Category: Blog & Career Tips

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Finding a place that inspires & allows you time to focus.

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When it comes to running a blog and producing quality content, a clear mind, some inspiration and the time to focus is essential. But what comes with juggling a full time blog with a full time career, and you know, life, is often a mind that just can’t stop to think, let alone focus. I for one can find myself seriously struggling to get my brain in gear, especially on those days when I just have too much to do and no time to do it in. Theres so much going on in my mind that I just can’t seem to concentrate or think, and when you have the pressure of time too, it doesn’t bode well.

Over the last few years I’ve tried to find places, spaces and times of the day and week that just work well for me, help my productivity, and really allow me the head space I need to write my blog. Today I thought I’d share them with you, they’re not groundbreaking, but they work for me, and they might for you too.

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3 PLACES THAT BOOST MY BLOG PRODUCTIVITY

Trains

It might sound counter intuitive, to find focus whilst your actually in transit from a to b, but the beauty of trains (or planes for that matter) is that you literally can’t do anything else. For me it’s the perfect set up and is a time that truly allows me to focus. If you read my feature a little while ago about how I juggle my blog and my career, you’ll know how much I maximise my commute to work. It’s 45 minutes of otherwise wasted time, that I can use to brainstorm, start writing draft features and manage my social pages. My commute on the train is one of my most productive times of day, and the perfect moment to start writing editorials for my site.

Coffee Shops

If you’ve read my blog and my blog tips for a while then you’ll have no doubt noticed a lot of cafe shots, and that’s because i’m a coffee shop fiend. Not just for the caffeine that keeps me going, but for the inspiration the space gives me to write and create content. The combination of life buzzing by besides me, and the dedicated time to sit and write, means that coffee shops have become a go to location when I’m looking to get some blogging work done. And its not just blogging, i’ve always found coffee shops a go to place when I’m looking to do any kind of work or revision.

My Desk

Finally, and most obviously is my desk. Whilst the novelty of working from bed in your pyjamas is certainly appealing, the reality is I often find myself losing hours browsing Pinterest or twitter, and don’t really find the focus I need to write my blog features. A couple of years ago I created a dedicated space for blogging in my home, with my computer, content calendar, note pads & all the other inspiration I like to fill my office with (prints, quotes, colouring pencils, style books, candles etc), and just having a space dedicated to blogging really helps boost my productivity and helps me get in the zone.

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Aside from the specific places I go to blog and plan my content, the other thing I’ve learnt over the years is that I really just have to allow myself the time to write, think and create.  Ditching distractions couldn’t be more important. When I run too fast and don’t prioritise time to write my blog, when I do sit down I just can’t think. For me, creating a list of tasks and dedicating time to each one is key in allowing me to focus and productively write my blog.

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Where do you go to get in the blogging zone?

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The 80 / 20 blogging rule; what it is & how it can help grow your blog

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Up until about 3 months ago, I’d spent the last four and a half years of blogging spending every bit of my time and energy writing and producing content. I blogged every single day and juggled a career too, I felt like I would have failed to miss a day. 100% of my efforts went into content production, and anything else like events, networking and distribution was a bonus or in all honesty barely got a seconds thought. My strategy was 100% focussed on producing great content regularly, in the hope that people would discover it and appreciate my hard work, and share and grow my blog in turn …

But three months ago I had a small (ginormous) epiphany, triggered by a real realisation for how the industry had changed, and a better understanding of how other content publishers were turning their blogs into businesses. After years spent being hard on myself and putting pressure on myself to maintain my daily blog features, I genuinely realised and accepted that a successful blogging business is far, far, far more than the content you produce for your website. In fact the reality is it’s probably only 20% of what builds a business, and probably should contribute to far nearer to 20% of my efforts. The reality is it’s actually the distribution of your content, the building and maintenance of your social brand, audience interaction and engagement, networking, event attendance, client pitches and not to mention the operations behind running and managing a business that really build a brand, a business and a successful blog. And that’s when I started to learn a little more about the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule (in relation to blogging and content) flips the norm and says that 80% of your time and effort should be spent on  promoting your content, blog, brand & business and that 20% is what should be spent on the actual production of your content. A stark contrast to my personal blogging strategy.

And more than this, when we look at the marketing industry more specifically, for many advertisers the reality is that organic content is ultimately dead, for brands especially if you want to put content out there, you need to back it with paid distribution to actually get it seen. Now us bloggers don’t have advertising budgets nor the same issue (we have audiences who actually want to read and actively seek out our content), but it puts things into perspective a little right? The focus needs to be on cutting through, getting yourself out there, and getting your content and brand seen … The fundamentals behind this are quality content, but this can no longer take 100% of the resource available. So what can we learn from the 80/20 rule that can help grow and build our own blogs and blogging businesses?

