Photo: picjumbo / Viktor Hanacek
On 30. January the Golden Bloggers will be awarded again at the Telefonica BASECAMP. Then decide: who are the most important bloggers in Germany, and who has joined Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter made the biggest name? But is this a profession at all? And how do you actually make money with it? These are questions that not only parents ask their offspring, when they hear about their Blogs, Followers, Likes and their career aspirations. We wanted the answers, so we asked the professional bloggers Rebecca Randak by FuckLuckyGoHappy and Claudio Rimmele from iHeartBerlin.
They work both as content creators in the Berlin Blog Factory. It’s a special co-working space where bloggers do their Jobs not with money pay, but with their content. They publish these in a joint online magazine: DailyBreadMag, which is the blog of blogs for everyone Blog Fabricators is. A Meta-Blog so to speak. With this business model, it seems almost logical that the Berlin blogger commune is located in, of all places Kreuzberg has.
Berlin bloggers: From bohemian to professional
But the more accurate Viewing quickly shows that blogging is not just a lifestyle for the digital bohemians. And it doesn’t have to be Remain a hobby, even if it mostly starts like this. Behind every project is a huge amount of work. This is also shown by the experiences of Rebecca, that was shown on FuckLuckyGoHappy about spiritual Lifestyle and Yoga blog, as well as by Claudio with the lifestyle blog iHeartBerlin. They have turned their hobby into a profession and today explain to us what necessary for this.
Rebecca, Photo: Jule Muller / im gegenteil
First of all, tell us more about the job description of a blogger. Were you aware from the start that you wanted to go professional with your blog?
Rebecca: When I was Fuck Lucky Go Happy founded in July 2013, there was no question that I also wanted to earn money with the blog. Only that Like was still not quite clear. In the beginning I worked as PR consultant, but dedicated every free second to my blog baby. After a good year I was able to get the PR jobs to the nail. Requests for well-paid journalistic contributions came in, I taught more yoga and also the blog business flourished. After about two years, I was able to move on from my Business life.
Claudio: The founding of iHeartBerlin was already ten years ago. At the time, my friend Frank suddenly wanted to own website. On it he just wanted to show friends what Berlin has to offer. After a few months I also got The desire to participate. But we didn’t really have a clue about blogging. Frank was in a permanent job as a web developer and I was in the middle of my Psychology study.
Claudio, photo: Frank Schroder / iHeartBerlin
Our blog but then became known pretty quickly, we were recommended, shared and our click numbers grew more and more. I think it worked mainly because at that time there was no comparable, bilingual blog gave. Berlin’s growing popularity, especially abroad, also played a role. Today we have an international team, many guest authors and write about Fashion, Art, Music, Parties, Travel, restaurants and just about everything around Berlin.
Would you say you guys got lucky, or does it just take the right theme at the right time to be a successful blogger?
Claudio: Probably a little of both. But there is also no overnight success, that must be clear to everyone. The first years mean a lot of work and little money. But if you put your heart and soul into it, you can end up doing what you enjoy the most and make money from that as well live well.
So let’s get down to brass tacks: How do you earn money as a blogger so that you can live off it??
Rebecca: There is not "the one" source of income, but primary and secondary sources. Primary are the revenues generated directly through the blog, such as Advertising. Secondary Revenue sources are requests that would not exist without the blog, but have nothing to do with the content on the site have to do.
Money through blogging: Four ways of monetization
So advertising is a classic way of financing. How exactly does this work??
Claudio: These are mainly banners in the sidebar, which are clearly marked as advertising. Customers pay monthly to have their products or store to be linked.
Rebecca: Advertorials work in a similar way. For contributions that are sponsored Are characterized, we get money, such as for the Announcement of a yoga trip in the desert with a yoga teacher friend of mine. However, for all blogs where products play a really big role, affiliate marketing is meaningful.
What does affiliate marketing mean??
Rebecca: This means that bloggers recommend a particular product to their readers. If they buy it, you get a small share of the revenue. But you should make sure that the Product fits to the blog or something you would seriously recommend to your friends. This is the only way to preserve Credibility.
As bloggers, you both write a lot of texts accordingly. Does this also result in external jobs that are only indirectly related to your blog??
Claudio: In any case. We have regularly Collaborations with other media and publications, where we create texts and photo spreads publish.
And with you, Rebecca? Do you also accept external assignments?
Rebecca: Of course. I like to write for other media. For example, I was a permanent part of the editorial team of the magazine YOGA GERMANY, wrote for the online lifestyle magazine of WYLD and to this day for the women’s magazine FRESHME.
Why is it so interesting for other media to work with bloggers?
Claudio: There are several reasons. Bloggers are very knowledgeable in their field and have a high profile. This in turn also influences the Negotiating position, because you are not only selling texts, but also promoting your own personal brand with brings in.
You have now named three ways to earn money through a blog. What are the possibilities beyond online jobs??
Rebecca: My online business is the biggest catalyst for my offline work, which is teaching yoga. To be honest, I myself was quite surprised, How quickly my workshops and retreats were booked up. The best advertising platform for events like this is a blog with relevant Reach.
Claudio: As a blogger with an acceptable reach, of course you also get a lot of invitations or requests, for example to give talks or advise companies regarding influencer marketing. I am through iHeartBerlin to the Blogfabrik and also work there as Creative Director. Without the blog, this option might not have come up at all. Nevertheless, I continue to work with Frank on the best recommendations in and around Berlin.
Thank you very much for your open words and the interesting conversation.
Best Bloggers: Golden Bloggers at the Telefonica BASECAMP
In Germany there should be more than 200.000 active blogs and the best of the year will be awarded at the 30. January at the Telefonica BASECAMP with the Golden Bloggers award. The most important Award ceremony for the scene of Blogger and Influencer in the Federal Republic takes place for the second time with us. You can also watch them live under the hashtags #GoldeneBlogger and #Blogger2016 on Twitter track. Or just drop by! To the application it goes here.
Anything is possible: blogger is a real profession
Rebecca and Claudio have shown that blogging is a real profession. But this term is now part of something that has long evolved: There are also Youtuber, which is usually seen as Video blogger or Vlogger Designates. And there are Snapchatters, Instagramer As well as all kinds of photographers, writers or video producers, to create interesting content and to publish online.
Rightly so therefore the question is often asked whether blogging might even be the Publishing of tomorrow is. An interesting perspective that again opens up new business and career opportunities. Basically, however, who wants to see the Blogging from hobby to profession wants to make, has today many chances to it. You can even make a good living from it if you have the right Strategy pursued.