Being someone who loves to spend money and is addicted to buying makeup I sometimes need to reign it in a little and do things on a budget. Blogging on a budget is definitely something that can be done. I have been blogging over two years and I have put money into my blog on the layout but I try to do things on a budget. Everyone likes to save money right? I thought it would be good to do a quick run through of how you can save money blogging whether it be on blog posts or your blogs layout.
Blog Posts
Don’t Buy For The Sake Of It | This is something I definitely stick to, when you see alot of bloggers raving about one product it does make you tempted to buy it. Firstly think will you actually use it? Do you use ones you already own? I do buy some hyped products don’t get me wrong but I always think if I will use them first or sometimes if I keep thinking about it I add it to a list and if I am still thinking about it 2-3 months later I will buy it. Try not to buy on impulse!
Shop Your Stash | You don’t always have to blog about the newest and latest release. Dig your way through your stash and find some old products you haven’t used or think of posts you could do. I have done some simple blog posts you can do without buying any new items…
Old Products Revisited
High End vs Drugstore
5 Minute Face
My Pamper Routine
Holy Grail Products
How I Relax
My Top 5 Drugstore Products
My Most Used Products
Underrated Products
How To Posts | These kinds of posts are very popular and you don’t need to spend any money to do them. I take my own stock photo’s but you can get some for free online. I prefer taking my own as it means no one else will have the same photo. I keep them in a file then use them when I need them. Like my photo for this post it is one I previously took and used on another post but I just added the extra bits to it.
Everyone loves to read How To posts and you can do so many kinds including…
How To Relax
How To Be A Morning Person
How To Reduce Oily Skin
How To Make Your Makeup Last Longer
How To Grow Your Blog
Promote Your Blog For Free or on a Budget
Share Your Blog Button | If you have a blog button why not find another blogger who you could swap with. This way it is free and you are both promoting each others blogs. It is a great way to get more people to see your blog. Your blog button should roughly be 250×250 so that it will fit in a blogs side bar. You can use The Grab My Button Code Generator to create your button and html. All you need is your image URL and blog URL.
(You can see my blogs Grab Button and other bloggers blogs in my sidebar)
Advertise on Blogs | Some bloggers have advertising packages where you can advertise your blog on theirs for a month. Some are cheap and others are more expensive. I currently offer advertising on my blog for bloggers, if you would like to advertise on my blog email me at emmysukblog@yahoo.co.uk or contact me on Twitter @EmmysBeautyCave
Guest Post | This isn’t one I do on my blog but you can ask bloggers if they would like to guest post on your blog and you guest post on theirs. It is another great way to promote your blog to new readers.
Layout
Sometimes we don’t always have £50 plus spare for a blog layout. The layout I currently have on my blog was around £10. I always get my blog layouts from Etsy. They are very easy to install and they literally have hundreds!
Things you need to look out for…
1. Make sure it is a Blogger or WordPress layout depending what you need.
2. Make sure it says “Mobile Responsive” this means the layout will work well on mobile devices.
Widgets | I did a blog posts which listed Free Widgets For Bloggers including a Facebook widget and more!
Things Worth Spending Money On
When you start your blog you don’t really know what is involved and there are a few things you should spend money on but again without spending a fortune. The better your blog looks the more appealing it is to readers.
Get a Domain | I got my Domain a year after blogging and I got mine from GoDaddy and I pay around £12 a year. For example when I first started blogging it was www.EmmysUKBlog.blogspot.co.uk and it is now www.EmmysBeautyCave.com
Having your own domain benefits you in many ways…
1. Some brands/PR’s prefer blogs with their own domains as it shows you are serious about your blog as it looks a little more professional.
2. It improves your blogs SEO (Search Engine Optimization), if you are unsure what SEO is or would like to learn more how to improve yours check out my 6 Tips To Improve Your Blogs SEO post.
Layout | Blogger and WordPress do a range of free layouts/templates but they aren’t the best. As I mentioned you don’t need to pay £50 plus you can get lovely looking layouts from Etsy starting from just £2 upto £100 plus. As I said mine was only around £10.
Blog Header/Advertising | You can buy pre made designs from Etsy or you can find people who will design them for you. Cheeky plug right now… I do design Custom Made Blog Headers at extremely affordable prices, check out my Blog Header Services Page for more information.
Don’t forget to check out some of my other blog tip posts!