How hard it is to cross over from your day job to full time blogging? Hard, very hard, but can it be done? Yes, you just have to know how to draw in traffic, and be a prolific writer, that excludes about 92% of internet users according to the Pew Internet Survey.

“There certainly are more and more people who are doing blogging work, at least as part of their job,” Mr. Scoble said. He noted that PodTech, an online technology and video entertainment network where he is vice president for media development and has his own show, hires bloggers, but not just because they can blog.

“You need something else that comes to the table with you,” he said. “A good blogger is passionate and authoritative on something. If you’re not passionate about what you’re communicating, you’re going to be missing something.” Source: NY Times

So what is that secret sauce, that something extra? Well besides grammar, it does not even have to be in English, you have to as Robert Scoble says, be passionate about something that you are doing. Then start writing about it, and keep on writing about it, and have enough staying power to keep on writing about it.

Do not expect riches over night, it could take years before people catch on to what wonderful things you are saying. Be very careful what you say, if you make a mistake, then you have to admit the mistake and keep on going. Be prepared to take some bruises, some hits to your ego, and people who will generally question your sanity. Also, be prepared that people will not read your whole blog entry either.

If you look at the performance of blog communities verses single blogs, ie ITToolbox and Techwag, you might want to start off in a blogging community to get yourself started, build out your reputation there and then later on build out your own blog in parallel until one or the other is being successful.

Be prepared for work, lots of work, its not easy, it is not something that is going to happen over night, you will not “get rich quick” and not everyone is going to be stunned by your wit either. Take your time, but it is possible to become a professional blogger, and like all writing, it is all about your portfolio and how much work you are willing to give it.