How much do you make?

If you write a personal blog, you can’t really get upset when things start getting personal. I get it that I’m fair game and I’ve perhaps overshared at times, but there’s really nothing I’d remove from this space – nothing that I’m ashamed of.

There’s a balance with blogging though, and I think there is a time when all bloggers begin to define what their blog will be. Is it a bit of fun, a journal, or is it something they hope to turn into a business? Something that they will try and grow and use in their career.

The business of blogging.

And that’s where the line gets blurry.

Is it cool to ask me how much I make? Would you ask if I was a nurse? Would you ask if I were a policewoman? Would you ask if I had just delivered your lunch to you in a restaurant?

Last week I introduced you to the Super Busy Mummy Blogger, she was super busy talking to a brand representative. This week she wiped herself out at a party after meeting this guy, she’s met him before, sometimes he’s a woman, and every time without fail she walks away feeling a little bit dirty.

Why is that?

She’s tempted to change the conversation…

If you missed episode one of the Super Busy Mummy Bloggers, you can find it here.

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Comments

  1. Funny. Very clever you are. How much…? Only kidding.

    Love your blog!

    Cheers.

  2. I love the Super Busy Mummy Blogger! I hope there are lots of new episodes to come!
    This question, How much do you make? is cultural, too. In my country of birth you’d find lots of people who would think nothing of discussing (and asking about it directly) other people’s salary.
    And as for blogging, I just love it when some people, especially the ones that never look at your blog, have an opinion. The latest comment I’ve had was ‘Oh, but isn’t your blog a substitute for real life?’.

  3. I hear you. I used to have a relatively popular blog, and fielded such questions on what it seemed like a weekly basis.

    Now I am an independent author. The questions still remain ALTHOUGH now there is also the added bonus of the real expectation that the person I am discussing such things with should get a copy of the book for free.

    Now, I’m not getting all thingy about what value a book in someone’s hand is from a word of mouth point of view. What I am getting thingy about is the trend toward the solid belief that everything should be for free. Particularly when the person I have had the dialogue with, even after repeated (and humble) group requests on various social media to help support the book by sharing a link to my Author page, has failed to bother clicking even the ‘like’ link.

    In my head I am all: “So, you don’t respect the work enough to tell anyone about it, but you are happy enough to ask for a free copy?”

    And of course they want it signed.

    Drives me nuts.

    *For the record, before I get labelled as a prissy-high-strung-wannabe-author, I have given TONS of them away. All to people who have assisted, even in the smallest way to get the word out there.

    **And how much did my blog earn? $13.85. Jealous? Bask in my blog earning glory…

  4. I am with manycoloured-days. I think it is cultural. I cannot tell you how many times I was asked by a local, when we lived in KL, how much we paid for our house in rent. I am excellent at prevarication. Truth is, I knew that our monthly rent was more than many of them made in months or a year and that was kind of embarrassing to admit. They will also look you in the eye (okay, maybe not your slim self, but me) and say “You so fat.” Gotta take it in stride and know that they are not really meaning to offend.

    • In Asia I was constantly asked how much I paid for things, but when it comes to the Superbusy Mummy Blogger, she get asked how much she gets paid for blogging by other expats more than locals. I understand that people are interested in how to turn a blog into a business but I can never understand the people that want the exact specifics ” e.g.. is that per word? Will you have to pay for that? How much is a sponsored post?”

      And um “my slim self” HA! When I came back from the summer break a couple of years ago, our next door neighbours cleaner grabbed the top of my arm and said “what happened Madam – you got so fat?” Brutal honesty. BRUTAL!

    • Not really related to the money thing, but a colleague from Samoa saw me in a dress and said (looking at my legs) “Oh you too white for that”. She then covered her eyes as if I was blinding her and said “Ah whitey”…I laughed so hard because I knew it came from a good place but it sure shocked a few of the other women in the staff room!

  5. I also like the question about being a ‘mummy blogger’, that all female bloggers apparently write about dirty nappies and that there is nothing more to us. People also think I’m a wanker if I say I have a blog, so I tend not to mention it. I’m keeping my hobby to myself these days!!

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