There is a big difference between being self-employed and running a business. Most people think the two terms are synonymous, but they aren’t. Anyone who has read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad material has probably heard all of this before. Let me explain.
Just about every adult who tries to start a small business has this pre-existing paradigm that starting a business and becoming self-employed are one in the same thing. The differences between the two are not immediately obvious until you stop and think about them for a minute. A business is really a self sustaining entity that can operate all by itself with or without you. Being self-employed does not mean that you run a business. It merely means that you work for you instead of someone else’s business.
A business will operate according to a system of organized processes. These processes can be taught to employees who can execute them. Businesses are not so reliant upon who is running them. They are merely reliant on the fact that someone is running them. The quality of the people matter, but the system itself matters the most. It is the quality of the design that determines whether the business runs like a well oiled machine or not.
Blogs Are Jobs
By building a blog you are really just creating another job for yourself. Unless you have already teamed up with other people or unless you have people to outsource the operation to, then you are just building yourself a new job that is even more dependent on you than ever. Without you, who is going to run the blog?
If you haven’t thought about this before, then things should be starting to fall into place. You can see now why so many people stop blogging after a short while. They realize that they have created a job for themselves that they aren’t getting paid for. How long are you willing to volunteer for a job that doesn’t pay you enough to justify it? I bet probably not more than a few months.
Would you be willing to work for free at a traditional job if your boss told you that you wouldn’t be paid for six months or more?
Not a chance in hell.
If you are serious about building your blog into something great, then you had better think about how you intend to transition it from a job to a real business. I know that a lot of you out there are trying to build a blog that you can make money from. What you are really building though is a second job for yourself that is going to pay you very little per hour of investment. This is especially true for those people who rely on social media as a means for generating traffic. If you need to take a break from it, your traffic will die off. If you aren’t committed to doing it pretty much forever, then you are setting yourself up for future failure.
If You Are Seriously Trying To Build A Lasting Business Then You Had Better Plan On Transitioning
You had better start thinking about how you are going to implement systems that allow the business to run on autopilot. You had better start figuring out ways of getting your business to run by itself if you were to be gone for two or three months. Figure out how you can become a part time consultant for your own business.
This is why I focus on building passive income from websites. This is why I preach about SEO instead of relying heavily on social traffic. Those things do not need a full time babysitter. They need a little attention from time to time.
Building A Blog For Self-Employment Is Fine So Long As You Are Not Kidding Yourself
If you know that you are creating a job for yourself and you are willing to accept the responsibility and drawbacks that come along with it, then more power to you. If you are that determined that you want to be married to that job for the rest of the indefinite future, then that is your prerogative. Just keep that in mind. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that it is going to be easy to transition out of it later. I can assure you that it will not be. In fact, it will get harder and harder and harder as time passes.
Ask someone who started their own small business as a one person operation and tried to grow it from there. They will tell you that one of the hardest things they had to do was to transition from the self-employed person who runs the business to becoming a business owner who manages a self sustaining enterprise. That transition is exceptionally challenging and becomes harder as time passes. You should be planning for it now. It will change the way you look at your business.
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Hi Kathy,
Thanks for making this issue very clear! I have never thought of being self-employed and owning your own business as being all that different, but now that you talk about it – you’re right!
As a web designer, I am not so sure where the distinction lies though. I do own my own business and am self-employed (not fulltime yet, still working up to it!), but since the business is built entirely around MY design skill and abilities (or the lack thereof… haha, just kidding!), I don’t think that I will ever be “a business owner who manages a self sustaining enterprise” – not without outsourcing all of the work, right? Just a thought…
Anyways, great article – definitely gives a person something to think about!
Hi Libby!
If you ever want to grow your business beyond the work you can do all by yourself, then you need to plan on how you are going to make that transition. IT all depends on your goals for your career. Do you want to be self-employed where every paycheck depends on you doing all the work yourself? Or, do you want to build a larger self sustaining business that you run while other people do the work?
There are plenty of companies out there that have a personal brand stamped on them where the owner neither does the design work nor performs the day to day operations. Think big brands. Think Levi Strauss and Ford Motor Company. There are lots of local companies that have a personal name attached to the company but the owner never touches any of the finished product. The owner just puts his or her stamp of approval on the work done by employees. Service industries are common for this including auto collision shops, plumbers , architects, advertising agencies, etc.
