A lot of time, energy and resources go into blogging. You have to run, nurture and grow your blog like you would do a baby. Depending on the vision and the goals you set for your blog, you have to make sure you invest in it.
You can run a blog with no financial investment at all but your progress will be slow and the results will likely be few and far between. If you are thinking of blogging professionally, you will need to take things further to up your game. I’m aware that some bloggers run on a tight budget and do not have enough money to spend on expensive equipment, ads, or software. Don’t get discouraged. You can still make great progress and record awesome results even on a shoe-string budget. Here are some tips for you –
What is your long-term plan?
Surely, you will not run your blog on a budget forever. But if you want to make sure that every penny you spend on your blog gives you a nice return on investment, you need to have a plan laid out. Consider exactly how much you can spend on your blog. Write down the figure on a piece of paper. Next write a list of what you would like to achieve with your blog on a monthly basis, the reason you want to achieve it and an estimate of how much you would need to make each of those items come true.
Here comes the tough part: go through your list and tick only the essentials. When you’re running on a tight budget, you need to make smart use of the money you have to spend. So you need to stick to the essentials as much as possible. For example, if you run a food blog and on your list you have “buy a new camera to take crisp photos of the food I make” or “buy audio equipment for a food podcast,” then the most important item would be a new camera. This is because your readers will need to see the food you are making.
A camera is an essential for any type of blogger. A decent point and shoot camera may be a good place to start if you are running on a very tight budget. Most iPhones also take excellent photos so you may just start with that if you have one, and see how it goes. I shared some photography tips in my book – How to Cash In as a Blogger, so go have a read.
Improvise as much as you can
There’s always an alternative for everything. Check your list again and ask yourself: Is there a cheaper, yet efficient alternative to the items on this list? For example, you could use your phone to record the videos you’ll use for your blog. You could download video editing software with a 30-day trial period then save up to buy that software next month.
Be creative. Necessity is the mother of inventions. The beauty blogger, Anna Gardner, started by balancing her camera on top of cereal boxes to record her videos instead of getting a tripod to do the job. Think outside the box, and make sure of what you do have.
Learn a new skill
Professional bloggers with a high budget usually have a team behind their blog. They have their own photographer, graphic designer, copywriter, publicist and virtual assistant. If you’re running on a tight budget, you may not be able to afford hiring people to make up your team. Why not learn a skill? For example, you can teach yourself how to create your own graphics, or you can simply use sites like Canva or PicMonkey to get the work done for you. Or get a friend or family member to do the job for you.
Do you have any tips for blogging on a budget?
Some really good points made hun and I find just looking in my stash gives me more posts to write than I can think of x
Yea me too..
Great tips for budding professional bloggers 🙂 Best thing I did was invest in a camera 🙂
Ah nice. Camera is a great investment.
I think it makes sense to blog with a tight budget in the first place. There is so much beauty in simplicity. I find that my posts are well received when I use recyclable materials and don’t go over the top with expensive items. People tend to enjoy what they can attain and bearing that in mind, I try to invest with time to edit my posts and engage with my readers rather than go all out splashy with content.
Yea I agree..
Some great tips thanks for sharing them
Thanks for reading x
Great tips – I’m a big believer that you don’t need a huge budget to be a great blogger x
Thanks Stephanie x
The only money I spend on my blog is paying for my self-hosted site. That’s about it! 😉 I use free picture-edit websites like picmonkey for my photos, while I do have an expensive camera, I didn’t get it for my blog, but because I love photography 🙂 Would like to get an editing software for videos, but don’t really want to spend, so I just use Imovie on my Mac. But like you said, I guess it really depends on what you want to do with your blog and if you have the money/budget, why not? x
Exactly..
Some great tips. Blogging can be so expensive.
Yea it can be.
Great tips hon – I don’t think blogging needs to be an expensive thing at all!
Thanks..I agree.
Loving your tips! It’s hard to keep up to date with all of the latest fashion without breaking the bank!
The Blonde B
Yea it can. I try not to hurt my bank balance too much.
