Kathy Haan

If you’re wondering how to start an Instagram blog with no experience, you’ll be happy to know it’s easy to start. Instagram blogging is microblogging because of the 2,200 character limit for captions vs no limit on traditional blogging platforms. Instagram bloggers with 15,000 engaged followers can make around $200 per sponsored post. Many people start a blog on Instagram with the intention to sell products out of the gate. If this is your goal, you can get started for free with Square Online. It has the easiest setup process, and you don’t pay a dime until you make a sale. This is perfect for Instagram bloggers who don’t have months to build a full-fledged ecommerce store. Get started for free today. Here are the eight steps on how to start an Instagram blog: 1. Create an Instagram Account Creating an Instagram account is free and takes just a few minutes to do. The step that takes the longest is figuring out what you want your username to be. Keep in mind that unlike other social media platforms, you can change your username later on. However, many prefer to use their full name as a username so they build a personal brand. Get started with your Instagram account in just a few steps: Download the Instagram app from the Google's Play store (Android) or App Store (iPhone). Once installed, tap the Instagram icon to open it. Sign up with your email address or phone number if you’re on an Android. If using an iPhone, you’ll select Create an Account then enter your phone number. You’ll get a text with a verification code to enter. Alternately, you can use a single-sign-on by selecting your Facebook login. You’ll then receive a prompt to create a username and password. Make sure to have a public profile instead of a private one, unless you only want friends and family you allow reading your blog. 2. Choose a Niche for Your Instagram Blog When learning how to start an Instagram blog, the key to gaining consistent growth is to give your audience what they've come to expect. If you are a travel Instagram blogger and then post a sponsored ad for a recliner, you’re not only going to confuse followers but you might cause them to unsubscribe. By choosing a niche for your Instagram blog, you’re telling people who come to your blog exactly what kind of content they’ll get going forward if they follow you. It’s important that you take careful consideration when choosing a niche. While you can change your focus later on, doing so can confuse your audience. Some Instagram bloggers start with a broad category such as a lifestyle blog before deciding on a narrower niche like travel or parenting. It’s also important to understand that many Instagram bloggers also eventually create a blog on a website, which doesn’t have any limits on the number of characters you can write. Travel Within a travel niche, you can get even more specific. Some Instagram blogs focus solely on domestic travel or on international travel. There are entire blogs dedicated to just Disney travel. Other travel niches include solo travel, plus size travel, family travel, and traveling with pets. There’s even a travel Instagramer who dedicates her account to camping in her living room thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Instagram travel bloggers find success monetizing through hosting travel tours. There are many bloggers who also teach others how to travel more, whether that’s by using travel rewards through credit cards or selling everything you own to travel. As a fellow travel blogger, I follow many travel bloggers on Instagram to get ideas for new places to visit. The Blonde Abroad is a popular travel Instagram blog. She also has a blog on her website, a YouTube channel, a private Facebook community, and hosts tours around the world. Lifestyle A lifestyle Instagram blog often features photos and posts of everyday activities, hobbies, or insights. These bloggers tend to stick with a few categories rather than posting anything and everything they enjoy. For example, a lifestyle blogger may post about family, travel, food, and money. Many lifestyle Instagram bloggers monetize their content through brand partnerships. These brand partnerships are often sponsored posts, where an Instagrammer gets paid to do a static Instagram post or Instagram story about a product. Sometimes, they do affiliate programs with different brands and earn a commission on any sales referrals. Rebeka Rpati is a lifestyle blogger who also has a blue verified check mark to her name. This is likely because she’s Miss Universe Hungary and a TV presenter. This lets other users know this is a legitimate account for this public figure. Food Food Instagram bloggers come in many niches as well. You’ve got bloggers who talk about things like baking, grilling, sous vide, and candy. There are bloggers who are diet-specific such as keto, paleo, and gluten-free. Some bloggers also choose to showcase food found during their travels or only food of a specific location such as NYC food carts. Instagram food bloggers can monetize their blogs through brand partnerships, writing cookbooks, or creating their own kitchen gadgets. A sous vide blogger showing a recipe that uses sous vide might give a list of their favorite sous vide machines while using affiliate links. Pinch of Yum is a Minnesota-based couple who are not only food bloggers, but also host food photography workshops and run a food blogger membership site teaching others how to have their own food blog. Money Instagram money bloggers write about many different money-based topics. These topics include personal finance, credit cards, paying off debt, making money, investing, and even investment-specific niches like Forex or cryptocurrency. Money bloggers earn money through partnerships, sponsored posts, and affiliate links. Popular money bloggers have created their own tools like budget binders and planners. Online courses, coaching, consulting, and membership sites are also popular monetization strategies for money bloggers. Ramit Sethi is a personal finance blogger behind the NY Times Bestseller, "I Will Teach You to Be Rich." 3. Create a Captivating Bio An Instagram bio is a little snippet of text below your picture within your Instagram profile. An Instagram profile is where users view your profile, photo, and all of the posts you’ve created. It’s also where users go to follow you. This bio area is an opportunity to show everyone who you are, what you stand for, and who you serve within 150 characters. It’s a chance for you to make a good first impression, so you’ll want to spend some time crafting a captivating bio. As an Instagram blogger, it’s important for you to give visitors to your profile a sneak peek at what they can expect if they follow you. Some users choose to give their contact information like an email address or a phone number—particularly if they are a business or if want someone to get in touch about collaboration opportunities. Others prefer to share a quote, their location, and maybe even some hobbies. Whatever you choose to showcase in your bio, remember to tailor it to your niche and your desired audience. When you are very specific about who you are, you are more likely to attract people who are just like you and want to engage with your content. 