Since becoming a blogger, I’ve always struggled with what the right job title for a blogger should be. There are so many different terms out there, but none of them seems to resonate with what I am. Or what I think I am.
Figuring out the right job title for a blogger never used to bother me when blogging was just a hobby, or even when it became my second income. I could avoid the subject completely when asked ‘what do you do’? and just talk about my main, full-time job. Since becoming a full-time blogger, I’ve found that question harder and harder to avoid.
‘What do you do?’ usually takes me back a bit and I am sure my answer is never the same!
I was met with the same confusion when my partner put me on his car insurance and needed to select my job title from a drop-down box. There wasn’t a box for blogger. You couldn’t type your own job title in. We toyed with marketing manager, marketing assistant and journalist before settling on ‘writer’.
But that got me thinking about it now. What should I call myself?
This image looks a bit like an ad because it’s for a collab I did on Instagram. If you want to read more about the glasses then you can read my Instagram post here.
The possible job title for a blogger
- Blogger
- Influencer
- Content Creator
- Website owner
- Someone who makes money online
- Brand Ambassador
- Curator
- Publisher
- Writer
- Copywriter
Blogger
A blogger is someone who has a blog. Which is me! Well, I have MANY BLOGS. I make most of my money from my blogs.
The problem I have with ‘blogger’ is that it doesn’t seem like a job. It’s more like a hobby. Anyone can start a blog and call themselves a blogger. The word makes me cringe a bit, also. I’m not sure what it is about it, but the word, when said out loud, is just ugly.
I feel blog ‘blogger’ doesn’t take into account all the other hats you wear as a blogger, such as:
- writer
- web designer
- graphic designer
- SEO assistant
- accountant
- social media creation
- social media manager
- photographer
- editor
- admin/planning
Of course, there are some of these that I wouldn’t be able to do in a professional sense. Let’s be real here. I do my graphics in Canva and my blog designs are themes that I simply yet. But the word blogger just seems to be lacking something.
Influencer
I really hate this term! I feel like an influencer is more like someone who has been on reality TV. It sounds like someone who just does Instagram or Tiktok and doesn’t have their own website. Truth be told – I don’t think I influence that many people!
I hope that most of you reading this like me enough to enjoy keeping up with my life, but I’m not sure how many of you would be influenced by me! I do feel like my monetising my blog is more about SEO than having hundreds of loyal followers or checking my site daily to see what I’m blogging about today.
Content Creator
I do create content. This is true. But I feel like this is again, more like an influencer. For me, a content creator is someone who has a large following on social media and creates content for that. Someone who has grown their following because they share beautiful content that’s inspiring and aesthetically pleasing.
This is different to how I see an influencer – who I class as someone who has a following form being known for something else (eg being on Love Island).
Website owner
Sometimes I’ll just say ‘I run some websites that make money’ and I have a bit of a conversation about SEO and how I have some authority in Google so brands like me to write about them. It’s a bit airy-fairy and sounds like I’m hiding something.
Make money online
There are times when I say ‘I make money online’ and let them fill in the gaps. Although I do worry that people think I’m involved in a pyramid scheme or similar as it seems a bit sketchy.
Though on this subject, if you’re looking at other ways to make money online apply for remote content moderator vacancies on such job-looking websites as Jooble to make some side hustle. Content moderators are in high demand due to the increase in online content and user-generated content. In addition, they typically earn a good salary and have excellent benefits.
Brand Ambassador
I can’t deal with this term. Every time I post a photo of Leo on Instagram I get about 7 comments asking me if I want to be a brand ambassador.
By brand ambassador, they usually mean that I get a code for 10% off to encourage people to buy their products and they may give me a discount too and MAY send me free stuff. It’s a con.
I feel like a brand ambassador in the traditional sense is more for celebrities/athletes that will have a contract to promote/wear a brand for a certain amount of time.
So this does not fit me at all.
Curator
This title belongs to someone who works in a museum. I’ve heard the term content curator being thrown about and to me, this sounds like a trendy name for a job but I’m not exactly sure what it is!
Publisher
I feel like the word publisher refers to books rather than blogs. If someone said to me they were a publisher, I would think they are referring to a company that publishes books, magazines and newspapers.
Writer or copywriter
I do write. But I when hear the words writer or copywriter, I believe this refers to someone who writes for other websites and publications. I only write on my blog so I don’t feel like I fit into that.
So what should I call myself?
I honestly feel like there’s too much emphasis on finding an impressive title for what we do and we can end up overcomplicating it. The whole idea of a job title is to find something that accurately describes what your job is.
Blogger doesn’t sound impressive. Anyone can start a blog, but it doesn’t mean that anyone can be a professional blogger, or own a blog that makes a full-time income.
I guess it’s just like being a cyclist. Anyone can ride around the block, but not everyone can ride in the Tour de France.
So I’m going to stop looking for new fancy words to call myself and be proud of what I am, rather than find vague, meaningless titles to try and make myself sound better when it doesn’t truly describe what I do.
I’m a blogger, I own blogs, I write blogs, I create blog posts – yes I do social media but 95% of my full-time income is generated through this website. If I had a business which had a complimenting blog, I would refer to myself as whatever the business was about. But I don’t have a side business. I don’t work in PR, I don’t have clients who I do e-mail marketing and social media marketing for. I don’t design websites or code for others. I don’t sell products on Etsy. I don’t even sell e-books.
Simply put, I am a blogger. So what is what I am going to refer to myself as?
My preferred blogger job titles? Blogger. Full-time blogger. Professional blogger.
