All week this week, we’ll be talking blogging!  I know it’s a break from regular travel posts but with a lot of questions swirling around the internet about blogging and after having been asked some of these questions regularly, I thought it worth while to commit a week to discuss this crazy world of blogging.  And hopefully, you’ll walk away with some answers to your own questions too!

Many readers of Land of Marvels might not realize that travel and this blog are not my only job or my every day way of life.  While yes, I travel quite often (both for work and for pleasure), I actually have quite a few day jobs going on.  By trade, I’m an interior designer and I work both for an architecture firm in Honolulu as well as owning my own side design business called Reverie Design Studio.  I also teach design part time at the Art Institute of Portland, so with 3 day jobs plus Land of Marvels I keep quite busy.  But in all those jobs, owning my own business is perhaps the most rewarding and has offered me the most lessons learned.  Many of the lessons I’ve learned over the 4 years I’ve had Reverie up and running, have also come in quite handy with blogging.  So if you’re interested in branching into your own business or moving your blog more into a business, here are the best business lessons that are great for bloggers that I’ve learned along the way!

1.  You’re constantly learning.

I know some people in my daily life that feel like they know more than everyone else.  I feel the complete opposite.  The world is big and you can never stop learning, there is always something else to learn and see and explore.  Owning a business is a huge learning curve and I’ve found that everyday I learn something new.  Blogging is the same, you think you are comfortable and have it figured out and then you find you have so much left to learn!

2.  You’re going to make mistakes.  The important thing is to learn from them.

Everyone makes mistakes.  Whether they are big or small, I’ve made my fair share too.  What I’ve learned though is that there is always a solution if you take the time to figure it out.  When you’ve created a solution, then learn from that experience.  Don’t make the same mistake twice, the important thing is to learn from it and move forward with a new source of knowledge.

3.  It’s not about the money.

Whether you’re making a ton of money or none at all, do what you love above all else.  I don’t do any of my jobs or this blog for the money.  It’s never been about how much I can make, it’s about loving what I do and having a passion for both design and travel.  Find a way to make your daily life full of doing what you love and it won’t feel like work.  The same goes for blogging: I don’t make very much money from Land of Marvels, but I love it and I love the community and I love sharing my travels so I keep doing it, even though I put in way more time and effort than I get back.

4.  Know when to sign off.

One thing with any business that you pour your heart and soul into, is knowing when to break from that and get back to living your normal life.  I’m a firm believer in working hard, but also knowing where the line is.  You need to live your life too.  So figure out how you’ll create that line and know when you need to sign off and really just live.

5.  Take breaks, both daily and yearly to keep the creativity flowing.

I work from home on my business and my blog, so knowing when to stop and take a break and come back is essential.  Especially in creative fields, knowing when you need to reenergize yourself is really important.  For blogging, I find I sometimes run out of creative ideas, so I’ll schedule posts ahead for whatever I have and then come back later when I’ve regained inspiration and fill in the holes.  I also firmly believe in taking vacations from work and daily life.  Whether that’s staying someplace close to home or flying around the world on an epic adventure, you need to take breaks from ordinary life routines in order to refresh yourself and to add more experiences to your life resume.  I love the quote “go somewhere new every year” because that’s such a great way to explore and experience and come home refreshed and ready to go again.

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