4. Take or Source Attractive Images Instagram is a visual platform where the photos you showcase matter more than the captions. Photos you share need to follow your brand identity design so that the style of your image is recognized as yours before a user checks to be sure it is. This aesthetic should remain consistent throughout your Instagram posts. This helps create a cohesive look to your profile. It’s important to note that you don’t have to always use your own images to post. There are many free stock photo websites to use such as Pexels and Pixabay. Many of these images don’t require attribution, but it’s best to double-check what the restrictions are on each photo. 5. Write Your Instagram Blog Posts An Instagram blog post is also known as a caption. Your captions can be no more than 2,200 characters. For this reason, many consider that using Instagram for blogging means that you’re microblogging compared to writing a full-fledged blog hosted on your own website. Your blog posts don’t necessarily have to be 2,200 words to tell a story. Many times captions that are short and thought-provoking do really well on Instagram. The most important lines in your captions are the first line and then your call to action line. The first line you write should grab a reader’s attention. Think of it as a one-liner—what’s going to stop someone from scrolling by your post in their news feed? This should be a relatively short line so they can read it without having to click “more” to view the rest of your caption. Give an intriguing statement, prompt an emotional response, or share an offer. Your last line should give a call to action (CTA). The CTA can be as simple as asking your followers to engage with you in the comment section. Or, your CTA might ask to tag a friend, check out the link in your bio for more information, or hit the follow button. A popular CTA is “double tap if you agree,” referencing the act one performs to “like” your Instagram image. Another important element when creating your Instagram blog posts is to make sure you’re breaking up the text if you’re writing a lot. It is difficult to read a huge wall of text without natural line breaks. You want your content to be easy-to-digest. Instagram doesn’t make it easy to do this within the app, so many people write their draft in notes or a word processing document before copying and pasting it into the platform to preserve the formatting. 6. Use Relevant Hashtags to Boost Discoverability A hashtag is a word or phrase, preceded by a hash sign (#). These hashtags allow users to find messages about a given topic. For example, when entering the hashtag #travelinspo in the search field on Instagram, it shows travel photos. You can use hashtags on both static Instagram posts and Instagram stories. With static posts, you can use up to 30 hashtags. You may add up to 10 hashtags in a story. When using hashtags, even non-followers can find your content if they’re searching for that particular hashtag. This allows Instagram bloggers to reach new audiences and grow their following. To find relevant hashtags to use, many bloggers like the program Later.com. With it, you provide a hashtag you want to use and it will give you suggestions of similar hashtags, or hashtags commonly used with that hashtag. The program will let you know as soon as you’ve hit your 30 hashtag limit for your caption. There are 48 million posts with the #travelblogger hashtag. Users can follow a hashtag to see these posts in their news feed without following each individual creator. 7. Geotag Your Posts To geotag a post, you’re simply adding a geographical location to tell others where a photo is taken. Some users prefer to be very detailed about where an image was taken, such as the exact name of a coffee shop. Others prefer to be more general, such as tagging Manhattan or even New York. Geotagging lets others see where you’re at. It also helps others find images from a particular location. A user can search Instagram by location to find others who’ve been to a spot they’re researching. Including your location allows bloggers to grow their audience because Instagram users can search for location-based posts and stumble upon any post that has a geotag. If a user likes what you’ve posted, you might gain a new follower—all because you’ve tagged your location. 8. Interact With Other Instagram Users The entire point of using social media is to be social—this involves interacting with other users on Instagram. You can like and comment on other users’ posts, and you can follow them. When you interact with other users, they’re more likely to check out your profile and microblog. If they like what they see, there’s a chance they’ll follow you back or at least leave a like or comment to return the favor. Use Instagram Stories One of the most popular features of Instagram is using Instagram Stories. A story acts like a slideshow that is only available for 24 hours on your Instagram Story feed, unless you choose to feature it. When you feature the Instagram Story it will remain on your profile in the Highlight section until you remove it. Within these Instagram stories, users can share images, videos, and text. Stories are much less curated than a static post that shows up in your Instagram feed and remain forever on your profile unless you choose to delete it. Many users choose to showcase behind-the-scenes footage of their daily lives on their stories. You can also create polls, share GIFs, and post a story for a select group of people to see. Bloggers can tag other users stories, and if they sell on Instagram, they can also tag