New year, new projects to start, am I right? In all seriousness, I have seen a lot of Instagram bloggers wondering if they should start a blog this year and if people will actually read it. Today I am going to spill the tea on why you should start a blog and why it is beneficial to creating a brand.
I started my blog my junior year of high school and while I wasn't consistent with it at first, I have learned a lot about what works, what makes people come to a blog, and more. First off, I wanted to say that anyone can start a blog! I randomly started my junior year and I had NO clue what I was doing. Like, zero clue at all. However, I have learned so much and adapted to different things that blogging has thrown at me and it was the best decision I had ever made. Also, I wanted to say if you share clothes on Instagram, I HIGHLY suggest starting a blog. What happened if tomorrow Instagram disappeared, what would you do? All your hard work, just gone. However, if you had a blog, your followers would know exactly where to find you and how to continue supporting you. I one time asked another blogger their biggest tip for growing organically and she told me to really focus on expanding content to different platforms and making your blog really beneficial to your followers. I thought that was a great tip and I want to focus on my blog a lot more this year.
Secondly, I see a lot of Instagram bloggers talking about how they don't want to make a blog because they don't think people will read it. Hello, have you ever been on Pinterest, IT IS ALL BLOGS!! People do read blogs if you are putting out good quality posts. This is something I have struggled with over the past few years because I was blogging just to keep up with my schedule and not putting useful posts out. However, this summer I was posting a lot more beneficial blog posts and I STILL get a lot of views on those posts because they were generally helpful to my readers.
The next reason to start a blog is it looks really good to brands. If you want to work with a brand and you say you only have an Instagram page well, you are kind of in the same pool as a lot of other bloggers. Now, if you said, you had an Instagram page AND you would write a blog post all about why you love that company, they are going to be a lot more interested in working with you. Also, I will say I have had a leg up with brands sometimes because I blogged about their product on my website and then when I reached out to work with them I could share my post I wrote with them and they really like that.
When thinking about Instagram and a blog, I like to think about it separately. Your Instagram is a great place for outfit inspiration, connecting with your audience, making connections with other bloggers and more. However, your blog is a space for you to go more into depth about products, sales, and more! Think of Instagram as advertisement to get people to your blog.
Most Asked Questions From Instagram
How To Start Getting Paid/What You Need In Order To Get Paid: So I don't have a lot of experience getting paid yet through blogging. I know a lot of people always talk about how you can get paid as a small blogger but personally, if that is why you are starting out then don't blog. I started blogging not even knowing I could get paid doing something I love and honestly I am happy I didn't know. I feel like it allowed me to grow and go at my own speed.
Another thing is that it is hard to make a lot of money on Instagram if you have under 10k followers. Personally, I don't ask for any money being a small blogger because personally, I am not offering a lot to brands so why would they pay me? Once my following grows, I will ask for pay.
If you are at the point where you feel like you can ask for pay there are a few things you need. A media kit is one of those things. A media kit should consist of what your brand is about and a little bit about you. At the end of the media kit, you should attach a rate sheet that says what your prices are. You should also set up a Pay Pal account for your business to get paid.
Is Having A Blog Really Worth It?: Like I said above, having a blog is definitely beneficial and if you put a lot of work into it, you can be successful! Creating fun posts that people actually want to read is something that will make your blog more attractive than others. If you are worried about the expenses of a blog, I suggest starting with Wordpress. I still use Wordpress to this day and I love it! I used the free version for a few years while I was figuring out blogging and it worked super well for me. I just upgraded when I saw fit and now I use the business plan.
Overall, starting a blog is so worth it and so fun! I promise, if you are putting out good content, people will want to read what you have to say. Don't let the fear of no one reading stop you from doing something super beneficial. Also, my advice for where to start your blog, I suggest Wordpress. I use the business plan (I started with the free one and upgraded when I needed to) and I love it! I'll do another post on Wordpress in the future but, I hope this post inspired y'all to start a blog this year!
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