How To Turn Your Blog Into A Career - My Top 5 Tips
My top five tips on how to turn your blog into a full time job!
Last weekend I attended the wonderful #BlogCon hosted by my babe of a friend Scarlett; over 500 bloggers turned up to listen to talks hosted by bloggers, meet one and other and mingle with brands. It was a fab day all round and a HUGE success! Scarlett asked me if I would kindly do a talk on how to turn your blog into a career and I gladly obliged, I've done a couple of things like this before and really enjoyed them! The talk went down really well and I actually ran out of time for some questions (okay, so I love to talk - who knew?! Haha), so I thought I'd share my top five tips in depth here...1.) Stay true to yourself - One of the most important factors when it comes to blogging full time; make sure that you stay true to YOU. Don't change or conform because a.) everyone else is or b.) to earn more money; it's transparent and your readers won't feel like you're being genuine to them anymore. Stay true to yourself and your content and your best work will be produced, your personality will shine through and your following will grow, which will in turn bring in more work as you'll become more recognised within the industry. Don't worry about having a nice; YOU are your niche!2.) Treat your blog like a business - I truly believe that it's so important to treat your blog like a business; first of all make sure you have a professional website design (not necessarily expensive), but one that is easy to navigate and looks good. Start to see your blog as an online portfolio that brands will look at when they're decided whether to reach out and work with you. Also, put together a media kit that contains your stats, followers and fees for sponsored posts (you can find templates online for free/small fee if you're not big on design). Keep on top of your finances and work coming in with spreadsheets; and be sure to keep on the ball when it comes to your tax returns, I chose to get an accountant as I was unsure on filing my return!3.) Networking is key - Attend as many events as you can, whether is a conference, networking event or a product launch, YOU are your brand so be sure to meet and engage with people as much as you can. Get business cards printed and always keep a handful on you wherever you go as you don't know who you'll meet along the way that you'll want to connect with. I met a guy in a bar in Thailand who was opening a new hotel and wanted to work together; I met another lady at an event I attended who was the CEO of a company in New York and we've stayed in touch - it's always when you're least expecting it!
4.) Save when you can - Sorry for the boring/realistic point but I would honestly say that if you have a goal to be a full time blogger in six months time then save as much as you can, when you can. There is no set amount but any amount of money would be a help, a cushion to remove any stress for when you first take the jump. Life as a freelancer is so unpredictable! When it's good it's really good and when it's bad you're like 'OHMIGOD I can't afford to eat', the first six months will always be the hardest as brands can take up to 3 months (my longest payment took 6 months to be paid), so it takes a while to get the cash flowing but once you've got it keep that ball rolling, having a bit of money saved helps to remove some of the stress in the initial stages!5.) Understand WHEN brands should pay you - I think this is one of the biggest things when you go full time is understanding exactly when something should be 'sponsored' and paid for. To me, something is sponsored when a brand asks for a set requirement i.e a certain amount/style of work and a deadline. I.e '2 blog posts and an Instagram' with a brief to accompany the requirement which gives you guidelines on how/what to shoot, if a brand simply wants to send you something to try out or attend an event; this to me wouldn't be sponsored, but I guess it's something you just figure for yourself!
Dress - Primark | Jacket - New look | Watch - Daniel Wellington | Pictures by my favourite lady Kat <3
Are you considering making the jump to becoming a full time blogger? Did you find these tips useful? Is full time blogging something you would consider?
*Please note that this post is NOT sponsored, these photos were however taken for sponsored Instagram posts but I just loved them SO bloody much I wanted to use them for this post! :)