As an aspiring showbiz journalist and blogger, I was very excited to start reading former Daily Mirror Showbiz Columnist and Super Blogger Zoe Griffin’s latest book ‘Get Rich Blogging’, which stands as a fantastic guide to any start up (or established) blogger, who hopes to turn their interests and entrepreneurial skills into a full time career. Although the title of the book seems a little over ambitious at first, the text itself is fantastically written, witty and informative. I’ve read several ‘how to’ social media and blogging based books and was a little put off by their condescending tone and formal remarks, however you can be sure that in Get Rich Blogging, Zoe speaks from experience, and explains how her mistakes helped increase her now six figure salary, rather than unhelpfully dictating what you should and shouldn’t do.
Many bloggers might argue that the reason they set up their blog was not to make money, but to simply have an online log or showcase of their interests. In many ways, this is true for all bloggers, me included, however you can’t deny it would be fantastic to make a living out of writing about what you are really passionate about, right? In the first chapter, Zoe explains how she came about setting up her now extremely successful blog, livelikeavip.com, where readers can follow the Showbiz blogger’s life, get a behind the scenes look at all the UK’s (and the US’) hottest entertainment parties and keep up to date with how to dress like your favourite celebrity. She has an addictive writing style, as it’s chatty, witty yet full of juicy gossip. In fact, reading Zoe’s blog feels like you’re listening to your best friend. Fun!
Zoe’s book guides you through the world of blogging, which can often seem large and intimidating (it’s not, Zoe insists) and how it can become a potential full time career in a swift, organised and easy manner, being careful not to miss any vital details. From setting up a Twitter account, to monitoring your audience with Google Analytics and then monetizing this later on, Zoe spares no detail. It’s actually really admirable to think that someone who has taught herself the ways of the blogging world, gained valuable contacts and attended some of the most glamorous events through hard work, perseverance and observation is willing to spill all her secrets and help us achieve what she has!
Without revealing too much (because you ALL need to read it, serious blogger or not), the book is very focused around finding your blogging niche and pushing this forward. Zoe found her niche after seeing just how successful showbiz and celebrity blogging was in the US, but also noting the lack of such a blog over the pond. She then set up livelikeavip, turned it into a brand, learnt from her mistakes and kept going. She now has a successful blog to show for it, in addition to a must-read book!
Reading Get Rich Blogging highlighted several aspects of my blog that I could improve on, and several aspects that I’m doing well. Zoe gave some great websites to set up an e-newsletter, which I think I’m going to start doing – as it is important to show off and remind people of the posts you’re proud of each month. She also gave some excellent advice on how to develop relationships with PR’s and which people to approach depending on the genre of your blog, as well as how to keep your blog maintained and fresh so that readers keep coming back to your blog, rather than enjoying something once and never returning. I think one thing I could work on is making sure that my blog is differentiated from others, as I have quite a plain, ‘safe’ theme and could probably go a little further to make sure Scarlett London is original. Ultimately, Zoe explains that content is the key – and that it is the main reason readers stay loyal, however having a good ‘shop window’ is part of the battle!
All in all, I couldn’t put the book down from start to finish (if you were on Twitter last night, you’ll probably remember my rather excessive tweeting about the book, including my excitement when I noticed one of my favourite bloggers whatoliviadid.com was featured!). It was excellently written and organised, and contained just the right amount of information to enable you to take stuff in, without losing interest. Many books make the mistake of going into huge technical detail, which is not beneficial to anyone like me who doesn’t have a clue what most of the ‘technical computer-y SEO-y’ words mean.
Zoe has a very engaging style of writing, which comes across both on her blog and in her book. I would thoroughly recommend you give her book a read, even if you don’t necessarily want to make blogging your full time career, it will stand as a fantastic ‘go to’ guide for all your blogging woes and questions. In fact, even if your a potential blogger, who has been pining to start a blog for months, then this is also worth a read, as Zoe takes you through every aspect of the blogging world in detail.
Reading her book has only re-ignited my dream of becoming a Showbiz Journalist (or a Showbiz Blogger) and I can’t wait to start putting some of Zoe’s tips into practice! I’d love a complete re-design of my layout, however – as I’m rather busy working four jobs, I think I might have to start small – and begin with re-designing my logo. If you have any ideas or tips for me, then I’d love to hear from you – as long term readers probably know Scarlett London and what it stands for just as well as you do! I’d love to make my full-time job maintaining my blog, as Zoe does, however we shall have to see what the future brings!
My only complaint would be that after I finished the book and closed it shut, I finally noticed a rather large (well, large in my eyes) spider crouched on the top of the book. He’d obviously been there a while, but since I’d been so intrigued in the book itself, I hadn’t noticed. This is definitely saying something, since normally the spider would have been dead before you could hear me scream (I’m terrified, but then again, who isn’t) however he went unnoticed since I was so engrossed in the book.
To purchase Zoe’s book, or to read more reviews – it is available to buy on Amazon – here.
Would you be interested in reading Zoe’s book? Do you think you could make blogging your full-time career – or is it just a hobby for you?
* Please note, the images used in this article are not my own and I do not take credit for them, they are used for reference purposes only. The images are snapshots from Zoe’s website livelikeavip.com.
