Blogging As A Full-Time Job (Part 2)

That’s such a coincidence… my imaginary husband give me TONS of money too. 😉

I was so disappointed to see that you’re only sponsored for page views in the USA! I’m sad that my page views don’t contribute as I adore you and your site (and visit it at least once a day while procrastinating studying).

When I went home for Christmas, I even saw my dad browsing your site and I hear your sweet potato chilli is quite a hit with my family! He’s recently completely altered his diet after a triple-bypass surgery and is loving the new healthy lifestyle; thank you for contributing to that 🙂

Another great post! I love getting a peek behind the scenes 🙂 Oh man, I’m excited for tomorrow’s recipe… I don’t know what it is, but it already looks delicious!

There is no need to apologize 🙂 Blogging is as demanding as other jobs but in their own way. Anyways, all that matters is that you enjoy your job and that we the readers enjoy your delicious chocolate covered goodies 😛

Thanks for answering all those questions! As other commenters have implied, I don’t think you sounded privileged or insensitive at all in your last post. As with pretty much all jobs, things can get difficult and stressful at times, and I think it’s important for people to realize that blogging is no exception.

Also looking forward to your next recipe! I just love “puffy” cookies 🙂

I wish you got money from non-USA readers – you’d be getting millions off of me alone!

Are you serious? My imaginary husband gives me millions too! ( in Monopoly money, but hey, its the thought that counts 🙂 ) Great post btw. I’ve been thinking of starting a blog (really, who wants to read a grammatically challenged post from some high schooler?) mainly because I might as well do all my yakking where people of taste WILL APPRECIATE my ramblings * sniffs in contempt at family members who will go unnamed* Seriously speaking, I have a passion for health and fitness as well as the issue of body image. I have dealt with these issues so I feel like I might as well share what I’ve learned. Problem is, it can be a little embarrassing and discouraging when you only have two views and one comment. And those two views are from your Grandma Opal and Uncle Jed. And the comment is from your mom. get a life, Sarah. Thanks for the inspiration though.
p.s.- i am nosy so i did some quick math with the few cents and 8 million views. I will not say the numbers but boy is that IMPRESSIVE!!! Congrats! 🙂

I am someone who works full time at a job she hates! And I DEFINITELY didn’t get offended when reading your post. I just thought- oh man that sounds so much more awesome than my job! You are very lucky and it always seems like you know that. I’m so grateful I found your blog…I have Lyme Disease and have to be sugar/gluten free and you have some really good stuff on here that has helped me be able to have treats guilt-free! YAY! Thanks!

Are you getting a TV show?? Haha 😛

I can’t wait to learn what your latest endeavor is! A cookbook?!?!
I always look forward to your posts and absolutely love so many of the recipes you’ve shared. Keep up the good work girl!

Thank you for sharing and being so honest, Katie!! 🙂 I’m enjoying reading your blog and getting to know you more!

I was also curious about how people make money blogging. I could never be a blogger, myself. I love baking and writing, but I love baking OTHER people’s recipes 🙂 Which is why I am such a HUGE fan of your blog! And I’m so glad you can make a living from it!

PS – I REALLY hope your big surprise is a cookbook of single-lady recipes! Because not only would I buy it, but I would buy one for EVERYONE i know who bakes!

What a fun series of posts. I always get so inspired when other people make it doing what they love because then I think there is hope for me. 🙂

I laughed at the imaginary husband. I have one too…

For what it’s worth, I didn’t think an apology was necessary. It didn’t sound like complaining at all to me. We all have jobs where many of our closest friends and family don’t even know what we do all day every day, so it’s fun to share that with others. The fact that you are able to make a living is a testament to how much effort you’ve put into the blog over the last few years. Your photography is beautiful and your recipes are always well thought-out. I’d say you’re not “lucky” to be doing what you love every day; rather, you deserve it.

I think your blog and recipes are fantastic, so thank you.

Kaite,
What I enjoy about your blog is that it’s specific to dessert. With that being said, I had no idea (before finding your blog) that oatmeal could be prepared in so many amazing and creative ways. Thanks to Angela at ohsheglows.com, I now take recipes from both websites and create my own versions custom to what I like. Seriously, I get excited about breakfast every morning! I definently would not have discovered creativity and new love with food if it wasn’t for your blog. Also, I enjoy that your recipes are easy and can be experimented on without completely changing it.
I recommend your website to all of my clients, friends, and family AND the desserts I have made for dinner parties have been all yours… and everybody has loved them every time.

THANK YOU for your hardwork, effort, and passion.

Great post! Thank you for sharing and for keeping your blog–it is great to read, and to try your recipes, and get to know you! 🙂 (Also, I didn’t get the priveleged and insensitive vibe from your part 1 post at all–it was a very cool glimpse into what you do and how you come up with the content!) Thanks for being such a sweet (aha, pun intended!) blog-friend! 🙂

I don’t think you have anything to apologize for. Thank you so much for giving us a peak at your day and how your support yourself blogging. I share your website with everyone I talk to and I visit everyday! Thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes and all the work you do to make sure they are delicious before posting them. I can only hope I will ever be half as good as you at making up my own recipes.

Really enjoy your blog … these last two about blogging were honest and informative. I’ve often wondered how bloggers do their thing … thanks for sharing. I’m new to a vegan diet and am so glad to have discovered your blog so I can keep my chocolate fixes healthy. Keep up the great work, Katie!

Here’s another question you probably get all the time: Are you going to write a cookbook? I would definitely be one of the first to buy it if you did!

