As you may have noticed from the interviews with bloggers in this book, incredible opportunities can come from starting a blog. As your blog grows, you’ll find yourself dealing with both the ups and downs of blogging: You may struggle with how to balance blogging with your personal or professional life, the possibility of others copying your content, the pressure of coming up with new and exciting content while growing in leaps and bounds creatively, increasing the exposure to your business, and gaining the recognition of others in the media. In this chapter, I’ll guide you through this exciting next phase of blogging growth. Whether you bring aboard a blog contributor, take your social media efforts to the next level, pitch a book idea, or go full-time as a professional blogger, this chapter covers some of the possible directions your blogging life could take as well as how to combat any hiccups along the way.
To keep things fresh, you’ll want to change or update your blog’s design every year or two. Some bloggers do this by simply updating their header, while others undergo a complete redesign. Consistency is key here. A new design should only be implemented if it still fits with the brand and tone you’ve already established on your blog. Think of your header like the cover of a magazine. In order for a magazine to be recognizable from month to month, the logo must remain the same, and the image behind it should feel familiar. For example, you could update the header of your flower blog each season with an image of the plants currently in bloom, but make sure that the images are photographed consistently and interact with your logo in the same manner each time. If you change your logo and header too drastically, using different styles each time, you lose the potential to build your blog when readers keep seeing different representations of your brand. If you’re considering giving your blog a full face-lift, consider any improvements in the functionality of your site that could be made at the same time, such as a navigation bar that points readers to your most popular columns. No matter what nips and tucks you do, it’s always best to keep your blog’s logo, aesthetic, and tone consistent with the content, niche, and brand you’ve worked so hard to build.
A new design should only be implemented if it still fits with the brand and tone you´ve already established on your blog.
You might have it or know someone who does. Multiple blog disorder can strike us when we find ourselves starting a new blog because we don’t think our newest topic of interest fits the blog we’ve already established. However, you’ll soon find yourself with more blogs than you can keep up with, as well as double or triple the amount of work! I, too, was struck by this plague when I launched a new food blog, Oh Joy! Eats, in 2009. I wanted to dive deeper into my foodie experiences than I had on my blog previously, and figured that separating it out would be the best way to go. Boy, was I wrong. All the years I had spent building my readership were lost when I started a new site. I had to grow my traffic all over again from the beginning, and many readers didn’t even know that I had a separate food blog. I soon realized that I should have kept the two blogs combined in the first place, and once I merged them together, it not only simplified my blogging life, but also gave my readers a better sense of another one of my passions—food. Now, my food posts are some of the most popular ones on my blog.
So before you consider starting a new blog, think about whether your current readers would have any interest in the new topic you’d like to post about. How different is it? Could it fit into the overall lifestyle and aesthetic you’ve already created? If it’s a matter of abandoning an old blog or blog name that is no longer relevant, you can always just change the name of your blog and refocus your content, if it’s not working for you. Simply post about the change so readers can update their links and have your old blog address redirect to the new one. What’s most important is that you don’t overextend yourself—and your content—if you don’t have to.
The idea of blogging full-time may have once seemed incomprehensible to you, but now that the possibility is a reality, it can be really exciting and really scary all at the same time. Even though professional blogging isn’t a traditional career path, or even a traditional business, you still need to take the same precautions and steps that would be involved in starting any other business. Whether you’re leaving a steady paycheck from your current job or you’re a stay-at-home mom turning this hobby into a full-time venture, to justify going full-time your blogging income should be able to cover, at a minimum, the cost of your living and working expenses. Calculate your total blogging expenses, including any supplies, equipment, or services you use on a regular basis. Then take a look at your personal expenses, such as your rent, groceries, utility bills, and daily expenses that may not automatically come to mind, like your yoga classes and daily frozen yogurt runs. Also, if you’re losing the health benefits of a full-time job, you’ll need to account for health insurance as well. Combine both sets of numbers, both business and personal, to come up with the total monthly expenses your blogging income needs to cover.
It may make the transition easier, too, if your spouse’s salary can cover the ebb and flow of your freshman income, or if your partner has health insurance that will cover you, or if you have a part-time job or freelance work, or savings that will cover your living expenses for the first year. You may have to make some sacrifices as well by lowering your clothing allowance, dining out less, or moving to a less costly part of town to reduce your personal expenses. It’s all worth it to do something you love for a career that you’ve created on your own. In time, you’ll hopefully be earning a comfortable living, splurging on vacations, and saving money for retirement.
Every blogger has moments when her creative brain goes numb and her ability to generate exciting content seems nearly impossible. When this happens to you, take a deep breath, and remember that this feeling is only temporary. Step away from the computer and try one or more of the following activities to refresh your blogging brain and get your creative juices flowing again.