Quality not quantity | Build your referrals | Dedicate time to meetings | Spend time Engaging | Leverage old content like new content

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HOW TO APPLY THE 80:20 RULE TO YOUR BLOGGING STRATEGY

Quality over quantity

Something I’ve been talking about for goodness knows how long is the importance of quality content over quantity. Naturally, as with many of my tips, I spent years ignoring my own advice and ‘forced’ myself to churn out content daily. The reality was that my content was good, but maybe not always the best it could be – it could have added more value if perhaps I’d spent more time developing that single feature. More than that, my daily blogging was ultimately wiping my posts after 24 hours of air time, what a waste of my efforts, the content deserved far more visibility than that (and i knew it too). But despite the fact it’s taken me far too long to realise and make a change, the reality is that if you want to cut through in this industry these days, you need to be producing incredible content that adds value to your readers, and you need to spend time and effort getting it seen. If you’re practicing 80/20, you’ll need to work smart with that 20%, and that means being single minded and focussing on making fewer pieces of content, but making them absolutely amazing, and dedicating 80% of your time to showing them off & promoting them.

Build your referrals

The 80/20 principle addresses the reality that there’s simply so much content out there now a day, that unless you dedicate serious time and energy into promoting it, the reality is it won’t extend much beyond your organic fan base. To get your content seen by more people, you need to spend time building your referrals, whether that’s upping your time spent on social platforms that drive traffic, or networking to build out your overall blog awareness, building out your traffic sources is essential. And ultimately should be a priority in your blogging plan if you want to grow and gain success from your blog.

Dedicate time to meetings

Part of the 80% is of course networking, networking opens doors to new audiences, new clients, new commissions and more promotion for your blog & content. Five years ago proactively networking and seeking business opportunities was unheard of, but today it’s the reality, and in fact if you don’t get on board you ultimately miss out. Trust me, I learnt the hard way. So as part of your new 80/20 strategy, ensure you dedicate time to networking, meeting clients, other bloggers, brands and attending events, these ultimately will allow you to grow your business in every sense.

Spend more time engaging

When I met Deliciously Ella about two years ago, she credited the success of her blog and the imminent release of her first book down to the time and effort she spent engaging with her audience and fans. Responding to comments, tweets, instagrams and Facebook messages to ensure her readers always got everything and more out of their experience. This engagement with her audience helped grow her food blog into a business empire. So whilst producing a great Instagram might feel like the job done, the reality is if you want to get it seen & you want people to follow, you need to get it seen and the best way to do this is by engaging with your followers and other influencers alike.

Leverage old content like new content

Back to my point earlier around almost disregarding my latest post every time a new post was released, keeping your old content alive is absolutely essential and such a core part of the 80/20 strategy. The reality is as your blog grows and your social base increases new readers won’t have seen old content, old content that’s great quality and potentially valuable to them, so finding ways to make your content work harder for you and finding ways to ensure your content is evergreen is another critical factor in working to the 80/20 way. There are tons of ways to ensure your content lives longer and the benefit of this is two fold, your site receives traffic for something you did previously that requires no additional effort from you, and secondly it releases more time for you to spend working on your 80% tactics … Promoting and growing your blog and blogging business.

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The 80/20 model is super interesting and such a contrast to how I’ve been running my own blog for the last 4-5 years. But the reality of the industry today, versus back in 2010/11 is that getting your content seen is so much harder than it used to. There’s such a huge variety of content out there, to be seen takes more than just an incredible high quality editorial. So whilst I probably can’t commit to such a high ratio of time spent promoting (after all the content production is what I love the most) the reality of the industry is that at least 50% of my time is now required to just get my blog and brand out there. But the good news is that the ‘promotion’ part (social networking, promoting my content, engaging with readers, meeting clients, attending events) is super fun, and the fact it can grow your blog is just a bonus!

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Do you work 80:20? How do you balance content production with content promotion?  80:20 can apply to more than just content too … 80:20 living generally promotes a much healthier work life balance too! 

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Blogging Full Time; What It Takes To Turn Your Blog Into Your Career

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Turning your blog into your full time career is no longer a far fetched dream or a fantasy, for many bloggers turning your blog into a career or your business is a reality. The blogging industry has grown into a successful advertising channel and an essential platform for many brands and companies to reach and engage with their audience, and a lucrative commerce platform to boot.  So building your own business out of what once was a creative hobby or a passion outlet is something many of us are now working towards and starting to achieve.

But understanding what it takes to turn your passion into a career and the things you need to be able to make a business out of your blog is a critical starting point on your journey to blogging full time. So today I thought i’d share some of those things to help your own journey to blogging as a business, based on my own experiences and what I have learnt from 5 years of blogging. I hope you find them helpful and insightful.

