Being a professional blogger is not easy. It takes a lot of hardwork and time to be more or less an “established” one. If you want to be a professional blogger, you have to have patience because it does not happen overnight. Here are some observations that I had for professional bloggers that managed to stay in their game:
a. Develop Your Personal blog - Individuality is everything and this is extremely crucial for bloggers who wants to become professional bloggers. Think of your personal blog as a practice area wherein you could experiment different styles in blogging. Through time, you would be able to see which would work for you thus helping you to become an effective blogger.
b. Join Blogging Networks - Blogging networks could play a crucial part in helping you develop as a professional blogger. Aside from being paid to do it (which I enjoy), it also gives valuable advice to bloggers and marketing help for your blogs and you as a blogger. Just be careful to adhere the conditions in your contract so it would be a beneficial relationship for both parties.
c. Interact, interact and interact - I believe that WOM (word of mouth) is still an effective marketing strategy hence the need for bloggers to interact. Through interaction, you would be able to see how your readers view you and your blogs. Other opportunities could also be opened during interaction like guest blogging and the like which would help you in creating your career as a professional blogger.
Anway, those are just some observations that I had from top professional bloggers which are already reaping the benefits of their blogging career.
Do you have anything in mind? Feel free to share 
Kevin | October 8th, 2007 at 7:57 am #
A personal blog is something I have been wanting to get off the ground for a while but the main thing that has held me back is that I’m not 100% sure what direction I would take it.
ie. my main interests are in web development, poker,movies, music and martial arts - would the reader be interested in such a wide range of topics. The majority of web development related articles could be posted here too.
Perhaps I should write more personal posts there when it comes to web development but I’m still not sure how to proceed with it. Should my personal blog be really ‘personal’ or should it promote my web interests?
With regards to interacting, I definately feel that it is one of the most important aspects of blogging. It pays to have friends with popular blogs!
Travis | October 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am #
You mentioned blogging networks - how do you find those and get involved?
elaine ramos | October 8th, 2007 at 9:36 pm #
Thanks for the comments!
Travis: You could apply as a blogger online. Some big blogging networks include b5, KMM and Creative Weblogging.
Travis | October 8th, 2007 at 9:50 pm #
Ah, I didn’t realize that’s the kind of network you were referring to. Guess I didn’t read carefully the first time!
Sara | October 9th, 2007 at 5:59 pm #
Elaine,
I have been thinking lately about joining a blogging network. Do you have any advice on where to find them and/or how to get picked up?
Thanks,
Sara
Elaine Ramos (Post Author) | October 10th, 2007 at 9:47 am #
Hi Sara!
Most of them require their candidates to have knowledge in blogging so it’s better to have a personal blog first and update it everyday so that they would more or less have a grasp of your writing skills. Second is to make sure that you are passionate about the topic that you are interested in so that it would be easier for both parties
Hope that helps.. and good luck!
Sara Christensen | October 10th, 2007 at 11:57 pm #
Elaine,
Yes, that does help. Thanks! Where would I go to find these networks? A job board like Problogger’s or just search for blog networks?
Thanks!
Sara
Elaine Ramos (Post Author) | October 13th, 2007 at 9:03 pm #
Sorry Sara for the late reply. Yup the Problogger job board is a good source! Aside from that, visiting the homepage of these blog networks would be helpful especially if they have openings and are looking for qualified candidates.