{photo credit: San Antonio Business Journal]
Did you read the September 27 issue of the San Antonio Business Journal? It included a comprehensive feature in the Personal Finance and Money Management section about the business of blogging. If you missed it, never fear. The Business Journal just released the articles online for all (not just subscribers) to read.
The section included interviews with me, Debi Pfitzenmaier, Amy Johnson, and Melissa Leddy (who I’ve never met, but very much would like to) about our blogs and how we view them (or not) as businesses. The topics covered in our interviews relate to many of the conversations bloggers, both locally and nationally, are having today, including how we work with brands, whether or not a blogger can make a full-time salary through blogging, and how to select the right opportunities to grow your blog.
I hope you’ll click through to read the articles and come back here to share your thoughts. Is your blog a business? Why or why not? Do you insist on getting paid to work with brands or do you have other goals, beyond making money, that you want to reach with your blog?
Social media consultant Colleen Pence promotes local mom bloggers
Debi Pfitzenmaier started her sabusykids.com blog to help find fun activities for moms and kids
Blogger Amy Johnson is carving out a niche writing about crafts, thrifting
Melissa Leddy is using her Maternity Ward blog as a launching pad for an e-book
Blogging Home the Bacon: Local mommy bloggers are attracting the attention & money of big brands. Can these promotional partnerships pay off?
I think that blogs/sites can be a difficult way to Bring Home The Bacon, but…if bloggers can tap into something that they have created, something that is of value for their readership, then that can be a solid way to make an income.
You’re right, Patti. It takes lots of dedication and patience to “bring home the bacon” as a blogger.
Can you hear me rooting for you guys all the way over here? Well done ladies!
Thanks very much, Stacy!
Thanks for sharing the links! Off to read….
Thanks for stopping by, Morena!
Congrats – great feature!!
Thanks, Lisa. 🙂
I would love to make more money in writing but because I write mainly on my faith – it’s a tougher thing to find out there. Mainly, I want to encourage and help others. But I would like to find more compensation and perks for the time I put into it without ending up having every post sponsored on my blog. I like your piece, Colleen, and how you have handpicked the organizations you work with. I’d like to do that – just don’t know where to begin! 🙂
Dionna, I think part of it happens when you get to know the community. Now that you’re here in San Antonio, find local meetings or meet ups to get to know people. After some time, opportunities will begin to find you.
Such a hot topic always within the blogging community. I love that each of us had a slightly different perspective. A million ways to skin a cat!
Absolutely, Debi. We all come at this from differing perspectives. And they all have a place in the blogging world. I love San Antonio mom bloggers *because* we are so varied.
Thanks for sharing this article, I’m going to read all of them! Also, congrats to you all! 🙂
Thank you, Rachel!
My goal with blogging is really to get other people supporting the kids’ books, movies, and comics I enjoy – not to make cash for myself. Just to share the love for the awesome creators and help them find new fans. And to make people laugh or smile every once in a while. But I totally respect the gals who work their blog as a business. Every blog is different!
Quality is a real driver in success and opportunities tend to manifest themselves over time, especially if one cultivates one’s social media optimization (SMO, or the strength of one’s social media platform) at least as much as we worry about being “visible” in Google searches with good SEO practices.
And I think that is what you (Colleen), Debi, and Amy exemplify: quality, ethical blogging opens doors to profit.
That’s awesome that you and those other bloggers were featured like that! It’s great to see people seeing bloggers as more than just “mommy bloggers” – not that the word is bad but people have made it out to be.
It’s a hard thing to really get into and make money at it really isn’t as easy as some people would like to think. If you’re like me though and it’s something you love doing and you make a little money on the side then bonus 🙂