Digital Opinion South Africa

Unemployed? Start blogging

Being unemployed is often considered as a curse in different age groups, especially when you are under the age of 30-40 and married. However, thanks to the advent and popularity of the internet, there are now a wide range of options to get engaged and make money to survive without even having a full-time job.

Among the various options, blogging could be considered as number one choice for unemployed people. Blogging has exploded over the mainstream web landscape as an important source of income for people. In fact, there are examples of people who have left their full-time jobs and opted blogging as their full-time career. So, if you unfortunately happen to be unemployed, no need to panic, blogging could be a good option for you. An unemployed person actually has a lot of other reasons to jump onto the bandwagon of blogging apart from the basic reason of making money out of it.

Market your skills and experience

If you manage a blog and happen to be unemployed, you have the option of marketing yourself to your prospective employer. This could be the best reason to start blogging. Most blogs have a page called "About me", where you can put your profile which gives insight into your professional background for visitors viewing this particular page. An "About me" page would often outline a person's qualifications, professional experiences, skill sets, ambitions, career objectives, etc. Hence, you could treat this page as your online resume. Also, you could even think of linking this particular page to your other social networking profiles like the eCademy and LinkedIn. By doing this, you will multiply the chances of being accessed by your prospective employer.

Remain productive

Unemployment is all about not remaining idle because you could lose your edge and skills by staying inactive. And as it's said, "empty mind is devil's workshop", you cannot afford to ruin your skill sets by doing nothing in your unemployed tenure. The fact is that job hunting doesn't consume much time. It takes seconds to call up a prospective employer or email your resume to them. The remaining time could be unproductive and boring. At such junctures, the best option for you is to get engaged and remain productive via blogging. It helps in staying active while you are building up your online profile.

Improve your writing and research skills

Unlike social networking, blogging is simply not about updating your status, commenting or tweeting. It's a serious business wherein you need to follow a proper schedule of blog posting. It involves lots of research and writing about the subject matter of your blog. If you blog seriously, you are bound to improve in your writing, grammar and research skills. These skills are very important in any professional career - especially since we are living in the information age. Strong verbal and written communication skills play an important role in cracking job interviews, which you could easily end up learning through blogging.

Make money through blogging

One of the most important reasons for any unemployed person to start blogging is to make good money out of it. Not only will it keep you engaged, but it will also provide enough money untill you find another job. There are several monetization methods when it comes to blogging. The first option is through the Google Adsense program. It is wonderful program for bloggers, wherein they get the chance to display ads over their blogs and make money from the number clicks over these ads.

Another option is through affiliate marketing. You need to register at various affiliate marketing sites, get the affiliate links and put them on your blog. The best example is the Amazon Hostgator, which gives you loads of money if anyone clicks on these links and buys any products via your blog. The other option is through ad networks. Chitika is probably the best example, which can assist you in making some good money through your blog.

Build up new networks and connections

Another important reason for any unemployed person to start blogging is to build up new connections and expand their networks in the professional circles of their related industry. Building up your professional network will allow you to reach out to your prospective employers or vice versa. Thus, you have a chance of being picked by any company with a job offering and a handsome paycheck.

Being unemployed and hunting for a job could be a stressful thing. At times you may feel as though your family and friends look down on you. Blogging could be the best solution for you as it will not only keep you busy, but also provide an income. You now have several reasons to get into blogging if you happen to be unemployed... So happy blogging!

About Kelly Marsh

Kelly is a blogger by profession. She loves writing, reading and travelling. Besides this she is fond of luxury cars and wishes to own a Schuppan 962CR one day.
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