ad | There’s always been a lot of discourse around whether “blogging is dead”. As a blogger of over 10 years, who’s doing better than ever, I can confidently say it’s not. Whilst a lot of people are leaning more towards Instagram, nothing will take the place of you having your own space on the internet.
Investing in your blog doesn’t have to cost a bomb. Although there are some thing – like hosting and domain names – that do cost which you can’t avoid.
But then it’s up to you to weigh up the pros and cons of whether to invest in these things or not.
I’m 10 years into this career (game? whatever you want to call it) and I have outgoings go out every year for my blog but they definitely won’t be as much as you think.
You absolutely can run a successful and thriving blog and not pay a fortune to do so.
But if you want to grow your blog in 2024 and you’re not putting in that bit of extra sparkle, then this post will help you consider what’s worth investing in.
But these following suggestions are all things that I think absolutely are!
Here are 7 simple things to invest in for your blog in 2024:
Business cards
There are many reasons why you should invest in business card for your blog this year, if you haven’t already:
- It shows professionalism
- It has all your details in one place
- It makes it easier for people to contact you
- It allows you to expand your reach
- They’re great for networking events
And more. And it’s great to find a brand with lots of options available for you to create your perfect business card. Aura Print are an excellent option for business cards, they’re also where all my business cards are from as well.
Aura Print can provide you with an excellent sample pack, which contains samples of their foil printing and paper options for you to feel and see for yourself, before you commit to a full pack of business cards.
The sample pack allows you to see all the beautiful foil colours up close and in person before you choose, which is a great service for them to provide because your business cards are likely to last you a good while, so you want to be happy with them.
The metallic foil sample pack won’t even set you back $5!
Your domain name
Anyone can start a blog but if you want to take your blog more seriously in 2024, grabbing your domain name is something that should be a priority.
This will require you to pay a fee for a year which will give you the rights to your domain name.
Owning your own domain will also help down the line with things like domain authority – which is key to monetizing your blog in regards to working with some brands, PR’s and agencies.
Time
We all knew I was going to add something wishy-washy like this on here and here we are.
Investing your time into your blog is really important, especially if you want to grow your audience, your page views, your income and more.
I’m definitely not one to claim you need to focus your ENTIRE LIFE on your blog but investing just a bit of time every day or every week to writing content, learning about Pinterest and brushing up on your SEO can work wonders.
Work on your time management and this will be a piece of cake.
A clean and attractive theme
If your theme is all over the place, then that definitely needs to be addressed this year. And it’s time to invest in a new, clean and attractive theme.
Themes should be easy to navigate. There should be a clear search bar and you shouldn’t be scrolling around for ages trying to find what you’re looking for.
Avoid too many pop-ups, they drive everyone mad.
Canva Pro
I don’t know where I’d be without my Canva Pro membership. I don’t have many memberships for my blog – two of them are listed in this post. So I definitely wouldn’t recommend something I don’t use.
I love the freedom that Canva Pro gives me. There’s endless options of things to create, along with many more beautiful templates for things like Pinterest pins and blog graphics.
A stock image membership
The second membership I have for my blog is my Styled Stock Society membership for stock images which, again, I couldn’t be without.
This is especially useful if, like me, you don’t enjoy or don’t feel like you’re very good at taking photos yourself.
A stock image membership elevated my blog content and allowed me to focus on what I enjoyed best – the writing!
A newsletter
This isn’t something you necessarily have to pay for, unless you grow your newsletter to the high heavens super quick.
I have a MailChimp account for my newsletter and it works for me nicely and as I only have just under 500 subscribers at the moment, I don’t have to pay.
But a newsletter can be a great investment (in time and/or money) for your blog, allowing you to reach a new audience or get more intimate with your existing audience by offering up things such as personal insights or a freebie library.
This year I want to change my theme and perhaps get a photo membership as I spend too much time trying to find photos.
Lisa
http://www.lovefromlisa.com
Styled Stock Society are amazing!
I really want a custom domain name for my blog. I hope this year I can have it.
You should go for it!
Never thought of getting business cards for my blog, thanks so much for the idea. Wonderful post concise and hitting the nail on the head about blogging.
Thank you 🙂
Excellent post! I love your blog! 🙂
Thank you 🙂