In the Series of Blogger stories by Startupsindia we presenting you the fashion blogger sana afreen.
Blogging is a lucrative job. Sana Afreen is an example of how blogging brings freedom and the ability to make money.
Sana Afreen has worked in the fashion and lifestyle niche for a major part of her career.
Her job demanded that engaging with fashion influencers and bloggers from time to time. This has helped her amass an in-depth knowledge of the blogging ecosystem.
Her understanding of the niche coupled with curiosity and desire to learn more has helped her in starting a blog.
1.Can you tell our readers about yourself and your blog?
I am Sana, and I am an engineering graduate with a business administration and a law degree. Yeah, I’m the jack of all trades the storybooks warned you about! I’m a fashion and lifestyle enthusiast with an itch for social media marketing and blogging.I run a blog, The Tales & Trails which focuses on the generational and contemporary zeitgeist surrounding fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.
2. Describe how did you first get into blogging?
I was consulting for a fashion blog when I realized the need for my blog, I wanted to share my perspective and opinions about the things I love. I began by contributing to several fashion and lifestyle blogs to improve my writing flow, tone and build a portfolio. Following the guest blogging phase, I knew I was ready to handle my blog.
3. As you said you are guest blogger what is your experience in guest blogging and do you earn from it?
My experience as a guest blogger taught me about the user expectations from a piece of content. I have earned a rich understanding of the reader behavior and I’m now capable to
cater to various demographics segments and age groups. While guest blogging is a lucrative earning avenue, my involvement was purely for understanding the ecosystem and building a
portfolio.
4. Can you tell me some of your strengths that really helped you in blogging?
I have worked in the fashion and lifestyle niche for a major part of my career. My job demanded that I engage with fashion influencers and bloggers from time to time. This has helped me amass an in-depth knowledge of the blogging ecosystem. My understanding of the niche coupled with curiosity and desire to learn more has shaped my blogging experience.
5. What type of networking do you think is better to enhance your traffic to the blog?
Personally, for me, social media networking has been a huge boon. I interact and engage with influencers on a frequent basis to share my work, get their opinion and discuss the latest updates in the field. Instagram and twitter is the thing these days!
Read here: Story of 13 years old food blogger : Suhana Bhasin
6. What do you think is the best service a blogger can provide to his readers?
I think a lot of bloggers don’t understand that the reader visits his/her blog for unadulterated, clutter-free, reliable information that can be of immediate assistance or influence decision aking in the future. My aim has been to provide no-nonsense, to the point, relevant, topical information to the reader, from day one.
7. How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently?
Blogging is passion and as they say, when you do something you love, you make time for it!
8. Tell me about your proudest achievement in blogging?
I recently got an email from one of my readers stating how my articles have helped her fashion choices and boosted her confidence. That has to be, hands down, one of the proudest achievements of my blogging career so far.
9. Who has impacted you most in blogging and how?
A close friend and colleague of mine, Rajarshi, who is a writer himself, has always spurred me on. I owe my blogging experience to him. He actively involved me in the ideation process of various articles he worked on, thus helping me gain hands-on experience.
10. What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?
One of the biggest challenges was to get my blog off the ground. I was not sure how to get started, what domains to target and what articles to write. Although I had the overall brain map, it was difficult to put everything on paper.
11. Can you name some of your favorite bloggers and explain why they are your favorites?
It is difficult to choose among the people whose work I appreciate so much. There are a lot of bloggers active in the scene currently, both from India and abroad whom I look up to. But if I had to narrow it down then Gabi Gregg and Akanksha Redhu are my favorites. I love how they spread positivity all the while staying true to their work.
12. How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
Like I mentioned before, I do what I love and that is all the motivation I need. Of course, the desire to become a top blogger is an added incentive.
13. What is the biggest difference in your life post-blogging?
After I took up blogging, I’ve had a couple of significant changes in my daily schedule and now I have to work on multiple things juggling a 9-5 Job and maintain my own recently launched fashion label. But frankly, I’m loving the challenge.
14. How much time do you spend blogging?
I spend nearly 3-4 serious hours planning and strategizing per week. On top of that, I spend an hour daily to maintain the blog and come up with new ideas.
15. A lot of people think that blogging is an easy way to make money online. Do Do you have some tips for those people who are?
There is no easy way to make money. Passive income is a myth; whatever you do, you have to put your heart and soul into. Same with blogging. It is a lucrative income outlet but you need to be smart and always keep your ears close to the ground. Stay updated with the latest industry happenings, collaborate with various brands and influencers and optimize your blog for additional Adsense earning.
16. If you don’t mind can you share your revenue statistics for our readers and source of income?
I collaborate and work with a lot of brands which I then promote through my blog.
Depending on the brand and its popularity I make somewhere between 3-4K per post.
17. What do you think about startupsindia.in?
I think StartupsIndia provides a great platform for people to share their stories and entrepreneurship journeys. I love how the stories need not be your run of the mill happy success stories, some stories are about struggle and adversities, they are a learning lesson. And those stories deserve to be shared too.
Way to go Sana!