(pic source – ww.athoughtandahalf.com)

“Invest money to make money” is something we always hear from the most successful people in any area of work and expertise. When you start blogging you do not need much however if you are serious about growing and improving your blog you will have to spend money. However, the outcome can be more than just free lipstick or a pair of shoes. You can turn your hobby into a serious business. And in business you have to spend to earn!!! Some top bloggers managed to turn their small blogs in to business with turnovers reaching several million dollars. And they probably did not do it without spending a penny!!!

So I decided to put together a basic list of where you may have to spend money in order to get better, to grow and get some return!

1. Design and IT help – you may be able to do this yourself however for me this was one thing I had to invest in and probably will have to do it again! There are even trends in blog designs and you have to keep developing yours. No point of staying behind. Make your blog easy to read and attractive for readers. It also has to stand out from the competition.
2. Marketing materials – Media packs or business cards are the most common. You may need to pay a third party to help you with these. Again these things represent you and your blog! It can be very crucial during first contact with a any company or an individual.
3. Advertising – I have seen different things including advertising videos circulating online to Facebook adverts. Many of the big bloggers have got constant Facebook adverts on otherwise it would be hard to grow that fast. However, this is absolutely normal in business. Even large multinationals like Coca-Cola spend most of their budget on advertising although everybody knows them. You just have to be out there.
4. Camera and other other equipment –  I am not a vlogger however I noticed some of them have got seriously good and extensive equipment. Even personal style bloggers need great quality cameras and lenses. The issue is this never stops. Once you get your DSLR camera you realise it may not be practical and you start to look for a smaller but great quality camera. Whatever the intention is – Do not save money here. Quality pictures are one of the most important things in blogging.
5. Invest into content – this is very broad however  bloggers do need to invest in new clothes, shoes, bags, house, food and whatever they blog about it. They need to keep variety on the blog. In some cases you may have to even pay other guest bloggers to write for you. It really depends what kind of blog you have and how much you are willing to invest. Things that are worth a while usually do not come for free.
6. Office rent – Your blog may grow so much you may have to invest in to office space. There are also cases where you will work on a collaboration and you will have to rent a studio for your photographs.
7. Education and Educational material – Blogging is hard work and we need to learn as we go. Some people prefer to read books and some people prefer to invest in courses and webinars. These things do not come for free. Companies and other people can charge some serious money for sharing their knowledge. It is up to you to decide whether it’s worth it or not.
8. Employees or freelance help – Interns, assistants, photographers or full teams. These are all people that can become part of your brand. You may be lucky and find intern that would work for free however as the time goes you may grow and you may need actual employees or highly professional photographers that will charge you.
9. Agency Fees – You may get to the point where you will be represented by an agency. And agencies will charge you usually around 20 % of the fee the brand will pay you. Luckily, if you have a good agency they will find you work and this 20 % will be worth it. However, it is always hard to see your money go away. Use your own judgment if you are at that point of your career that you want to have dedicated agent.
10. Your own image changes – Invest in your image!!! Perhaps you are thinking about losing weight, improving your skin, plastic surgery or just changing hair colour. Personal trainers, doctors, beauticians, hairdressers will cost you money but they can all achieve great results!
11. Entertainment – I almost forgot this one however that is one thing you can even put into your business costs. And you find this in any industry. You have to meet people you are working with. Take your clients for lunch and coffee. Meet other bloggers and go out and network. These things cost something however nothing can beat face to face contact.

“Invest money to make money” neboli investuj penize, abys vydelal vice je casto slychana fraze ve spouste sferach. Kdyz zacne clovek blogovat, tak opravdu nepotrebuje moc. Staci vam pocitat a wifi, ale pokud vas blogovani chytne a budete se chtit zlepsovat, tak se tak nejak presunete do faze, kdy bohuzel ci bohudik budete muset na urcitych vecech utratit penize z vlastni kapsy. Z vaseho maleho online denicku se mozna jednoho dne stane velky business a v businesse je treba investovat. Roste jak vas blog tak i vy. Je to prirozena evoluce. Nektere top blogerky dokazaly ze svych pokojicku vybudovat blogy, ktere maji obrat v hodnote desitek milionu dolaru. Nerikam, ze tohle ceka kazdeho, ale pokud existuje potencial a prestanou vam stacit darky jako boty a rtenky, tak se nebojte investovat. Je treba se neustale zlepsovat. Ony mega uspesne top blogerky se take nedostaly tam kde jsou bez investic at uz jsou to reklamy na facebooku, jine formy reklam, placeni fotografum, investovani do obleceni apod. 

A tak jsem se pokusila sepsat par bodu, ktere vam napovi, kde mozna budete muset investovat. Moznosti je samozrejme vice, ale pokud chcete vas blog dostat na dalsi uroven, tohle vas asi ceka! 

