Now that I blog for my job, it’s not as shocking to investment in it, like paying for hosting or a new design. But when you’ve never put money into a project, you might find yourself surprised by prices and looking for alternative ways to publish your work. Kind of like a fun new app, you wonder if you need to pay for certain features or if you can get by on the free version—and trust me, plenty of people get by for free.
If your blog is a part of your business
Obviously you’ll have an easier time justifying investments if your blog is part of your business. A lot of small business owners don’t have the budget to do all they’d like to promote their brand, but given how important a well-functioning and professional website is these days, lots of us at least know that this is an important area to focus on. Websites are so important (whether the business has a blog component or not) to landing sales and clients, so in this case it’s probably pretty worth setting aside the money. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shop around. Services like hosting, design, and development are all things that vary widely across the internet both in terms of price and what you’ll receive. It’s worth talking to a few people to get a feel for what you can pull off, but you shouldn’t be afraid to make that first purchase—it’ll ultimately help in the long run.
If your blog is a hobby
Maybe you’re not focusing on money right now or maybe you never will—should you really put money into something that won’t yield a financial return? The way I see it, we invest in our own hobbies all the time—the boxes of yarn and craft supplies around my apartment prove it for me—so just because it’s a digital product doesn’t mean it doesn’t fall into this category. If you love publishing content but that DIY design you whipped up on Blogger is driving you nuts, and you have a little expendable income, it’s totally time to consider an upgrade.
Still, who has unlimited income to spend on their blogs, hobbies or not? Like all projects, it’s a good idea to balance and compromise between the DIY or buy components of your website. Here are a few ways we’ve done so ourselves in the past:
– Invest in one area that’s most important. For my personal blog, two years ago, I decided to switch to a self-hosted website which required purchasing a domain and hosting. But I didn’t have money to invest in other services.
– Check our resources and tutorials pages for helpful tips and ways that you can do some of the work of developing, designing, or just beautify-ing your blog all on your own.
– See if some of your blogging friends would be up for trades. The beauty of being skilled in social media and photography is that you can offer it in exchange for services – I’ve definitely collaborated with other bloggers or shop owners to help with parts (particularly my logo) of the design, and there was something in it for both of us (very important).
– Connect with people in Facebook groups and online communities. I’m in a few blogger/artist Facebook groups and there are talented women in all of them who often offer services in anything from design to business to creative at a discount just for being part of the community. Definitely worth joining some groups, scrolling through posts, and maybe even posting a request of your own!
What’s been your biggest blog investment, and was it worth it? Hope this helps some of you fellow bloggers on a budget!
Laiz says
Started to follow the blog recently and I’m in loving with this place. It’s helping me a lot!!!
I didn’t have a budget to invent in my blog, so I also did what was most important to me – I purchesed a domain and did the other adjustments by myself and I’m currently using a free template.
Brittany says
The biggest investment for me is self-hosting. It is well worth it to me, even if it is still a hobby right now. One day I hope it will turn into a business therefore it is important to create the best content I can!
Brittany | thechicette.com
Annika says
I agree with Brittany. I started self-hosting right away because I had read enough to know that I didn’t want to deal with ads I couldn’t control or migrating from free to self-hosting later.
The next expense I am looking at incurring is a custom logo. I may ask for this as a birthday gift! :)
I just joined Facebook (I held out for years) and would love to hear your suggestions for blogging groups to join.
Great post!
Thanks,
Annika
http://theseasonahead.com
Odessa says
Great post! I currently blog as a hobby and would love to put more time and money into it, but working full time doesn’t make that easy. This gives me some great ideas on how to upgrade my blog for free! Thanks! :)
http://odessadarling.co