a product. If you have more than 10,000 followers on Instagram, you can use a feature that allows a visitor to swipe up on the story. When a user swipes up on the content, it takes them to a URL of the story creators’ choice. This is a great place to insert an affiliate link. Instagram stories let you see who viewed your story. Comment and Like Users’ Posts When you engage with another user’s content, they’re more likely to return the favor. The comments that you make on another post should be thoughtful, more than an emoji, and show that you actually read their captions. You don’t have to write a book—a sentence or two is the perfect length. Follow Other Users One of the biggest faux pas on Instagram is the follow-unfollow method. This is following a user only with the intention of them following you back and unfollowing them once they do. It’s a pretty common practice on Instagram to grow your followers in this way, however many consider it tacky. Instagram has said they’re working on policies to prevent this practice from occurring. Your best strategy for growing your own followers’ list is to authentically follow other users you want to follow. How to Monetize Your Instagram Blog There are many ways to make money on your Instagram blog. These monetization methods include being an affiliate for someone else’s products and services, creating sponsored posts, and selling your own products and services. While any links you add to the caption area of a post will not be clickable, you can add a link to your bio. Some people choose to create a free account with a website provider, like , and host a list of links there. This is useful if you talk about different links in each post you make. Otherwise, you can use , which is another popular place to list your URLs. As a blogger with an actual website, I prefer not to use linktr.ee because I want to get the page views rather than giving it to another service. I’ve also seen instances where an update to the Instagram platform caused accounts using linktr.ee to temporarily shut down, so proceed with caution if using this method. Use Affiliate Links An affiliate marketing program lets creators earn a commission for referring sales to a merchant. These commissions are usually one to 10% of a sale, but sometimes pay if there’s a lead or a click on a custom link instead. Leads and clicks typically pay less than $1 each. This is an attractive option for many Instagram bloggers because people usually talk about their favorite products and services anyway. They might as well get paid for it. Sometimes merchants and bloggers negotiate an incentive, like a 10% off coupon, for followers to use. This doesn’t usually eat into the commission an affiliate earns and instead comes out of the merchant’s marketing budget. Instagram bloggers can sign up for an account with rewardStyle, which uses the LiketoKnow.it app to make it easy for them to share products featured in posts. The best part about this is that the blogger receives a commission for sales made. Create Sponsored Posts Instagram bloggers can create content for brands in exchange for free product, a discount, or money. What you earn for a post will depend on the number of followers and the engagement you receive. For example, a blogger with 15,000 engaged followers could earn around $200 for a post and $350 for a video. Instagram stories tend to pay less because they disappear after 24 hours. Learn more about setting your blog rates. You can earn money even if you don’t have a lot of followers because brands tend to care more about engagement than vanity metrics. The reason for this is because it’s easy to artificially inflate the number of followers and likes you get by purchasing these. However, comments are much harder to artificially create. When you have an engaged audience, they’re more likely to trust you and listen to your recommendations. Sell Your Own Products & Services Creating your own products and services allows you to control not only the features, but also the production and quality of your offerings. You can create products like supplements, physical books, e-books, apparel, and kitchen gadgets. Services you can offer include design, consulting, and coaching—each of these tend to offer higher profit margins since you don’t need to create any physical goods. If you don’t have an ecommerce website but have a few products you want to sell, consider using . This allows you to quickly create an online store using products featured in your Instagram posts—even past posts you’ve made. It takes just three quick steps to get started and you don’t pay anything until you make a sale. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on How to Start an Instagram Blog This section includes the most frequently asked questions about how to start an Instagram blog. How successful are Instagram bloggers? There are Instagram bloggers who post regularly and have less than 100 followers and make nothing. You’ve also got bloggers who have millions of followers and also make millions of dollars. Your success will depend not only on how you measure success, but also your talent, resources, and commitment to blogging on Instagram. How many followers do I need to be considered an influencer? The number of followers you have on Instagram doesn’t determine if you’re an influencer. In fact, you can have five followers on Instagram. For example, if you make a post about a new tea mug to your five followers and they go buy that tea mug based on your recommendation, you have officially influenced that purchase. How many followers do I need to get verified on Instagram? The number of followers doesn’t matter when it comes to Instagram verification. Verification goes to accounts that are noteworthy, such as those who are often imitated. These include celebrities, athletes, and politicians. You can apply for verification and Instagram will conduct a review of your notable accomplishments using independent sources like news channels and magazines. Bottom Line No matter the reasoning behind wanting to learn how to start an Instagram blog, you can get started very quickly. It takes just a few minutes to create your account, and then you’re ready to source images and create your first blog post. The benefits of using Instagram as a blog include getting to create captivating content very quickly without spending money, building a following, and potentially even making money from it.

Black business owners looking for training and certifications, access to funding, and assistance with key business operations like HR and sales can unlock access to programs and opportunities geared to help them succeed. Fit Small Business has created a list of resources for Black-owned businesses in the following areas: Training and certifications: Get certified as a Black-owned business and become eligible for government and private sector programs and training. Organizations and associations: Become a member of organizations and associations that support the growth and prosperity of Black-owned businesses. Sales, marketing, and promotions: Take advantage of directories and websites created to promote the products and services of Black-owned businesses. HR and hiring resources: Use these resources to hire a diverse workforce based on race, sex, industry, and more. Tax credit for diversity: Apply for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) with this list of services that can secure minority-specific tax credits. Funding and financing: Resources for grants, loans, and investments, including information on Black-owned banks and similar institutions. Read on for more information in each of these six areas, including easy-to-follow links on how to take advantage of these opportunities. Training & Certifications for Black-owned Businesses Getting certified as a minority-owned or Black-owned small business can open doors to certain government and private sector business and economic growth programs and opportunities. It can also open up access to financial resources to expand your business. Here is a list of training and certification programs and how to apply: U.S. Small Business Administration Minority-owned Business Certification: Use this process to get certified as an 8(a) minority-owned small business. HUBZone Business Certification: The HUBZone program helps small business growth in historically underutilized business zones. National Conference of State Legislators: You’ll find minority business development and state Minority Business Enterprise certification programs. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Development Certification: The Department of Transportation’s for-profit socially and economically disadvantaged small business development certification is for those who contract with state transportation agencies. How to Get Certified as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE): This article from Fundbox explains how to get certified as an MBE. Organizations & Associations for Black-owned Businesses There are a variety of programs and organizations whose mission is to foster economic growth by supporting and advancing Black- and minority-owned small businesses. Their services range from providing one-on-one confidential business advising to promoting Black-owned businesses while connecting them to Black-owned business mentors. Check out the list below: National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC): The NMSDC advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises and connects them to corporate members. African Business Roundtable: This nonprofit, non-partisan Black business organization promotes trade, commerce, and cultural exchange through education between the United States and countries of the African Diaspora. Black Business Association (BBA): The BBA advocates and promotes the development of African American-owned businesses. Black Founders: This group is “creating an ecosystem that stimulates tech entrepreneurship and fosters economic growth.” Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA): The nonprofit, charitable organization addresses equity and opportunity for the Black community in business, employment, education, and economic development. National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC): A nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. America’s Small Business Development Centers: The centers offer a network of assistance for small businesses and are funded in part by the U.S. Congress and the Small Business Administration (SBA). Sales, Marketing & Promotions for Black-owned Businesses One of the best ways to target customers specifically wanting to support Black-owned businesses is to list your business in a directory that highlights Black businesses. These apps and websites are a great way to market your business for little to no cost. See the full list here: Black Business Focus Group: This is a Facebook group designed to support Black-owned Businesses (BOB). Each member of the group can list their businesses, and other members commit to making three purchases a month. EatOkra: Submit your restaurant to this Black-owned eatery directory. There are over 2,600 restaurants and more than 150,000 users of this app. Black Wallet: Submit your business and events to the Black Wallet website and app for free. You can purchase web design, app development, and other business services directly from Black Wallet to help boost your brand’s aesthetic. Shoppe Black: This website profiles Black businesses and interviews entrepreneurs and professionals all over the world. In addition to serving as a resource for all things Black content, Shoppe Black also has a directory of Black-owned businesses. Support Black Owned: List your business for free in this Black-owned directory. You can also pay to have extended services like features on the home page, articles written about your business, and social media promotion. Squire: If you run a barbershop, use Black-owned Squire to help manage your business. You can use this point-of-sale (POS), payroll, customer relationship management (CRM), and scheduling tool whether you’re an independent barber, have multiple locations, or serve one location. Official Black Wall Street: For a lifetime membership payment of $50, list your business on both the website and the Official Black Wall Street app. Your membership also includes access to resources like webinars, pitch competitions, and features in listicles. WeBuyBlack: Use this platform to list your products and services for a commission fee of 10%. You can even migrate your Etsy or Shopify store using its CSV importer in under five minutes. HR & Hiring Resources for Black-owned Businesses Diversity is a hot topic in today’s climate, and businesses are answering the call. If you want your business to provide more quality job opportunities for Black candidates, consider registering with some of the top minority recruiting platforms. These sites target specific groups based on race and sometimes gender, industry, and more. Check out the resources below: Black Career Women Network: This site is aimed at supporting Black women with resources to help with professional development and career mentorship. Black Career Network: A diversity recruitment platform on which you can post job openings. National Urban League: You can partner with a local chapter to provide jobs to Blacks and others in underserved communities. The organization has initiatives focused on job re-entry, tech jobs, apprenticeships, youth candidates, and senior candidates. National Black MBA Association (NBMAA): Partner with NBMAA to post your open positions to a diverse candidate base. You can search resumes and load branding videos. National Society of Black Engineers: You can post jobs and internship opportunities as well as access recruiting tools to help you find Black engineers. Black Jobs: Promote your job openings to over 300,000 Black professionals, many of whom are new college graduates. SMB Tax Credits for Diverse Businesses As you hire a diverse workforce, you can qualify for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which is a federal credit employers receive for hiring job candidates within groups outlined by the Department of Labor. Having a payroll service that automatically checks for these opportunities can save you taxes and help you employ someone who may find it hard to get a job. These services also offer a ton of human resources (HR) support, such as consulting, training, and applicant tracking, in addition to payroll. Check out the options below: ADP: The software is flexible enough to support small businesses and mid- to large-sized businesses. It has eight different product plans you can choose from. Deluxe Payroll: These payroll services guarantee that your business will receive a tax credit, or you will receive a full refund of your filing fee. Paychex: You only pay a fee if the service finds credits. Paycor: The software integrates the hiring platform with the WOTC screening program. Paycom: Once you hire a candidate, all information collected for WOTC screening will automatically flow to your payroll records—you won’t have to manually organize and enter the information. Funding & Financing Opportunities for Black-owned Businesses There are many grants, loans, and investment programs geared toward financing Black-owned businesses. Whether you’re looking for a short-term working capital loan, minority grant program, or venture capital firm, there are options specific to helping Black- and other minority-owned businesses secure funding. See the list here: Minority Small Business Grants From Black Enterprise: This aggregated list has the top 10 grant opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA): This agency is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and offers loans and grant programs to minority businesses. Accion Minority Small Business Loans: A nonprofit community organization providing fairly priced and flexible loans to minority small business owners. List of Black Investors & VC Firms: This list from Bauce showcases over 25 Black investors and venture capitalists (VCs) who support Black-owned businesses. Backstage Capital: The investment firm is dedicated to funding underrepresented founders, including people of color. Interactive Map of Black-owned Banks: Use this U.S. map of Black-owned banks and credit unions to support your small business. Additional Resource Lists for Black-owned Businesses To help you find the most relevant resources for you and your business, we’ve also included some of the top lists here: Hello Alice’s Black-owned Business Resource Center SBDCNet.org’s Resources for Minority-owned Businesses

Learning how to start a vlog (video log) is relatively easy with the right preparation. Vlogging involves figuring out what style of video content you prefer and what channel you want to host your vlog on. From there, you have to film, edit, and promote your content. If you have a smartphone, you can even start vlogging for free. To learn how to start a vlog, follow these eight steps. 1. Do Your Vlog Homework There are many different styles of vlogging, and the best way to figure out what style you want is to conduct some research. An easy way to do this is to search YouTube for the niche that you’re interested in vlogging about. YouTube is by far the most popular platform as it displays millions of videos in varying styles. Assess what you like and don’t like about each video. Pay attention to the music, tone, and whether they use a lot of B-roll, which is supplemental footage added to the main video. Some videos are very curated, and others have minimal editing and can be published to the video platform very quickly. Popular vlog niches include: Travel: You can use your travel videos to document your journey, whether that’s international trips or visiting new eateries in your city. An example of this is the YouTube Channel Epic Family Road Trip. Beauty: Videos such as tutorials, unboxing products, and reviews do well in the beauty category. A popular beauty vlogger is Taisha. Lifestyle: The lifestyle category can encompass travel, and it can also include parenting, health, fitness, and day-to-day life. Mossonyi is a vlogger sharing about style, travel, and everyday life. Gamer: Share your gameplay footage via a vlog but be sure to read the terms of service (TOS) for each game before you share footage. Some encourage sharing while others prohibit it. An example of this is The Game Theorists. 2. Create Your Vlog Channel Where you host your blog is more of a personal preference than anything. Your desired audience may prefer one platform over another, but it’ll feel less like work if you can pick a platform you already enjoy. If you dread posting and interacting on a particular platform, it’s not the best choice to devote your time to. However, some vloggers will do most of their work through one platform and share it to multiple platforms. YouTube Since YouTube is a platform specifically for videos and is the oldest platform of its kind, it’s a popular choice for many vloggers. It’s free to use YouTube, and you can even monetize your YouTube channel with ads. To do so, you’ll need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months. IGTV IGTV stands for Instagram TV, which is the native video platform on Instagram. Videos within an Instagram feed can only be up to one minute in length. However, if you use IGTV, your video can be as long as 60 minutes. Readers can also sign up to get notifications every time their favorite creators post an IGTV episode. Facebook The video platform on Facebook is called Facebook