How can I start a blog without the risk of wasting money?
In the beginning, blogging costs through me for a loop! I wasn’t sure that I could stay dedicated and didn’t want to throw away money trying it out. I was on a budget and didn’t know how I was going to be able to pay for everything that comes with running a beauty blog online. After a little bit of research and of course reading a few reviews I found out that WordPress.com allows you to get started for free. I mean totally FREE and you do not have to pay upfront!
The catch is that you will not get the same options as you would if you were paying for it and the initial domain name will be directly scripted to WordPress on the end. You would get minimal storage for storing media but there’s plenty room to help you figure out if you like blogging enough to upgrade. You wouldn’t own this site but will still be able to start writing and creating content until you’re able to move on to bigger & better things.
I can’t afford a high tech camera to capture images for blog posts…
All is well! There are so many free stock photo options out here in web land that you’d get lost. A lot of these high quality photos are completely free with an undetectable watermark so that the photos don’t look so obvious. I still use them to this day. I have a camera and a phone but I don’t always have time to take photos. They really are helpful when creating beautiful posts. Here are a few databases that I use:
You can also ask other photographers and media content creators if they’re open to you using their media content. I’ve found that most are okay with it as long as you credit the photo to them. You can even purchase photos so that you own them and can use them as you please. I prefer to take some of my product shots myself but I often use brand photos and credit them in the caption or at the bottom of the post.
How do I get beauty products without going broke every week?
I began with talking about the beauty products that I already used and had at home. I would take these items and group them by commonality then brainstorm titles to elaborate on. A great way to plan out content and not break the bank is to cover new product releases between buys. That way you’re still creating but not having to make a purchase every time you talk about products.
There are tons of influencer review platforms that are free to join. Quite a few of them send out free beauty products to try in exchange for your opinion of them. I take every opportunity to talk about these products on my blog because it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce my viewers to something new and keep them engaged. Here are some of the Influencer Programs that helped me:
Beauty Blogging can get extremely expensive really fast! Most hosts require an annual payment, domain renewal, security ad-ons, etc. You can pick and choose what you’ll need later after you get the ball rolling. You do NOT have to spend an arm and a leg to take your first steps to writing great beauty reviews. I hope that you take some of this information and try it out. I love beauty blogging and am so happy that I didn’t let money discourage me. I took the leap when I was ready and haven’t gone back since.
Heran Park 