Want to make money online? Start a blog!

Yes. I have a blog.

And yes, once upon a time, amidst the popularity of the social medias (especially Instagram), I thought that the whole “blogging” thing was old school. Who reads anymore, amiright? All you have to do is dress nice, put on makeup, and post a photo.

With the influx of social media influencers and YouTube gurus, you’re almost forced to think that that’s it, this is how you catch your “big break” on the internet.

I’ve even gotten some IG advice from friends. I know they meant well, but I could tell that they were implying that IG was a much more powerful platform and I should be taking my efforts on over there, as it seems like a more lucrative space. You can make money off of shoutouts, brand collabs, etc.

Don’t get me wrong

I do my part on social media. I’d be foolish to not see the potential these beloved apps have for someone like me. I don’t have killer numbers on any of the social medias, but I know the benefit they serve. I use Youtube, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest as an extension of my blog, not my main hub. I understand that these are all ways to connect with a different set of audiences and can be huge traffic sources.

But if you’ve got a huge following on social media or Youtube, there are SO many benefits to having a blog. Personally, I feel like if you have a following on FB, IG or Twitter, you need to be sending your dedicated followers to a space (like a blog) where they can get exclusive content, and get a chance to connect with you and get to know you beyond what they see on your social media feeds.

Here are some of the reasons I think you need a blog:

Less fake followers

Instagram is notorious for this. It happens on the other platforms, but not as bad as IG.

People run bots, leave spammy, unrelated comments, and play this “follow/unfollow” game with you, in hopes that they’ll gain follow backs. It works, and it gets their followers up, but what percentage of those followers are actually engaged and interested in their content?

Brands that work with influencers are realizing more and more that yes, those follower numbers are nice. But what’s 40k followers if only 100 of those followers actually care about what you have to say? What about someone with 1000 followers, but 600 of those are actually engaged and interested in w
hat the account owner has to say?

Which would you naturally choose?

You keep your followers forever

Well, until the followers themselves choose to unfollow you.

Remember two or three years ago, when Instagram announced that they’d be wiping out fake accounts? Well, remember how a bunch of celebrities got butt hurt because they lost MILLIONS of followers overnight?

Imagine being a small business or brand with tens of thousands of followers, and getting hit with that kind of purge.

Many platforms “clean out” their fake accounts and brands and users are noticing their numbers fluctuate up and down all week long.

YouTube announced last year that they’ve updated their algorithms and are no longer notifying followers about ALL of the new content their fave channels are coming out with.

Remember when Pewdiepie, one of YouTube’s most successful personalities, had a huge fit over his viewership tanking due to the changes?

Potential to make more money

Okay, I know that Instagram is awesome for getting your brand noticed you can definitely grow a huge audience there.

But you are only allowed 1 link in the bio, which (IMO) limits my monetization. With my blog, there are SO many ways I can make money.

Yes, you can get paid to shoutout/promote a brand. You can also showcase the products that you want to sell and tell your followers to see the “link in bio”.

But what if you have multiple offers? Multiple products you want to sell?

You only have one link you can display, what if that link doesn’t go to the details of the outfit/product/info they wanted? Are they less likely to convert and more likely to just leave? I haven’t tested this myself, but I’d think this is true.

The content you create is evergreen

Unlike social media, your blog posts do not have an expiry date and don’t get shoved down to drown in the feeds. And who knows how long Instagram or Facebook is gonna be hot for? Does anyone remember Myspace? Or worse, Friendster? They fizzled out, and who’s to say that isn’t going to be the same fate for some of these other “it” apps?

How many times have you seen something on Facebook, didn’t have the time to read it in full, forgot to “save” it (which, by the way, is a feature that didn’t exist until recently on some platforms), and could never find the article ever again? I know I’ve done this to myself PLENTY of times.

There is no search feature that works on Facebook or Instragram. Pinterest is pretty good for this, but Pinterest itself is more of a search engine than it is a social media platform (I might get more into this on another day).

With a blog, people can easily search for topics you’ve touch based on, and see your archive of content that you’ve created.

Another huge thing is, your blog content has a better chance of showing up on Google. This is HUGE! Everyone uses Google when they have mind boggling questions. You can share your views and have diary posts on FB and IG, but the chances of those showing up well in the search engines and getting click-throughs is slim to none.

You can say whatever you want!

Your blog is… well, YOURS! You can talk about whatever your heart desires.

There’s no one to report you. There are no rules to abide by (given that you’re not doing anything illegal. In which case, that is not cool).

I’ve heard stories where photos were deleted because it was a photo of them in a bikini, and of course, the haters found that offensive. Haters cannot get your post taken down on your own blog.

So, how do you even get followers on a blog?

Well, there’s this magical thing in the blogging world called an email list.

This is every blogger’s key to communicating with their dedicated readers. Only people who really care about what you have to say will subscribe and read whatever you send out to them, and that is exactly who you want to connect with.

These people are already letting you know, “HEY! I want more of what you’re giving!”

You’ll have the email readers who are super engaged, continuing the conversations with you via email, and are authentically interested in what you have to say.

They’ll also be the first ones to follow you to whatever new hot social media you decide to try. They’ll also be super excited to know when you start on a new endeavour, like they’re a part of a secret society.

Launching an online store? Email your list.

Creating a product? Email your list.

Wanna send someone cute pictures of your dog? Email them to your list. (okay, maybe not, unless cute dogs is one of your brand’s focuses)

What are you waiting for?

I am not saying that you have to choose one or the other, because it is totally possible to have large followings and big success with multiple and any platforms of your liking.

I am just saying that you cannot rely on any one way to grow your business, especially if it’s on a platform you don’t own. We have no control over what the plans are for these.

They can, at any time, decide that they don’t like something that you’re doing. What if they disable outgoing links? Promotions and shoutouts? What if you are no longer allowed to tag people you collaborate with? What happens then?

I know a lot of people are feeling the hit with this whole shadow-banning thing. So now they’re not even letting you be seen for the hashtags you use!

Have you been wanting to start a blog? What’s stopping you? Do you just not know where to start? Let me know in the comments what is preventing you from starting!