Every week I get the same emails regarding questions my blog. Or questions about starting a blog, or making money on a blog, or working with advertisers, etc. So today I’m going to answer some of those questions, maybe it will help someone, or maybe it won’t. I don’t know, tell me what you want from me. TELL ME.
Enough chit chat, let’s dive in.
Should I Start A Blog?
No, start an Instagram account. Especially if you don’t like to write and are simply starting a blog for financial reasons/you want free stuff (no judgement, free stuff is awesome.) In this day and age Instagram has opened the gates for any Tom, Dick and Jenny to hit the ground the running. Do ten “loop giveaways” every day, spend hours liking random photos, and badda bing badda boom, you’ll have 20k followers in no time and companies will be reaching out to you like crazy.
But if you like to write and actually want to stick around for a while, then yes, start a blog. Understand that all good things take time. Rome wasn’t built on loop giveaways.
I want to have my own blog. How do I start?
Did you not read what I just said above? But if you insist… Here’s my advice on how to start a blog, you just do. Stop over thinking it and jump it. It’s going to be messy and awkward in the start, but feel it out and you’ll find your niche.
Check out this post for more advice on what I wish I had known when I first started blogging.
How do I grow my blog?
There’s two ways. You work at it, or you pay for it. I suggest a little of both.
When I say pay for it I mean buy ad spots on other blogs. I did this a lot when I first decided I wanted to get a bigger blog audience. I was on sidebars and doing guest posts at least once a week.
And when I say work at it I mean write good posts that people will share. Simple as that, yet so damn hard sometimes.
Talk to people who know what’s going on and have been around the game for awhile. I suggest a blog sit-down/consultation with this girl. She understands the game of blogging better than anyone.
Also check out this post: 27 Quick Ways To Increase Blog Traffic.
How do I make money on blogging?
You work with networks who pay you to blog about their products. My favorite right now is IZEA. I also work with Blogher, but to be completely honest I haven’t been loving that network as much lately. I also occasionally partner with One2One and Collectively.
Making money is tricky. I think there’s a balance you have to find between writing posts you’re getting paid to write and writing your own content. We’ve all seen bloggers fall down the sponsor hole where suddenly their entire blog is commercial content. What can you do though, mo money mo probs…
*I think I have some sponsor posts coming up shortly…But I promise you’ll love ALL of them.
And now for the other random emails I always get:
GREAT BLOG! We’d love for you to feature (enter any site/product name) on your blog and in exchange we’ll share your post with all of our followers! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Dear generic person reaching out,
Do you know how long it’s taken me to get said followers? SIX YEARS. Six years of writing posts. Of editing photos. Of staring at my computer screen day after day hoping and praying the words will show up one more time. It’s taken me six years to Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, Pin, you name it, I’ve done it. And it’s taken time. So much time.
So no, I am not going to feature your product. And yes, I understand I might sound like an asshole. But I think you’re an asshole for undervaluing my site and my time.
Dear Sir or Madame, my husband is in prison and I need to wire you $100,000. Can we please discuss further opportunities?
I’m listening…
And we’ll wrap it up there. Was all of this blog talk helpful, or extremely boring? Did I leave anything out you want to know?
I’ve always secretly wanted to do one of those “ask me anything” posts but I’ve been hesitant for two reasons. 1. I’m scared no one will have anything to ask me. And 2. I don’t know how to set up a survey.
K, thanks bye.
I was tempted to join a loop giveaway recently. Then I did a loop giveaway that had like 50 shops in it, and now I'm terrified. I figure I'll just keep doing the instagram thing the way I did the blog thing – hours of staring at this screen. ha Great post!
all 100000% accurate.
Now… how do I start a blog for my dog?
Oooh… take the $100,000 and run!
Whenever I hear about wiring money online, it sounds 99.9% sure that it will be a scam or spam.
This post was an entertaining read but also very insightful. It's only been a little over a year but yes, I stare at computer screens all day and spend hours upon hours editing….lol.
Rome wasn't built on loop giveaway. true dat.
Oh, the loop giveaway snark just made my day. If I see one more loop giveaway pop up that requires you to follow 50 people, tag your second cousin twice removed in the comments and basically turn your Instagram experience into a constant "unfollowing" spree for weeks then I'll probably loose it. Loved this post, lady!
Chelcey | http://www.chelceytate.com
Eight years. I've been doing it ALL WRONG for eight years.
Loop giveaways give me hives.
LOL on the "I'm listening…" That's the hardest I've laughed at a blog for a loooooooong time
I've basically quit blogging because I wasn't consistent anymore and, you're spot on right, it takes work. The loop giveaways are the worst and will make me unfollow in a heartbeat (unless you do one because your pictures and captions make up for it). There's one blog I really used to like but now she only posts a couple times and week and they are very nearly all sponsored posts. Sorry, but I just don't give a rip about her weekend driving to Starbucks in a loaned Lexus. Doesn't make sense to me at all. You clearly work at your blog and have a passion for writing. xo
very nice this post by victoria
It makes me SO MAD when people email me asking me to do all this work for them and feature them on my blog… and then they don't want to pay me. I'm sorry but I work my butt off and deserve to be compensated as such.
And loop giveaways? Are the worst.
You're literally one of the only people who can blog about blogging and keep me interested! I get emails all the time asking to talk about products for free. I have like 3 followers in comparison to you but its still insulting.
The last inquiry… how do I get more of those???
Thanks for writing/sharing this! I'll definitely be looking into IZEA.
How to start a blog, find a blogging site follow the instructions set up blog write about whatever the hell you want, done and dusted.
Ahh! Yes, the loop give aways! Ugh – they are so annoying! LOL! I am glad to see/read you address the people e-mailing about "put together how you would decorate a room with whaterver & write a post & we'll share it with our people". Umm… What's in it for me exactly?? How about send me a rug to decorate with & I'll do a blog post on THAT! Thank you very much! LOL!
Six years?! This makes me feel so much better about where I'm at on my blog. Great tips and, as always, thanks for a few laughs this morning!
Amen.
Thank you for your honest overview. These tips will help me out a lot!
-Jill
So true + accurate. Blogging takes time.. a lot of time depending on what your end goal is. Great advice!
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