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WHAT IT TAKES TO BLOG FULL TIME

A Unique & Consistent Brand

When it comes to blogging the blogs that tend to succeed or make it in the game if you like have a very clear, original and unique brand. Their blog has a consistent personality and you generally know exactly what you’re going to get. If you want to blog full time it may feel as though doing everything and anything will broaden your chances of earning a living or building out your brand, but it’s important not to jeporodize or sacrifice what you and your blog stand for because this will not only affect your readers but also future clients too. The first step to turning your blog into your career is to really have defined your brand, your niche, and to consistently deliver against it. And in many ways, the more niche the better.

Quality Content

At the end of the day your business as a blogger is your content, whether that’s social content or web content, and ensuring that this content is consistently good quality, engaging, and attracting an audience is essential. Getting the basics right is critical before you can expect a business and career to come of it. Think about everything from the topics of your editorial, to the tone of voice and the titles, to your photography and creative direction, to the experience across all your touch points. There’s a lot that goes into making a great piece of content before you even think about making a living from it, so spend time determining your brand, what you stand for, who your audience is, and making your content the absolute best it can be before you think about commercialising and leaving full time employment.

A Clear Business Plan & Product

The reality of blogging full time is that you’re no longer just a blogger, you’re a business owner and entrepreneur, and what comes with running a business is far more responsibility than just creating fabulous content; managing finances, securing work,  earning money from your blog and content, optimising performance & your strategy and leading a business plan all become part of the job.

And actually, unless you’re exceptionally lucky, developing a business plan is probably the first step you need to take before you leave a job to turn your blog into your sole career. A business plan should identify and outline everything from your goals and your strategy to deliver on those, to your financial targets and measurement plan. I’ve shared detailed editorials all about defining your blogging goals, measuring your blog success and even how to write your own business plan which you may find helpful.

An important part of your business plan is also of course outlining your product – what is it that you are selling? And when it comes to blogging defining your product (especially versus the competitor set) is really important if you want to successfully turn your blog into your own career.

Pitch-ability

When I shared my post all about how bloggers get business and opportunities, I talked about the new generation of proactive business management and pitching. Effectively the process of going out and actively getting business for your blog. Turning those coffee catch ups into mini pitches, where you can share ideas, proposals or just a little information about what it is you can offer said business or brand. Never lose your integrity or force a situation, but if you’re wanting to gain business for your blog then knowing how to pitch your blog in a polite but engaging way is key in today’s blogging era.

A Scalable or Engaged Audience

In the majority of cases, the main thing a blogger can sell is access to an engaged audience (and often large audience) with quality content, across a number of touch points where the audience a brand wants to talk to is spending time. To be able to successful turn your blog into a career you do need to be able to deliver an audience to potential customers. It doesn’t necessarily always have to be about the pure size of that audience, things like engagement, audience profile and conversion can all be super important factors to potential clients. The key is understanding what clients want or where your strengths lie and working on those as your USP. This is particularly true when it comes to niche categories, the audience size may not be huge, but the category itself may not be huge and so engagement and conversion are more critical factors, equally you could be a relatively mid size fashion blogger but earn a sustainable living through affiliate commission. The key is defining your own business plan and working on selling your strengths to new customers.

Strong Relationships & Network Skills

The reality of blogging full time is your only as successful as you’re last paid project, a regular and steady flow of paid for business is key in keeping afloat, and to achieve that you need a strong and broad network of people to help bring you business.

A Reputation & Portfolio

It’s not enough to have a clear product and a network of people to bring you business, you need to have a reputation to deliver too, a reputation that people want to work with or get involved with, a portfolio of clients that enable you to pitch to new relevant brands or businesses and examples of work and results you’ve delivered for other brands. When you first start out of course this will be small, but as you grow over time, so will your portfolio and your reputation. So it’s important to always be genuine, honest, to work hard and to keep your media collateral up to date to reflect your latest work and stats. A media pack is a great place to showcase this and a simple way to tell future clients everything they need to know.

A Risk

And of course, turning your blog from passion point to career requires some risk. The decision to leave your job, change your career path, or start your own business is of course a risk in it’s own right, but the definition of Entrepreneur is indeed a risk taker, and so if you want to turn your blog from hobby to career, you’ll need to, at some point, take that leap of faith & give it your all! And not just once, but constantly throughout your business life, you’ll need to take risks and opportunities in order to continually evolve your business and to ensure your blog stays relevant.

Stay Focussed & Measure Your Own Success

In the blogging world now, keeping focussed on your own journey, your own goals and your own success has never been more important. With new blogs starting daily and new ‘successful’ bloggers breaking constantly it can be easy to compare your own blog success to that of others, but we all know how unhelpful, unproductive and disheartening that can be. When it comes to blogging defining and working towards your own version of success is critical, be your own benchmark of success & focus on your own journey & business plan.

