Livin’ the Life as a Lifestyle Blogger

If you spend any time online, chances are that you’ve read a lifestyle blog at least a couple of times. From food and travel to DIY hacks and mom life, lifestyle blogging has taken off in ways that no one could have predicted. No matter what your interests are, there’s probably a site out there for you. And if there’s not, what’s stopping you from starting a lifestyle blog of your own? In this post, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to become a lifestyle blogger, the types of topics to consider writing about that will help you stand out, how much money you could make, and the steps you can take to kick start your lifestyle blogger dream right now.

What Is a Lifestyle Blogger?

It’s never been easier (or cheaper!) to start running your own website. Gone are the days when you needed to know how to code a site from scratch to be able to share your thoughts online. With so much opportunity out there, individuals all over the world have taken to blogging sites to share their passions, life experiences, and topics that make them tick. Enter: the lifestyle blogger.

Unlike a business blog that’s created solely as a means to make money for a company, most lifestyle blogs began as a creative outlet for their owners to share what matters most to them and to build a community around that topic. Whether their primary method of creation is in writing, photos, video, or a multimedia mix, lifestyle bloggers make and publish content that represents their daily life, values, interests, and personal experiences.

As more and more popular blogs started to emerge, it became apparent that lifestyle bloggers were here to stay. They soon began to compete with well-known publications in their online spaces, with expertly-crafted posts and high-quality photos to accompany them. With no editors to wait on, photographers to wrangle, or content calendars to abide by, lifestyle bloggers have seen their audience numbers continue to grow as their content makes the rounds online.

Lifestyle Blog Topics

If the question, “what is a lifestyle blog?” has ever entered your mind, know that it’s slightly more difficult to define than other blogging categories, since “lifestyle” is such a broad word. Most popular lifestyle bloggers break their content down into commonly used micro-categories like:

• Food and drink
• Travel or outdoor life
• Home and garden
• Fashion and beauty
• Health, fitness, and wellness
• Natural or sustainable living
• Parenting

One of the best parts of lifestyle blogging is that you don’t have to firmly stick to one niche. Of course, if being known for something specific is the way you’d like to brand yourself, a narrow focus is perfectly fine. But lifestyle blogs also give you the opportunity to create a site that reflects exactly who you are as a person, no matter what your interests are.

You may see whole blogs based around multiple categories that are blended together, like sustainable and natural parenting or foodie favorites for health-conscious women. Others are more general, with one overarching topic and multiple sub-genres or categories listed out under that. 

For lifestyle bloggers that have been online for years, you’ll often see a shift in content as the writer moves through different stages of life. What once was a college girl’s beauty and fashion blog could turn into a travel blog and then a parenting blog as she settles into family life.

No matter what topic you choose to write on or the mix that you create, the most important point to remember is to be yourself. Your audience will grow and shift with you. Enjoy the freedom that this unique blogging niche gives you, and take the time to explore different ideas that appeal to a wider group of readers all over the world.

How Much Do Lifestyle Bloggers Make?

How long is a piece of string? In all seriousness, the amount of money that popular lifestyle bloggers make varies hugely and usually depends on the niche that they’re in, how long they’ve been online, and how many followers they have on their social media channels.

Before you start a lifestyle blog, especially if you want to make an income from it, you’ll need to think about where your money will come from. 

Most lifestyle bloggers who started a decade ago didn’t necessarily begin with the intention of making it their job. Back in 2010, no one was talking about influencer marketing. But over time, partnering with brands and being paid to advertise products in blog posts has been a lucrative business for both brands and bloggers alike.

When you’re new to the lifestyle blogging world and are taking on your first brand deals, you can expect to be paid a few hundred dollars to mention or advertise a product. You’ll also get to keep the product itself once your partnership with the brand has ended. 

As you gain more followers and can prove to brands that you have strong audience engagement, you can ask for more money in every blog post you do. If you’re also promoting their products on your social media channels, that’s also grounds to ask for more cash.

We’d estimate that the average for most lifestyle bloggers is around $4,000-5,000 per month in brand partnership income, but the world’s top lifestyle bloggers can see anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 a month. Yes, you read those numbers right. 

It takes plenty of hard work and dedication to reach that level of income as a lifestyle blogger and usually many late nights after your day job shooting content, writing new posts, and promoting them online. But dream big—you never know what you could achieve!

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Popular Bloggers

A Cup of Jo

Joanna Goddard began blogging at A Cup of Jo all the way back in 2007 after spending years working editorial jobs for some of the world’s top publications like Glamour. She eventually turned the blog into her full-time job, brought on a team, and grew it from there. 