Give yourself a change of scenery. As much as you may enjoy the comfort of blogging from your couch, you’ll need a new environment from time to time to recharge. Try blogging from the park or a local coffee shop. Because you’ll be introduced to a host of sights, smells, and sounds you don’t normally witness from your usual blogging spot, a simple change in view is sure to refresh you and kick-start your blogging brain.
Take a class. Maybe you’ve always wanted to get your hands dirty in a pottery class or give your sweet tooth a treat with an ice cream–making class. Try a subject matter that’s outside of your comfort zone and you just may find yourself with a new source of inspiration.
Move around. Getting some exercise can do wonders for your energy level and your brain cells. Go for a bike ride or take that yoga class you’ve always wanted to try. If you find yourself lacking in workout gusto, enlist a friend who could also use a boost, and keep each other excited and motivated to make your workouts a regular habit.
Interact with others. Although virtual interactions will be part of your day-to-day routine, physical connections are just as important. Make a coffee date with a fellow blogger or friend, or set up regular weekly brunch dates to get you out and about and catching up on life outside of the blogging world.
Reduce your number of posts. You’re more likely to feel inspired and less burnt out if your number of weekly posts is a comfortable amount for you—that way, you won’t feel like you’re churning out posts just for the sake of it. Decrease your posting schedule from twice a day to once a day, or seven times a week to four times a week, and it’s likely that you’ll stay more focused while developing stronger content at the same time.
Take a blog break. Sometimes we’re simply burnt out, and a vacation can be the best medicine. A week or two away from your blog just might be the rest you need. So put up a little note and tell your loyal readers you’ll be taking a tiny break and will be back soon refreshed and recharged. While they may be bummed, they know you’re human, too, and need to get away every so often, and you’ll be back to your energetic avalanche of ideas in no time.
It’s difficult to do everything ourselves, so it can be helpful to join forces with others or hire help when you’re looking to raise the quality and quantity of the content you bring readers. The most beneficial contributors will be people who know your blog and read it regularly. When looking for someone, think about whether your contributors need to live near you or if they can work from a distance. You can seek out talented individuals by posting something on your blog, asking colleagues if they can recommend someone, or approaching a rising star (like an up-and-coming floral designer) that you think would be a good match. The most important consideration when adding someone to your team is making sure they share your vision and passion for bringing great content to your blog. You’ve worked long and hard to establish your voice, aesthetic, and tone, so anyone who joins your team should have a similar sensibility while also being able to bring a new point of view to the table.
Maybe you have a friend who’s an amazing stylist who can bring your decorating ideas to life, or know a colleague who would make a mean East Coast indie band correspondent—joining forces could be a great way to promote both of your talents. Typically with collaborations, you’re not bringing someone on staff or paying them like an employee. Instead, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. For example, if an old college friend is an illustrator who wants to get more editorial work, she could illustrate various posts or headers for your blog. In turn, she’ll get some exposure and portfolio-building pieces that just might land her a freelance gig at her favorite magazine.
For a limited time, like a college semester, you can bring on an intern as a way to test out having a contributor or junior editor before diving into paying freelancers or employees. You can have them work on an existing column for your blog, research materials for a post, or even help you come up with new ideas. Usually unpaid, interns may be students getting college credit instead of a paycheck, so remember to show extra appreciation for their volunteer work, whether that means reviewing their resume or recommending them to a colleague when they’ve graduated and are seeking full-time work. Also, do your best to serve as a mentor for them. You can teach a budding photography student, for example, about how you conceptualize shoots for your site. If an intern applicant is no longer in school or unable to get college credit, consider how much you can afford to pay them on an hourly or weekly basis during your internship period. And, if they do well, they just may turn into a regular freelancer or employee. To find an intern, you can start with a post on your blog, but also check out your local college job boards. Depending on the expertise you’d like this intern to have, you can post something on the board within a specific major, like graphic design, to attract students on the lookout for an exciting work opportunity.
A paid freelancer can be your first step toward having regular help on your site. Freelancers are best for recurring columns, and you can pay them by the post or per hour, depending on the type of responsibilities you give them. If they’re contributing a regular post once a week that they alone are responsible for, then paying per post will usually be easiest. How much to pay someone comes down to what you believe their time is worth and what you can afford. It’s good to have a realistic idea of the time involved for the assignment you’ve handed them. For example, if you think $20 an hour is a fair hourly fee and that it should take them about two hours to do each post, you can offer to pay them $40 per post. If they are contributing a post once a week, then you’ll be paying them about $160 a month. Payment for contributors varies from blog to blog, with some starting at $10 per post and going up to a few hundred dollars per post. So it will depend on the work involved, your budget, and your reach. Also, be sure to thank your contributors regularly and tell them when you think they’re doing a great job. Freelancers like to know that they are on track and helping to grow your business. Every year, you may also consider increasing their pay, especially if your budget was a bit tight when they started. Every freelancer you hire and pay more than $600 in any one year will have to fill out a W-9 form, and you will have to file a 1099 form with the IRS to report your payments to these independent contractors.