Good for you, Katie! I’m glad you have a job you love and enjoy. Since I found your blog I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about your blog that’s got me clicking through links to old posts and checking every day for new posts. You have a combination of talents that’s made this blog so successful…artistic sense (gorgeous photographs!), great original recipes, and great language skills… Your posts are so well-written; they’re always a pleasure to read and I appreciate not having to comb through millions of abbreviations. I know they must take time to craft and you deserve each and every one of those 8 million page hits!

Just a random note, I remember reading in one of your comments that you loved the Thai dessert that has black glutinous rice with coconut cream…that’s one of my absolute favorites too! It’s super easy to fix and I’ll be happy to send you my recipe if you can find some black glutinous rice at an Asian grocery store.

Congrats on the success of your blog! I truly enjoy reading and making your desserts, your hard work is VERY much appreciated. 🙂

I think everyone else has summed up pretty much everything i’d want to say, except that i think it is really great that you leave your comments open and allow people to have discussions, and its really sweet that you answer as many queries as possible.
I really don’t understand bloggers who turn their comments off – ok, you might get some people who don’t say the nicest things all the time, but i think the point of blogging is to communicate, discuss, chat about things. And when you take that away you lose a lot. So good on you!

Thank you so much for sharing these post Katie! I thoroughly enjoyed them! You truly are a blessing to SO many people! 🙂

I am newly obsessed with this blog and I cannot wait to try so many of the recipes you have posted. I’m not sure if you’re ever curious about how people stumble upon your blog, but just in case you are, I will tell my story: I was reading a Huffington Post article about Ann Romney and her use of Pinterest. She “pinned” your health peanut butter egg recipe, and because peanut butter and chocolate are two of my favorite foods, I had to figure out where this recipe came from. After getting to your blog, I then spent several hours linking from page to page (and subsequently had a less productive day at work than usual, though totally worth it).

I do have on question: It may be deliberate, so if it is, please ignore my request, but I would love if you had links at the bottom of your posts similar to “next post” or “previous post”, so I can view many your posts in order. I’m not sure exactly how blogs work or if this is something you would even want on yours, but I would love to have another way to “click” and browse around.

I LOVE reading your recipes. They sound yummy and the fact that it will satisfy my enormous sweet tooth without busting my waistline appeals to me even more. I’ve been going through trying to see what I want to make and there are just SO many choices! If you ever made a cookbook – I’d definitely buy it!

Katie,
I have been using your recipes for the last two years and I am obsessed with the Genius blondies to which I add a lot of dark chocolate chips to, freeze them in squares, and microwave one , two or three a few seconds each night before topping with ice cream and chocolate syrup…YUM! I found a recipe that is butter and flour free which I love have had lots of compliments on…thought I would share it even though you might want to try a sugar substitute which I haven’t done yet.
Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips, divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened Ghiradelli cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray.
2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.
3. Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme.
4. Mix 1 cup sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl.
5. Gradually add this mixture to the “marshmallow cream” and then stir in melted chocolate and chocolate chips.
6. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and dip in powdered sugar.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until slightly puffy. Let cool.

You are the sweetest, sweetest, chocolate covered girl I know and you have nothing to apologize for! You gave me hope that I could actually enjoy desserts again, since my body strongly dislikes regular sugar, dairy and gluten.

So I’ve become a fan — and I’m impressed by the amount of energy you are putting into this. I was a web admin of a hobby site for 4 years, and eventually just burned out. Luckily I was able to sell the site.
With 4 million visits/month, you have definitely worked your way into the big leagues. Why not add a little more advertising or affiliate links to increase your income? The easiest would be Amazon affiliate links for kitchen items, vegan cookbooks, etc. But there are gobs and gobs of other relevant affiliate offers out there that would fit in nicely. (Check a site like offervault to get a good idea of what is out there.)
Here’s another idea. What if you shot a short video everyday showing off that day’s recipe. Embed the youtube video into the blog. Assuming you have “monitization” enabled on youtube, those would definitely produce some real money as your collection of videos grew.

Just some thoughts. I hope that helps.

Dan G.

Hi Katie,
I just wanted to introduce myself. Hi, I’m Carla. 🙂 I keep going back to your website and now I don’t bother looking anywhere else. Maybe because chocolate is my favourite food group, and you have other healthy meal recipes, as well. You do a great job with all of this, and I just wanted to say Thank you. So, know that I’m looking at your site, and have become somewhat dependent on your reliable recipes and seeing your smiling, beautiful face.

I live on Vancouver Island, Canada. If you’re ever up in the Qualicum area, I’d be happy to meet you and show you around. There is a great raw restauraunt in town. I’m 52, single, and ate too much over the holidays.

I have an idea for your website. It’s fine as is, but for the desperate diet hounds out there, maybe you could post an exact, yummy diet plan, that would keep us all satiated and as slim-looking as you. Just an idea.

Carla

I haven’t read through all the comments, but I have read a lot of your website, and it is AWESOME! But in your first post about what you do, there was a LOT of chocolate. Do you ever get sick of eating (and testing) sweet things, or (heaven forbid), chocolate? Do you take time to make other types of food, and if so, what do you like? Do you like spicy foods? Pasta? Mexican? Just another curious reader. 🙂

You know Katie you kind of remind me of me. Well we both work from homes and although our jobs are tough we do appreciate that we can do what we love. I am an actor, mom and voice actor. Most of my day is me dropping my son off from daycare, coming home to my voice studio and auditioning or marketing myself to future clients. It is tough job that many of my friends can’t relate too. But my hard work has paid off so far. I also love working from home because I love to cook. I eat healthy and use many of your recipes! Making your waffles tonight 🙂 Good luck in everything you do!