I’ve always been a creative-ish…
While, I do love the experience of coming up with ideas to share, creating fresh content and connecting with other people, I wouldn’t say it has been a seamless/smooth process. A lot of people grow quickly via Social and have had the many blessings of large trajectories.. that hasn’t been my story for better or for worse (depending on your perspective). My glow up has been slow and steady, y’all…
When you see a blogger – you may think of hair, makeup and photo shoots, right? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s way, waaaaaaay more than that; And, I’m not the only one who thinks so!
I have up and coming bloggers sending me messages, often asking for advice on how to get their blog off the ground.
It’s important to remember that blogging can be a business, if you want it to be and if you choose to go down that path, there’s a lot to account for.
Depending on the kind of blog you create and whether or not you choose to wear the title of “influencer”. There are contracts, deadlines, copywriting, pitching, negotiating, deliverables etc etc., that is all apart of the game (no guts, no glory).
Make no mistake that there are tons of opportunities in creating digital content and some major bloggers have reported making 7-figures (yeah, that is wild AF – and exciting might I add)!
So, no matter where you are in your blogging journey, everyone starts with an idea and learns to make things happen with heart and hustle.
If blogging is something that you really want to learn to make happen, start with these 7 Top Tips For New Bloggers…
Invest in your own digital property// aka your OWN domain.. not /blogpost /blogger etc.
Instagram is a great space to push content, but unfortunately the gram doesn’t belong to you. You need to have your own piece of virtual realty to house your stuff; Invest in a dot com you can call your own. What if Instagram slowly morphed into MySpace? What if you were hacked? These are really important things to think about AHEAD of time and remember…
Create a content calendar// Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to building (and maintaining) a community of readers and followers. A content calendar is your best friend! It will hold you accountable and keep you organized, after you’ve created and will help with inspo when you don’t have it!
Develop a quality over quantity point of view// Although you want to consistently push out content so you can stay relevant, the content you share should be always be your best. Your photos should be professional (aka HIGH RES – seriously, grainy pictures are NOT okay in 2018 #SorryNotSorry), your content should be well written and edited and your links, tags etc should be accurate. It’s better to publish a few good pieces than many mediocre ones. Remember, you’re not the only blogger out there (far from it), how do you compete/compare to your industry?
Team up with other creatives// Cultivating good relationships with other bloggers, photographers, designers, makeup artists, etc… is how you keep the dots connected. People who create together ultimately grow together. Find people who inspire you, people who can lend their talent to you, people you can add value to, team up on projects, campaigns, and collaborate as often as you can. This could be getting a brand partnership and instead of shooting it solo, you decide to shoot it with a friend (it’s so much more engaging for your audience and pushes you creatively). Meeting other bloggers and cultivating genuine relationships with people that are at the same level/ambition/consistency as you is sooooooo important.. I can’t stress that more and it’s something I wish I was able to find earlier on in my blogging career. While, I did encounter a lot of people who were interested in blogging – I didn’t meet any with the same drive/hustle that I had, which was a bummer and anyone who was determined was much further along in the game. Make an effort to find your tribe offline – it’ll do WONDERS for ya!
Focus on your own work// This is a big one!! It’s reeeeeeally easy to get distracted by what others are doing and it’s tempting (for some) to want to imitate others, but no one can beat you at being YOU! Your originality is going to create opportunities for you that nothing else can. Stay focused on your own creative work because that’s how you shine and blaze your own trail.
Learn how to pitch// Pitching is important and truthfully, I could write an entire blogpost on it solely, but I will add that most will say this is something you do once you’re a bit seasoned and I disagree. I think pitching is a skill and having said that, the more you do it – the better you become. As that saying goes “The best time is right now, the second best time was yesterday”
..But in all honesty learning how to pitch yourself to brands and various opportunities, especially for influencers is really important if you want to make money at this. By simply having the courage and dedication to do your research, figure out your angle/value and reach out to brand/agency – you are so much further ahead of ALL the creators (and there are plenty) who don’t want to.
Pitching could be something as small as introducing yourself to a local PR agency and sending them your media kit (sans rates) and asking to be added to their media list or it could be reaching out to your favourite XYZ brand and let them know of a post idea that you have and why you know they would value from being included. You will only get better at pitching by constantly refining your pitch and DOING IT OFTEN, so get started!
What do you guys think? Did this help you at all? Of course, I’d love to keep the conversation going on Instagram and LMK if you guys want to read more ‘business of blogging’ posts and I’ll keep ’em coming!
9:41pm EDIT – POST SCRIPT – AKA, I’ve got something to add!
I just finished reading the book “Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media” by Brittany Hennessy and it is a MUST HAVE.
If you found any value at all in this post, I hiiiiighly recommend you pick up this book and read it. She talks a lot about the business and $$$, which is super necessary. We don’t need a book telling us how to shoot flatlays or how to pose effectively.. we need an industry insider telling us, when and where to monetize and that’s exactly what Brittany talks about in this book! I’ve read it twice already so if you want to keep the convo going, you know where to find me…
xxo.