The blog covers all kinds of topics, like design, relationships, parenting, and travel. It’s the ideal example of how a lifestyle blog can start as a personal outlet and become so much more—a true resource for women of all ages and experiences.

Wit & Delight

Wit & Delight is all about sharing personal stories in a way that will resonate with a wider readership. There are plenty of the usual suspects here, like decor and home design or fashion and beauty tips, but there are also stories on deeper topics like personal wellness and mental health.

Through articles and essays about different journeys to motherhood, house remodels, or tips for bringing more holiday spirit into your life, the blog is helpful inspiration for when you’re not sure what to write next.

A Beautiful Mess

The OG of decor-based lifestyle blogs, A Beautiful Mess was started by sisters Elsie and Emma to catalog their home renovations, crafts, and go-to recipes for any occasion. Although their team and business have grown since those early days, and the site now has plenty of other excellent contributors, Elsie and Emma are still the ones steering the ship.

If you’re looking for inspiration for how to be a lifestyle blogger, this is the place to go. You’ll quickly see why their flair for design, excellent photography skills, and approachable writing style have made this one of the world’s most popular blogs.

The Blonde Abroad

When you’re after travel lifestyle blog inspiration, there’s no better place to look than The Blonde Abroad. Kiki is passionate about promoting solo and female travel. She documents her adventures in more than 70 countries and provides advice and tips for those who are looking to go abroad themselves.

Even COVID-19 couldn’t stop her, with posts shifting gears to be more domestic-focused travel. Of course, photography is an especially important part of a travel blog, and Kiki expertly shows how to blend the personal with the promotional as a popular lifestyle blogger.

How to Start a Lifestyle Blog

1. Choose Your Topic Area

Before you can start a lifestyle blog of your own, you need to know what you’re going to write about. As we’ve seen, there’s a whole world of options out there, and you don’t need to stick to just one particular topic. But to stand out in a crowded space, it’s best to find a few key areas that you want to build your brand around.

Don’t worry if you change your mind later. The most important part of this is to get started, so you need to find an area that you’ll want to focus on creating content about for at least the first few months. If you’re really struggling to come up with a topic, think about the types of lifestyle blogs that you enjoy reading most and what subjects you already have a decent amount of knowledge about. 

Remember, this is supposed to be fun, so stick with something that you know well and feel confident writing about.

2. Think of a Name

Once you know what you’re writing about, it’s time to pick a catchy blog name. If you think that you might change topics later on, try to stick to something that’s flexible and will work across multiple genres. 

Bloggers like Anna Newton (The Anna Edit), Naomi Davis (Love Taza), and Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) have been able to adapt and grow their sites as their interests have changed, without needing to completely rebrand along the way.

The same principle applies to buying your domain name and grabbing social media handles for the blog name you choose. You want to try to keep everything as consistent as possible so that your audience can easily find and follow you. It also makes it easier for brands to search for you if all of your public names match.

3. Design Your Site

You want readers to stay on your blog for as long as possible, so that means building a website that attracts users. Depending on the website platform that you’re using, you’ll have different design options available to you. If you’re working with WordPress (one of the most popular among bloggers), you’ll have loads of options for customization, but there’s also a lot of room for error if you’re new to building a website and aren’t working with a designer.

There’s no right or wrong way to go about designing and building your blog website. Ultimately, you need to think about what will be easiest for you to update and what will look good for readers. Make sure that everything you do is optimized for mobile viewing and uses colors and fonts that make the site accessible for everyone.

4. Plan Your Content and Get Writing

You’ve finally made it to the part that you’ve been waiting for: writing your first pieces of content. 

Before you dive into the actual post itself, create a plan for how often you want to post and some ideas for your first few blog topics. You want to make sure that there isn’t too much overlap between your ideas, so there’s some variety to attract and appeal to different types of readers.

Planning is also important for building trust with your audience. You’ll need to post on a consistent basis to grow your following. Pick a schedule that works around your life and other commitments and plan far enough in advance to be able to complete everything. 

Drafting a post, sleeping on it before editing, setting up and shooting photos, editing images or video...it all takes much longer than you might think it does. But once you have a solid plan in place, you’re ready to get started and launch your brand new lifestyle blog.

Live Your Life (and Blog About It Too)

Now that you know what a lifestyle blogger does and how to start your own site, what are you waiting for? Get snapping and tapping to show the world exactly what makes you you—and stay open to all of the different kinds of opportunities your new lifestyle blog could bring.

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