In recent years, blogging has gone from being the domain of venting teenagers to the full-time career of many credible, respected and admired journalists. As we approach 2013, there is little doubt bloggers are a serious part of the media landscape but there are still many people out there who don’t quite understand how to make money as a blogger.
By Chloe Schneider
Over the weekend of the 20th and 21st of March next year, aspiring bloggers will be flocking to the Digital Parents Conference at Curzon Hall in Sydney to find out just that. The conference features some of Australia’s biggest bloggers including the esteemed Nikki Parkinson of Styling You.
After a career in fashion journalism and editing spanning twenty years, Nikki started a personal styling business in 2008 and started blogging as a marketing tool and a way to keep her writing skills sharp. Thanks to Nikki’s excellent real-girl style advice, enviable shopping skills, and her ability to write with such ease and familiarity that reading her words feels like speaking to a best friend, the resulting blog grew exponentially and this year Nikki officially became a full-time professional blogger.
We asked Nikki a few questions about the real world of blogging… budding bloggers take heed! RESCU: We’ve all heard about sponsored posts and banner ads, what are some of the lesser known ways bloggers make money? Nikki Parkinson: Speaking engagement, social media consultations, ebook publication and freelance writing.
RESCU: There are so many blogs out there these days – in your opinion what makes some so much more successful than others?
Nikki Parkinson: I think the more successful blogs are the ones that you visit and you feel immediately connected to … connected to the person behind the blog. A blog is a conversation so if the conversation is happening, you want to stop by, make a cup of tea or pour a wine and join in.
RESCU: There are so many blogs out there these days – in your opinion what makes some so much more successful than others?
Nikki Parkinson: I think the more successful blogs are the ones that you visit and you feel immediately connected to … connected to the person behind the blog.
A blog is a conversation so if the conversation is happening, you want to stop by, make a cup of tea or pour a wine and join in.
RESCU: Some people seem to think bloggers spend their days writing posts, doing freebie inventory, and attending events. What are some of the lesser known, and less fabulous, parts of the job that newbies should be aware of?
Nikki Parkinson: Writing takes up the majority of my time. Without content, there is no blog. Because I’m not located in Sydney, I’m not at as many events as other bloggers.
The biggest less fabulous part that comes with the growth of your blog business is the managing the business side. I’m a words person so getting my head around getting organised with numbers has been a challenge. I’ve finally outsourced that side of things and wondering why I hadn’t done it sooner.
The inbox can get overwhelming too. I need to go to bed most nights knowing that I’ve had a good go and filing and replying to emails that have arrived throughout the day, so this does take a huge chunk of time.
Social media isn’t just a side part of blogging – it is part of blogging – you need to be on it and get among it every day. You can’t tell your readers how to follow you – you have to give them all the options you can and hang out most where most of them are hanging out.
RESCU: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice when you were just starting out, what would it be?
Nikki Parkinson: I started out blogging by accident, not really knowing what a blog was and that there was a whole blog thing going on. I wish I had been able to see the power of that medium from the start – and create content from the start that started the conversations.
I worked it all out as I went along but bloggers starting today in Australia do have more people and blogs to model themselves on.
For more information on the Digital Parents Conference, click here. And make sure to follow Nikki over at Styling You.
Next week, we’ll be speaking to Mrs Woog of Woogsworld fame – stay tuned!
