WANT TO START A BLOG? WHAT IT REALLY COSTS: YEAR 1 IN REVIEW

BY TIFFANY JOHNSON

Blogging is getting more popular by the day, and it's likely that you clicked on this article because you are thinking of beginning your own blogging journey. Well, I'm here to support you! The So MoTiFFated blog is officially ONE years old, and I wish I read a post like this when I decided to go for it and launch my blog. For me, this blog started as a way to find myself again. I needed to rediscover who I was outside of working, and thought . . . why not share this journey with the world. 

​Many of you may be in the same predicament to where you want to start building a brand and establishing a blog, in  addition to maintaining your full time career. Understandable! Know that it will not be an easy process, and will require many many many hours of work, and repetition to get your posts, videos, pictures and website ready to publish . . . but the outcome is so sweet. Think of it as a crock pot meal vs. a drive-thru meal. Yes, it will take time but knowing that you put time, energy, and effort into the process makes its success taste that much better.  

Honestly, when I started this blog I didn't have a clue of the expenses that would be associated with operating a blog, and didn't know what I didn't know to be able to plan for upcoming expenses to make my processes more efficient. To better aid you as your getting started on your journey, I'm going to share some of the blogging costs that I incurred throughout my first year of blogging, so that you can be better prepared to launch your own blog and brand!

WEBSITE (DOMAIN, HOST SUBSCRIPTION, ADD-ON)

Website Domain: $107.80 (2 Domain Subscriptions)

• I purchased 2 domains for this blog, the initial domain of somotiffated.com and then purchased the additional domain of somotiffatedlifestyle.com. Eventually, I want to evolve my blog into a company, so the secondary domain is a part of my larger plan.  It's not something that a beginner blogger would need to do when establishing a professional website as ONE domain is plenty!
• Weebly charged 33.90 for the domain (2 year renewal) with added on domain privacy $20 (2 year renewal). I purchased the same plan for my secondary domain, which currently routes traffic to my main domain.

Website Host Subscription: $99 Weebly Professional Plan

• I initially purchased my website subscription in 2016, a one year subscription of $99, because I had another site. Luckily, I’m still grandfathered in at that annual price. Currently, most annual subscriptions run at $144 per year. The month-to-month cost for the Weebly Pro plan is $16/month.

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Tip: I would definitely suggest purchasing annual subscriptions vs. month-to-month to save overall. It could potentially save you $48 per year.

PROMOTION: 10% OFF WEEBLY PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS

Elfsight Social Share Buttons for Weebly: $35.88 (annual)

• Unfortunately, there is an additional charge, through an added application, to allow for social media share buttons to be incorporated into articles such as blog posts, etc. A main goal of publishing content is for it to be seen by as many people as possible, so it was a necessary expense for growing my blog. 

CUSTOM DOMAIN EMAIL

G-Suite for Domain: $70

• I decided to purchase the email address tiffany@somotiffated.com instead of simply using a free gmail email account because, in my opinion, it enhances the professionalism of my brand. 

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Tip: Purchasing an email that is custom to your domain is a worthwhile investment on your blogging journey. Your professionalism is priceless and if you plan to interact with major brands, etc. it will be to your benefit to have an email address that is unique to your blog's website. ​

EMAIL MARKETING

Email Marketing Subscription: $96 (annual) Weebly Build Plan

• When establishing a blog, it’s vital to grow your email list as that is how you’re able to have direct contact with your audience vs. hoping they’ll log onto a social media app and see your latest updates.
• The email plan that I have allows me to send 5 emails a months and to have a pop-up marketing to capture the email addresses of visitors, but the drawback is that I’m not able to have them scheduled because that is included in Weebly’s $300 annual plan (Grow). Currently, my email list isn’t large enough to justify incurring the extra cost, so I’m going to make due and hold off until my audience grows. 

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Tip: Do what works for your budget, it's great to be forward thinking and to have everything automated, but if it doesn't make the most sense with your audience and with your budget, remember to not feel pressure to spend money. Eventually, your blog will generate enough income to promote content to its audience! Until that point, listen to your wallet!

CANVA (PRO) SUBSCRIPTION

*January – May 2020: $64.75 (month-to-month)
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*June 2020: Purchased annual subscription for $119.40

• Remember earlier when I mentioned that it's best to purchase annual subscriptions? This was one of my mistakes early on when I was testing Canva, and really enjoyed it but then forgot to switch to annual and wasted $3 a month for so long. 
• Canva is great for creating graphics, without having a background as a graphic designer. I create graphics for social media, blog posts, and even utilitized the website to create my logos! The Canva Pro feature allowed me to create a logo with a transparent background and download it without having a solid white background (like with their free account feature). I 10/10 recommend for beginner bloggers and brand builders!

LINK: PURCHASE YOUR CANVA PRO SUBSCRIPTION NOW

​TECHNOLOGY, BRANDING, & PROMOTION COSTS

• DSLR Camera Lens: Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 STM Lens: $125 
  • This lens is great for product photography, and can be good for vlogging too as its small aperture allows for great depth of field a.k.a. it blurs the background in photos and videos.

• Rode VideoMicro Ultracompact Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone: $59
  • My goal is to do more on camera work, so I wanted to purchase a microphone that would make my videos sound professional without breaking the bank.

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• Business Cards from MOO: $58.03
  • ​​Moo is known for having quality products, and I love their thick business cards because, to me, having quality business cards correlates to my having a quality brand. 

PROMOTION: 25% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER WITH MOO

• SanDisk 128GB Ultra SDXC UHS-I Memory Card: $14.99
  • ​I purchased a new memory card for my DSLR camera, so that I can keep my blog content and my personal content separate. I caught a Black Friday sale, which is why mine was so cheap. They usually run about $39.99, and I've linked a purchase option above. 

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• HP Envy 15.6" Touch Screen Laptop: $579.99
  • ​I spent a lot of time building my blog website and drafting blog posts, in preparation for my blog launch, either on my Microsoft Surface or my old laptop from college (that wouldn't connect to WiFi, so I had to use the ethernet cable to gain access to the internet). After struggling for months, I decided if my blog is going to be successful then I had to invest in it to enable its success. I purchased my laptop during Black Friday, so I saved about $200 off the regular retail price.
  • Luckily, Best Buy had a promotion with their credit card so I didn't have to pay interest on the sale and paid on it monthly until I paid it off! I've linked a similar laptop above, in case you were interested.  

TOTAL FIRST YEAR BLOGGING COSTS: $1,429.84

Wow! This is actually the first time that I sat down and calculated how much money I spend my first year of blogging, and wow . . . just wow. THAT IS A LOT! However, I wanted to pull back the curtain and share it with you so that you can be better and plan your blogging expenses, especially within your first year.

Unfortunately, my blog didn't generate income in its first year. Don't be sad for me! I did the ground work to set my blog up for income generation and joined several affiliate programs in addition to incorporating ads on my website, so it's sure to generate income in 2021!!!

​[It technically generated income in 2020, but didn't meet the income payout thresholds of the aforementioned programs, so I didn't receive any income within that year.]

Be on the lookout for future post(s) about how to grow and monetize your blog! As my blog grows, so will its expenses. Let me know in the comments below if you would like for me to continue sharing this type of content to help you on your journey. If so, I'll definitely do an updated post for Year 2 of So MoTiFFated! ​

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