Very good tips. Very useful and informative. Thanks for sharing. Love your blog
Thank you for reading Osime xo
Very good tips, Blogging can be so expensive!
Yes it can be..Thanks for reading.
Awesome tips Stella 🙂
It just goes to show you can still utilise without over spending.
The only thing I did spend on, was my camera. But I love photography as a hobby, so I definitley get my moneys worth. x
Thanks Jayne x
I haven’t spent much on my blog. I really want a new dslr camera and that will be my first big expense
A DSLR is a fab investment. Go for it.
Great tips hon, and haha! for the vlogger who used to balance her camera on cereal boxes. Meeehn I need so much for my blog now coz I started uploading vids to my YouTube channel. I need an editor, coz I just dont have the time to download free vid editing apps and teach myself….so I just uploaded the raw version of the videos to YouTube…it will be a way to document my growth I guess one way of determining how to budget for your blog is knowing the social media channels you want to invest in- is it video, your blog, instagram…( :
Yea true that. Thanks for reading x
Fab advice as ever, Stella – I agree with you about learning new skills to cut down the costs. I’ve learned so much since I started blogging!
Thanks Sally.
a lovely post. I do everything myself except for photography which the hubby does but I learnt pic monkey and editing and now i’m looking for some cheaper options for certain social media subscriptions which i have to try and reduce my cost. This is a good post and things to think about.
Thanks Angela xo
I’m learning to use PicMonkey and Canva now and they’re really helpful! I do need a new phone because the camera on mine is awful!
Yea I use them too..
Awesome points ! So on point! I blog every day! XOXO !
Thanks x
every day? wow!
Love this! A camera is defiantly my next purchase.
Ah nice.
Great post. Also if you buy hosting and domain registration over a few years it is cheaper than a year by year basis
Yea it is. Fab tip..
There is so much that I wish I could do if I had the budget for it but sadly I don’t so I taught myself to do everything. I edit all my photos for one.
I do the same Ana..
These are some great tips – when I started blogging a few years ago things were completely different so I think using what you have and improvising as well as being creative is what it’s all about when you have a low budget
Laura x
Yea I agree Laura..
I’m a big fan of free photo editing software like Picmonkey and Canva. Great tips Stella
Thanks Mellissa.
great tips! I think I follow those steps and control my budget every month. Another useful tip is to use the bloggers community such as the Facebook groups where we support each other for free! x
Yea fab tip x
I don’t spend much on blogging, only when I really have to but I do need a good vlogging camera so I’m saving up for that one
Ah that is a good investment.
Great tips. I was lucky enough to have a good camera already as I do live music photography so the only things I have to pay out are for my domain name and my hosting. x
Ah lucky you.
There are free courses and tools that I’ve benefitted from a lot. A free “writing for the web” course means my posts are better written and an SEO plugin makes sure I don’t miss out on any optimisation opportunity.
Fab tips here. Thanks Keely.
Really love this xx
Glad you do..
Some great tips here, I’m really glad I have my camera, not only for my photography career but for my blogging.
Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
Thanks Jordanne.
Nice tips, lovely post!
Thank you.
Great post Stella. I have ran one of my blog for nearly 6 years now. Everything from domains, linkys buying things to make something ha came out my pocket. Something as to change now as I have never earned a penny, lol. It is like a full time job too. Time to start my blog as a business or slow my blog down and find a job..
I agree Claire. You should be earning from your blog, your blog is fab. Thanks for reading.
Some interesting points but it is possible to become a successful and professional blogger on a free platform
Yea it is. I am not self-hosted.
I definitely don’t have a budget to spend on hiring and do everything I can myself or learn it. I love the fact that blogging can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to.
Yea me too.
Some really fab tips. I do need to splash out and get a decent camera
A decent camera is always a good investment.
Great tips here! I really enjoy blogging and how flexible it is! 🙂
http://lilinhaangel.com/
Yea me too Lilinha.
Interesting post, good luck
Thanks..
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Thanks for Sharing!!!
Thanks for reading..