Freelancers are best for recurring columns, and you can pay them by the post or per hour, depending on the type of responsibilities you give them.
A paid employee is someone you’re officially hiring as a staff member, on a part- or full-time basis, who will rely on you for regular paychecks. This is a big undertaking, so think wisely before bringing on anyone in this capacity. In addition to having enough work to justify a part- or full-timer, you need to be able to guarantee that your blog revenue is enough to pay their salary, as well as any yearly raises or bonuses, and health insurance, if you choose to offer it. Employees will need to be given a W-2 form at the end of every year, which your accountant or payroll service can help you with. While an employee may take a chunk out of your earnings, they can increase your productivity and efficiency and give you time to focus on growing your site and tackling other projects. With any employee—paid or not—it’s also nice to thank them with bonuses, holiday gifts, or simple tokens of appreciation for their hard work and creative efforts in growing your blog.
Regardless of whether you bring on a collaborator, intern, freelancer, or paid employee, a contract is a must. Contracts establish the working relationship and expectations for both parties. The contract should state how much someone is getting paid (or not paid), how much work is involved (a weekly post or ten hours per week), when the work is due each week, the duration of the agreement (the fall semester or indefinitely), as well as any non-disclosure terms you’d like them to agree to (like how they can’t duplicate the same content for their own blog or a competing blog). Finally, every contract should include the date, and both of your printed names and signatures. Also, since you won’t really know someone’s process and work flow until they start working with you, it’s a great idea to establish a trial period (which can be anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months). This will give you a chance to see how the employee fits in with your site and work flow. At the end of the trial period, you can both assess how it’s going and decide to either continue or part ways.
Once someone has shown they´re a great fit for your blog, be sure to add their photo, biography, and area of expertise to the About Page of your blog so that readers know who contributes and in what ways. If your intern, employee, or contributor isn’t local, the following online resources make collaborating from a distance easier: Asana or Wunderlist task management tools for teams, Google Docs file sharing, group boards on Pinterest, and shared notebooks on Evernote.
SHARING A STUDIO SPACE
If you evolve into a full-time blogger, spending much of your weekday in the virtual world, you may find that you miss being around other people. With blogging, you’ll usually find yourself interacting with people from behind a screen rather than in person. If you crave support from and interaction with real-life people, a shared studio space may be something to seek out once your blog is in a position to cover these expenses. Sharing a space with other artists, creatives, or bloggers can make for a fun and motivating work environment. You can post on your blog that you’re looking for a studio or studio mates. Check out local newspapers, online community boards, and rental Web sites to find places and compare locations, sizes, and pricing options.
No
ONCE WED
ATLANTA, GA
EMILY NEWMAN considers herself an accidental blogger. After her nuptials in 2008, she was looking to sell her wedding dress and realized there was a need for a Web site for brides to offer their gently worn gowns. So she launched Once Wed, an online used wedding dress listing service. Without any intention of it turning into a blog, she began including DIY tips and ideas for brides, to enhance their online experience. She soon realized that customers were enjoying the additional content as much as the dresses. A year later, she left her full-time job as a nanny to spend more time on her rapidly growing wedding blog. In 2010, she hired Joy Thigpen, a wedding photographer and stylist, as the creative director for Once Wed, who oversees all the creative content that is produced through the site. Now Emily’s “accidental” blog attracts more than 4.5 million page views per month, and is a destination for brides seeking gorgeous and original inspiration for their big day.
At what point did you feel comfortable leaving your job to blog full-time?I was kind of forced to take the leap. The mom I worked for was going back to the corporate world and would need me as a full-time nanny. I knew that I couldn’t balance being a full-time nanny, being there for my husband, and running the site, all at the same time. There just weren’t enough hours in the day, so I decided to make a go at the blog full-time. It’s stressful enough having to start a new business and make money, so I knew we needed a cushion, which included the help of my husband’s full-time job and the money we had saved.
How did you and Joy meet and start working together?We met in September 2008 at a wedding event in Atlanta that a mutual friend had started. Joy had been doing wedding photography for seven years. Although she enjoyed it, she found that she cared more about the planning side and making weddings beautiful than the particulars of what lens she’d use to shoot. Styling weddings was a great combination of her skill set, and she was happy to have someone else photograph instead.
Since Atlanta is a pretty conservative market, I didn’t feel as though a ton of brides understood my aesthetic, and Joy felt the same way. When we met and realized our shared interest in showing weddings in a different way, we made an instant connection as friends and collaborative partners. She started contributing to Once Wed and then became the creative director for the site officially in 2010.
What made you decide to bring on Joy as the creative director?Joy is the most talented creative I’ve ever been around and had the opportunity to work with. She can seriously do it all—arrange flowers, do fashion styling, take photos. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to trust the person you’re working with. I know I can pass off anything to her and it’s going to be beautiful. From the beginning, our aesthetics were very similar. I knew it had the potential to be a great fit.