Ahhh you’re right – in fact, I know web designers who own their own design business but have graphic designers, programmers, etc., on staff. I see what you mean! I guess when it comes right down to it, I would rather be my own little sole proprietorship than have to worry about employees and all the extra responsibilities that would come with having them! At least that is how I feel at this point in my career… :)
Hey Kathy, Great article! Blogging is a lot more difficult than people seem to realize. Building and keeping a community active takes serious time and effort. I had previously done only affiliate marketing and adsense sites and had no concept of how much work was involved in the entire process. After trying to run SEOSage on my own for 2-3 weeks, I ran to odesk and elance to try and hire a community manager.
Between trying to secure guest bloggers, respond to posts, write and edit posts, and brainstorm the ideas for your next content, it’s a bit overwhelming on your own. This is definitely something I wish more people were honest and upfront about.
Matthew,
I know what you mean. Running a blog that is interactive with readers is a very time consuming endeavor. If you are trying to build an active community around a blog, I think that you would be wise if you partnered with a few other people to build it together.
Definitely a job, yet at times I do treat it like it doesn’t pay the bills. Thanks for a different perspective.
Thanks for stopping by Kissie.
I was hoping to get people to stop and think about their blog as a business for a minute. I think that I am accomplishing that. It helps to be reminded of such things so that we keep a proper perspective.
My blogs are both my businesses and my jobs, because I’m my own boss, though I’m the others’ boss in the same time :)
I think I should have done a better job explaining it Alex. I think you missed my point. In my opinion you are really one or the other. You aren’t really a business owner unless you have systems in place for your assets (employees and/or machinery) to run the business entirely without your presence. Then you are a true business owner. Otherwise you are just self-employed.
Business owners can take a month long vacation and not lose any business while gone. Self-employed people would lose business if they took a month off.
Hey Kathy, thanks for this advice! Like you mention, I slowed down my blogging once I realized I was treating it like a second job. Writing a new post became a chore, and I wasn’t focusing enough on building connections and relationships.
I hope to read more from you soon,
Steven
Sometimes building those relationships is a job too Steven. Relationships need nurturing. What is going to happen with your blogging relationships if you quit blogging for six months?
That is the one thing that really bothers me about social media. It is a never ending job. If you stop connecting with people regularly, then you will start to fall out of the circle a little bit. Slow down too much and you’re basically out. Then the traffic to your website dries up.
If however, you build a website that focuses on generating organic search engine traffic, then even if you quit doing anything for a number of months, the traffic would still keep coming. SEO is an investment in your long term sustained success.
Hi Kathy, and thanks for the interesting post. No doubt, there is a definitive difference between being a self-employed blogger, and having a business that happens to focus on content marketing. I’ve got both, and both require time, effort, and dedication. But unlike many people, my ‘self -employed’ marketing blog is more about establishing my personal brand, not making $$ right now. I post 2-3 times a week because I’m passionate about putting my thoughts to pen. This forced cognition helps me in all aspects of life and it’s incredibly therapeutic and rewarding, beyond just dollar bills. When it comes down to it, I feel that most blogs simply don’t make it because people just lack passion, as well as a desire to teach others.
I guess we share some similarities Marcus. My blog is more of a channel for me to connect with you guys. I have not and do not intend to monetize it. Yes it is a job that pays very poorly financially. It does pay exceptionally well in Karma though.
Hi Kathy,
Great post with very valid points. Yes, blogging takes a lot of time and anyone who thinks otherwise, is either not blogging or not very successful at it. To your point about building passive income from blogs, I just recently heard the following quotes from Jim Rohn that relate well to what you are writing about:
“Profits are better than wages…”
“Wages make you a living which is fine, profits make you a fortune which is superfine
With profits vs wages, a business owner is able to take that vacation. The challenge naturally becomes, discovering which venues will provide the best resource(s) for the passive income? Any suggestions? :)
Sounds like you completely understood me. I love the quote.
As far as the best sources for passive income: I am a fan of posting articles on websites to earn small residual income from each one. I am also a fan of building websites that deliver quality high value information to people that are monetized by selling advertising. I would be a fan of just about any business model that generates consistent profits and has minimal ongoing maintenance. The less ongoing maintenance the better.
Find a business model that works for you and is profitable. Then create new projects based on that business model again and again.
Another educational post pointing out things that it’s all too easy not to think about; in fact, sometime we deceive ourselves. Over the years I’ve jokingly told relatives who want their computer fixed what my hourly rate is; then, of course, I’ve gone home and written blog posts for several hours, for nothing. It’s important to realize what our time, energy, and investments in our blogs are worth.
It is very important to plan long term and not just short term. It is also important to realize what the most valuable use of your time is.
