Big News: I'm Shifting Gears in My Business—Here's How It Can Ignite Your Passion Too!

Watching Master Chef, I had an a-ha moment.

If I could do one thing every day for the rest of my life it’d be cooking… one contestant said. For me, that’s writing. But really- digging deeper: history. And so, I am doing just that. Unapologetically and with no regrets.

After my Covid layoff (read more here), I landed on blogging. That decision was made late in 2020 and now, in 2024, I’m making a slight pivot.

Why share the details? Because if I can ignite your passion to shift gears and “do one thing every day for the rest of your life” (or most days!) that you love, I’m doing justice to this blog. And to the Free At 50 brand built around a lifestyle.

So I’m shifting gears: focusing on blogging about history to earn income. But this blog isn’t ending, don’t worry!

Necessary disclaimer: As a blogger, I use affiliate links sometimes! I may receive commission from purchases I share; it does not change your price but sometimes you might get a discount.



Musicians at the Courthouse, Colonial Williamsburg

Free At 50 is a blog, yes, but in order to earn income a few things have to happen:

1. You need to create a product.
2. You need to have massive traffic to click links and buy the stuff, get sponsored posts, or qualify for major advertising opportunities.
3. You need to offer a service.

The challenge for me: I’m not interested in numbers 1 and 3 and number 2, which I am interested in, has proven difficult with this blog.

Here’s the kicker, as of May, my then-11-month-old history blog surpassed my over-3-year-old Free At 50 blog. And on August 4^th I was able to post the following statistics in my Ditching the 9-5 Facebook group:

• Over the last 90 days, it's had only 14 less than double the clicks from Google (and other search) traffic as Free At 50.
• For the month of July- the clicks were TRIPLE.
• The history blog had 24.3% more visitors in July than June and 11.9% more in June over May.
• It had 10.8% more pageviews in July over June and 25.2% more in June over May.
• 0 purchases were made through links on my Free At 50 blog in June. Multiple books were purchased through links on my history blog.

Statistics matter and ensuring I don’t give up my WHY matters just as much. And now, in September as I publish this post, the numbers keep moving in the same direction!

RELATED: Click here to check out my history blog.

Cresset lighting, Duke of Gloucester Street, Colonial Williamsburg

My why has always been about balancing and having time freedom.

Becoming a blogger and going after my WHY meant moving to Colonial Williamsburg. It’s where I can enjoy history every day.

I love to write, but history is my passion. So… write about history. While I get to experience it and learn it.

Master storyteller and award-winning journalist Cyndi Zaweski, who is also evolving her business as she learns and grows in entrepreneurship, put it well. It’s almost like a circle:

• Free At 50 life as a blogger led me to Williamsburg.
• The ability to truly dive into the passion I have for history, especially early American history, led to a hobby blog.
• The fact that my history blog seems to be a draw to Google is giving me a new direction to truly get to Free At 50 life- work on making that blog my main focus for income and make Free At 50 my hobby blog.

So yes, full circle and moving forward! The exciting news about shifting gears in my business.

RELATED: Meet my friend Cyndi on Summer Interview Series entry by clicking here.

Tulips in the Shields garden, Colonial Williamsburg

This means all steps on my 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5 are back in play for me:

1. Find Your Why: My love for history and writing is how I want to earn income.
2. Shift Your Mindset: I’m not abandoning this Free At 50 blog and it’s 100% ok it hasn’t been an income-earner for me- I can make THIS my hobby blog.
3. Narrow Your Options: Make a decision on how to earn income with a history blog.
4. Research The Best Fit: Dig in, talk to people, collaborate, focus on income through the blog.
5. Build Your Toolkit: Good news! I have many of the tools I need and those I don’t, I have a head start on where to find them. History is a different niche, but I now know how to approach it.
6. Take Action: Over the summer, I bought a separate blog planner, created a Facebook account, I set up the Summer Interview Series on Free At 50 and put processes in place to keep it moving forward while I focus on the new aspect of Daphne Reznik, LLC – my What American History Is About blog!

Are you inspired? Do these two things:

• Click here to grab my 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5.
• Subscribe to this blog.

Get going.

Are you enjoying the Free At 50 blog? Use my online tip jar to buy me a coffee- keep me caffeinated and blogging!