much all want:
- To spend as much time with our children as possible.
- To be able to provide fully, ensuring they have everything they need.
- To feel like we have enough time to get everything we want done, without stressing out or feeling exhausted.
Unfortunately, that isn’t how it goes for most people.
Since I’ve been committing to avoiding the 9-5 life for the last 10 years, I’ve tried a handful of different business models – everything from running a local shop, to selling on websites like Amazon and Etsy, to freelancing online. However, the one I’ve always found far superior to others is blogging.
I hands-down believe it is perhaps the best business model for parents, and in this article I’ll be sharing why!
1. It Is Cheap To Start
The first major benefit of blogging is that it’s cheap to start!
Once you have a family, it can be more challenging to take on big financial risks, which makes a lot of sense given your additional responsibilities.
Taking out a business loan or using all of your savings to launch a shop or start some expensive venture can simply feel too daunting, even if you legitimately believe the business will succeed.
Blogging however, does not have this problem.
Today, a website can be started for as little as $20, and only runs you $5 a month afterwards.
This is something that is affordable to everyone, and the only additional costs after that are your time spent writing content!
2. It Can Be Done On Your Downtime
Blogging is one business that offers true freedom.
It isn’t reliant on any schedule, or require you to wake up to alarms. You can work on it for hours at a time, or 10 minutes at a time if it’s all that you have available to you.
I know a lot of parents who built their blogs working just a half hour a day after putting their kids to bed.
Yes, the more you work on it, the faster it will grow.
However, you are not punished if you need to take things slow, even if you end up walking away from it for weeks or months at a time.
So, just like there aren’t any big financial commitments, there aren’t any big time commitments either!
3. There Are Few Moving Parts
This is something you don’t really appreciate until you’ve ran a bunch of other, more complicated businesses!
Blogging has very few moving parts, meaning that it is very straightforward and simple to run.
Basically, the only thing you need to worry about is writing content, and then promoting that content on places like social media or online communities (and in fact, some people don’t even bother with that, instead optimizing their site so Google will send them people on their own.)
When I ran eCommerce businesses selling physical products in the past, I had to worry about things like…
- Shipping and keeping track of large numbers of packages.
- Complex bookkeeping, since there were thousands of transactions every month.
- Keeping track of inventory not just for our products, but things like office supplies, shipping supplies, and other necessities.
- Advertising.
- Lots of customer service issues, since we were dealing with a lot of orders of physical products.
- Returns and refunds processing.
Needless to say, it was a lot of hassle!
Blogs on the other hand don’t really require much business knowledge, and there are no real headaches. As parents, the last thing needed is more stress… and blogging is about as stress-free as it gets!
4. It Can Make Far Beyond A Full-Time Living!
Many people are unaware how much blogs can actually make – even small blogs, that don’t seem to have a lot of readership!
For example, another site I run makes over $14,000 a month, only from articles I’ve published in the last year. I know many other bloggers doing 10x that amount.
These aren’t large, name brand sites either. These are small blogs you’ve probably never heard of.
Between placing ads on the site and promoting products within their articles, it’s possible for blogs to make extremely large sums of money – far beyond what you’d earn at a typical job.
After all, running a blog is basically running a business, and there are no income ceilings!
5. It Allows For Far More Time With Family
Finally, this one is even greater than the money – time with your family!
Your whole world can change when you nor your spouse no longer have to actually leave to go to work.
Simply being able to be there to watch your kids grow up, be present during all important moments, and spend as much time with them as you could possibly want to is worth it on its own.
They say children don’t remember the ‘presents’ you get them, but they do remember your presence.
Being able to be there with them is the greatest gift you could possibly offer. It’s not only rewarding for you, but for them as well.
(Amara and I have grown much closer as a couple since I’ve been working less, too. So it’s also good for relationships!)
Bonus: It Can Be A Great Way To Document Your Life!
I just had to throw this one in, because it’s something I hope to do with this website!
If you get personal in your blog at all or share things that you’ve done, experienced or feel, then your blog can also act as sort of a digital journal or keepsake as well.
I predict as this blog grows in the coming years or decades, that it will be incredibly rewarding to look back upon.
I started my first blog over 10 years ago, and while I didn’t share much of my personal life in it, I love looking over to see how far I’ve come in terms of writing and ideas.
So, even if your blog never achieved any commercial success (unlikely), then the absolute worst case scenario is that you still have something wonderful to look back over!
Conclusion
I’ve tried a lot of different business models as an entrepreneur, but I still find creator-based businesses like blogs to be the absolute best.
Starting a blog is quick, and easier than ever.
If you’d like to learn more about how to get started, please send me an email! I’d be happy to point you in the right direction.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister
