I’ve known Hatton since forever. And she and I clearly developed along a similar path since we’re both now South Carolinians, mothers of young children, photography obsessed, and bloggers. It’s awesome to have friends like that. She blogs at Fresh Mom. It’s a “Preppy Mom Guide,” which is awesome by itself, but Hatton has mastered the entertaining and personal product review. Read on to find out how to know if you’re a blogger.
When I first started to blog, back in ancient times prior to Facebook in the mid-2000s, I just posted pictures and silly things. My friends loved it. I never, in a bazillion years, thought I’d make money from it. That wasn’t the point. However, blogs do make money, and I believe are an extremely effective way to market brands.
Social media and blogs are the new word of mouth that marketers have always known to be the very best endorsement that will translate into sales for their product or brand. This new form of word of mouth is cataloged, searchable, and is accessible world-wide.
There are many PR companies, like Clever Girls, that aggregate bloggers and work with brands to create very compelling campaigns. This is brilliant, in my opinion–using creative, original content to promote your brand. Here’s the thing: They compensate for it. The compensation of about $100 per blogger (or more) plus, I’m sure, an agency fee is absolutely affordable. The blogger is excited, and the brand now has generated a large number of impressions to their target audience in a space that their demographic is reading. Comparing the cost to print on television, it’s a bargain. In addition, it’s editorial sharable, authentic, and interesting–which paid ad campaigns can rarely achieve. What’s not to love about that?
So, as my blogging hobby as progress, I’ve ad a lot of fun, had a lot of frustrations, and have learned a lot. I’ve also made money, which was one of my goals to learn–how do blogs generate income? (But that’s an entirely different topic!)
As a result of my blogging experiement–chasing analytics working with brands, changing my WordPress theme thirty hundred times because something doesn’t work quite right–I’ve learned so much, unintentionally, that applies to my “real” job in marketing. And those lessons have surprised me.
Bloggers are #awesome. And I think we all have a few things in common.
Going with the tried and overvused Jeff Foxworthy-ish title here . . . are you ready for it?
You Might Be a Blogger If . . .
1. Crazy Things That Happen to you Don’t Faze You Because They Could Translate into Social Media Fodder or a Great Blog Post.
(Example: Your house smells like bad breath and you compose 140 character tweet about it. The following series of events led to my house smelling like bad breath for approximately 4 days, but I got a good blog post out of it, which diminished my frustration: my 2 year old found his way to the spice drawer in the kitchen, popped the lid off the garlic salt, had a blast spreading it across the floor. My mom tried to mop it up, and the water contact on the garlic salt ignited a pungent smell that lasted for days.
2. You are a Web Master
You’ve never had one minute of website programming training, yet you have a visions in your head about what you want your blog to look like, and you figure out how to make it happen.
3. You’re always composing.
You write blogposts in your head while driving, working out, walking the dog, stirring the pot . . . basically anytime your mind isn’t focused on something else, you’re thinking about the next blog post, or a blog series idea.
4. You’re a Writer.
Suddenly, proper grammar matters again. Even worse than getting graded by a teacher, you’re getting judged by other writers. Pressure is on. Your favorite high school English teacher echos in your ear “don’t use a paragraph to say what you can write in a sentence. Don’t use a sentence when a phrase will suffice. Don’t use a phrase when it can be replaced by a word.”
5. You Photograph Things. All The Time.
Getting photographed is standard operating procedure if anyone is going to hang out with you. Instagram has made it slightly more acceptible to whip out a camera at a restaurant to take a good shot, and you have the hashtags to write and photos to post. Bring on the likes. #cheers
6. You’ve morphed into a passable graphic designer.
Text on photos? You got this. You know how to download a cool font from Dafont.com for that retro photo to make it stand out on Pinterest.
Can you relate, bloggers?
Bloggers are social media influences, photographers, graphic designers, writers, business owners, and marketers. There is a lot of serious talent out there, and brands are taking advantage of this new, effective hybrid or paid advertising and PR. It’s fun to write, and it’s fun to read. And, I think it’s very effective.
Have you read any blog posts featuring brands recently? What are your favorites, and why do they appeal to you?
This post had me nodding from beginning to end. Do you have any You Might be a Blogger Ifs to add? Check out more of Hatton’s true-isms on Fresh Mom. She has a wine series that will you looking at the bottles in the grocery store a little differently. And be sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks for the feature 🙂