How much time do you spend blogging or preparing content for the blog?We both work about fifty to sixty hours a week for Once Wed, and that’s much better than what it used to be. We had to purposely cut down our workload so that we could live life as well.
Nearly all your content is original. What made you decide to go that route, and how do you think it’s been crucial to your success?When I first launched Once Wed, I would think about why magazines like Martha Stewart Weddings were successful—and a lot of it has to do with their unique content. When I started, a lot of wedding blogs weren’t doing original content. I wanted to offer a handmade approach to brides on how they could make their wedding special. My talent didn’t lie in that realm, so when I brought Joy on board to help with original content, our traffic really began to grow. Brides enjoy what we have to offer, because many of the ideas can translate into other areas of their life, even after their wedding has passed. They know they can always find something new, fresh, and original. Some of our favorite content includes when we take a mood board and bring it to life in a styled photo shoot, or create an entire place setting inspired by a painting.
What’s the process of creating a new story from scratch? Do you and Joy brainstorm together first, and who is responsible for what?Joy comes up with the inspiration boards and concepts for shoots. We discuss the concepts and ideas together and edit or remove any that don’t seem like a good fit. I handle all the planning/logistics of a shoot, and Joy oversees all the creatives and the day of styling. Beyond specific shoots, I handle posting, e-mails, and sales, while Joy oversees all of the creative content.
Do you try and create stories that are trend-based?We try to avoid trends, and tend to take things off our list if we feel like we’ve seen it around the blog world too much. The reason our site has grown as quickly as it has is because people know they’re not going to see the same things all the time. The more you do something different and go against the trends, the more you will stand out. When we were trying to fit the mold, we’d get burnt out because we didn’t feel inspired trying to keep up in that way. So now I prefer things that are different, and I like trying to come up with new things for Once Wed. But we do try and work within seasons so that it’s relevant for brides.
How do you decide whom you’ll hire or collaborate with on a photo shoot for the blog? Do you constantly seek out new up-and-coming talent, or do you have reliable standbys?We love to work with other creatives. It’s so refreshing to have other minds to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes it’s hard to find people who we can assign a project and trust that it’s going to stay in the vision that Joy came up with. We’re always looking for new talent, new paper goods, photographers, makeup artists and hairstylists. We’re pretty particular now because when we weren’t too picky in the beginning, we weren’t as happy with the end result. It’s not only about style and execution; we also need people who are responsible and will answer e-mails in a timely manner or deliver files on time. We also want them to be inspired and excited about what we’re creating.
With so many wedding blogs out there now, what’s a tip for new bloggers who want to start a wedding blog?Even though there are a lot of wedding blogs, you can create your own unique voice, too. Find a niche market, whether it’s based on a location (like the southeast or Atlanta) or a certain type of wedding (like budget or glamorous) to help you build a very devoted audience by filling that void.
GUEST BLOGGERS
Working with guest bloggers can be a great way to bring in a rotating group of new perspectives to your blog or get help with content while you’re away on vacation or maternity leave. Guest blogging is typically unpaid, as it’s often a one-time thing and is mutually beneficial for both parties. You get to expose your readers to another person’s perspective, while the guest blogger benefits from a new set of eyes being directed toward their site. When approaching folks to guest blog, make sure you state specifically what you’d like them to do, including the topic or theme of the post, any necessary images or layouts with the size specifications they need to provide, when you’d need the content by, and when it will run on your site. By making your request clear from the very beginning, your fellow blogger can assess if he or she has the time and interest to contribute, and is more likely to adhere to your deadlines. And, if you find that readers especially enjoy a particular guest blogger, you could consider bringing that person on as a regular contributor.
At some point, you may come across another blogger who seems to have gotten overly inspired by a very familiar source—you. While most bloggers don’t intentionally copy content from others, the blog world is full of people who are continually inspired by the things around them, and unfortunately, sometimes that means they copy someone else’s creation. If you find that someone has copied your blog content or layout, consider the following:
No 1 Was the Content Specific to Your Point of View or Aesthetic?
Before getting riled up, make sure that you really have a claim to it and that you’re not one of many with a similar look or content. If someone uses a polka-dotted background on their blog, it’ll be tough for you to claim they copied you simply because your background is of the dotted variety as well. You can’t claim a certain idea for a background unless someone pulled your exact custom-created template and used it as their own. In contrast, if someone copied your logo or header and simply replaced it with the name of their blog, that is a more direct duplication of a design that’s specific to your site.
No 2 Was the Content Exclusive to You?
Often PR folks send the same e-mails or give “exclusive” sneak peeks to multiple bloggers. You may not realize that a fellow blogger got the same e-mail that you did, and therefore, it’s anyone’s game and not yours alone to post.
No 3 Is It Worth Your Time?
Before taking further steps, it’s wise to choose your battles and spend time only on cases in which the infringing blogger is blatantly lifting your content or design.
