Tag Archives | blogs

Years ago, when blogging first started, blogs were just glorified journals, and the main goal wasn’t to make it a profession or make money. However, blogging has evolved to a completely new level over the years. Whether you chronicle your travels, report on the issues in your industry or share your latest fashion finds with the world, blogging can be a nice way to build your brand, or even just a line to add on your resume that can help you land a job.

But, when is the right time to start? Especially when starting university, it can be an amazing way to earn some extra cash, as well as improve your written communication, analysis and interpretation skills.

What can I do with blogging?
Running a blog gives you an amazing opportunity to help others by teaching them what you know or sharing your thoughts with the world. By helping others with your advice, you will gain a confidence boost, especially if you’ve just started college. You can pick a topic you want to be recognized as an expert in, and start doing your research! With consistency and effort, your knowledge will expand and it becomes an incredibly effective way for you to become credible and establish yourself as an expert. You can also learn a few more valuable things – blogging isn’t just about writing, it also includes content, layout, design, etc. Starting a blog is easy and doesn’t take much technical skill at all. However, if you’re dedicated, there is always room for improvement.

How do I start a blog?
While studying and working may be difficult and time-consuming, a great way to earn some money is with blogging. If you’re studying, that means there must be something you know a lot about. The best kind of blogs are the ones that reach out to people and teach them to explore new ideas. Here is a list of things you need to do if you want to start a blog:

  • Pick a topic
    Whether it be healthcare, travelling, food, or reviews – whatever topic that comes to mind that you can talk about day and night, that’s the subject for your blog. Be careful not to start a blog without a clear idea of what to write about, because you’ll bore yourself to death or run out of ideas quickly.
  • It’s not all about writing
    There’s some designing, too. You can add visual and artistic elements to your blog that will make it look more appealing and interesting to your readers. Photography, photocopied notes, artwork, sketches and mind maps are all good ways of presenting your thoughts without having to write long paragraphs of text.
  • Consistency
    If you want your blog to become successful, you have to be consistent. That means your content and style of writing should remain the same, as well as your publishing time. You can’t just write one post a month and expect people to read it over and over again. The more familiar and consistent your content is, the more likely will people return to your blog.

How do I make my blog popular?
Although there are many ways in which you can invest your time and effort into creating a good blog on a budget, you’ll have to consider investing in it as well, if you take blogging seriously. If this is something you really want to do, you should be prepared to treat it like your business and make financial investments in it.

The key to the success of your blog may also be search engine optimization – get to know this marketing strategy and try to understand how to be closer to your readers. Writing a blog also requires you to keep up with the trends: you can follow and read what SEO experts have to say on the matter, learn how to optimize your blog, how to use social networks in order to promote your content, and even cooperate with other more influential writers.

Last but not least, don’t forget to have fun while doing it. Blogging will never be honest if you’re doing it just because you want to make more money. After all, if you make it look like a “job” or a “chore”, you won’t enjoy it, and neither will your readers. Blogging can be great way to turn your hobby into an extra income to help you finance your degree!

This article was contributed by guest author Cate Palmer.

Image by Dai KE, unsplash.com

Image by Dai KE, unsplash.com

We live in an era where money is almost everything. Even if you are a student, it’s impossible to lead a happy life without vitamin ‘M’. You will need money to pay for your college fees, exam fees and coaching class expenses. That’s exactly the reason why an increasing number of students are launching their own blogs.

Five years ago, blogging was just a way to express one’s thoughts, share opinions on a particular subject, and connect with like-minded people. But now, we have entered an era where blogging has crossed over the path of just connecting and has become a money-making medium. People are raking in millions of dollars running their own blogs.

Now, online businesses are looking at blogs as a cost-effective medium to promote their services and get more customers. A survey conducted by the New York Times in 2015 revealed that female bloggers were getting a lot of attention and ultimately making more money by blogging. It’s not hard for a college student with decent photography and writing skills to gain celebrity status by running their own fashion blog. If you’re not a great photographer, here are some tips to improve your skills.

If you have a newly launched fashion blog or wish to start one, here are some helpful tips to make money by blogging in your free time:

1. Affiliate links

Using affiliate links is one of the surest ways to convert your blog traffic into money. Check out sites like ShopStyle and RewardStyle that use affiliate links smartly and generate tons of money from sales. Once your site starts generating enough traffic (at least a couple of thousand visitors on a daily basis) get in touch with product owners and ask them if they are interested in providing an affiliate link for your blog. Some product owners will pay you per clicks and some will pay out a commission of 15% to 20% for every successful sale completed through your blog – so make sure to check with them to see which is more profitable for you.

2. Sponsored content

Sponsored content is what you get paid for through your blog, YouTube videos, and even social media collaborations (on Facebook and Instagram). This is not just restricted to your blog, so if you are active on other social platforms, then chances are you might end up making a good amount of money through sponsored content.

The latest trend in promoting sponsored content of a third party on a blog involves using hashtags and terms like “in collaboration with (so and so)” to make visitors aware of the brand that is sponsoring the content.

3. Collaborations

Another great way to make money from your blog is to collaborate with like-minded bloggers in your niche. If you are managing your fashion blog, find the top bloggers in the industry (preferably in your country so that you have a better chance of getting their ‘nod’) and ask if they would be interested in collaborating with you. Then you can share your collections on their blog and they can put some of their best collections on your blog. It’s a two-way street where both you and your partner will benefit.

4. Marketing campaigns

This is different from the methods we have discussed above. In the case of marketing campaigns, a company will publish your blog articles on their site, and their marketing team will promote the content on multiple platforms. At the same time, you will also be allowed to publish your content on your blogging platform. A classic example of this technique is the Face Forward campaign run by Clinique.

5. Classes

If you’ve blogged regularly on various fashion styles and themes, chances are that you have gained good knowledge and understanding of the industry. A lot of college students and aspiring fashion models might be interested in attending classes to learn important lessons from a beginner’s perspective. Take advantage of the opportunity by conducting paid seminars and one-on-one sessions in your area. Participate in workshops and meetings related to fashion and photography and use the opportunity to introduce yourself to a new audience. This will increase your popularity drastically and if you’re impressive, you could get requests to handle classes on someone else’s behalf as well.

6. Photography and other services

Are you a fashion blogger who can also take some great shots? A lot of fashion bloggers have gained a massive following on Instagram by just posting selfies. If you have photography skills, take advantage of it and keep posting some great shots on your blog and Instagram account. If you get noticed by any of the big brands in your area, you could be hired as a part-time photographer and editor.

This article was contributed by guest author Evelyn Kail.