A Moody 29Rooms & Why I Started My Blog and How It Enhances My Modeling

Why I Started a Blog and How It Enhances My Modeling
While shooting recently, I was asked the question about why I started my blog. Since starting "Lauren's Not Borin'" (I know, cleaver name right?!), a lot of new clients/people have assumed and asked if I'm just a blogger. For those of you who've been following along for awhile, the answer is a resounding no. But I realized this would be a good opportunity to break down why I started a blog, what it is in the context of my brand/business and how it adds to what I do as a model.

Why start a blog?: I've had a website since a couple of years into modeling since I found it was a good way for people to view your book. When Instagram became the best way to quickly glance at a models page (yes I've been modeling for that long), I found myself wanting to share almost all the images from a shoot, but didn't want to post too many to the Instagram feed itself. A blog was a great way to show off all the images, without harassing people's feeds (and thus making them sick of me). When I first started, I wasn't very dedicated, occasionally posting when I felt like it or there were images I was dying to share. Slowly I got back into it again, but I was only posting images, nothing more. THEN I got a job working for The Hub. I got my job working as a blog writer, which was a job I'd done before for other companies but it was related more to my personal life than professional (and I did not want to share those articles on a professional platform). The job was a perfect way for me to create business content (while being paid). From there, since people could not find my articles, I would post them to my blog with corresponding images so people who were fans of my photos and writing could find them in one place. Ultimately, I wanted a place to showcase my talents and what I love doing (a.k.a. writing and modeling).

What does it add: By curating this blog, I found my engagement on social media posts went up, engagement went up and clicks to my website went up (making my website climb on the Google search pages). The blog is a great way to showcase the fact I am constantly working and growing as a person. The writing is meant to add a portfolio for other writing jobs and give people who view my content a way to think about my brand. Is it thought provoking? Does it help you in your business and understanding of modeling? Lauren's Not Borin' adds a voice to the otherwise speechless images while giving you content you'll always want to come back to week after week (since there will always be new articles, not just images).

How do you make money from your blog?: To me, the engagement speaks to itself. When you have more engagement, more people will find you when searching. Through this, they'll book you. I've also had photographers book me just to have a place on my blog, which is pretty cool, and obviously you can charge for that. I also make money from sponsored content. This primarily includes clothing companies paying me to take photos in their clothes and blog about them.

Enhancing my modeling/IT'S MORE THAN JUST A BLOG!!!:  Through having a blog I've met so many more people because they've happen to see a link that was shared or through a quick Google search. Having a blog isn't just about making money or having a collective of where you can view more fun work (rather than just view my basic portfolio). Blogging takes a lot of time and energy to work on. It's a tool to help me interact with people and photographers along with tell stories and give advise.

At the end of the day, I like to think of myself more like a model that uses stories and articles to enhance her images and help my modeling. While I understand people think of it more as a blog, and thus me as a blogger, I like to think of myself as a model who uses her blog to reach more people and connect with others in a meaningful way.

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Images by Emily Mulder