[Flickr credit: preciouskhyatt | CC.] The wonderful late Spring weather of the past few days always triggers "revelation" season for me each year - a time when I (re-)discover some truths about myself, particularly in terms of writing career. For example, it pains me to say this but up until very recently, I've unwittingly been focused on the financial aspects of blogging. In my defense, it wasn't intentional - but that mindset was there nevertheless, and inexcusable. I did once blog because I loved writing, but thoughts of "career" intruded along the way and took over.

In fact, this mostly accounts for why I've blogged so many, many niches - probably beyond the average freelancer - in the past four calendar years. That is, other than originally being inspired by Darren Rowse/ Problogger, who made multiple niches work for him. But Darren is a rarity in the blogosphere.

The Truth and Fear

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If you're not a full-time blogger yet, and you're wondering whether you can earn a reasonable full-time wage over the course of a year, the short answer is yes. But will you earn it, and are you capable of putting in the time, effort and commitment necessary to earn a "career" salary? Do you have the patience to see the process through what could be 1, 2 or even 3 years? And do you have a financial fallback for that duration? (If you're already full-time blogger and earning a reasonable living, you're one of the favored few.)

Does Blogging Compare With Traditional Freelance Writing?

Whether you can transition to full-time career blogger is something you'll have to answer for yourself. The average freelance writer (for print) in North America historically made passable income. Only a few ever made a great, consistent income without long, long hours. And print writers are paid a lot more per feature articles than any given pro blogger. At least according to all the research I've done on the writing industry since 1981.

On the flipside, blogging on your own sites could earn you income - something for which there is no analog in writing for print (other than going through the headache of publishing your own magazine, or using vanity presses to publish your books). But as with any print publication, you have to do the necessary promotion and take on many roles - researcher, writer, facts-checker, editor, publisher, ad sales person.

What I've Learned About Blogging As a Career

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A frightening NY Times article [free reg. possibly req'd] talks about the health problems of some well known bloggers. Actually, I'm shocked to find that two bloggers in the VoIP technology niche passed away recently - Russell Shaw in mid-March and Marc Orchant in December. RIP Russell and Marc. Om Malik, whom many of you might know more readily, apparently beat a heart attack in December. I'm surprised that I didn't know any of this, though I have not kept up with my tech blog reading this year. These are/were hard-working bloggers. The question is, have we become work slaves to the blogosphere, endangering our health?

The truth is that working at home can be a liability, especially if you already have compromised health. Even if you are healthy now, working at home can trigger a number of health issues. It's far too easy to get caught up in your blogging or other web working and forget about exercise. When you have a regular day job, you have reasons to walk around during the day: meetings, lunch, walking to/from the parking lot (or transit), etc. That's generally not the case when you're working from home. But these three bloggers were probably on the road a fair bit as well, so it's not just about working from home.

The NY Times article suggests that the need to be competitive keeps bloggers working into the wee hours. That might be, especially for the big bloggers like Om Malik and Michael Arrington (who is apparently risking his health as well), but I believe there are other problems, especially for less well-known bloggers who have to work harder to make a living. Some thoughts:

1. The blogosphere is young.

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Back at the end of Oct 2007, I admitted my long-term efforts to reach $100/mth in AdSense revenue on all of my blogs collectively. Embarrassing but true. Since then, I reached about $160 in Nov and just over $200 in Dec. However, January isn't shaping up too well, and I'm not surprised - especially after Xmas. (Note: this doesn't include revenue from other ad sources. My total take is still only about $475/mth, minus my partners' shares.)

I'll still be past $150/mth (AdSense) in January, I think, but not all of these earnings belong to me, since I'm partnered on some of the sites. So AdSense still hasn't worked for me. However, now that I have a bit more time to devote to sites that I own/ co-own, I do see that a scientific approach works for certain niches. Here's what I've learned since cracking $100/mth in AdSense (including emphasizing what I'd learned in October):

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Last week, I asked a simple question and one which bloggers and Internet freelancers often ignore: What do you do to stay healthy?. Such a question is easy to ignore, and any discussion of the topic is easy to dismiss as irrelevant mumbo-jumbo. But I can assure you that it's not.

I also made the case in that post that health is a topic of vital importance. Think about it. Why do you work? You work, fundamentally, to preserve and enhance your own life and the life of your family. Many of us get so obsessed with work that we forget why we do it, and in the process, neglect the very things we work for: ourselves.

As a blogger, your well-being should be something you think about. You should pay attention to the state of your body and the state of your mind. Do you find yourself feeling sluggish a lot of the time? Do you find yourself feeling depressed? These are signs that your body is giving you that are indicative of something being wrong. By taking these signs seriously, you can use them as cues for action.

The good news is that I can personally attest to the fact that respecting and committing time to the health of your own body can pay huge dividends. Your mind will be clearer. Your motivation to act and be productive will get stronger. Your ability to interact with and enjoy other people will increase.

Over the last two years I've been systematically trying to take my body seriously. I've taken its cues and made every attempt to improve my overall quality of life. Below, I've listed 23 tips that will help you do the same.

Twenty-Three Health Tips For Bloggers

1. Before you drink coffee in the morning, drink a glass of water (keep a steady supply of water at your desk). This will help minimize the negative fidgety-buzz that coffee can give you.

2. Start your day off with a 20 minute walk

3. Walk away from the computer at least once every two hours and take a step outside

4. Keep at least one 10-25 pound dumbell by your desk, and use it at least once a day when you notice that your in the middle of a productivity funk.

5. Eat one small meal every 2-3 hours

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If you've been in this game for a while you know that, for most blogs, traffic and revenue go down in the summer.

It sort of parallels the stock market. Many investors think the market peaks in March-April, dips through August, and then starts another upswing in October. So many investors buy from September-January, then reap their harvest from March-April and take the summer off.

While I don't subscribe to this short term seasonal investing practice, mainly because I think there are still plenty of good stock buys out there in the summer, I am wondering whether there's any place for seasonal blogging.

If you're like me, you treat pro-blogging as a full time job and you often work just as hard on a Saturday as a Tuesday. But did you know that the impact of your work on Saturday might not be as substantial as the work you do on a Tuesday?

There are far fewer eyeballs looking at your blog on the weekends, not to mention the summer. So how should a blogger respond to this fact?

Part of the art of blogging is maintaining a certain level of momentum. But do you really lose any momentum by taking the weekend off? What about taking an entire week off? What about posting less frequently in the summer?

Obviously I don't have answers to these questions, but since the return on investment isn't very good in the summer, is there a way bloggers can down-shift a bit to avoid the disappointment that less traffic naturaly brings?

I wanted to call your attention to the Blogger Jobs section of our community forums. Postings are not only free, but we'll select the best positions and feature them on the front page of Performancing.

Recently, I found a fantastic blogger for my video game site Gaming Moments. And I've also posted two new positions today which you may want to check out:

• PR 7 Technology Blog - Blogger Wanted
• Drupal Apologist Wanted!