Watch. Content creators upload their own long and short-form content, and the platform also has professionally produced content. Users can create watchlists, which is a list of channels they follow. This won’t create any push notifications any time a new video is uploaded, but it will create a list of videos they can access on-demand. TikTok Similar to the now-defunct video platform Vine, TikTok is a place where users create short-form videos. Many users upload lip-syncing, comedy, and talent videos with music in the background. Each video loops unless a user navigates away from it. You’ll need an iOS or Android phone to download the social media video app. Your Own Website If you have both the technical expertise and the funds to do it, hosting videos on your own site can work. However, you won’t benefit from the social sharing aspect of using a platform, such as TikTok or YouTube. Videos take up an enormous amount of space on servers, which is incredibly expensive, so a better option is to host your videos on another platform and embed them onto your own site. This way, you can have your vlog and even a blog or website to which you can send people. Learn more about blogging vs vlogging. 3. Order Vlogging Equipment While vloggers can create videos with their smartphone, you might feel more motivated to create a video if you’ve got the right equipment. You can get equipment such as lights, a professional video camera, and microphones to up the production quality of your videos. Depending on your budget, you can find each of these items new or used. Lighting While not necessary when shooting videos in natural light, you’re going to want a standalone light source for your videos. You can find lights on Amazon for less than $30. Many vloggers use large ring lights, and others get clip-on ring lights for their phones or cameras. If you have a dedicated space to conduct your video shoots, you can use a three-point light setup. Video Camera Consider purchasing a gimbal like a DJI Osmo to keep your video stabilized if you use your smartphone to shoot video. I’ve shot some incredible footage using just my iPhone XS Max and a DJI Osmo, and people are always shocked to hear this after seeing some of my videos. I prefer this setup as I travel to some really remote places (like the Amazon jungle and rainforest or the Maasai Mara) and it’s a pain to carry a lot of gear. If you don’t want to use a smartphone to create videos, you can invest in a camera that takes high-quality videos. Many vloggers use a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) if they also do photography, but you can also use a mirrorless camera—both of these are digital cameras with lots of settings. Point-and-shoot cameras make it easy to take great videos if you don’t have the technical expertise to focus a shot. A popular choice for travel or adventure vloggers is a  since it’s durable and waterproof. Microphone You can find quality vlogging microphones on Amazon for less than $20. Some microphones attach to your clothing with a clip, some need a stand, and others can clip to the camera or desk. The most common vlogging microphone is a unidirectional one known as a cardioid mic. These only record sound from one direction, so it won’t pick up your neighbor mowing their lawn outside. 4. Write Your First Vlogging Script Some vloggers have no problem spending an hour talking while others prefer to have entire scripts to follow. You may lie somewhere in the middle and prefer to follow a general outline. An outline will make it easier to appear natural on camera, rather than looking like you’re just reading. If you mess up while filming, the great news is that you can always go back and edit it out. If you’re talking for three minutes, that’s roughly 500 written words. This means if you’re writing down every single word that you want to say, you’re spending an unnecessary amount of time preparing. If you follow a basic outline, you can fill in the gaps. You’ll find this much easier the more you do it, so practice writing your outline now and ad-libbing the rest. The outline should flow naturally through a sequence of events. You’ll start with an introduction that tells them who you are, why you’re vlogging, and what the audience will gain by watching the video. Your intro should be relatively quick. Otherwise, viewers will likely navigate away from your video if it takes too long to get to the meat. Typically, this is less than 15 seconds. The bulk of the video needs to explain exactly what you promise they will learn. While clickbait works for a lot of vloggers, it isn’t a good way to keep followers. Clickbait videos have sensational headlines that are designed to get a viewer to click to watch the video. If you deliver on what you say you will in your video, a viewer is more likely to subscribe. You should follow up this section of your video by providing a conclusion. Summarize what you talked about, give a few short lessons, and provide a call to action (CTA). This CTA might be to like, comment, or subscribe to your channel. 5. Film Your Vlog Your vlog will be much more engaging if you follow a few key rules. You shouldn’t talk too fast, don’t ramble, and use the best lighting possible. If you’re shooting a travel or lifestyle video, you might want to use B-roll. This supplemental footage intercuts within your video to create transitions or to make your audience feel as though they’re actually at the location you’re describing. Implement these strategies while filming your vlog: Shoot horizontally: We live on a horizontal plane, spending every day looking at a horizontal frame. You never want to shoot a video vertically, unless you’re filming specifically for Snapchat or an Instagram story. Consider a tripod: No one likes to watch a video where someone is holding the camera because it shakes the video. A tripod will prevent this from happening. Alternatively, you can get a gimbal meant to stabilize the video if you’re holding the camera. Tell a story: The most effective vloggers tell stories while creating their videos. Each story needs a beginning, middle, and end. Tell your story as though you’re talking to your best friend. Be yourself: It’s hard to pretend to be someone you’re not. If you act how you normally are, you’ll appear much more natural. If you’re goofy, be goofy. If you’re great at impersonations, throw some of those in your videos too. Look at the camera: For “talking head” videos, where it shows you from your shoulders up talking to the cameras, be sure to look at the camera. You don’t want to look at the screen because then it appears you’re looking