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But there’s one thing for certain, you don’t need to quit your career or job to acheiving blogging success and make it into a business, there can certainly be benefits to having the stability of a job and keeping your creative outlet as just that, an outlet and of course blogging for many of us started and will always be a hobby, a passion point and that little online creative outlet.

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Is turning your blog into your career something you’d like to do in the future, did you find this post helpful? Are you already blogging as a career, i’d love to know if there are any other tips you’d add to the list?

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HOW TO BOOST ORGANIC BLOG REFERRALS

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If you want to run your blog as a business, you need a product … and when it comes to blogging largely that comes down to an engaged audience.

When it comes to blogging as a career, I believe there are three key things that you need to have in order to run a successful and sustainable business, these are a product, a network and a business mindset. If you live in the area, using an Austin SEO Consultant may be useful. Taking advantage of SEO will help more people discover your blog and consequentially grow the popularity of your work. What I mean by a product, is something of value that will allow you to commercialise your blog, and for most of us, that product is an engaged & scalable audience & high quality content that they consume frequently.

Sounds easy right? Well accept that an engaged and scalable audience isn’t something that you can just ‘get’ or buy (well you could, but that kinda defeats the beauty of blogging in my mind), it’s something that grows organically over time. Usually as a result of great content, a strong network and an engaged relationship with your readers. But when it comes to growing your audience, it can be difficult and can take years and years. That’s why you should realise the importance of paid adverts.

Getting your blog & content discovered is such an important yet uncontrollable factor in your blogging success, sometimes it can take a little ‘luck’ or someone truly supporting your journey to really make progress, otherwise the growth of your blog is organic. But fear not, despite the fact that the majority of blog traffic and discovery is organic, there are some simple ways in which you can boost the organic referrals your blog receives, and today I thought i’d share a few of those (and hopefully inspire your own content & distribution strategy a little).

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SIMPLE WAYS TO BOOST YOUR ORGANIC BLOG REFERRALS & GROW YOUR BLOGGING BUSINESS

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The Power Of Pinterest

This year (5 years too late) I realised the power of Pinterest on blog traffic and organic blog discovery and referrals. Whilst I spent the last 5 years creating pretty pinterest boards full of inspiration, I totally missed the memo about Pinterest as a source of traffic for bloggers. The reality is for many bloggers Pinterest drives up to 90% of their traffic … it’s organically building their following, their page views and their audience simply through image sharing & back links to their site.

Simple. Very effective. In fact the power of Pinterest on growing your blog organically is so significant that there are tons of paid for e-courses & free Pinterest tips posts training you to use the platform to your advantage! I for one am late to the game, but it’s never to late to start, so whether it’s upping your ‘pinning’, creating pinterest worthy images or creating content specifically for pinterest, you too can benefit from the organic referrals and scale that pinterest can bring.

Benefit From ‘Explore’ on Bloglovin

Bloglovin, if you’re not already a user, is a simple way of discovering blogs, reading content and sharing your own blog posts organically, as a platform it’s something pretty much all bloggers are signed up to (because it automatically takes your content onto it’s site). Bloglovin is super popular globally and therefore the potential eyeballs (readers) available is huge, and the way the platform is set up means it offers a huge opportunity for organic blog referrals, without you needing to do a single thing. Whether it’s the ‘explore’ pages on the bloglovin site, the bloglovin blog or the weekly newsletters … the opportunity for significant volumes of organic referrals is huge. The key is producing great quality, engaging & interesting content that gets traction amongst bloglovin users (likes, shares, saves etc). Whilst you can’t actively control bloglovin content, if you focus on producing fantastic content and engage with the site then you never know when you might get featured – if you’re not already following mediamarmalade on bloglovin then you can do here.

Master Your Blog & Content SEO

When it comes to search, SEO is the king of organic referrals. SEO refers to ‘search engine optimisation’ and what that really means is maximising your chance of showing up in Google (or other search engines) results feed when people are searching for specific topics or searching specific key words. Maximising and optimising your SEO is essential if you’re running an online business and a blog, because not only does it make your content work harder & increase the chance of discovery, the potential volume of organic referrals it can bring to your blog is huge. Alternatively, some people are benefiting from using PPC services in order to direct further traffic to their sites. If this interests you then you may like to check out PPCnerd.com. Definitely could be worth considering to help your blog grow. I’ve shared my top tips for boosting your SEO which you can check out here, but at a basic level think about defining keywords, optimising your content to perform against those keywords, downloading apps like Yoast to help boost all the content on your site, and making your content work harder and leveraging evergreen content as part of your content strategy.

