This is a bit of a different post for me. Usually I am writing about my experiences as a mum, but today I thought I would tell you a bit more about being a family blogger and what my growth and journey in this ever growing profession has been. I will let you know what I see as being important when starting out as a family blogger or influencer and what I actually do each day…
My growth as a family blogger
Since deciding to take this seriously and not just blog for fun (although I do still find it fun) I have grown the blog from basically no views (apart from my mum!) to around 30k views per month and a social influence across 17,000 people around the world. I know that this doesn’t even begin to rival some of the big hitters in the family blogger and influencer world, but I am proud of what I have achieved. My stats grow every month and the more I learn about the industry and the skills you need to be successful the more I am enjoying it and the more my accounts grow.
It is hard to say that I am an influencer as I can’t even influence my children to go to bed on time most days 🙂 However, being online with the blog and Instagram and working with some fabulous brands to promote their products as well as reading the comments of my audience has made me realise that I do have expertise of value to share. Other mums do benefit from my experience as a mum of 4 and knowing what we think of the products and services that we use.Â
I pride myself on being honest and I will only ever review products that I would actually use. Whilst I am attempting to grow as a blogger and make a living doing this I am not willing to promote products that don’t work for my target audience and that I don’t genuinely love.Â
Everyday I am learning something new about how to expand my influence and continue to grow. Recently I started working with Intellifluence to identify and pitch for paid writing roles and platforms like this really show much opportunity there is as a family blogger or online influencer. Brands are keen to work with parents to show their products in action and that is great news for the continued growth of the industry and so hopefully for my business. I guess it makes sense really when you look at some of the stats….
According to Intellifluence 361,481 babies are born each day (worldwide) and that is a lot of baby and kids stuff that needs to be purchased.
Easy Money… NOT
The perception of some people outside of the family blogger world can be that being an influencer or blogger is easy money… I can tell you that this is not true. If you are thinking about starting a family blog then know that it takes work. I have had navigatingbaby up and running for many years now, but originally I only wrote it for fun. It was only around 3 years ago that I decided to try and monetise the site and that is where the work and the learning began, but it is also where the fun and the opportunities began…
It isn’t easy doing this role, but it is fun. I often write at night once the kids are in bed and I spend my days whilst they are at school learning about blogging or taking the images I need, coming up with new content or interacting with brands to secure new opportunity.
This does take a lot of time and effort. I have undertaken courses to learn the technical side and am constantly working on my old posts as well as writing new ones to improve my reach and audience. There is a lot to do to make a blog successful and I know if I had more time available I would be able to achieve more and actually make money at this. Many bloggers do make a proper and substantial income from their blogs and social media, but it is not easy money.
Do your homework…
If you want to be a family influencer or blogger you need to do your homework. It is important to learn about not just the writing side, but also marketing your brand, advertising techniques and rules and aesthetics. You need to build an understanding of SEO, photography, copy writing and styling to help you find success as a blogger.
This part of it has been almost the best part for me. I am really enjoying learning the skills I need to be good at this. Having something of my own that I am trying to grow and develop is really motivating and feels great after 9 years of always focusing on the kids and the kids alone. Â
Getting started…
If I didn’t scare you off starting a blog by saying how much hard work it is then perhaps you are wondering how on earth to get started. If you are feeling even more nervous than you were let me just remind you as well that this really is a great way to do something for you and your family without needing to go out to work. The fact that I can work sitting on my sofa or at night once the kids are in bed is a godsend.Â
Anyway back to the matter in hand… getting started. I won’t even begin to give you the step by steps as I have a husband who works in IT so he does that bit for me, but what I will give you is a link to a woman who knows all about this and has written a fab blog post which covers blog set up. Her site is actually a wealth of information for the new blogger so I definitely recommend checking out My Blog my Business.
Things you might need to think about…
If you are thinking about starting a family blog or a social media account to try your hand at influencing I would say firstly go ahead and give it a try. What do you have to lose? But… I do think there are some things you need to consider:
- Do you have the time to give it? It is a commitment and you have to treat it as a job I think or it will be hard to make it successful
- Will you enjoy the process? If you don’t like writing, hate technical stuff and can’t abide social media then it may not be for you
- Will you feature your kids? Some people make the decision not to feature their children at all and others have their kids front and centre. Some infants even have their own Instagram accounts (managed by mum and dad) and are influencers before they can even walk.
- What will your audience look like? You may like to think before you start about who your audience will be and how you will help them with what you write
