We’ve been working in journalism for many years and have had only limited involvement in blogging. However, in today’s world, bloggers and journalists, and what they do, have a lot in common. At the very least, both create content (text, photo, or video), have an audience, and use social media to promote their work.
It’s worth noting the differences between blogging and journalism. Journalism primarily involves reporting news and events. A journalist is a professional trained to gather, verify, and process information. They are less of a creator and more of a craftsman, focused on conveying real events rather than inventing them or entertaining. They deliver information about what’s happening in the city, country, or world.
A blogger, however, is a broader term. Bloggers are people who create content on social media, entertain, and sometimes inform. Unlike journalists, bloggers aren’t obligated to verify information and can even invent it. While journalists are focused on delivering quality information about events, bloggers may produce humorous videos, share product reviews, or showcase recipes. We hope this highlights the difference between journalists and bloggers.
Blogging and the creativity within the blogosphere are highly appealing activities nowadays. We all see successful, vibrant, and well-paid bloggers on social media. However, despite the perception that blogging is easy and glamorous, the reality is that for every tens of thousands of people who start blogging, only a few hundred, at most a few thousand, achieve success. Statistically, the chances of making it in blogging are akin to winning the lottery.
Entering journalism is more accessible and far less competitive. Being a blogger seems enticing to the average person — “a life of luxury and money without hard work.” Journalists, on the other hand, must work, make an effort, and face fatigue. Thus, there are far more aspiring bloggers than those who want to become journalists. Starting a blog is simpler than breaking into journalism, but the chances of success in blogging are minimal — it’s like finding a gold nugget in the mountains. In journalism, about one in two people who try find success.
One strategy for blogging success is finding a niche with low competition, a unique theme or “hook.” However, this can be difficult now, as it may seem that every topic is already taken. Still, here are a few tips:
Consider Your Knowledge and Interests: What are you good at? What are your interests? Ideally, find a topic that aligns with both your skills and passions. For example, if you’re a historian who loves travel, you could visit cities and countries, sharing historical insights with your audience. Or, at the start, you could simply tell historical travel stories from your room.
Research Your “Competitors”: After choosing a topic, search for similar blogs on the internet and social media. Maybe you’ve seen something like this before. Assess the audience size (follower count), the popularity of bloggers in this niche, and the demand for this content. Are there too many competitors? Are they successful?
When evaluating your “colleagues’” accounts, look at their content and audience engagement. Note their strengths and weaknesses. For example, strengths might include beautiful videos, interesting storytelling, or contests. Weaknesses might be too much advertising, long posts, or infrequent updates. Try to incorporate their strengths and minimize their weaknesses (like avoiding too much advertising at the beginning).
Focus on Niche, Specific Topics: The narrower the focus, the less competition. You can always broaden your topic or cover other areas later. For instance, instead of just blogging about fitness, focus on exercises for pregnant and nursing moms. Or instead of general economics, talk about small business and its support measures.
Be Open to Changing Your Blog’s Direction: If, after a while, you’re unhappy with your blog’s results or don’t enjoy the topic, don’t be afraid to change direction. Keep experimenting. Those who keep trying will eventually succeed.
Broaden Your Niche After Initial Success: If you find a niche, you may eventually reach a “ceiling.” For example, if you’ve gained 10,000 followers with a blog about recipes for people with diabetes but aren’t growing further, expand your content. Add topics like diabetes prevention, weight loss, or general health. This can help you attract new followers.
Think About Monetization from the Start: Don’t expect millions of followers, especially in the first two years. With a small audience, it’s often easier to earn through sales — courses, supplements, relevant products — than through advertising.
In conclusion, many of our journalist colleagues benefit from blogging. At a minimum, it boosts their image and makes a positive impression on potential employers and editors. Some even manage to earn well from it.
Our site is dedicated to journalism, so let’s write a little more on this topic. Please focus and carefully read this paragraph. This is the most important rule that beginners often struggle to grasp. Every journalistic piece must have a news hook, i.e., an event that occurred recently. We cannot start writing about corruption, a healthy lifestyle, or World War II out of the blue. A news hook is necessary to begin writing the material. For example, in the cases mentioned, it could be the arrest of a bribe-taker, a campaign promoting a healthy lifestyle, or a meeting of war veterans. Every journalistic piece must have a news hook.
The news hook in a journalistic piece should be fresh. Ideally, the event should have happened today or yesterday, or at most a week ago, but certainly not last year.
Let’s say you will work for a glossy magazine editorial or write for them as a freelancer. The final product they expect from you is an excellent text and high-quality photos. But the magazine also has its own website and social media pages. Therefore, you need to know how to write journalistic pieces, take photos and videos, edit them, and understand the features of different social networks. Other essential skills include communicating with people, being disciplined and hardworking, managing your own expert base, and many others. Without exaggeration, a journalist learns and improves throughout their life.