©JulietteLeufke/unsplash.com

The technology of the 21^st century enables a quick and easy information flow and communication. There are plenty of communication channels on the internet and one of them is blogging.

A blog is a channel which offers certain content for a specific target group and lately it is one of the most popular marketing & PR tools. The big advantage of a blog is that it doesn’t require big investments; you only need time and motivation to start. Popular and well-known social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are milestones for a successful blog. All the information written on a blog is transmitted quickly and it goes directly to the selected target group.

When it comes to blogging, the target group chooses the information source they are interested in and not the other way around. The target group “follows“ the chosen information source, which has to provide new trends and attractive content. In this way, the target group agrees to be influenced.

The most influencing blogs are, of course, those with the most followers. A large number of followers means a large number of potential customers. A large number of potential customers means a chance for big earnings. At this point, various brands follow the trend. They get in touch with the bloggers and offer cooperation possibilities, so they can reach thousands of potential customers. By cooperating with popular brands, the blogger gets even more attention and followers and builds a reputation. It can even be the first step towards a successful own business. When a blog has reached a respectable number of followers who expect new content, trends and ideas every day and every hour, a blog stops being just a hobby or a platform to post interesting photos or thoughts. It becomes a tool that consumes a lot of time and effort, but that in the end is an opportunity for a successful career.

In the US, a blogger who has more than six million followers can earn between 20,000 and 100,000 dollars with publishing a single photo or text. The largest number of “influencers“ are female bloggers who write about fashion, travel and beauty. World famous bloggers such as Danielle Bernstein or Chiara Ferragni can earn up to several million dollars a year. Chiara Ferragni’s blog The Blonde Salad has more than 8 million followers. In that case, her success didn’t stop at writing. She has her own shoe and clothing collection and she cooperates with world famous brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Ermenegildo Zegna and Mango.

Danielle Bernstein is one of the most famous US fashion bloggers. Her blog We Wore What has more than 1.6 million followers. She claims that her “price” for sponsored content is between five and fifteen thousand dollars. She cooperates with expensive hotels and famous fashion and beauty brands.

In my home country Croatia, the popularity of blogs is also growing significantly and quickly. Blogs are still not such a popular marketing & PR tool like in other Western European countries and in the US. Therefore, in Croatia even the most influential bloggers cannot earn as much as the bloggers in the US, UK, France or Germany. Ella Dvornik is a Croatian lifestyle blogger who lives in London and Zagreb. On her blog, I am Ella, she writes about travel and fashion. In an interview for one Croatian magazine she said that although she gets invitations from hotels all over the world, she still has to spend her last money on plane tickets, taxi, restaurants, etc. She started as a hobby blogger, but now – with the significant number of followers – her blog is her full-time job. Not because it is so well paid, but because it consumes a lot of time and energy.

Isabella Rakonic writes about fashion trends on her blog The Pile of Style. She started as a hobby blogger as well, but now – with 80,000 followers – she claims that her blog is her full-time job.

Both Isabella and Ella partly owe their popularity to the English language; other bloggers who write only in Croatian don’t reach that large target groups so far and therefore they don’t have enough followers to make money out of a hobby.

In the beginning, every blog is just one among a few hundred million others. If a blogger wants to have an influential blog with a significant number of followers, he or she has to offer what the readers are asking for: fresh ideas and a unique style. A blogger who does that stands out from the crowd. But whether his or her blog is going to be a hobby or a full-time-job depends on the competition and the number of followers.