Excellent post Kathy. It reminds me that I really need to write a business plan for my latest “venture”. I have one roughly formulated in my mind with a strategy from growing this into a business. I agree completely that at this point my blog is just a job.
Many successful bloggers are not only blogging. What they’re doing is using their blog as the hub of their ventures. I really need to get on that business plan. To me – what gets written and measured gets done. So, I need the plan. Thanks for lighting a fire under me!
Writing out a plan for every website is one of the smartest things you can possibly do. It forces you to clarify the reasons why you are really doing the work. It points out areas that you should be focusing on and which ones you should be neglecting.
This is awesome. Timely, too, because I’ve just launched a business and need to work on transitioning BizChickBlogs into a business as well – strange truth is that it’s easier to run two businesses than to run one and hold down a j-o-b in the way you mention.
I have always planned to have BizChickBlogs be a group-authored blog (hence the bizarre title with the plural – nevermind the bizarre part). It is on its way there.
Having a clear exit strategy is another mark of someone who has crossed over into intelligent business planning. No one likes to think about it, but it’s essential. Having a blog exit strategy is just part of the way it all works.
Thanks for this. It’s great and has me thinking a little more now. No thanks for that part (just kidding).
Have a great week, Kathy.
Cheers,
Tia
Thanks Tia. Your compliments mean a lot to me.
Smart women who read this will take a stroll over to your site to take you up on your offer of guest blogging. Bizchickblogs.com gets lots of traffic. I spend a lot of time there. So, I know that other people are too. It is a great place to contribute to that will send some of that traffic back to a guest blogger’s own website.
Kathy,
I kind of agree and disagree with you. Blog should be integral part of the business but not the business itself. Proper combination of other strategies and integration with a blog will pay huge dividends.
I don’t think there is a right or wrong here Alex. It is simply a matter of knowing what you are getting yourself into. Sometimes when people start a business they incorrectly assume that when the time comes it will be easy to add employees. But, it might not. If you build the business around you where you are the business, then it will be very difficult to transition indeed.
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As a veteran of 10 years in owning businesses, you are so right. We are now getting to the stage where we can hire more people and have more time to ourselves (ie a weekend – lol). the industry I am in takes on average 10 years to break even, different to the internet industry (depending on what you are doing) as it takes longer to build up a reputation and become reliable. Sticking with it is important, we felt like giving up several times, but only if it is going to work. We found a great mentor and that made a difference, sometimes you are so involved you cannot see what really needs doing!
Hey Kathy,
I am a newbie blogger and I am planning to launch a business by myself and I thought it will be an easy transition. But now I realized its going to be a really hard one. Whatever, I am ambitious man and I love to accept challenges. Lets see how hard this transition going to be?
Anyways, Thanks for writing an useful article.
Sathish
I agree, then again – i’ve never known anyone who’s managed to build a business without creating the job first. People fail at blogging because they cant turn their “jobs” into business.
I loved Rich Dad Poor Dad. It really shifted my mindset on the way I look at finances, investments, and personal time. You make a lot of great points in this post. It is important to decide up front what you would like to accomplish with your blog. Your day to day plan is going to be different depending on your goal.
I use mine for my business, and the posts serve to bring several of my local target audiences together for social conversation. Good tips on prioritizing the purpose!
Though not absolutely related to blogging, I would like to share my personal experiences and ideas as based on your topic if blog is a business or a job. Like what you’ve said, yes, there are so many distinctions between the two. Currently, I’m a freelancer online and a businessman offline. Between the two, I feel more secure with being a businessman since I’m one of the owners of our business. We built our business because we are expecting to expand it in the near future. On the other hand, as a freelancer, I felt no security. That’s why I’m trying to earn money as much as I can and save it. Then I’m also thinking of investing it online too, that gives me the chance to think for a long term benefit of being a freelancer online. But, yes but! Do I consider this as a job? Not really! Because I’m considering it as an investment. Every move I do online, I think of it as an investment. All learning is an investment for me. In that way, I enjoy my work online and consider it as my future business.
This post is an eye opener. Most of online business articles on the Web contain nearly cloned stuff on how you should create blogs to support your business, and how you should use social media to fuel traffic on that blog.
I completely agree with you in regards of social media. Though the general traffic may be similar to search engines or even bigger, they considerably lose in regards of “target” traffic (as people who get to your blog were not preliminary interested in the stuff your offer) which in its turn results in less page views and less money. And still social media require much more commitment and time, you should work 24/7 for really vague results.