How blogging became my career

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Intro: Blogging with purpose

This post is part of the 7 Days to Blogging with Purpose e-course, originally delivered via email, one lesson a day. All lessons are now available here on the blog for readers who prefer taking the course at their own pace.

If you’re taking this course, welcome! I’m so excited for you as you embark on this journey to more meaningful and purposeful blogging!

ICYMI—

• Blogging with Purpose E-course Overview
• Blogging with Purpose, Introductions — you are here!
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 1: Your Blog’s Purpose
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 2: Blog Content Audit 
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 3: Blog Vision Casting
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 4: Blogging Your Passion
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 5: Blogging as a Profession
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 6: Blogging for Your People
• Blogging with Purpose, Lesson 7: Choosing a Profitable Niche

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First of all, hello, I’m Riz! I’ve been blogging for a living for more than a decade, and today I teach others how to do the same.

Experience is the best teacher, so allow me to start this off with just that—my own blogging experience.

1999. I started blogging in 1999, the year before college when online diaries started becoming a thing. I didn’t have a clue that through my “online diary”, God would pave the way for my future career. Throughout college, I blogged and learned HTML/CSS late at night when my school work was done for pure curiosity and passion for the craft. Little did I know that blogging would become my livelihood a few years down the line.

2005. I graduated with a degree in Mass Communications in 2005 and hoped to find a job as a writer. Without much credentials to boast of, I listed my good old blog on my single-paged resume to showcase my writing, graphic design, and (beginner-level) HTML skills.

That old blog caught the attention of my first employer who gave me a shot and mentored me into becoming a full-fledged Digital Marketer.

“Web Copywriter” was my first job title. But more than just writing copies, I was introduced to SEO and digital marketing.

After years of having my blog on free blogging platforms, I could finally afford a self-hosted blog where I practiced everything I learned on the job. I was obsessed! The digital marketing world was my oyster and I remember soaking in every blog post, webinar, and ebook that my boss would pass on to me.

To be honest, I was probably more excited about studying SEO than studying my subjects in all my years in school combined. I was promoted to SEO Manager at the young age of 24, a period in my life I often refer to as the prime of my career. In retrospect, God was just warming me up.

2009. Although I loved my corporate job, I was offered a position I could not resist in 2009. I left my office cubicle and started working remotely for a UK-based business as their off-shore Digital Marketing Manager.

And this was the beginning of my location-independent career.

I traveled a lot for the next 2 years, taking my job with me.

My favorite adventure was living in New York City for 2 months, grateful that I had a job that allowed me to do just that. But this was also the time when I knew without a doubt that it was time to settle down. (Stay with me, I have a point!)

2011. I crossed over. Somehow, I found something I was more passionate about than my career: starting a family.

My then-boyfriend and I got married, deciding to settle down in Manila. We also decided that he’s going back to school to take up Nursing. This means we were all set to become a one-income household for the first few years of our marriage. I accepted a new corporate job (my designation was Digital Marketing Manager for a hotel-management company), my husband studied, and we were doing quite well until…

We found out we were pregnant with twins—the greatest surprise of our lives!

Becoming a mother was the ultimate game-changer for this workaholic, dream-chasing, career-driven person that I am.

Life was never been the same since. Suddenly, finding a remote job was no longer just an option but a necessity.

I needed a job I could do in front of our twins’ crib. Something I could do without having to change out of my pajamas in the morning (because I probably didn’t sleep the night before) and in between breastfeeding twins.

Good thing for me, because of my blogging career and digital marketing background (which is a big thing when finding remote work), it didn’t take a while for me to find a tech startup that was willing to take me in even with my unique circumstances. And so, after an extended maternity leave, I started my stint as a pioneering member and the Inbound Marketing Manager of a digital marketing agency, reporting to their Makati office only 1-2 days a week and working from home the rest of the week.

I was blown away that I could keep nurturing this career that I love and fully embrace my new role as a mother at the same time. The best of both worlds, what can I say? Surely God had it all planned out from the beginning.

2012-2017. The next couple of years were quite the ride. While I worked for that tech startup, my husband and I launched a couple of side hustles for good measure.

Armed with everything I know about digital marketing and a blog that became the central hub for my portfolio, passion projects, and businesses, we managed to live our best lives, raising twins while my husband finished Nursing school.

Around this time I also launched a Boutique Design Studio where I offered brand and website design services. After 5 amazing years with the agency, I resigned from my job to take a breather for 2 years. It was then that I went back to (semi-full-time) blogging.

Looking back, my blogging career and my passion for designing, studying, and writing blogs sustained our little family. And I couldn’t be more grateful for this gift!

Fast forward to today, our twins are 10 years old, my husband is finally a Registered Nurse, and I can proudly report that,

Yes, blogging can truly change someone’s life.

And if you do it well, it can change not only your life but other people’s lives too: Your family’s, your readers’, and your circles of influence.

My career in blogging and digital marketing adjusted to my seasons in life, not the other way around.

It allowed me the flexibility to travel when I was younger and gave me unique opportunities to work from home when I needed to raise babies.

Somewhere in the midst of all of these, my passion to help others figure out how to make blogging work for them just keeps growing in my heart. Hence, the beginning of The Purpose Blog. (This blog you’re reading right now.)

And oh my heart, I have loved helping y’all fellow creatives find your purpose for blogging, set up and design your blogs, and begin blogging purposefully—while sharing with you lessons I gained from my own blogging journey.

Blogging is a journey.

And YOURS is going to be your own “choose your own adventure” book.

I hope you pick up a thing or two from mine as you get started.

ThePurposeBlog.com is powered by WordPress, Dreamhost, and 17th Avenue. By supporting my affiliate partners, you are allowing me to keep creating content that aims to empower bloggers to live a life of purpose.

Blogging with Purpose E-Course

Now that has been said, congratulations for taking this first step!

You joining this e-course tells me one thing: You’re serious about taking your blogging career to the next level and you’re willing to take the necessary steps to get there. And that decision alone deserves a little victory dance!

Or maybe you’re coming from a place of frustration, instead. You feel directionless and uninspired, and blogging has become a chore. “Why am I even blogging anyway?” is a question you often ask yourself, and you’re *this* close to throwing in the towel.

To be honest, I have gone through long periods of blogging dryspell myself. If you’ve been following my journey, you’d know that I have struggled with creating content too.

Ok, ok. Why would you want to learn about “blogging with purpose” from someone who nearly quit?

I’ll tell you why. Because this blog is still here, and it’s still serving its purpose. And if someone like me could come out of that rut, pick myself up, and decide to be a better and more intentional blogger, so can you.

More so, if a clueless 15-year-old could figure out blogging without the kind of resources available today, my friend, so can you.

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Are you ready for the first lesson? Here it is.

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