For some it may simply be words on a webpage, but maintaining a successful blog could be equated to running a small business.
Nelson Mandela Bay bloggers say the business of blogging means incorporating basic business practices like marketing and management to ensure standing out in the highly saturated digital space.
It is a passion project for many, but for others a well-run blog has led to a constant income and the establishment of large digital companies.
Port Elizabeth blogger Megan Kelly, who started out posting about lifestyle beauty, has now branched off into digital marketing.
Kelly says the lessons she has learnt from maintaining her blog, By Megan Kelly, have been channelled into her company, Dr Design, which has a steady source of income.
“Everything I taught myself through my blog, I applied to my work as a digital marketer for an American company.
“I do content writing search engine optimisation (SEO) and also help local businesses with their SEOs too,” Kelly said.
But the mom of two said 90% of her day was still taken up by her blog where she now mostly offers practical parenting tips and shares about “life’s little moments”.
“Many people just see the finished product and think ‘oh she snapped a photo and she got paid for that’ – but when you work as a blogger you work as your own content creator, photographer and promoter.
“You do everything yourself and you have to keep up with the latest trends.”
Laurina Machite, who offers a wide range of material on her blog, Laurina Machite, and lifestyle video content on YouTube, said financial gain all depended on where you were in your blogging career.
While Machite has a fulltime job, she said her blog and brand had become a secondary source of income.
“I have always believed that if you have the ability to do so – especially in this day and age where everything is digital – why not do something where you can get an extra income?”
Machite said she was partnering with a company where she contractually provided content on a monthly basis.
“The longer you’ve been blogging, the more credibility you have and the more willing a company would be to take you on, on a contract basis – rather than just a once-off campaign every now and then,” she said.
A freelance South African travel writer and blogger based in Port Elizabeth, Anje Rautenbach, said one of the challenges she encountered was the “negative connotations” associated with blogging.
Rautenbach said she avoided products and services that were not in line with the contents of her blog, Going Somewhere Slowly, and tried to stay away from offerings she herself could not afford.
“A lot of outsiders (and bloggers) think it is all about freebies and money.
“This is why I decline things that I know I won’t (as well as my audience) be able to afford, such as five-star accommodation targeted at foreign visitors.
“I would much rather pay my way, blog about the things I want to blog about and keep the creative say over my site,” she said.
Another challenge for newcomers is knowing how to approach companies and brands, according to Kelly.
She said most bloggers were likely to go through a lot of rejection before actually seeing any success.
“How do I approach a brand and say ‘this is who I am and I’d like to work with you’ without seeming like a person who just wants free stuff?
“We are moving past the point where brands are just sending product. They want to see return on their investment.
“But if you can be consistent, deliver quality and get past the first two years then it can definitely sustain you financially,” Kelly said.