1. Design a IT – I v designech blogu existuji trendy a ty se neustale meni a vyviji. A proto to co frcelo pred peti lety uz nemusi byt in. Je dulezite si udrzovat ctenare i diky designu, ktery musi byt lakavy, jednoduchy na orientaci ci treba odlisny od konkurence. A pokud si tohle nezvladnete udelat samy, tak bohuzel budete muset nekomu za tyhle sluzby zaplatit.
2. Marketingove materialy – Mezi zakladni asi patri vizitky a media pack. A do techto veci je dobre investovat, protoze to odrazi vasi image a vas blog. Je to takova prvni komunikace mezi vami a firmou ci osobou. A nikdo se nechce presentovat neprofesionalne. Predstavte si samy jaky dojem na vas udela hezka vizitka, nebo kdyz si budete procitat zajimavy media pack. Je dulezite, aby si vas kazdy zapamatoval, ale v dobrem.
3. Reklama – Reklamu uz jsem drive zminovala v predchozich clancich. Z doslechu vim, ze Ceska blogova scena ji bere spis negativne, coz ja uprime nechapu. Vemte si velke nadnarodni spolecnosti, ktere i prestoze maji velke jmeno, tak utraci obrovskou cast sveho rozpoctu na reklame. A dela to kazdy. Musite se neustale pripominat. Ja travim na Facebooku opravdu hodne casto a velmi casto se mi objevuji reklamy placene svetovyma top blogerkama. Ony jsou totiz chytre a vi, ze je treba do takovych veci investovat. V poslednich par letech sem take videla i video reklamni spoty blogeru, ktere is nechaly tyto spoty profesionalne natocit a zpracovat. A moznosti existuje vice. Je to zkratkou soucast vaseho PR.
4. Fotoaparat, telefon a dalsi potrebne vybaveni – prestoze nejsem vloger, tak jsem si stacila povsimnout, ze nekteri vlogeri maji opravdu top vybaveni. Investuji do svetel, fotaku a kvalitniho vybaveni. Tyhle veci mohou sahat az do stovek tisic. A i kdyz si nejaky fotak poridite tak se kolotoc nezastavi. Budete chtit novy objektiv a dalsi vybaveni a tyhle veci jsou velmi dulezite, jelikoz kvalitni obsah je jedna z nejatraktivnejsich veci, ktere bloger muze nabidnout.
5. Investice do obsahu blogu – tohle je asi rozsahlejsi tema a clovek si pod tim muze predstavit spoustu veci. Muze to byt obleceni, kabelky, vybaveni do bytu, kosmetika. A zalezi na vas a typu vaseho blogu, ale muzete take zaplatit nekomu za clanek na vasem blogu. Ne pokazde je guest blogging zadarmo a ja porad verim, ze veci, ktere za neco stoji vetsinou zadarmou nejsou. 
6. Pronajem – Je docela mozne, ze kdyz vas blog bude rust tak budete potrebovat pronajem kancelare. Nebo budete potrebovat pronajmout  fotograficke studio ci jine prostory na urcity projekt.
7. Skoleni a dalsi vzdelavani – Nekterym z nas staci investovat pouze do knih a druzi si radi priplati za skoleni ci kurz. Kazdopadne kvalitni rady a znalosti druzi lide vetsinou nepredavaji zdarma. Existuje rada webinaru a skoleni, ktere opravdu stoji za to. Je jenom na vas, zda tohle jsou veci, ktere vam za to stoji. 
8. Zamestnanci ci pomoc na volne noze – stazisti, fotografove ci zamestnanci. Mozna budete mit stesti a podari se vam sehnat asistenta ci stazistu zadarmo. Ale treba take vas business bude rust do takove miry, ze zamestnate lidi na plny uvazek. Velmi cast je take nutne si zaplatit profesionalniho fotografa. Pokud jsou nekteri ochotni pracovat zadarmo je to vase vyhra, ale z vlastni zkusenosti vim, ze ti co za neco stoji si ve vetsine pripadu uctuji. 
9. Poplatky agenture – Pokud se rozhodnete mit vlastniho agenta, tak musite pocitat, ze si kazda agentura vezme z kazdeho honorare v prumeru 20 %. Pokud je agentura dobra, urcite se vam to vyplati. Agenti maji vyborne kontakty a domluvi vam spoluprace, o kterych se vam nesnilo. Je jen na vas se rozhodnout, zda jste ve fazy vasi kariery, kdy agenta potrebujete ci ne. 
10. Image – Kazdy bloger a clovek vubec by mel dbat na svou image. Chcete zhubnout, chcete projit nejakou plastickou operaci ci jenom zmenit uces? I tohle jsou veci, ktere jsou soucasti vaseho blogu a vasi image a za ty musime zaplatit. Takze at chceme ci nechceme i tohle jsou nutne investice. 
11. Zabava a networking – V kazde oblasti business je dulezity kontakt tvari v tvar. Je mozne, ze budete potkavat ostatni blogery a klienty a budete je zvat na kavu, obed ci veceri. Nastesti tady v Britanii se da tato utrata dat do nakladu, takze se vam investice vrati. Ale tento zpusob komunikace je vzdy lepsi nez email. Takze s vydaji za jidlo ci piti je treba pocitat.