No 4 Contact the Infringer
If, after asking yourself the preceding questions, you still feel as though someone has directly copied you and that it is worth your time to stop it, your next step would be to contact the person and see if they’ll remove the duplicated text or images from their site. Below are a few simple steps you can take, including consulting a lawyer, if necessary.
Do your research on the infringer. Find out their name and e-mail address. Note all of the posts’ URLs that are infringing on your copyright and include the posting dates.
Send a polite, yet direct, e-mail. Notify the person that you found content on their site that is infringing on your copyright and ask them to remove the content immediately. Most people will take it down right away, as they have no desire to get into any legal action.
Contact the site that’s hosting the blog. If e-mailing the infringer isn’t working, you can contact the host of the site. You can find out who hosts a blog either by looking at the URL (sometimes the host name is in the blog’s URL) or by looking up their Whois record online (see Resources); Whois is a database that stores who owns a domain name or IP address. You should then alert the host site of the blog that’s copying your content. For example, if Go Daddy is hosting their site, get in touch with Go Daddy’s customer service and let them know your complaint and see if they can help.
Consult a lawyer. If none of the above steps are working, it may be worth it to consult a lawyer about what you can do next. The lawyer will be able to put together more formal paperwork like a cease-and-desist letter, and hopefully get the infringer to take down the copied content and refrain from continuing to use the copied work.
As a full-fledged blogger, your mind will be constantly buzzing with ideas for your site. A trip to the berry farm might spur a new project for your kids’ activity blog, or a visit to an art museum might trigger an idea for a new column on your art blog. Inspiration can strike at any moment, which can be both a blessing and a distraction. If you find that you have a hard time juggling your blog with your personal life, kids’ schedules, and full-time job, try to dedicate certain times of the week to blogging. By now, you can probably judge how long it takes you to prepare and compose a post: including prep time, photos, editing, composing, and writing, maybe you spend thirty minutes on the shorter ones and two hours on the longer ones. If you post about ten times a week, then that’s up to twenty hours per week that you might spend, based on that example. So that’s twenty hours out of your week that you need to dedicate to blogging, free of other distractions or responsibilities.
When it comes to time management, knowing what needs to be tackled and when can make balancing it all easier, which holds true for lots of things in your blog business, including finances and schedules. But it is also helpful for balancing work with play and personal affairs. So if you need those twenty hours, take a look at your schedule and see when you can realistically set aside time solely for blogging. Maybe you only have nights free when you come home from your day job, in which case you can distribute that time over the course of the week or during the weekends. Or, if you’re a full-time parent, plan to blog while the kids are in school or when your spouse is at home to watch them for longer periods of time. While you’ll certainly find windows of free time here and there, blocking out times in advance will give you the best chance of accomplishing what you need to. It will also help you better enjoy your personal time, and make those around you feel like you’re giving them your full attention. Use tools like Google Calendar or iCal, which allow you to schedule tasks to complete at specific times or on specific days to keep you on track. The beauty of these tools is that you can create different color-coded categories, such as your personal, blogging, and family schedules, which you can access from your computer, iPad, or smartphone. This means you can view everything in your life at a glance and know when you have time to blog and when you don’t.
If you’re the type of person who tends to lose focus easily—reading other blogs or Internet shopping during the time you’re supposed to be blogging—you may want to try a self-timing time management technique or application that forces you to work in specific increments of time. The Pomodoro Technique, which was devised by Francesco Cirillo, makes you work on one task for 25 minutes at a time, with a short break afterward. By downloading the free online book, you can be guided through the process. For every four Pomodoros (25-minute blocks of time), you’re allowed to take a longer break. If you’d prefer to assign yourself longer blocks of time, you can also use an application like the DUE app, which allows you to set reminders for anything on your to-do list. You can set it to remind you to start blogging at 5:00 P.M., and then to start prepping dinner at 7:00 P.M. This method gives you more control over the time between your activities. Both are examples of time management tools you can use to allot time for your blogging and personal activities, which will help you balance both worlds as seamlessly as possible.
While the expansion of your blog is surely a sign of success, once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field or genre, it’s likely that other blogs, publications, or businesses will seek out your voice to help build and strengthen their brands as well. For example, as a gardening blogger, you might receive an offer from a magazine to contribute a monthly column on urban gardening, or, as a blogger with an honest voice about the joys and tribulations of motherhood, you could be asked to write a weekly column for an online parenting site. New or established businesses may also seek your expertise to help them set up a blog or generate content for their blog, or to help them with their social media marketing.
When you are approached with these projects, first consider your availability and what your time is worth. Is it a one-time article or an ongoing project? If it’s a one-time thing for a publication, they will usually pay a flat fee for your work. They may already have a going rate that they offer writers and contributors, so there may not be much room to negotiate. However, if you’re approached by a company that wants to know your fee, consider how long it will take you to write or compose the article or post. If the job entails about ten hours of work per week, what’s your time worth per hour? If you believe $50 per hour is fair compensation, then you should propose a weekly rate of $500 or a $2,000 per month retainer fee for your services. This fee schedule should also be applied to any projects like the consulting or social media work you’d perform for another company.