Leverage Word Of Mouth

Another organic referrer which can significantly boost your blog traffic and referrals is word of mouth, old school (network & PR) & new school (social sharing). Whether it’s PR agencies, networks, brands or other bloggers supporting and promoting your blog, sharing your content, linking to your site or simply mentioning you on their own platforms, the impact this can have on your organic blog referrals is huge. What it really comes down to is your network and maximising the opportunity for you, your blog and your content to get discovered.

Control Your Own Referrals

And finally, whilst a lot of referrals are out of your control there are some referrals that you can push and drive yourself, and that’s back links within your own content, to more of your content or other social channels. When it comes to driving traffic and content views, don’t forget the opportunity you have yourself to encourage more page views by linking back to other relevant content on your site, that your reader might be interested in discovering.

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At a basic level take the opportunity to look at where your biggest referrals come from, properly track & understand your blog traffic and audience, and work on optimising your strategy within those channels. And remember, blog growth and success can’t be bought, it takes hard work, dedication and passion to create quality content that people want to read, share and support … and most of all it takes time!

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Do you monitor the growth of your blog and review and optimise against your biggest referrals? What do you find to be the biggest organic refferer to your site and content?

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Does your blog & website bring to life your brand & business ambition?

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about blogging as a business, turning your blog into a brand, and generally all the factors that go into making a blog a successful career option. As ever with my tips post, my interest and inspiration for the topic stems from my own blogging journey and my own questions, experiences and plans.

It’s fair to say that for many bloggers the transition from amateur to professional (if you like) is a relatively effortless transition and a successful business strategy and distinctive brand is something that just forms over time as opposed to being an overt strategy or decision (having said that many ‘new’ successful bloggers have come in to the blogging world with a very clear purpose and business vision). For me personally my blog was a passion and a hobby, and one that in the last couple of years I’ve started to think of more as a future career and business opportunity … I certainly am a little late to the business savvy game, but none the less, i’m now starting to think more strategically about my blog, my website and touch-points, and in turn my brand. LOL.

When I started my blog, my design, themes, editorial style and general aesthetic was just the end result of the content I was writing, it was never thought out to create a brand image, or designed to maximise functional or commercial gain, but today, when you’re thinking of turning your blog from hobby to business, thinking a little more strategically about your website design and branding (and the consistency of it) is pretty essential. It’s something i’m working on and thinking a lot about at the moment, and so I wanted to share a few thoughts, tips and ideas with you, to help your journey to blogging business if that’s your ambition (although even if it’s not, I hope you find the tips helpful or interesting nonetheless).

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5 CONSIDERATION TO HELP YOU DESIGN YOUR WEBSITE & CREATE A CONSISTENT BRAND FOR YOUR BLOGGING BUSINESS 

A clear understanding of your business

A really important step in the process of designing and crafting your own unique and distinctive brand is having a really clear understanding of what your business is, what is your blog about, what’s your niche, what should readers expect when they come to you.  And more than that, what is it you want your blog and business to become in the future, what’s your product & business offering. Your blog must immediately tell readers and clientele alike what you’re about … without any real effort to find it out. For me personally, I am super clear what mediamarmalade is about  (Mediamarmalade is a destination for the stylish, the ambitious and the passionate. It’s a hub of daily inspiration, motivational content and advice and tips for those of us on a journey to sartorial, life and career success.) so for me the focus is about ensuring it’s clear to you guys through everything I do & how my blog itself is set up.

A relevant & distinctive brand name

When many of us started our blogs, what we called our blogs was useful, and in many instances not the most thought out, and that’s fine because back then our blogs weren’t anything more than a little outlet for our passions and interests. But as we transition from bloggers to business owners, our brand name becomes a little more important, and the need for something prescriptive & professional can be required (or desired at least) to help your blog take that leap into full time career.

My blog, as you know is called mediamarmalade (because I’m a media career girl, and my grandpa called me marmalade), but if i’m honest with myself, does this tell you what my blog is about and what you can expect (in comparison let’s say to Career Girl Daily), not really? So as I think about taking my blog to the next level and carving a career out of it, redefining my brand name is something i’m grappling with more and more … It’s not to say you need a brand name that’s functional, it all depends on what YOU are trying to create and trying to achieve.

Cohesive & original aesthetic (font, colours)

I’d thoroughly recommend starting your blog design process with a mood board, curating all the things you love and adore into one place, so you can easily pull out themes and a real idea of what aesthetically you like and what represents you as a business. Is your style innately minimalist, or colourful, or bold or playful? Your aesthetic should reflect, bring to life and enhance your brand … everything from fonts, to colours to layout all help build a picture of your brand, and as such should all be well thought and tied together to create one cohesive and original brand aesthetic for all your touchpoints. And don’t forget consistency across all your touchpoints … your brand should come to life across all the channels you use, and importantly you should only use the channels that reflect your brand. If snapchat doesn’t fit your professional mentoring style, don’t use it. If your blog is all about photography and lifestyle imagery, then instagram should be a priority for you.

