You have heard of the saying ‘You need to spend money to make money.” right? Well it is true.
It is true in life and it is true in business. In 2020 alone, I spent well over $10,000 in investments for my blog and business.
Want to know how I invested on my blog?
In this post, I will give you a run down on exactly what I spent money on in 2020.
You certainly do not have to spend the amount I did. This guide is for you if you would like to invest in your blog, but don’t quite know how to get started.
Investments Are Scary
I totally get it.
The first time I made an investment on my blog, I was so scared that I was wasting my money.
The truth is that investments can be a waste if you do not have any sort of strategy behind your investments and you do not know where to start.
In fact, when I started blogging in 2015, I was adamant that I was not going to spend money on my blog. I chose to use a free blogging platform and did everything in the cheapest way possible.
There were a lot of opportunities for me to invest, but I refused them all.
I was convinced that I knew what I was doing. And even when I hit a roadblock, I figured that there was nothing I couldn’t google my way out of.
I was stubborn and the results showed.
It took me 5 years of going around in circles, making small wins here and there, till I was able to earn sustainable, repeatable income through my blog and business.
Now, if you have no intention of monetizing your blog, you probably should look away.
Otherwise, let’s dive into how to and why you should invest in your blog.
The Year It Finally Clicked
2020 marked a huge change for me. I got to the point in my life and business where I was tired of doing the same things and expecting different results.
In May 2020, I invested in my very first online course. It was a lot of money and at the time, I was determined that this would be the only course that I would ever have to take to build a successful online business.
Since then, I have spent well into 5 figures investing in both my blog and my business.
There are a lot of investments that you may have to make as a blogger. I went a little (a lot) bit crazy when it comes to investing.
Again, you certainly do not have to spend anywhere near that amount to be a successful blogger. However, I believe that it is important to invest in yourself and in the growth of your blog.
Why You Should Invest In Your Blog
Investing in your blog is a good idea if you would like to monetize it either now or in the future.
Like most investments, the benefit may not be apparent immediately.
Regardless, here are 5 reasons to invest in your blog and business.
Reason #1- Investing In Your Blog Saves You Time
Yes- It is true that you can google anything you ever want to know. You can find answers for free. The answers are there.
But, you spend a heck of a lot of time looking for those answers.
When I started getting serious about my blog, I had a full time job (I still do) plus a toddler to take care of. It took me over 5 years to get to this point, and I realized that without the proper guidance, I could still achieve my goals, but it may have taken me another 5 years figuring out.
Time is such a precious asset. Why not fast track the process if you can?
You save a ton of time by just investing.
Reason # 2- Investing Saves Money
This might seem like an oxymoron, but it is true that investing in your blog can also save you money.
The problem is when you try to go the free route without much experience or strategy, you can often make mistakes.
When it comes time to fixing these mistakes, it can end up costing you even more money than you would have spent otherwise.
You can avoid this by investing in the right tools and resources so that you can achieve success the first time around.
Reason # 3- It Allows You To Follow A Proven Path
When you invest in a good course and program, you are given a proven roadmap to follow.
In my early days as a blogger, I spent hours devouring income reports (don’t lie you have too :p) trying to piece together all the clues that the other successful bloggers had left behind.
While income reports are helpful, I am yet to find an income report or a single blog post that gives the entire roadmap from point A to Z.
You often have to find multiple sources of information and then work to piece everything together.
You can also get conflicting information sometimes. What worked for one person is not guaranteed to work for everyone.
The straightest path to success is to follow a proven path or roadmap.
Investing in things such as an online course or a coaching program is often the most comprehensive way to achieve this result.
Reason # 4- You Value What You Pay For
I strongly believe that where your money goes, your heart is.
I can offer you an amazing resource for free, but I am almost 100% certain that if I were to offer that same resource to your neighbour for an increased cost, they would get more out of it than you would have.
The transformation that you receive from your investments are not only a result of the quality of the content, but also the perceived value.
We are all human and for the most part when we receive something for free, we are less likely to value it.
When we have spent a good amount of money, time or effort working on something, best believe that we try to get our money’s worth. We all have it inbuilt in us to want to succeed. Nobody wants to waste their money or time, so they work even harder to implement.
Reason # 5- It Helps You To Treat Your Blog Like A Business
In a business, you have to spend money to make money.
You need to have that same mindset for your blog if you would like it to be successful.
My First Big Investment
Long story short, I was going round in circles doing the same thing in different ways and expecting different results.
I can now see that although my first blog had some success, the strategies that I was using were not sustainable.
A few months into 2020, I made my first investment by signing up for Bossgram Academy with Vanessa Lau.
