Blogging Full Time and How To make an Income

First things first nearly 3 years ago when I started blogging I never went into this with the intention to make a make any money let alone a career, it was just a hobby and a place to share my love for makeup and beauty ~ which it still is, but fast forward to today and I am now making an income from my blog. What I wanted to talk about today is how to gain the confidence as a blogger to pitch yourself to brands and a little insight into my daily routine.

how i started

Like i said i never went into blogging to make an income, anything i did earn, was just a cheeky little bonus, as i was working full time as a dental nurse at the time. With previous job I was working the 2-8pm shifts so I had the mornings free, and this is when i started getting properly into makeup and blogging.

my little journey began when I first started watching youtube makeup tutorials (mainly rawbeautykristi – she is my queen!) and then i was sucked into buying lots of brands and new makeup, which in turn saw me looking to bloggers for reviews, and i thought that would be a great hobby for me in the mornings and weekends, plus I am not the most social person and i suffer with anxiety pretty bad, so doing something i enjoy online was very appealing to me.

After about 1 year of blogging i got offered my first paid opportunity and this was with a perfume brand – i had no idea what to charge or how to even approach this, i was just excited that someone wanted to pay me to write and take photos, so i am 100% sure i undersold myself. I was just starting to become aware that you could actually make an income from blogging, so at this point I started pitching myself and services to brands i would like to work with – I think this is something alot of people are frightened to do – but fear not, the worst brands can say is no. of course I have had many no’s but at the same time i have had some very unexpected responses, which led to me start pursuing blogging as a career.

leaving my job

ok fast forward to December 2018 – at this point my anxiety was at an all time high, and this is when i decided to find a new job and leave my current dental nursing position. which ultimately was not the best decision, as the new job i started was not what i was expecting and caused me to be extremely anxious and dread going into work, so i made the decision to leave – which was scary at the time but for my mental health was the best thing, and with the support of my family and fiance i went to the drs and i am now on medication for my anxiety – anyway enough on that, back to blogging.

After leaving my job, I decided to give myself a few months to recover and become me again and also to give the medication a decent chance to kick in, i have to admit it was pretty damn awful in the beginning and i could barely get out of bed, but what was there for my all the time was my blog, instagram and taking photos, this always made me happy and i began to take it more seriously by writing more, take more photos, improving my photography by investing in a new camera and lenses and this really set me off on my journey.

After discussing my ideas with my fiance and he agreed that i should start to pursue this as a career so i set to it with the mentality of ‘you only live once’ i already had a business open – because as soon as you start earning an additional income (even whilst you was working) you have to declare this – no-one wants the taxman knocking.

Basically what i started to do was reach out to brands and pr companies, i created a template letter, which i amend depending on who i am sending this to – but a basic template introducing myself and my social media, with stats and including my media kit.

what is a media kit?

a media kit is basically like a CV to showcase your social media, your stats and collaborations you have been involved in. i also include the services i offer, a little about me and my blog and all my contact details. i created my media kit in Canva ~ this is basically an app where you can create graphics – it is super easy to use and there are tons of templates to easily create your own media kit. I have found that alot of brands do really appreciate seeing a media kit, as it gives them an idea of what to expect from you in an easy to read format.

How to find sponsored opportunities

This a is a tricky one, unless you are a huge influencer (which i am not) they can be few and far between, so you do need to get your inspector gadget glasses on and go searching and pitching. There are few apps and websites like Tribe, Bloggers Required, Takumi, and the like available to apply for sponsored opportunities. Also i have found that Twitter is also a great place to find some great blogging sponsored opportunities especially under the hashtags #bloggersrequired #prrequest #bloggerswanted – definitely worth a search.

The best way for me, personally is reaching out directly to brands with my media kit and when they respond i will advise “that i charge for my blog work/photography and would they like to see my rates” they will come back with yes send them over or they do not have a budget and usually offered a gifted collaboration – i am trying to stear away from these, as I have too many products at the moment – i buy alot (i have a problem!) If it is a brand you would love to work with, sometimes i have found accepting a gifted campaign first can actually lead to sponsored opportunity in the future and this has definitely happened to me in the past, so its definitely a great way to start out and build a good relationship with the brand.

You should definitely not be afraid of reaching out to brands, they do appreciate the direct approach as it shows that you are serious about working with them. I promise you, Once you have sent your first pitch email you will feel alot better about sending more, especially if you manage to secure some work.

Rates, Invoicing, Payments

I have a standard rate for what i charge, this includes a blog post with a minimum of 300/400 words, permanent instagram post, shares on all of my social media accounts with the company tagged, stories with a swipe up link and 3/4 photographs taken by me to use in the post/instagram ~ this has worked out well for me but you obviously can set your own rates.

Once I have published the blog post, i send an invoice to the brand and advise that payment is due within 10 days – unless we agree otherwise – which is also cool.

As I am mainly paid via PayPal – i have to say they do (annoyingly) charge you to receive funds, so what i am starting to do now (which was the advice from another blogger) is to add the fees onto your rate, which is currently 2.9% + 30p. once the invoice is paid i add this payment into an excel spreadsheet which is where i keep track of all my payments so it’s easily to submit accounts at the end of the tax year.

my daily routine

hmmmmm routines, this is something i am currently struggling with. As i have worked full time my whole life, so a standard 9-5 job i am still working out what hours i should be working.

If you follow me on social media you will probably know that i am a bit of a night owl and alot of my ideas do come to me at night, so what i tend to do is write everything down in my notes app (a godsend – i have my life in that little app!) going forward i would really like to work 9-5 and get into a routine with my blog posts, as they are pretty sporadic at the moment. Obviously sponsored posts do take priority over posts like this so i try and factor that in.

breakfast

Breakfast is something i have never enjoyed and is definitely something i am trying to add to my daily routine – its true that it is the most important meal to the day – i need the energy! So basically now i wake up – on average i get up around 10:30i sh – make a (strong) coffee and have a breakfast bar, that is usually enough for me (never been a fan of cereal) what i have actually done now is set alarms for breakfast and lunch – as yes i am really THAT bad! – for lunch i usually have something small like a pot noodle (yes i essentially eat like a uni student) and a snack – crisps or chocolate – i should probably start eating more healthy! – i definitely do!

I want to add that what i don’t want happen from having my blog as an income is loose the personal aspect i have here on my blog, it started as a place for me to chat and a have a little outlet for my creative side and i don’t want it to just become a blog saturated with paid ads, but obviously ya gal wants a few, as she got a makeup addiction to fund & flat & cat & fiance!

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Well, I really hope you have enjoyed this little insight into my blogging journey, if you would like more posts like this, let me know in the comments, i love chatting with you guys. over and out!

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P.S If You Like This Blog Post, You Might Like My Other Makeup Skincare Haircare And Lifestyle Reviews. Please Contact Me To Let Me Know If There Are Any Products You Would Like To See Me Review.

**FRIENDLY REMINDER: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS THAT HELP OUT A LOT IF YOU CHOOSE TO PURCHASE FROM THEM (IT DOESN’T COST YOU ANYTHING EXTRA). I WILL ALWAYS TELL THE 100% TRUTH