Blogging has really taken over the internet in the past few years. Blogs can be used as online journals, to give advice, to promote businesses and so much more. People are able to turn what was once a hobby into a lucrative career, and working from home doing something you love is the dream, let’s face it. If you’ve been running a blog for a while now and are hoping to take the leap into blogging as a business, here are a few things to take into consideration.
Home Office
If you’re planning on working from home and making your blog into a business, having a space to work from is crucial. Ideally, you will have a separate home office, this allows you to have a proper working area. When you work for yourself, it’s so easy for your working day to become all the hours that you’re not asleep. Setting working times and completing your tasks from your office helps to create the boundary between work and home life and means you’re not burning yourself out. It’s also useful from a practical point of view since you can shut the door and have a quiet space to work. If you don’t have the luxury of a spare room in your home that you can transform into an office, at the very least invest in a good desk. Blogging from your bed or the sofa might be ok for occasional posts, but if this is going to be your job, then good posture and a proper work area is essential.
Equipment and Software
Working from home in any capacity generally, involves the use of a computer. This machine is your workhorse, your livelihood- so it needs to be fast and reliable. Upgrading to a good quality computer is worth the investment, and be sure to back up any important files onto hard drives to be safe. There are a number of softwares that will make working for yourself much easier too, from file management software to accounting software, even legal software for drawing up contracts with clients. It’s worth having a look what’s out there, and what would suit your personal circumstances.
Paying Tax
Whether your blog is classified as a business or hobby can be a bit of a gray area. For example, you might have a full-time job and blog for fun but get paid to write occasional sponsored posts. At the other end of the spectrum, you might have set up a blog to become a business but are yet to earn any money on it. Your best bet is to give your tax office a ring, in the UK it’s the HMRC, in the US it’s the IRS, the laws and processes will be different depending on where you live. But informing them and getting up to date information, and advice on what to do next is important. The last thing you want is to end up with a fine or penalty where you didn’t inform them in time. It’s important to know that even if you’re earning very little (and below the threshold for paying tax) the tax office is still going to want to know about it.
