Blogger taking photos of their food in a restaurant


How to Become a Professional Blogger

21 September 2016
Are you considering making the leap into the world of full time blogging? Many bloggers begin as a hobby and this develops into a full time career. Making this jump can be daunting and you may not know where to begin.

This downloadable guide covers the key things you need to know before making the jump; from registering with the HMRC and becoming self-employed to self-assessment, expenses and making a full time career from your blog.

People turning passion into business is one of the defining elements of the UK’s self-employment rise in recent years.

Blogging is a relatively new business prospect and like all business setups, it requires knowledge and time to set up correctly. Fortunately, these days setting up a blog is easier than ever, but there are a multitude of things that you need to consider before you decide to blog as a business.

This guide provides information to support bloggers with some of the more common decisions and considerations that you would need to take into account before setting up a blog as a business. It is designed to give you tips and hints on everything from setting up your blogging business with HMRC to information on insurance for bloggers.

This resource has been made into a downloadble PDF for you to save, print or share. Use the download below to save this guide.
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Becoming self-employed

What to consider before deciding whether to become a full time blogger.

  • How and when do I need to register as self-employed?

What taxes do bloggers pay?

A guide to becoming a self-assessment taxpayer.

  • Self-assessment
  • Declaring bloggers income
  • Income Tax
  • National Insurance
  • Value Added Tax (VAT)

Business bank accounts

The importance of separating your business finances from your personal day-to-day living.

  • Do I need a business bank account?
  • How to set up a business bank account?
  • How to set up a PayPal business account?

Managing your income and expenses

Covering costs typically incurred while conducting business and tips for managing your income.

  • Expenses
  • Managing freelance income

Insurance for bloggers

If you’re running a blog as a business, you will need to protect it like a business.

Blogging tips

Tips from the professionals to ensure you get off to the right start

  • All time top 5 blogging tips
  • Achieving a good work/life balance as a professional blogger
It is important to make sure that you have the right insurance in place to protect the business that you have built. Every business is different and has its own business insurance needs, which is why we work with some of the UK’s most well-known insurers to ensure that you are getting the right insurance cover for your business.
The information and tools contained in this guide are of a general informational nature and should not be relied upon as being suitable for any specific set of circumstances. We have used reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the contents but the information and tools do not constitute professional advice and must not be relied upon as such. To the extent permitted by law, we do not accept responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information or tools in our Insight Hub.