Sometimes these opportunities may not be paid, but allow you to gain some extra exposure in your field. Before accepting any new project (paid or not), also consider if it will help you grow creatively, if you can fit it into your current schedule, and if it will still be fun and interesting for you over time.
E-MAIL OVERLOAD
Pitches from PR companies, submissions from shops, sponsor inquiries, readers asking questions or advice, or fellow bloggers wanting to get together … you’ll find your inbox growing bigger and bigger as your blog becomes more popular. It’s perfectly normal to feel like you don’t have the time to respond to everything. So for the questions or inquiries you get on a regular basis, it’s helpful to add a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page on your blog. Here, you can answer common questions like what type of camera you use, where to eat and shop in your city, how to grow a craft blog, how you got your start, what size ad banners you accept, or how to send in a submission for review. You can set up your e-mail to auto-respond with a link to your FAQ page so that inquirers can go there directly. You should also take advantage of any mailbox filters in your e-mail program. On your FAQ or contact page, direct readers to label the subject line of their e-mail as “submission” or “advertising” so that your e-mail filter can drop it into the folder you’ve set up. Once you’ve taken these simple steps, you’ll find that your e-mail will be a bit more bearable and you can respond quickly to more important and urgent e-mails.
It seems like every blogger has a book these days (ahem—you’re reading one of them!), but that’s because blogging often serves as an amazing test forum for the ideas, services, or words of wisdom you have that make the world a better, more fun, or more entertaining place. If your blog covers a very specific topic, translating it into a print version could come rather easily, like with Adele Enersen’s book, When My Baby Dreams—a collection of the vignettes she created and photographed around her daughter’s naptime for her blog, Mila’s Daydreams. If your content is more varied, think about the most interesting topics you cover that could become a book, especially any ideas that would fill a void in the marketplace. For instance, while Angie Dudley posts about various baked goods on her blog Bakerella, it was her cake pops that garnered the most interest. Her plethora of potential ideas for cake pops turned into a best-selling book called Cake Pops, with her blog readers from around the world being the first to purchase copies.
Once you’ve narrowed down an idea for your book, you’ll want to compile your concept and thoughts together for a query or proposal. A book query is usually a one-page letter introducing you and your book idea. Similar to a cover letter, it gives a publisher the gist of your concept and should include three components: a hook (a concise, one-sentence tagline for your book to get a reader’s interest), a mini-synopsis (a short paragraph summarizing your book idea), and your biography or credentials (what makes you an expert in the field and your blog reach, including any impressive traffic figures, awards, or accolades). The purpose of the query is to interest a publisher in hopes they’ll want to know more and request a detailed proposal. If you don’t have a connection to an editor, a query is often a good way to initiate contact.
Once you’ve narrowed down an idea for your book, you’ll want to compile your concept and thoughts together for a query or proposal.
A book proposal typically includes the following pieces: a sample table of contents (so that a publisher knows you have enough content to fill a whole book), a sample chapter (with full text and images, if available), market research (why your book will stand out among similar titles), and your credentials and readership (so they know the potential reach of your book). When looking for potential publishers, look for ones that produce books in the category your book would fit into—for example, fashion, cooking, or home décor. Look at the spines of your favorite like-minded books and target those publishers. If you know any bloggers who have published books already, they may be willing to introduce you to their editor. Otherwise, you can look for submission guidelines on the publisher’s Web site. You can also call a publisher, find out if they take unsolicited submissions, and if so, who would be the best editor to send your query or proposal to. You never know what could happen if you don’t try. While you may not get a yes right away, if an editor sees potential in your concept, they’re likely to start a conversation to get the ball rolling. Having a literary agent can also make the process of pitching a proposal easier, as agents are familiar with which publishers would be the best fit for your concept and they´ll make sure your proposal is the best it can possibly be. Remember, it´s not about getting just any agent; you want the right agent—someone who has sold successful books in your category. Take a look at the acknowledgments in books you love and see who the author is thanking as an agent. The agents representing authors in your category would be a great place to start.
One final note: If you have even the slightest intention of turning a photo-driven blog into a book, make sure you secure permissions for all user-submitted photographs, and that you’re taking or gathering images with a high enough resolution (300 dpi) for a print product. It’s a major bummer to get interest from a publisher only to not have adequate material or rights.