A layout that fits your product & Functionalities that suit your audience

Today we see many blogs that look very similar and alike in their layout and functionality, that in itself is partly driven by how people read and want to consume blogs and content, but it’s also partly a matter of ‘fitting the norm’ (in my opinion at least). When you’re designing your blog layout and your overall website, think carefully about how you want people to read and consume your content, how do you want them to navigate your site, what’s important for them to take from the experience, and importantly how you like to read content too. Thinking about how you want people to actually use your site, might help you start to think a little more originally and uniquely about how you design and format your website – is it about inspiration and therefore easily browsable, is it a resource and therefore needs to have a  catalogue style to it, do you want to sell through affiliates and therefore need to have a  prominent shopping edit, do you want it to feel like an online magazine or alternatively a welcoming journal … whatever it is, you should aim to design your blog to enhance this purpose & your product. There truly is no right or wrong, so what’s important is that you’re true to your brand, your product and your business.

And finally, don’t just think about a website design for desktops, if 90% of your traffic is coming from mobile then perhaps an app is best placed for you if you want to take your blog to the next level, or at a more basic level a design that enables an easy & enjoyable mobile experience. When I started my blog I focussed so much on desktop that I almost forgot to review the experience mobile users where getting, and today where so much content is snacked on the go, ensuring your brand and design is clear and functioning across all your key touch-points is essential.

Don’t forget your other business collateral

And finally, if you want to create a clear brand identity and set your blog up for business, then ensuring your blog collateral such as your blog media pack, and documentation you produce, your invoices and even your email signatures all sing the same song is essential. Carry across colours, fonts, layout style & your overall brand aesthetic into these touch-points to ensure that no matter when or where anyone is engaging with your brand, they know immediately what you stand for.

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There’s definitely no right and wrong way to blog, design your blog or create your brand, in fact great succcess can come without any strategic or business thinking but if you are looking to take your blog full time or thinking about your blog design and brand, then I think these tips will have been helpful.

I personally have been thinking a lot about my own blog, my own blog design (which I designed myself, bespoke, based on what I wanted my blog to be like) and my branding, and have a few thoughts for how I personally want to evovle my own brand and my web design to help ehance my overall mission & what my blog is about:

“Mediamarmalade is a destination for the stylish, the ambitious and the passionate. It’s a hub of daily inspiration, motivational content and advice and tips for those of us on a journey to sartorial, life and career success”

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I’d love to know your thoughts on my blog, what you like, tweaks that would make it better, whether you think my brand is clear or defined to you as a reader, and also any thoughts you have on my blog name, which is something I’ll be thinking long and hard about in the next few months (and whether I change it to something more funcitonal).

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How do bloggers get work, success and opportunities? Demystifying the lucky break & understanding how successful bloggers get business & opportunities.

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I often find myself pondering the blogging industry and the factors that might contribute to those who are ‘acing’ it and those who are earning significant money from there content. One thing I’ve decided is that sometimes effort and hard work alone doesn’t pay off, in the blogging industry it takes more than that to get noticed, and it takes more than that to get results in return for your efforts. The reality of this realisation (or hypothesis at least) is both quite disheartening (5 years of non stop work & it’s still not enough) but also reassuring (maybe it’s not actually because ‘i’m not good enough’, ‘thin enough’ or that ‘my content is rubbish’).

What i’ve come to realise after 5 years of blogging and working to turn my blog into my own business is this; A lucky break is required to make it in this game, somehow someone seems to notice you, someone wills you to do well, opens that door, gives you that chance, and once that door is opened the trajectory to success flows (the more work you get the more coverage you get, the more coverage you get the more traffic you get, the more traffic and engagement you get the more work you get, the more work you get the more exposed you get, the more exposed you get the more brands & businesses want to get involved … and so on – I like to call this ‘the self perpetuating opportunity factory‘, the trick is someone opening that glass door for you). The second thing i’ve realised is that in todays blogging age (with so much choice and clutter), success doesn’t just fall at your feet, as much as you need a lucky break, you also need to be proactive in seeking that break. And that doesn’t just mean producing fantastic, engaging, valuable and interesting content … it means thinking like a business woman and treating your blog like a business. At the end of all this, you’ll realise that the people who follow your blog over the years or even just read one post are the ones that truly matter. When blogging is a full time career, you have to make sure every part of your online presence is up to date and suitable for the audience. Anyone can leave a comment on your photo or a review on your site if you have something to sell, but at the end of the day, without your audience or customers, the bloggers that we see on social media may not be as popular as they are now. I try not to get too caught up in the idea of comparing myself to others, which is what a lot of people do and can be very harmful when it comes to their business.

