Q&A’s are quickly becoming my favorite thing to post about so keep the questions comin’ in hot! I figure we can do a massive blog tip Q&A once a month, what do you think? The reason I’m so obsessed with Q&As is that it helps us at Zanita Studio understand your wants and needs - that way we can continue to bring you the most value.
It’s also extremely frustrating when you can’t find the exact answer you want on Google or the first person (bloggers especially) you asked doesn’t answer it. But that’s not what we’re about. We’re about simple, no BS tips, tricks, and advice that will take you to the next level in your blog whether that’s beauty, health, fitness, whatever it may be. We got your back!
With that said, let’s jump right into the latest Qs from our lovely readers…
Little Miss Mon Bon wants to know… Is it important to have a given niche - i.e. only beauty or only travel? I love so many different aspects of my life and my job, and I LOVE sharing it all with my audience but I feel like that hinders me.
Great question Mon! Yes, it is extremely important to have a niche. In fact, I recently attended an event hosted by WhoWhatWear and Danielle from WeWoreWhat (tongue twister I know) said “Today everyone and their mother has a blog, literally, so it’s very important you find a niche”. I mean, it doesn’t get any more pro than her, right?
But she’s right. You need a niche to stand out. I mean, you don’t need one but the odds will be in your favor if you get one and stick to it. I always compare niches to shopping. If you want a pair of quality jeans are you going to go to Forever21 or Paige? You’re most likely going to go to Paige because they specialize in jeans! They’ve been around for a thousand years (exaggerating) selling denim so they know what they’re doing at this point.
I feel like if you want to expand to be more lifestyle, you need to be at the level of WeWoreWhat, Sincerely Jules, Zanita, The Blonde Salad, etc. They can blog about whatever they want now because they’re so big and they have their readers’ attention no matter what. However, I do believe you have to try your hand at different topics before you nail what works for you and your readers.
When I first started blogging I was all over the place. I was blogging 5 days a week about all kinds of random topics but from those topics I was able to see what got the most clicks, shares, comments, etc. so I started to create more of that content thus my blog because more targeted.
Now after 6ish years, I’m starting to incorporate different aspects like travel, but I still recommend staying pretty targeted for the most so you develop that tight, close knit readership. You want to become a master in your field!
Gabrielle wants to know… As a marketer how do you balance marketing for your clients, and marketing for yourself and doing partnerships for your brand? Are there ever any conflicts?
Another great question! With my NAB blog mentoring services, I treat every client’s blog as if it were my own so I implement the same strategies, techniques, and content ideas (to some level) that I would for myself. They come first then my own stuff comes second. I carve out time throughout the day that I give attention to certain things.
For example, I market/blog for myself before work, after work, and on the weekends, unless I have a deadline for a client, then that client comes first.
It’s a counterbalancing act in that I focus on the parts of my life that need TLC the most, then I switch off to something else that needs TLC. You won’t ever be completely in sync in all areas of your life, that just doesn’t happen. It’s impossible to actually balance everything. It’s more about prioritizing what needs to happen right now to get to that next step.
So yes, of course, there are conflicts, I spend a lot of time commuting and I wish I could just teleport places because it would give me more time! But I can’t so I work with the time I do have.
There are also times where I can’t attend certain events or do certain things because of other obligations. So that’s a bummer but for the most part, I’d say I have this whole counterbalancing thing down and the drama is very minimal.
Pinja wants to know… I would like to know more about reaching out to brands, how do I do it? What is it that they’re usually looking for? I really struggle with ‘pushing’ myself and would love to hear how to do it without being annoying/obnoxious!
Girl push yourself! What do you have to lose?!
The easiest way to reach out to brands is to find them on Google or Instagram and get the contact info. There are so many other ways to do this but I prefer Google and IG. If you Google, you can search “::brand name:: pr” that way if the brand has a pr contact, it will automatically pop up. Otherwise, you can just search the brand name and then head to the contact page and either fill out a contact form or send a cold email to whatever email address is listed.
I would try and get as specific as possible - really try and find a person to contact rather than “[email protected]” - that way it’ll show the brand you did your homework and went the extra mile.
Then when you send that cold email, mention something you love that the brand has been doing lately, say what you’ll do and how you’ll benefit the brand, and include your media kit.
You never want to come off assuming and deserving, meaning something like “Hi! Love your brand, I have 5,000 followers and I’d love to promote this dress for $200!”, like no. That won’t fly. Baby steps. If you want to work with them, you need to play by their rules not your own.
The Dressed Fork (in response to this post) wants to know… I’m curious: how do you write on the train, on your laptop?
I actually write on my phone in the notes section. I don’t get service so writing on my laptop wouldn’t work and the notes section seems to be really effective thus far. Once I’m done writing a blog post or ideas or whatever I copy and paste it into an email to myself and then when I get home I turn it into a blog post. Easy peasy!
Melody (in response to this post) wants to know… Are you ever not plugged in?
No. I am always plugged in. I actually recently took a “social media break” that I Snapchatted about the whole time… some social media break, right? Anyway, I hated it.
I felt lazy and like I fell so far behind (which I did) so I prefer to stay plugged in at all times. If I’m doing something super amazing (like scaling a cliff along the Amalfi coast) or spending time with family and friends I try to give that my undivided attention but I also bring my experiences and my family into my little online world to keep it real. I think that’s huge.
It’s not fun when you don’t see everything or you only see certain angles of a person’s life. I mean obviously I don’t show everything but for the most part, I’m pretty transparent about what’s going on in my life. And that works for me but it may not work for everyone. Ultimately you have to do what feels right for you.
Like I said before guys, I LOVE Q&As so be sure to submit your questions below for next month’s Q&A! And don’t forget to tag your URL or Instagram name for a special shout out.
xx Britt
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