down. 6. Edit Your Vlog Many new computers come preinstalled with video editing software such as iMovie or Windows 10 Movie Maker. Another popular video editing program is DaVinci Resolve 16, which is free. It offers a paid version, but for most videos, the free version will suffice. You can also opt to pay for a program such as Adobe After Effects. When editing, be sure to focus on quality vs quantity. Ask yourself what you should cut out from the video to keep it succinct—5 to 20 minutes is customary for vlogs. If you have no desire to edit your videos, you can hire someone to do it for you.  is a good place to find freelancers. Another popular freelancer option is to use . While I can, and have, edited many videos, I lack time and patience now to do it myself. When I do sponsored travel, I use the “contest” feature on Freelancer.com. I upload all of my footage, give a few examples of videos I love, and freelancers compete to win my prize. Throughout the competition, which usually runs less than five days, I give feedback on submissions so I can end up with the perfect video. Often, I have several submissions I love. Then, I choose one winner and offer several others runner-up prizes. This way, I have several great videos in the end. If my contest prize is $200 on Freelancer.com, I usually offer $100 to each runner-up I choose. Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to choose a runner-up. I usually do because I like more than one video. An example of a sponsored video where I uploaded all of the footage I shot into a Freelancer.com contest. This was the winning entry. Music Music helps add feeling to your story, and because the majority of music has a copyright, you can’t use anything mainstream you’ll find on the radio. YouTube has its own music library you can use, or you can search Google for royalty-free vlog music. Some of these sites are free while others charge a monthly fee. Free sites are the most popular, which means you’re likely going to have many of the same songs as other vloggers if you choose that route. Another option for using music in your videos is to sign up for a service like Epidemic Sound or Bensound. These are subscription services that allow you to download royalty free music. Color Correcting Filters With the free version of DaVinci Resolve 16, you can color correct your video in post-production. Color correcting videos adds a more cohesive look to your videos, so try to use the same color correcting filters across each video. You don’t want one video to be very cool in color―blue, green, or purple―and then the next one warm in color―red, yellow, or orange. 7. Upload Your Vlog After your video gets edited, you’ll need to come up with the title, description, and thumbnail image. Some vloggers also create captions, whether through a paid service or YouTube’s automatic captioning feature. Title Clickbait works, but only in the short term. Your video title needs to convey exactly what your video is about. Otherwise, you’re unlikely to gain a new subscriber. Some of the best titles answer a question, such as “Where to Find the Best Coffee in New York That Isn’t Starbucks,” or “The Best Books to Read if You’re a Female Entrepreneur.” Description Your description should be accurate and have keywords. A keyword tells search engines and the platform on which you’re hosting your vlog what the video is about. The description also usually includes any links you reference in your video, where viewers can follow you on other platforms, and where the music in your video is from. Thumbnail A thumbnail is a small image or screenshot of your video. You can create these thumbnails using a free program such as , or you can use . Some bloggers just take a screenshot of a still frame from their video and use that. Thumbnails with text on them, as long as it’s large enough to read, does better than plain thumbnail images. Captions One of the most popular services to transcribe your videos with is . You can also choose to hire a freelancer from to do it for you. Captions will allow viewers who are hard of hearing or in public places to watch your videos. 8. Promote Your Vlog Vlogging is more than just shooting a video and uploading it to a platform. You’ll need to market your vlog channel and videos to get viewers and subscribers. There are many strategies you can use to promote your vlog, which includes collaborating, running ads, and interacting with other vloggers. To grow your vlog audience, use these methods: Collaborate: You can collaborate with other vloggers on videos, or you can even work with brands. Famebit, Izea, and Perlu are influencer networks that you can use to find brand collabs. For collabs with other vloggers, you can usually find contact info for your fave vloggers on their channels. Like and comment: Respond to every comment someone makes on your vlog and take the time to be social on the platform you’re on. When you comment on other vlogs, other people can see that and might check out your channel. Ads: You can run ads to your channel using search engines and social media. Popular platforms for ads include Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. This is a popular way to make money both blogging and vlogging. How to Start a Vlog Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) This section includes the most frequently asked questions about how to start a vlog. Can I make money as a vlogger? You might not make any money as a vlogger. If you do earn money, you might spend more time vlogging compared to how much you earn. However, many vloggers make a full-time income creating videos for their social media channels. Your success will depend on several factors, including your tenacity, skills, resources, and consistency. Is it too late to start vlogging? No, it isn’t too late to start vlogging. The reason for this is because people will continue to need answers and entertainment. If you don’t start a vlog to entertain and answer questions, someone else will. How long should vlogs be? Most vlogs are between 5 and 20 minutes. However, some video platforms cater specifically to short vlogs, such as TikTok. These videos are usually less than 15 seconds long. Bottom Line Starting a vlog is a great way to entertain and answer people’s questions. You can vlog in several niches, such as travel, lifestyle, beauty, and gaming. Many vloggers choose to host their videos across many different platforms, which include YouTube, TikTok, IGTV, and even on their own websites. In as little as a weekend, you can have your first video live and ready to share across social media platforms.  