What do you refer to yourself as and what do you think of content creator job titles?
Love this post, Corinne! I have a HUGE struggle whenever anyone asks me what I do. My issue is is that you don’t know how familiar someone is with the online world. I could say “I’m a full-time blogger” to someone and they know exactly what I’m talking about, which is great. But I could say the same thing to someone else and they’re like “what’s that?” and then you have to explain further. Which uses ends up awkward with them asked “well how do you make money from that”. I just HATE having to explain what I do! I tend to call myself a writer and content creator though.
That was a very good excerpt on what you think about being a blogger. I would also say that the title was really catchy and I thought that you ate gonna give a name other than a blogger and after entering the post I saw how you also deal with your profession name and finally figure out that the simpler the best. And tge most important thing is being proud of ourselves as a blogger.
Thanks for the comment on our support tweet. We really loved the post.
Excellent post – a great one for non-bloggers to read too, I think. As a blogger, I wear soo many hats, it almost feels like a injustice to say I’m a blogger!
Rosie
I’m a Virtual Assistant for my job and have similar issues. I do admin but I also look after websites so I’m a content manager maybe… Like a blogger – maybe different hats! I’m with Jenny – sometimes explaining what you do is the biggest headache of the lot! (I’ve just moved and trying to tell the people I meet now what I do – well erm, stuff? lol)
Big hug for you, Corinne! Absolutely love this post. I enjoyed reading your writing. I could say I’m a full-time blogger because I mostly make income from my blog posts, not social media. But sometimes people don’t understand how I make money from my blog, so I tend to introduce myself as a writer or content creator 🙂
Great insights here and yes a bit tricky! Yes, I own a blog but not to the level of making money but as bloggers, we create, design, publish, etc… does being a blogger merit being written down in our CVs?
I think professional blogger is a good way to differentiate from it just being a hobby! I hate the word influencer too – just makes me think of teeth whitening products haha
Amy x
callmeamy.co.uk
I sometimes forget about how many things we do as blogger’s and how many jobs we could potentially apply for in the future! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
I struggle with this! I still have a part-time job in admin so I usually say that as it sounds easier than saying “freelance content writer/blogger/VA” especially when people don’t know what half of that stuff is! Great post Corinne x
This is an amazing post, I tend to go with blogger or content creator!
I don’t like the word influencer as well! I prefer just being a blogger or content creator
Really interesting post! I got interested in blogging since I wanted to be a writer, so I often call myself a writer/content creator. Calling yourself a blogger doesn’t sound that impressive to people until I explain that I write, edit, publish blog posts, make graphic designers, editing photographs, etc. etc. Then they’re impressed! Thank you for sharing x
Great post! I always forget how many different titles there are for doing the same or such a similar job x
Great post.
I can’t just use the title blogger, I have to explain in detail what I do. When filling in a job title drop down this would be difficult.
I personally like the term writer, because it’s what I’ve loved to do since being young. But I also agree that freelance writers probably do more work, interviews and research for articles.
It’s a difficult one.
This is such a great post! I am not a full-time blogger, but I still struggle with defining exactly what it is I do. I currently like the term content creator or creative writer, as I feel that more accurately sums up what I do. I am still going with word witch for now, but I enjoyed reading about how you feel about each term.
Influencer and definitely brand ambassador do not work for me. I have gotten so many spam offers, where I have to cover a ridiculous shipping fee. Straight to spam now!
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
lol I never thought about it but very true. bloggers do wear a lot of hats! we aren’t simply writers .. we like renaissance people. we write, we create, we post videos, we market, we promote, we engage, we plan — so much!
Interesting read. I called myself a blogger, content creator, author and illustrator. Hehehe. Thank you for sharing.
I’m with you on the term “influencer” – I find it very cringy for some reason. I think I’d typically call myself a “content creator” because I don’t have the same reaction to that term as I do influencer.
Huge yes to this! I think that when you talk about bloggers for someone who is not they grimace at it thinking you just write, hit publish and make money magically. All the things that we all do behind the scenes and all the hats we wear are incredible! I would use blogger and writer. I find influencer a bit out of my comfort zone lol
i am SO GLAD that i’m not the only one who thinks saying “blogger” aloud is cringey!! also, influencer (gag). girl, i so wish i could high five you through this screen!
you could say web writer. though, i feel like i’m quite committed now to saying “online gallery curator.” which is kind of stupid considering my “gallery” is really photos of well, me. lol! (cringe city.)
p.s. i want a macbook in the exact colour as yours. /swoon
OMG yes! I registered Evie last week and was asked what my job title was. I said blogger, but the other person was clueless, she even asked me how to spell it. Eeep! I quite like the term website owner, I’ve not really thought of it that way, but it’s true. I hate the term influencer, I think it sounds so wanky.
The most important thing is you’ve recognised what you want to call yourself!
I don’t make money from mine it’s just a hobby but I imagine it can be hard when it’s a job and knowing what to call yourself, like you say anyone can call them self a blogger these days. What annoys me is the people who just post reviews on Instagram and say they’re a blogger .
So interesting! I had never thought of some of this. I’m so glad you shared!
I always just say blogger and people are like “…what?” so these are some great terms to use!
hello! I totally agree that we have so many things to consider when creating a blog. It’s hard to say that I’m just a blogger as we do SO MUCH! Thanks for sharing a great and honest post. Alicia
I think it is a hard thing to define, you literally do everything. Taxes, content creation, admin, coding, photography and social media. The list seems endless!
I feel like “Digital Marketing/Marketer” is a good blanket term that encompasses all of the other terms you mentioned!