When my colleagues and I started blogging several years ago, we had no idea how the industry was going to take off. Fast forward a few years and being a serious blogger is a viable career path. Not only that, but you can create a business from it.
I recently wrote about the idea of having a “brand of you.” As a blogger, that’s essentially what you are doing. As you gain more visibility and start to earn more income, you’ll likely need to bring on team members to help you keep growing.
And so, without further ado, here are x team members every serious blogger needs in order to keep succeeding.
A virtual assistant/business manager.
The first person every serious blogger will likely hire is a virtual assistant/business manager. The reason I add “business manager” to the title is because eventually you may need to promote your virtual assistant to managing other contractors (more on that in a bit).
However, in the beginning, it will likely be more like having someone handle administrative things like emails, scheduling and invoicing. As you start becoming a more serious blogger, you have less time to handle these things yourself.
An accountant.
As a serious blogger, you’ll quickly realize you can earn money in a variety of ways. My colleagues and I earn move from writing, affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, digital product sales, speaking and consulting just to name a few.
With so many revenue streams at different price points, it can get a little hairy with taxes. That’s why it’s important that any serious blogger hire an accountant to help them with tax planning. Serious bloggers will especially want to find an accountant that understands how bloggers actually make a living.
An agent.
Once a serious blogger reaches a certain level of visibility, they will likely start getting invited to participate in campaigns and speak at events. That’s where an agent comes in.
Speaking from the experience of just having found an agent myself, they come in handy. Agents know the ins and outs of partnership contracts. They are also some of the best negotiators I’ve ever seen.
While a serious blogger may have some idea about how to negotiate brand partnerships, they likely don’t know all the nuances like an agent does. That’s why, at some point, every serious blogger will likely end up hiring an agent to help them manage these contracts.
Miscellaneous contractors.
As the brand grows, a serious blogger may also find themselves hiring miscellaneous contractors to help them manage their brands. Because again, a serious blogger simply has less time to handle certain tasks.
Here are some of the miscellaneous contractors a serious blogger may hire:
- A graphic designer for blog and social media images.
- A web designer/developer for website maintenance.
- An editor to help with site content.
If a blogger decides to go into the real of audio and video they will likely need to hire contractors to help with that as well.
Final Thoughts
While not everyone becomes a serious blogger, those that do soon find themselves hiring an entire team to help them maintain their brands, manage money and handle contracts. Just note that you don’t hire these people all at once. Instead, you layer them in over time.