A blogger rate card lets brands know how much you charge for your blog services. It is also sometimes called a rate sheet. This differs from a media kit, which is a detailed look at your blog’s stats. You send brands your rate card when you’re negotiating your deliverables and rates. Collaborating with brands is a great way to monetize your blog. Before you can work with a brand, you need your rate card to use as a guide when negotiating rates. 1. Choose a Graphic Design Platform To create your blogger rate card, you need a graphic design tool. Sure, you can make your document in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, but why would you when you can use an easy-to-use platform to make the design great? After all, you’re sending this to potential clients and want to make a great first impression. Many of these platforms have pro versions for even more versatility. Canva: By far a favorite of many bloggers, is a drag-and-drop graphic design tool. You can choose from thousands of different designs to get started, or you can create a card from scratch. When you pay for the pro version, you get access to premium stock photos. PicMonkey: Known as one of the original drag-and-drop platforms, has come a long way since its original debut. Users now have access to graphics, templates, textures, and fonts—they can even edit photos within the platform. Note that you will need a subscription in order to download your design. : A newcomer to the graphic design space, Easil has some of the most stunning templates available. It’s not quite as easy-to-use as Canva, but it’s close. To access most of the templates, you need to subscribe to the Plus plan. If the mere thought of designing your own graphics makes you want to retreat, you can use a freelancer service like . When you use Fiverr, you hire a freelancer to create your graphic for as little as $5. Otherwise, download our blogger rate card template. You can edit this template using Canva. This way, you can change the fonts, colors, and images to suit your blog’s branding. Download Blogger Rate Card 2. Price Your Blog’s Sponsored Post Rates Blogging rates are arguably one of the most debated topics in the blogging world. Even veteran bloggers struggle with how to price their services. With so many bloggers competing for a brand’s marketing budget, you don’t want to price yourself too high, and you definitely don’t want to sell yourself short. Collaborating with brands is by far one of my favorite ways to make money blogging. However, pricing formulas aren’t scientific and differ between niches, so use this as a general guide when determining your sponsored blog post rates. Much of what I’ve learned about blogging rates comes directly from brands, other bloggers, and experience navigating my own blog. To calculate rates for your blog, start by identifying your domain authority (DA). Your DA is simply how strong or authoritative your blog looks to search engines, based on a scale of 0 to 100. The higher your DA, the higher you can usually rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). You can find your blog’s DA for free using the Moz Link Explorer. Next, determine how many unique visitors your blog gets every month by logging into your Google Analytics dashboard and viewing your stats. This number represents each person (counted only once) who visits your blog in the month. Now that you have both of these figures, use the table below to get a ballpark figure for your blog’s rates. Keep in mind that your rates may vary depending on your niche. For example, a travel blogger might need to have their flight and hotel supplied; a food blogger may need the cost of ingredients covered. You can indicate on your blogger rate card that expenses are additional or included. You can also bundle blog posts with social media posts to get even more money. Sponsored Blog Post Rates *Unique visitors per month 3. Assemble Your Blogger Rate Card When creating your blogger rate card, remember to include just the facts. There’s no need to write a book at this point, because brands are likely only looking for your rates and a few key details about working with you. Save your full bio for your media kit. Contact information: At the least, list your name, blog name, and a way for brands to contact you. Some bloggers even list their address and phone number, although I’ve found that unnecessary as most brands collaborate strictly through email. A short bio: You’re not telling your life story here. Instead, give them your elevator pitch. Your rates: Some brands like to purchase by the package, so consider bundling options together. For example, you can group one static social media post, two Instagram stories, and a blog post as a single bundle. You should also list à la carte options. Media: Have you or your blog received positive media mentions? If so, you absolutely want to list those on your rate card. Social media handles: Provide the usernames of your strongest social media accounts. Some bloggers will also include the number of followers for each. Logos: If you’ve worked with other brands, be sure to highlight those on your rate card as social proof that you know what you’re doing. This works particularly well if the brands are large, well-known household names. Who you serve (optional): Are there any brand types that are off-limits (alcohol, Monsanto, or tobacco companies for example)? Are you a food blogger who will only work with food brands? Or are you willing to work with lifestyle brands? When to Send Your Rate Card to Brands Once you finalize your blog rate card, it’s time to send it to brands. On your first contact with a brand, do not send your rate card. That’s like asking someone to marry you on the first date. Instead, talk about collaboration ideas, and let them get to know you. When you’re pitching a brand, it’s best to send your media kit, and only send the rate card when they indicate they’re interested. However, you shouldn’t send a rate card every time you have a collaboration opportunity. You don’t want to display your rate card for anyone to view it, and you don’t want to send it to brands you’re not really interested in working with. If you don’t get a lot of unsolicited brand collaboration requests now, you will eventually as your blog gains traffic. An example of when you shouldn’t send a rate card might be for charitable reasons. For example, many restaurants are hurting because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I received an email from a marketing director who wanted to hire me to share that their drive-thru is still open so families can eat at home or in their vehicles. I let them know that I typically charge for this service, but in light of the circumstances, I will happily take an exchange of product only. My family ate well, and the brand will definitely work with us again. What to Say When Pitching Brands If I’m the one sending an unsolicited email to a brand, I don’t usually include my rate card in the initial email. Instead, I send my media kit and give ideas about how we might work together. Be as specific as possible in your pitch because you want to make it as easy as possible for the brand to say “yes.” After a brand indicates they’re interested, start a conversation about money by sending your blogger rate card. What to Say When a Brand Pitches You If a brand wants you to write a blog post that mentions their company—or worse, if they offer to write one for you—proceed with caution. Know that this company is simply trying to build its domain authority by getting you to link to it. Unless, of course, this is a brand you really want to work with and you see the potential for collaborating further—in which case it’s fine to accept the offer. Keep in mind that big brands have big marketing budgets, and many don’t pay bloggers fairly. More often than not, when I receive an unsolicited pitch from a brand that I want to work with, I send my rate card and media kit. If I don’t have interest, I let them know that I appreciate the email and we will be in touch if we feel it’s a good fit. Bottom Line Your blogger rate card is your ticket to securing sponsorships and collaborations with brands. Know that you will likely have to turn down opportunities from time to time—the brand might not have the budget or the collaboration won’t be a great fit for your audience. You want your blogger rate card to make a great first impression. You can use your template, or you can hire a freelancer to create one for you. We like , because you can have your graphic created for as little as $5 and have it ready for brands by Monday. Get started today.