Prior to signing up, I had watched Vanessa’s Youtube channel for a few months and had witnessed her growth right before my eyes.
I was hooked on Vanessa’s free content and had already started implementing some of her strategies.
I loved her no nonsense attitude and I just said to myself- If she is this successful and giving out this much value with her FREE content, imagine what she would be giving out with her paid content.
I’ll never forget the email that did it for me.
She had a line in her copy that said
Something I see A LOT of new or aspiring coaches do is say:
“I help you live your best life”
… as their MAIN value proposition.
But what the HECK does that EVEN MEAN!?
Something I created and now teach my own students in my paid program is the FLUFF TEST.
Yup. The FLUFF test.
This means if my students DON’T pass my fluff test, they need to go back to the drawing board because I guarantee promising your prospects “their best life” is NOT profitable, at all.
Ok… at this point, I was not a coach. I didn’t even know what it meant to be a coach. But when I say Vanessa snatched my wig… I mean
You see, I had been doing EXACTLY what she wrote about for 5 years- helping people live their best life. And up until this point, I had no clue that I was doing it wrong.
Taking Bossgram Academy was a huge turning point in my blog and business. I am so glad that I took a chance on myself and started this journey of investing in myself.
Investments I Made To Start My Blog
I mentioned earlier that I started my first blog 5+ years ago. I made the decision to create a new blog in 2020. In doing this, I had to make several investments on the blog.
Self Hosting
The first investment that I made was for the blog domain and hosting.
Hosting is the home where your blog lives. In my early days of blogging, I chose to create my blog on the free wordpress platform. This was incredibly limiting and I was not able to get my blog to look the way that I wanted.
I switched to wix and blogged on that platform for about a year. Again, I found myself limited by the platform.
I had started to do more research and learned about self hosting. I did my research and went with Bluehost.
Bluehost is a platform that is really common amongst bloggers. It is one of the most affordable hosting platforms around and you can get it for a reduced price using this link.
When I launched my blog in 2020, I was already familiar with bluehost, so I decided to use it for my new blog.
Hosting with Bluehost costs $2.49 / month. You can sign up for bluehost at this reduced price using my link.
My Blog Theme
The next thing that I purchased for my blog was a premium theme.
The first theme that I went with was The Everleigh Theme by Pix and Hue. I decided to switch to The Harlowe James theme also by Pix and Hue towards the end of the year.
All of these themes were purchased from Creative Market.
Creative Market has a lot to offer. Not only can you get beautiful themes from the platform, you can also purchase custom fonts and other graphics and templates for your blog.
Tailwind
The majority of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest.
Tailwind and Pinterest is a combination made in marketing heaven.
If this is your first time hearing about tailwind, it is a tool that you can use to schedule your pins to Pinterest.
So why not pin manually you may ask?
Pinterest favours accounts who pin consistently. The sweet spot is really 15-25 pins per day. It is preferred if you pin consistently throughout the day.
I do not know about you, but I do not have time to manually pin all day every day.
With Tailwind, you spend 30 minutes to an hour and you have all the content scheduled for 1- 2 weeks.
Canva for Business
I invested in Canva business because I constantly create graphics for myself and for my clients. This was a great investment.
It also comes with a lot of really great stock photos too.
Flodesk
Another investment I made for my blog and my email marketing was with Flodesk.
Flodesk is known for its pretty templates and the ease of use. I have enjoyed using it so far.
Investments I Made For Photography and My Youtube Channel
Stock Photography
I love taking my own photos but I do not always have enough time to take the photos that I need for my blog. Stock photos are the answer to this. The stock photos that I use on this blog are primarily from pixistock. I signed up for their yearly plan which gives me unlimited access to a library stocked full of beautiful feminine stock photos.
Some other places that you can get stock photos from include
- Unsplash (FREE resource)
- Creative Market
- Canva (with your Pro membership)
- Styled Stock Society
Camera Lens
When I started my Youtube channel in 2020, I decided to get a new lens for my camera.
I absolutely LOVE this lens and I would highly recommend it.
Prior to this, I was using my 50mm lens which I also love. It is a more cost friendly option and the perfect starter lens for new photographers.
Microphone
The microphone that I chose to use for filming my Youtube video was this Rode Microphone.
Lighting
I decided to purchase additional lighting because I knew that I would be filming in my basement and at night.
I went with these umbrella lights from Amazon in addition to the ring light that I got as a Christmas gift a few years ago.
Investments In Online Courses & Education
By far the biggest investments that I made on my blog last year was in online courses and education.
I will list these investments in chronological order. Some of these were purchased towards the end of the year, so I cannot give a fair review of the course. I will create a post at a later date where I share my thoughts on some of these courses.