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DESIGN*SPONGE
BROOKLYN, NY
MANY KNOW DESIGN*SPONGE as one of the very first and most well-known design blogs. Grace Bonney started her blog in 2004 as a way to chronicle the areas of the design world she loved and aspired to write about for magazines. Without any formal magazine writing experience, she decided to pen her thoughts on her blog. Since then, Design*Sponge has become an online design mecca, covering home tours, market trends, design history, movie style, business advice, city guides, new products, design show coverage, DIY projects, before and after makeovers, interviews, recipes, floral design, and entertaining. While her blog has grown much larger than she ever intended or expected it to, Grace stays true to her original mission by only generating the content she is most excited about, and presenting it in a way that is authentic to her. She knows she can’t do it all, so she happily relies on a team of experts in various fields to make Design*Sponge what it is today. Now she has more than twenty freelancers and three full-time employees, a growing business empire, and a series of “design bibles” in the works, starting with her first book, Design*Sponge at Home. Sticking to her guns surely seems to have paid off.
At what point did you feel comfortable leaving your full-time job to blog full-time?I left my full-time PR job in 2006 when I was offered a job with House & Garden to be their online Web editor. I always felt more comfortable having a freelance job as a backup and for supplemental income. But when all the magazines started dropping like flies, I had no choice but to really dig in and make sure that Design*Sponge was profitable enough to support me. It was scary, but being pushed into it was probably the best way to go. I probably would have always continued to write in a freelance capacity because it made me feel safe, but the risk definitely paid off.
When did you decide to expand in order to grow your site?In 2007, I launched our first custom design and brought on the first batch of freelancers. I knew I needed to add others when I wanted to cover things I didn’t know much about. I loved DIY projects and floral design but knew I wasn’t qualified to talk about them, so I went to the people who knew those subjects the best and were naturally more passionate about it, and invited them to have a home on the site. And I’ve done that in other areas ever since. I feel incredibly honored to write alongside people who specialize in the fields I’m passionate about, but in which I know very little. This generation of readers is far more accepting of a “team of experts” and not just one all-knowing guru. I love that I get to work with people who I really admire.
What aspects of your business needed to be in place before you brought on your first full-time employee?The larger blogs I always admired seemed to either have a lot of funding or were paying people next to nothing. So for my first full-time employee, Amy Azzarito, I set up a savings account and funneled our extra earnings for a year into this “Amy account” so that if, heaven forbid, something happened with the economy, I’d still have a full year of salary to pay her. After all, she was leaving her former job to work with us.
Any words of advice for bloggers who want to bring on additional contributors to their site?First and foremost, set up a formal working relationship with a contract. It feels awkward at first, but working relationships can be sticky, and nothing sets the stage for a solid working relationship like having everyone on the same page. Once that’s in place, I think it’s good to add people slowly. It takes a lot of work off your plate to have help, but more work is created by having to manage them. Not only will you have to manage them as an employee, but also as someone who will have their own taste, ideas, and input about what should be on your site.
The bigger someone’s blog gets, the more prone to negative comments it becomes. How do you deal with that?If jerky comments are the worst part of my job, I’m still the luckiest girl I know. After seven years of absorbing insults, complaints, and anonymous jabs online, I’ve built up a pretty thick skin. Mostly, I let them roll off my back because I think it’s part of putting yourself out there—if you have a voice and an opinion, then people will have something to say about it.
It’s a natural human instinct to want to be liked. But the desire to express myself is overpowered by the desire to be liked. I only respond to negativity when I feel someone is either a) factually inaccurate, or b) factually accurate and has pointed out something that deserves to be acknowledged and acted upon. Otherwise, I let it stand as someone’s opinion. If I get the right to share mine, I don’t mind letting someone else share theirs. I think it shows strength and courage to let someone really rage against you and let him or her have their moment.
Also, I see negative comments as a sign of success. You bring in a larger or different audience as you grow, and luckily in the grand scheme of things, it’s a really small portion of the downsides of this business.
How did you translate your blog into a book idea?For me, the book process was about taking my time and finding the perfect publisher that understood my vision. I wanted to find a way to translate the volume of information we produce at Design*Sponge into printed form—which is tough. Most publishers want to do smaller one-topic books, but I was patient and finally found a publisher that understood that it needed to contain everything that made the blog popular, not just one facet. Holding out for the perfect place was really worth the wait. I’d advise anyone looking to do a book to really think hard about why you’re doing it and what you want it to be. Once it’s printed, it’s permanent. So it’s worth taking the time to get things right. That level of permanence was a big adjustment for me, coming from the Web world, where anything can be edited at any time, but it really taught me about the importance of editing closely.
Where do you eventually see the Design*Sponge brand going in the next five years, and how do you keep your brand true to you as you grow?The blog world changes so quickly, so I’d love to expand to other mediums like something on radio, video, or TV. Some networks have approached me for a TV show, but so far, nothing has felt like the right fit. I’m someone who has opinions, and it’s not worth it to compromise if it doesn’t feel authentic. When I started the site, it was because I had no goal for it and just kept doing what I wanted to do because I loved it. At the end of the day, I would rather feel comfortable with myself and my decisions over doing something just for money or a press mention. People can feel integrity or genuineness.
