I am a finalist in the UK Blog Awards 2017 so quite naturally I asked my mum (my biggest and most honest critic) to check out my competition and let me know exactly what she thought. Naturally she came to me with a hefty checklist of what they or I were doing right or wrong. Mum also noted that she was baffled that every blog nowadays has now moved on from what blogs originally set out to be and that is a diary of what that blogger gets up to on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This got me to thinking or further more to Googling what a blog really is and of course, “mother knows best!”…
Quite frankly, a blog can be whatever you want it to be. Not only do individuals create blogs every minute of every day but most companies also have blogs now. Blogs can be a great way for a company to be a bit more personal with their audience. Whether your blog is an online journal, a place to express your thoughts and opinions or a place to show the world what you are passionate about, it really doesn’t matter but I whole heartedly believe that to be a trustworthy blogger you need to stay true to your morals and not get swayed by the monetary gains if it is not inline with your beliefs. I like to blog because it is a fun creative outlet where I can engage with my growing readership and we can share our passion for everything fashion, beauty, food and fitness.
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AN ONLINE DIARY
Many years ago blogs used to be known as an online diary. People would publish what they had been up to for their handful of readers to have a read of. Their handful of readers would tend to consist of their friends and family. Blogs then became a way for students on their gap year, travelling around the world, to keep their family in the loop of what they were up to and it provided a place for them to upload all of their photos to. Then the Facebook boom happened and replaced the travellers blogs. As the years have passed, blogs have begun to be produced into online magazines. Many top bloggers have a higher readership than Vogue.
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YOU CAN MAKE A LOT OF MONEY
People have started to cotton on to the fact that blogging is no longer the “sad” thing that the girl at school with no friends used to do (actually, you can make hundreds of new friends through blogging). If you are savvy, blogging is now an opportunity to make an incredibly lucrative career from the comfort of your own bedroom. Many blogs are now started with the intention of becoming a business. Blogs are looking more and more professional and most blogs now have their own SHOP full of affiliate links. This was one of the first things I had set up on my blog. There is no harm in creating these affiliate linked shoppable blogs if they are really things that you like, in fact they are a lot of fun to create and can give your readers a further insight into your personality and they can “shop your look” for example. If you have the opportunity to make blogging a career you would be silly to miss out on the opportunity. I advise anyone with some extra time (I started mine on my daily train commute into London) to start one, you never know what it could lead to.
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A WAY TO MAKE MONEY
The pretty little row of products below is a clever way for a blogger to make some pocket money. I created this “widget” to allow you to shop items that relate to this blog post. They may not be directly what I am talking about but they are loosely related to blogging. They are all items which I either have or want. With every click you make on each product I earn 4p! At least 50% of bloggers are doing this, as are actual online magazines. There is no problem with this, it is completely legal and some bloggers, myself included am very open about this in my disclaimer
…a girl’s gotta pay her mortgage.
If you want to learn how to make money on Instagram check out this post.
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PLUGGING HONESTLY
As I touched on above, I personally don’t mind a blogger becoming a bit more editorial and pushing products as long of they are plugging these products honestly. I don’t want a false review just because the blogger is being paid £1000 to push it. I feel this is a job for magazines where the journalist is just doing their job to help advertise the product. If a magazine is pushing a product/brand there is no need for them to state that it is an advert or sponsor because we expect that of them. Yet, as a blogger you have a duty to give your honest opinion but still make sure that you are transparent and that you tell your audience that you have been paid by using the generic #SPON #AD.
What do you think? Do you mind that blogs are steering away from the traditional diary format?