What it took me 5 years to realise, is that it’s only really a lucky few that get the ‘glass door opened’ for them, the rest seek that lucky break themselves. And today I thought i’d share the 5 ways in which i’ve learnt that people are doing that, and 5 lessons and tips I too will be considering for the future.

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DEMYSTIFYING THE LUCKY BREAK: 5 THINGS SUCCESSFUL BLOGGERS DO TO GET BUSINESS FOR THEIR BLOG

Know your product & brand inside out

First things first, if you want to get business for your blog and earn money from your content, then you need to have a very clear idea of what your product is? What is it you are selling, why is it that a brand would want to work with you? What do you offer that is unique and bespoke to your brand, what value do you offer? What i’ve come to realise is those bloggers who are doing well, very clearly have a product that they are offering clients, they know what it is and they’re pitching it out there. Whether that’s an audience, quality content creation, artistic direction, that ‘cool’ factor … whatever it is, they know it, and they sell it. If you want to to get business for your blog, you need to define what your business offering actually is, and start selling it like a business would.

Actually treat your Blog like a business

When many of us started our blogs treating it like a business or calling it a brand would have felt ridiculous, but the reality is that today our blogs are businesses and brands, and those bloggers seeing great commercial success are the ones who are treating their blog exactly that way. If you want to gain business for your blog, then you need to start treating it like one; Whether thats thinking more strategically about your blog, understanding what brands want from bloggers, or defining clear goals and truly optimising their strategy and approach based on their success & results.

Be your own PR

PR is an industry for a reason, the power of public relations is undeniable for businesses and brands, and it’s fair to say it’s highly influential and impactful for bloggers too. Networking with brands, PR agencies, networks and other bloggers can have a huge impact on your blog success and the opportunities that come your way, and those bloggers seeing great success have a huge network behind them. The benefits of networking on your blog success are undeniable, so it’s time to start being your own PR. And like I said, once the glass door is opened (which networking will certainly help happen), the self perpetuating opportunity factory gets into full swing.

But it’s not just networking and meeting businesses, brands, PR’s and agencies, its about engaging with them in a professional business manner too, providing them with regularly updated media packs (I shared my advice on making a killer media pack for your blog), organising meetings to catch up on their business and your own, and genuinely forging an ongoing relationship with your key contacts. Look at how other brands PR themselves, and take a few tips for your own blog.

Pitch, Pitch & Pitch

I personally have found myself sitting in the ‘waiting for my hard work to pay off’ camp for the last 5 years, and what i’ve realised is that by not treating my blog like a business and proactively seeking work, i’ve missed out on opportunities that other proactive bloggers have probably received. I’ve realised more and more that bloggers who are getting regular business for their blogs are actually proactively pitching to businesses, brands, new clients, old clients, agencies & PR’s … whether it’s a subtle reminder they exist via email every now and then (because the reality is, there are so many bloggers these days it’s easy to get forgotten) or a more formal proposal or proactive business idea shared at key periods in the year. These people aren’t just sitting back waiting for their hard work to pay off (and it they are, they’re super lucky and a small minority), they are proactively reaching out and MAKING their hard work pay off. I for one missed the memo, but pitching yourself, truly treating your blog as a business, and being your own PR is key to getting business for your blog.

Get an agency representative

And finally, when you reach a stage where your blog and business has something to offer and you’re starting to get business, joining a network or agency who can only help push this further is a key factor in getting business for your blog. Not only will they open doors to new clients and opportunities, they’ll help pitch your blog to the market raising your profile and furthermore help you to secure an ongoing income and management of your income which frees more of your time for working on content & networking. There are lots of agencies and networks out there, in fact many bloggers are getting signed to modelling and talent agents who are now realising the potential of bloggers and digital influencers, there’s certainly no guarantees of income and work when you sign to an agent (trust me), but it certainly provides a step in the door … and if you’re lucky, and they decide to help push and promote you, then you’ll soon find yourself on that trajectory to success & in that self perpetuating opportunity factory!

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YOU SHOULD ALSO READ

. 6 THINGS BRAND LOOK FOR WHEN WORKING WITH BLOGGERS . 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO TURN YOUR BLOG INTO A BUSINESS . HOW TO TURN YOUR BLOG INTO A BRAND . 5 TIPS FOR WORKING WITH BRANDS .5 WAYS BLOGGING FOR BUSINESS WILL CHANGE YOUR BLOG .THE SKILLS ALL BLOGGERS HAVE THAT CAN EARN YOU MONEY . HOW TO EARN MONEY FROM YOUR BLOG & CONTENT .

