I started blogging on Blogspot back in 2005 when I lived in DC. My blog was called District Belle and it was all about my life as a single girl having fun in the city. It was when blogging was really taking off and some of the posts like this one about our trash can being stolen from our Capital Hill row house were picked up by the local paper. I moved to New York City, I decided it was time to change that up with a new name and a new focus.
I launched Grits in the City back in 2007, choosing instead to focus on food. For a number of years, I focused solely on food — mostly dining out in the city sprinkled in with a few recipes here and there. When I moved to the suburbs and became a parent several years back, I broadened that a bit to lifestyle in general – food, family and fitness.
I’ve never made blogging my full-time job. It takes a lot of time, effort and a bit of luck to do that and it’s never been my focus. However over recent years I have been able to do more paid work with some of my favorite brands. The combination of honing in on my focus and seeking out opportunities has led to more over time, and continuing to change and grow over the years to align with the latest marketing trends that have an impact on bloggers. And a lot of the below has led to some great growth over the last several years!
TL.DR. If you don’t read anything else, the bottom line is your site should be as focused as possible, aligning with the best sweet spot you can find straddling what you’re excited to about your audience is interested in reading. You’re a person — and what you love over time might change. And that’s ok. Just be mindful of the themes you’re focusing on and when and why you choose to make changes in your focus along the way.
Remain true to yourself. This is the biggie. I’ve worked with a lot of brands over the year but none that I don’t feel align with my own brand. I don’t publish content I don’t author or about brands I haven’t trialed or, better yet, used regularly over the years. I want my content to be relatable and more of a conversation with my visitors. I’ve occasionally written about topics with a more informative tone, but I always try to make it more approachable and appropriate for a lifestyle audience.
Don’t undervalue yourself. Your time has a value, as does your audience. That’s why they came to you! I’ve occasionally been more flexible on terms if it’s a brand that I really want to work with to build my experience, but don’t accept just anything.
It takes time and perseverance. Unless you’re someone with a recognizable name, your aren’t going to start publishing and have an audience overnight. Some companies will come to you over time but you should seek out opportunities as well! Set up profiles with some of the different influencer agencies. Read their regular posts on opportunities and submit. Note you’ll broaden your chances if you can submit for blog and social paid campaigns.
Keep a record of everything. There can be a lot to keep track of – deadlines, content pre-review dates, posting requirements, post analytics, point of contact, payment terms, etc. Print out what you agree to – whether it’s the terms on the agency or client’s website or any contract you may sign. It’s valuable to refer back to throughout the campaign to ensure you’re delivering, and that they are as well! Also, just to make sure nothing on their end is being changed along the way…
Social media is a crucial part of your plans. Strong social channels can fuel a strong site. You want to grab your audience’s attention with snappy copy and compelling visuals and get them over to what you have to say. Social media and your blog can feed each other — linking together content and helping to broaden your audience. Take advantage of that!
Remember taxes. As in you’re going to have to pay them on your income and as in you want to track your own expenses. This wasn’t something I thought about until a bit into blogging and it snuck on me and became an issue before I knew it.
These are some of my experiences. It’s so helpful though to read more about the experiences of others in building out their blogs and how they’ve found success as you work to find your own!
Love this. It’s also so weird that we didn’t cross paths back in the heyday of D.C. blogging! I started mine in 2007 as Suburban Sweetheart, & I went to all these blogger events, met all these other D.C. bloggers. How did we never meet one another?!
Sometimes I regret that my blog never “took off,” but I don’t regret continuing it just for fun. All the time & energy I’ve put into it… it’s never made me much money, but it’s helped me meet a lot of cool people & do a lot of cool things, & most importantly, I’ve documented SO much of my own life. And for that, I’m grateful.
Happy 16 years!
That is so weird we never ran into each other. I definitely went to a number of those events too! I did move to NYC in the fall of 2007, so perhaps I just missed you.
And I agree. I never thought of it as anything super serious in the beginning. I just wrote about whatever I wanted and shared lots of photos. Cameras on phones have improved soooo much!