Food Blogging Turning Into A Serious Business
With the advent of this digital era, blogging which used to be a mere hobby or time pass has turned into a serious business for some. Not many years ago, that we hardly knew any blogger coming into the limelight but now for many it is their bread and butter. Narrowing down the blogger's world, food blogging is something for which people are falling into. From those drooling videos on Instagram to some flashy reviews on Facebook, food bloggers have found out many ways to make their journey successful.
"A journey which was started on social media platform from only a single follower and is now being followed by more than One Lakh Fifty Thousand People. My intent of keeping and starting the blog was to stay connected and to share my mother's taught recipes to the homemakers, which now impacts huge crowd in the social media being the trendsetter," says Karan Dua from Dilsefoodie.
Soon after realising the influence of social media Dua decided to connect his blog through Facebook and Instagram which gave him a sudden hype. "I started receiving calls and invites from the new Restaurants, clubs, pubs, cafes, food joints of Delhi and NCR. I understood the market at the very early stage because of which I further became the social media partner and collaborated with brands like Kent Ro, Pepsi, Good Day, HAVMOR Icecream, Quaker Oats, dominos, pizza hut and more," Dua added.
In order to earn some money, a food blogger has to use the blog as a catalyst and work his or her way around in adding more value to the Brand and Restaurants etc apart from Blogging. It could be Wring specialised content, promoting events, doing events, becoming a service vendor like graphic designer or social media manager Etc.
There are ways to monetize a blog both directly as well as indirectly. CPC ads (cost per click) and CPM ads (cost per 1k impressions) being the most common ways and most popular networks for placing such ads is Google Adsense. Affiliate marketing is another way to generate money from a blog.
Nowadays the top bloggers of all trades are being picked up by one group called Influencers and that is a big change. "Thankfully many FMCG Food Brands have started using Instagram as a Big Marketing medium and pay handsomely to the Instagrammers and this is one medium that would continue to shine for a long time," stated Gurpreet Singh Tikku who is known for his blog Mistertikku. "Now even brand endorsements by bloggers are getting big and in future income from brand endorsement shall form a good chunk of income," he added.
Vickrham Vicky who operates 'FoodManiacsborn2eat' feels amazed at how the scene has changed. "6 years ago a blogger had to explain that what he does and how it will benefit all and now the tables have turned completely. However, for the amateur bloggers today the only goal is to get freebies, free meals and followers - it is no more done out of love for cuisines or food," he says.
Monetizing blogs can take a lot of persistence, but it can pay off in the long-run if one is starting out from scratch. On average Indian bloggers earn anywhere from a mere rupees 5-6 thousand to as high as rupees 15-20 Lacs per month. "Initially, say for a period of 6 to 12 months you hardly get anything instead you need to put in some money to get it running. For me, more than my blog alone the influencer side has worked well," Vicky informed.
Prabhjot Singh and his blog 'Foodkars' has grown to a family of over two lacs. Providing some of the tips to the new emerging bloggers he said, "Many bloggers are just following or I would say running a rat race. These days an individual blogger is covering from food to technology and what not. I am not saying that a blogger cannot ace in more than one area but this should be done only if you truly have the knowledge about the field."