VIRTUAL MAGAZINES
Sometimes bloggers want to expand their blog concept into a fuller, more extensive format. With digital publishers like Issuu, starting an online magazine isn’t as costly as starting a print version and can be a great way to tell a more thorough story. For example, after a few years of building his blog, Paul Lowe noticed there was a growing interest in online magazines and decided to launch one. Sweet Paul Magazine debuted in 2010 and mesmerized readers with Paul’s signature styling as well as his approachable recipes and crafting ideas. Fueled by a similar motivation, more virtual magazines have popped up with bloggers at the helm, including Lonny, Rue, and Matchbook. These publications were started by bloggers who became friends online, bonded over common interests and aesthetics, and decided to work together to combine their points of view and readerships. If you decide to start an online magazine, keep in mind that you’ll need more contributors and help to make it all happen. From photographers and stylists to graphic designers and advertising salespeople, it usually takes a team of experts in various fields to make a virtual magazine the best it can possibly be.
If you’ve always wanted to run a retail store or sell your handmade plates, your blog may provide a great platform for you to do it. Because your readers are already familiar with and enjoy your aesthetic, they’re a built-in customer base that will be delighted to be your first customers if you decide to open a shop. Following are two types of online shops you could start.
If you’ve got an eye for creating beautiful roundups and picking out items from the Web that readers just love, hosting a retail shop may be the next extension of your blog. Being a retail shop host means creating a “shop” that you curate on your blog, and vendors typically pay you a monthly fee for featuring their items in it. You are essentially serving as a portal to showcase products you enjoy and direct readers where to buy them. Best of all, the vendors themselves handle the shipping of their products. Jan Halvorson expanded her blog, Poppytalk, with Poppytalk Handmade, a shop guided by a different theme each month that showcases her top picks of the handmade items found on Etsy. The men’s fashion blog A Continuous Lean offers limited-edition products from its favorite American-made menswear partners in its hosted shop, ACL Shop. And Kelley Lilien’s lifestyle blog on the fun and fabulous, Mrs. Lilien, sparked a series of collaborations with vendors in her seasonal shop, Mrs. Lilien Shoppe. Since hosting a retail shop is similar to hosting blog ads, make sure that anything you decide to carry in your shop is something you feel passionate about.
Many bloggers have turned into accidental online shop owners after getting a positive response to their own homemade goods. Maybe you’re an artist and have been using your illustrations to narrate your daily adventures, but readers have been begging for prints of your work, or you’ve been making adorable baby booties on your craft blog and get inquiries all the time from readers who would rather buy yours than make them on their own.
Nikole Herriott wrote about various inspirations and moments in her life for two years on her blog, Forty-Sixth at Grace, also photographing and posting the handcrafted wooden cake pedestals and spoons her father made. Due to increased interest in these, she opened an online shop, Herriott Grace, with her dad and now gives readers updates via e-mail and her blog. Now the items sell out within hours of posting. Online marketplaces like Etsy and Big Cartel make it easy to set up an online shop, providing you with a storefront, shopping cart, and payment processing. Marketplaces usually charge a flat monthly fee as well as take a small percentage of your sales. If you decide to dive into this type of retail business, remember that this is a whole other enterprise in itself. You’ll be responsible for packing and shipping orders as well as answering customer service inquiries and complaints. These tasks aren’t the most fun, and will take up additional time on top of blogging, so while this is a great way to share your talent with others, proceed with caution and weigh all your options before diving in.
GIVING BACK
After a lot of hard work generating great content, some bloggers may start to notice a growth in income, to their surprise and delight. Because of their ability to reach people in this unique way, many choose to donate a portion of their proceeds to a cause (or two) that’s near and dear to their hearts. If you’re in a position to give some of your profits to a charity, you can choose to donate an amount based on your yearly income, or at certain times of the year, or when catastrophic world events occur. If you decide to give back, make sure that your readers know about your do-good spirit. You can mention your charitable giving on your About page, in your media kit, or when you’re looking to raise money for a specific event. Chances are, both your sponsors and readers will want to help out in any way they can. However you spread the word, what’s most important is that you’re helping others who are less fortunate, and giving to a cause you feel passionate about supporting.
From book deals and accolades in the press to a creative outlet from your 9-to-5 job to new friends from all over the world—blogging has the potential to bring a plethora of exciting things into your life. The best thing about being a blogger is having the opportunity to create whatever you want—your blog can be about any subject that interests you the most, and it can be as big or as small or as private or public as you want it to be. How many other careers in life allow such flexibility? Always remember that the growth of a blog is organic and will be different for everyone. With passion in your heart, patience in your blog’s development, and a lot of hard work, your content will grow and readers will come. No one ever accomplished incredible things by just sitting around. The numerous possibilities and successes of blogging are up to you to create and make happen. Having a blog is something I never expected to do or turn into a career, and now I can’t imagine my life without it. So go ahead—your very own blog journey awaits you!
With passion in your heart, patience in your blog’s development, and a lot of hard work, your content will grow and readers will come.