For the most part, I do not regret any of the courses that I have taken. I did a lot of research before choosing each course. I am confident that for each of these courses, the methods work if you do the work.
The Best Course For New Entrepreneurs To Invest In
Ebrand Club
Ebrand club is not a course per se, but it might as well be.
It is a membership club run by Erin of Erin on Demand. I signed up for this group out of curiosity more than anything else and was pleasantly surprised.
The Ebrand club is stocked full of resources to get you started with your online business.
Erin knows a lot about great content and building your social media presence. You only need to look to her Youtube channel of 200k + subscribers (and growing) to see that she knows her stuff.
I have been a part of many groups, but this one deserves special attention for the community that is in this group. Everyone is super supportive of each other and more than willing to lend a helping hand. I have made some really great connections with people I have met here!
Erin also does regular giveaways where she gives members things such as free yearly memberships, microphones, ring lights, books, gift cards and more.
#Eboss
Bossgram Academy
Vanessa’s course is the ultimate resource for new coaches and service providers who would like to learn how to leverage Instagram and find clients through the platform.
The course comes with a ton of bonuses including a course on bookkeeping and managing your finances in your business.
The Best Course For Youtube To Invest In
Youtube For Bosses
This is a course for Youtubers who want to learn the ins and outs of growing a Youtube channel the right way. Sunny teaches you her signature sunny system which guarantees that you will make videos that rank well with the Youtube algorithm.
The Best Courses To Invest In For Bloggers and Content Creators
Jenna Kutcher Content Lab
The content lab by Jenna Kutcher is a 5 module course where she teaches content strategy. In this course, you get tips on how to create content that converts and drives results for you and your business.
Herpaper route Blog Monetization Course is a course that teaches how to create, run, market and monetize a money making blog. If you are a new blogger, this is a great course to get you started.
Profitable Creator Course with Melyssa Griffin
This course is for bloggers to teach you how to launch an online course through your blog.
Truth be told, I enrolled in this course several months ago and have stalled on completing it. I realized that I am not quite ready to launch a course and I would much rather take my time. Launching a course is one of my goals for 2021, so I am sure that I will complete the course this year.
I HIGHLY recommend taking a blogging course to get you started as a new blogger. This is something that I resisted for a long time. I felt that this course gave me a clear roadmap to start my blog with.
Shameless Plug… if you click on the link to the website, my picture features on her website- it is the first thing that you see! Woohoooo!!
ACTIVATE blog coaching
Ruth Soukup is an expert when it comes to blogging and making money blogging. ACTIVATE is a group coaching program that starts in January 2021. I am currently signed up for 6 months with the option to extend it for a full year if I enjoy the program.
Affiliate marketing course
This course by Kimi Kinsey is your ultimate guide for all thing affiliate marketing.
I have mentioned several times how I have been blogging for several years before I started this blog. I thought I understood affiliate marketing, but taking this course taught me that I never really did.
In this course Kimi walks you through everything from finding affiliate links to optimizing your blog so that you actually get the results you desire from your affiliate links.
Pinterest with Ell
Pinterest is the biggest source of traffic for my blog. I knew that in order to improve my traffic to the blog that I would have to learn the ins and outs of Pinterest.
Content Marketing Certification
One of the investments that I decided to make for my business and my blog was this course / certification.
I am currently still enrolled in the program, but I am hoping to complete the course by the end of the year.
This course is probably the best course on the internet for freelance writers looking to start their freelance writing business.
My goal as a freelancer is to provide the best value for my clients. I believe that this course will help me to achieve this goal.
1:1 Business Coaching
The final and largest investment that I made in 2020 was on a business coach.
I do not think that everyone needs to hire a coach. It all comes down to your personality and learning style.
One of the things that I personally struggle with is implementation. I felt that I needed 1:1 guidance to push me to be consistent and to implement all of what I have learned. I am looking forward to working with my coach in 2021 and hope to meet my business goals.
This was a run down of all the things that I invested in for my business in 2020.
Who would have thought that a girl who vowed to figure everything out on her own would be investing so heavily on herself.
Key Takeaways From My Experiences
When we make investments in our blog, we feel afraid or nervous that it would be a waste of money. I know that you would probably like a guarantee that you will be able to recoup the investment, however do not be afraid.
Your results with not always be monetary, but they are still results all the same.
I do not regret any of my investments because they are all a part of my journey. The knowledge that I have gained is invaluable and something that no one can take away.
I hope you found this helpful for knowing where to start with investing. With this resource, you can invest in your blog with confidence, knowing that you are investing in your success.. .
If you would like me to give a more detailed review or explanation on any of the products or programs that I mentioned in this post, just let me know.
