The Blog/Biz Investments I Make (& How/Where to Save)

I’ve been blogging 10 years now and here’s where I invest and save–and some advice that I’ve learned through trial and error on my own throughout the years:

Website

A functioning, aesthetically pleasing website is an absolute. There are plenty of platforms and tools that make this super easy. Squarespace is easy to use and super affordable (my photography site was on this platform and I paid $20 a month for it!) If you’re a photographer, I recommend Photobiz and have switched over to that platform in the last month.

I also love WordPress and made the switch from Blogger five years ago now. I also made the investment to hire a website designer to redesign it and add additional functionality since this is not my area of expertise. My web designer has been worth every penny and I highly recommend outsourcing the shit you’re not a pro at or want to be a pro at. And I also have peace of mind because she runs maintenance and I can reach out to her whenever for almost instant help. I also have someone I trust to help with my photography site who helped me set it up!

Branding

Your brand is the most important part of your business–this is your logo and other brand materials like website, business cards, etc. In the past, I’ve hired designers to redesign logos, my business cards and other digital needs like e-news. However, to save a bit, I found options like digital fonts for purchase through Etsy where you can purchase and send instructions on what you want the calligraphy logo to say. I used this account to purchase my blog logo for like $15.

Canva is also a wonderful tool for non-designers like myself to create quick social media graphics on the go. Create an account for free and if you need to purchase a template or photo, it’s cheap and easy.

Email Marketing

This is something I wish someone told me to focus on in the beginning but in 2010, I don’t think this was top of mind for many people. Now, it’s an essential part of a blog and pretty much any other small business to communicate to your audience and drive them back to your website.

I use Mailchimp and have a weekly blog recap automatically sent out every Saturday which was set up by my web designer and requires zero work on my part. It just rounds everything up and shares.

I also paid to have someone set this account up for me and design the layout/design–and so happy I had to do nothing to get this set up. Since I get frustrated so easily, I knew this would drive me nuts and glad I hired my web designer and another freelancer to help with this.

Photography

As a photographer, I should really tell you all you need high quality photography by moi to succeed, but the truth is, iPhone photos work well. The photo quality has vastly improved even in the last couple years. Of course, investing in some high quality images for professional headshots and for marketing materials is worth it and I highly recommend it. You can easily get away with iPhone photos day to day, sharing quick photos from you phone on social media channels. People respond to the less than perfect photo and it’s more relatable.

I personally like to mix professional images with self-timer and this tripod for iPhone snaps. Besides these photos in the post, the last two months of photos on this blog have been iPhone. I can be a lot more creative with my professional camera, playing with depth of field and lighting, so I will always mix in professional photos and recommend them, but for me personally, iPhone photos end up performing much better on Instagram.

It’s worth exploring an aesthetic that is on brand for you and whether it’s a high res image or grainy phone photo, it looks like you and your brand. You can achieve this through filters and presets. I personally love Mandi Nelson mobile presets and the Tezza app for editing photos in-phone.

Mobile Apps

For Instagram, I pay for PLANN to plan out my Instagram content and this was a game changer for me. I can visually see how the photos come together on the feed before I publish, write captions in advance and see more analytics with this app. I’ve also used Planoly and Mosaico in the past, but have been using PLANN for a couple years.

I use DesignLab and Unfold for creating fun Instagram stories (along with Canva) and TEZZA and Lightroom for editing photos and videos. I’ve also started to play around with Inshot for longer videos, but this is another new area for me that I’m exploring.

Couple Tidbits of Advice

A piece of advice that stuck with me throughout the years: Outsource the shit you can’t do well. I save time and frustration which equals money by just paying an expert whether it’s a web developer or Instagram expert for hashtag analytics and recommendations. Things get done right the first time and I can focus on the stuff I love to do.

What do you invest in if you run a blog or small business?

Free People utility pants | linen top from Retail Therapy (similar) | suede jacket | mules | Abby Alley necklaces

Photography by Matt Thompson