Well, to be fair, owning a business IS a job and I do it to make money, the same as I did when I had a regular day job.
Retainer clients are definitely the way I prefer to go in my own business, as it is more sustainable and stable to have longer-term clients than just projects, though I have those, too!
Yes, 58 blogs per month is a lot, especially when you factor in that you don’t always get paid right away for those posts. It’s better/easier to make money writing blogs for companies and not publications, as you get paid faster.