When you first start out in the blogging world, you may have done so by looking to just write, or share your creativity. Blogging as a hobby is probably the most common way that most of us start out. You hear about blogs, you read them, and you get an idea to start your own. You don’t always know what you’re going to do with it, where you’re going to take it, or where it’s going to lead to – but you do know that you love it. So you go ahead and give it your all. You put in a load of time and energy to make it the very best that it can be. As a result, you will often find that you get the opportunity to turn it into a business!
Blogging for business can be incredible. You get to do a job that you love, control your own income, and set your own working environment. But at the same time, you may find that you now need to change the way that you do things to make sure that you’re actually treating your blog like a business. Whether you want to get started as a blogger or take your current blog to the next level, here are the five areas to concentrate on to give your blogging business the setup it deserves.
Branding
The very first thing that your blogging business deserves is branding. Now that you blog as a business, you need to brand it right.
Brand Values
Before you get started on anything else to do with your brand, the very first thing you have to do is figure out your values. Defining your brand values sets the tone for every other decision that you’re going to make. This may sound complicated and important, and while it is important, it’s really not complicated at all. Your aim here is to figure out exactly what your blog is all about and what it stands for. When you’ve done this, you will be able to bring your brand to life.
Branding
Next, it’s onto the more visual side of your brand, and what will largely be referred to your ‘branding’ itself. Here, we’re talking about everything from your brand colors to the font you’re using and even your logo. This is something that you can either create yourself using the kind of blog theme or template that you currently have, or you could hire a graphic designer to create something perfect for you.
Brand Image
Finally, you’re going to want to work out what your brand image is. This isn’t something that you can overly control, because it’s something that your customers or readers will see you as. However, you can work to harness the image that you portray with the content that you produce and how you portray yourself on your social media channels too.
The Website
Next, you’re going to want to tackle your blog itself. Because when you first started out, you may have just created a very simple design and left it at that. Now that your blog is a business, you need to get serious with your site setup too.
Hosting
If you’re still using a free blogging platform such as Blogger, you should really think about making the switch over to WordPress. When you have a hosted website, you have much more control over your blog altogether. Not only can you control the design, but you’re also able to use more advertising – and this can be key when you’re blogging as a business.
Domain
It’s highly likely that you’ll already have your own personal domain name, but if you don’t then this has got to be something that you sort and fast. A personalized domain name looks so much more professional. At the same time, you should look to make sure that your email address is also personalized with your domain name so that you look more like to business and not an amateur.
Design
Finally, you should then think about the design that you want for your blog. If you’ve not really changed it since the day you started blogging, this is going to be something you should do to move forwards professionally. To do this, you’ll need to choose a web designer as Passion For Business LLC talk through. They will be able to create the right design for you, so that your business is blog has a branded refresh.
Social Media
Next, you’re going to want to give your social media a sense of direction. You already have the accounts, but now it’s time to transform them.
Creating A Strategy
It’s so easy to just start marketing yourself with no real sense of direction. This is probably what you did when you first started. You would have shared your posts on social media and hoped for the best. However, you’re going to want to make sure that you map out a strategy of the platforms you want to use, how you want to use them, and the results that you’re looking to get from them.
Working On Engagement
As part of your strategy, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re increasing engagement. This is incredibly important if you want to make sure that your readers and followers are really enjoying your content. These are the people that you want to buy from you at some point in the future, so your engagement levels will always matter.
Driving Traffic
Finally, you need to make sure that your social efforts are paying off. It’s great if you’re getting engagement, as you know that your followers love your content, but traffic matters more. If you’re not able to get your followers off of your social media and over to your blog, you may have a problem. There are a range of different ways that you can look to drive more traffic to your blog. So be sure to check them out and trial some of the methods for yourself.
Office Space
Up until now, you may have blogged from the couch, at the dining table, or even in a local coffee shop. But now that you blog as a business, it’s time to get yourself a professional setup.
Finding The Right Spot
First of all, you’re going to want to make sure that you have the right spot to start creating your office in. Whether you choose a spare room or decide to convert a room like your garage or basement, it has to be the right spot. You need to be able to feel motivated to work here, and have the ability to create a real business office. So keep that in mind when you decide.
Customizing The Space
When you’ve chosen the spot, you’re going to want to get it ready to start creating your empire from. Sometimes, this will just mean you have to remove everything that’s in the space and add your own things in. But sometimes, you may also need to bring experts in, such as Maplewood Plumbing & Sewer, LLC, to move bits around and get your office setup right. But you’ll find that when the space is customized, you feel more like a business than ever.
Decorating With Style
Although it is super important for you to feel comfortable in the space and make sure that it looks great, by style, we’re thinking more in the business sense. This is your office! No matter how big or small it may be right now, you’re going places, so you’re going to want to make it look as professional as possible. Invest in the right desk, put motivational pictures up, and find the perfect coffee machine – your blogging business deserves it!
Staff & Services
Finally, you’re going to want to think about hiring some staff. Whether this is today or in the future, here are the people and professionals you may need.
An Assistant
When you blog for business, you’re a self-employed person that has to wear all kinds of hats. And you’ll soon realize that this in incredibly hard work. So, you may want to get yourself a virtual assistant to help you manage everything. They could take things like your emails or financial tracking off of your hands so that you can focus on the content creation – or vice versa!
Marketing Support
Likewise, you may also find that you just can’t tackle your marketing on your own. So, instead, you may choose to work with a marketing consultant to make it much more manageable. Not only can they give you some great insights on strategy, but they will be able to take over the execution of your social media, which will give you more freedom to work on content creation again, or simply growing the business side of things.
IT Support
Finally, you may find that you need a helping hand with your IT. From IT services that will make sure your software and hardware run smoothly to a web developer, you may find that bringing in these professionals allow you to keep things running and give you the chance to grow your blog into the business you want it to be.
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