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It’s easy to find yourself comparing your achievements, your journey and your successes to others, it’s easy to be hard on yourself and your own business and success, especially when you’re a driven and ambitious person like I am. But I think it’s good to accept, that sometimes the hard work and the excellent content alone doesn’t pay off … if we truly want to become entrepreneurs, then taking a risk, putting yourself out there more formally and proactively and truly starting to act, talk and show up like a business might finally help you achieve that lucky break you so desperately want and are working towards, it might finally mean someone notices you and opens that glass door into the opportunity factory. And once your in, if you keep working hard, keep delivering great work, then hopefully that self perpetuating cycle of success will happen for you (and me) too.

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Did you find this post interesting or helpful? How do you seek business for your own blog, are you a savvy #girlboss putting your business out there, or did these tips help you (like me) think a little more like a business?

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Evolving your blog content strategy is absolutely essential to stay relevant in todays blogging world.

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Long gone are the days of basic daily diary entries on your personal blog, today blogging is a hugely successful industry in it’s own right, bloggers are journalists, content producers, established authorities, and brands and businesses. The shift in the industry in the last 5 years is undeniable and absolutely incredible for those of us on this journey, but the evolution has naturally had a huge impact on bloggers, the content we produce, the content audiences want, and the role each and every touchpoint used as part of our blogging business has. The shift in content, the evolution of platforms and social channels, and the growing demand and awareness of bloggers and influencers, has meant that many ‘old school’ bloggers have had to evolve and adapt their blog, content strategy and blogging approach to keep up and keep relevant in this ever growing and ever evolving blogging industry.

Today I wanted to share 5 ways that the blog evolution has impacted our blogs, our content, and our content strategies … and the ways in which you can evolve your own blog  & blog content strategy to keep relevant.

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HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR BLOG & CONTENT STRATEGY, TO KEEP UP WITH THE EVER CHANGING BLOGGING INDUSTRY

Long form content has to work harder

‘Blogging’ used to entail a personal blog and perhaps a twitter channel too, but these days the blogging world has exploded and continues to grow every month, with new channels, new platforms and new social media apps launching constantly, not to mention the sheer volume of content and influencers that appear every day. Choice is out of control, and time is still of the essence, the consequence is that people spend less time reading long form content, and more time ‘snacking’ on short, easily consumed, simple content like instagram and snapchat. Don’t get me wrong there’s still a place for long form content (my blog is all about long form content, and I personally spend a lot of time reading blogs & content still) but today content needs to be quality and valuable to get audiences attention and most importantly keep them reading …

Content must add value to cut through

When many of us started our blogs, daily outfit posts and basic dairy entries were the norm (and people loved it & demanded it) but fast forward 5 -7 years and there’s more content and blogs than ever imaginable to choose from, and social media has offered a far quicker and easier way of getting outfit & personal updates from your favourite bloggers, the impact on the blogging industry is that for people to visit your blog & read your content, it really must add value. Content these days needs to inspire, aspire, inform, motivate or educate for it to gain traction and cut through the masses of blog posts available each day.

Quality is more important than quantity

And in line with the shift in popular content, and the value each post needs to offer to truly deliver results, quality is now far more important than quantity. Whilst daily blogs still garner great success, the reality is many successful bloggers now focus on 2-4 pieces of hero content for their blogs each week, with the more ‘everyday’ content forming the basis for their social content strategy. The Google content strategy analogy of bonfires and fireworks (bonfires being the basic always on content to maintain a presence on your channels and the fireworks being the hero pieces of content that really drive impact and value to your brand & business) has started to become true of the blogging industry, and not just brand & business content strategies.

Social media is the heart of your brand, not just an extension

And finally, long gone are the days where your twitter & Facebook are your supporting channels to your blog, today social media is the heart of a blogs brand and in many cases the priority to many influencers content strategy. A whole generation of influencers have grown from instagram alone & the power social popularity can offer a blogger is undeniable … and as such, social media now requires its own focus and it’s own bespoke content strategy to truly achieve success in this space & in this ever evolving blogging industry.

But, it’s not just showing up in these channels with the same old content, today it’s about producing content bespoke to each platform based on how audiences interact and use each channel (for example instagram is all about beautiful imagery to inspire audiences, blogs are more focussed on longer form content that’s informative & valuable, Youtube entertains, and pinterest aspires etc). A blog content strategy today is far more complicated and sophisticated than it once was.

A professional and defined brand is the norm

5 years ago a defined brand was something left for the big boys out there, but these days every blogger out there has a professional looking website, a defined mission statement and a clear brand proposition that lives across every touchpoint they own. Today delivering consistently on your brand is a must if you want to achieve business success, every piece of content must sing true to your mission, every comment or appearance must reflect your brand values and your brand is now far more than your blog or website.

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Have you experienced the blogging evolution? How have you adapted your own blog and content strategy as a result? Did you find this post helpful?