"So, What Do You Do?" Nine Years Later

In 2014, I wrote a blog post to answer the question, "So, what do you do?" It's been nine years and so much has changed. At the time, I was the Editorial Assistant at Fun Family Crafts and a Product Description Writer for Scrapbook.com. This blog was not monetized, so those jobs (along with an annual stint as a judge at the county fair) provided all of my income. 

A lot changed in 2016. My job with Scrapbook.com ended just after my role with Fun Family Crafts expanded and I was promoted to Editor. I started writing for Little Passports. And I wrote a book. I began looking into monetizing this blog, which at the time was 99% crafts, with the occasional recipe or other creative project. 

My job with Little Passports ended as my opportunities as a travel writer increased. I had freelance jobs on and off, including producing designs for multiple Diamond Art books. I spoke at a handful of conferences and did some booth work. Things stayed consistent at Fun Family Crafts. I joined some affiliate networks and started making money from this blog. Not a lot, but some. My income from Fun Family Crafts was my most predictable and reliable. 

Last summer, Feedburner stopped sending out emails and traffic to Fun Family Crafts fell. We still got decent traffic from organic search, but thousands of users weren't being prompted to visit daily the way they had before. We tried a lot of things, but couldn't regain the level of income we'd previously generated. Eventually, the site owner decided to stop putting any money into the site, which included paying my salary. So after 11 years, I'm no longer working for Fun Family Crafts. It feels weird, after so many years. 

So what do I do? Right now, all of my focus is on this blog: crafts, cooking, travel, and everyday creativity. 

I do have some outside commitments, but overall my workdays are far less structured than before. I'm in more control of my schedule and can say yes to more things as they come up. I'm always open to new opportunities.