Having launched her blog in 2010, Makeup Tips blogger Evangeline Sarney has gone on to become a heavyweight in the Australian beauty blogging industry with over 900,000 followers. With much insight gained into the Australian beauty blogging industry over this time, Sarney shares how she got into beauty blogging, the benefits of using tumblr over other platforms, how the industry has changed, and the trend of print journalists moving over to digital.
Why did you first decide to launch a beauty blog?
I always found myself flipping to the beauty sections of magazines and trying out new products, I just couldn’t get enough of beauty and I became obsessed with discovering new beauty tips. I googled make-up tips” but all the websites I found were old and outdated or contained simple tips like "always use a primer before your foundation” or "use eyeliner to define your eyes”. I was already on tumblr at the time and just thought, "hey! I should make a tumblr dedicated to make-up tips".
Was it hard to set-up your own blog?
To be perfectly honest, I had no clue what I was doing. I just picked out a layout and started posting.
What were you doing before becoming a blogger?
I started Makeup Tips fresh out of highschool. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life, and one day I just came up with the crazy idea of starting up a blog and here we are.
Is blogging your full-time career?
Yep, I’ve been doing it full-time since the very beginning. My blog took off pretty rapidly so I just kept at it and started getting advertising and sponsorship enquiries, which meant I was able to do it full-time.
How has the blogging industry in Australia changed in the past five years?
I think blogging awareness has definitely increased. Now, when you say you’re a blogger or you own a blog, most people actually know what you’re talking about. Bloggers are also now more respected and recognised by brands and not seen as less important” than traditional print journalists.
Has your blog changed much since it was launched?
In terms of content I don’t think so. I do more reviews now, but the main focus on Makeup Tips has always been to provide beauty tips on make-up and skincare and that hasn’t changed. I do have a posting schedule and work four to six weeks in advance now rather than just posting whenever I felt like it.
Why did you decide to host your blog on tumblr rather than a different blogging platform?
I hadn’t ever really given much thought to a platform like Wordpress or Blogspot. I already had a lifestyle tumblr which was full of reblogs”. It seemed like the natural option at the time because I already knew how to use the platform and people could share content easily.
Do you find that tumblr works better for a beauty blog?
I think tumblr works better for every blog, not just beauty blogs. The platform really values its creators and it’s super easy for people to share content and follow you. I’ve actually recently started up a consultancy business to help brands who are wanting to use the platform.
Where does most of the traffic for your blog come from?
Definitely tumblr. I’m featured on numerous ways throughout the platform which drives traffic to my blog. Google also plays a large part - in some countries, my blog is the first search result under make-up tips and has a google page ranking of five.
How do you get more people to follow your blog?
Posting original and helpful content is the key. You need to give people something they can’t get elsewhere. Being on social media and having good SEO helps too. Instagram in particular is a fantastic platform for driving people to your blog.
Since beauty blogging has become more popular in the last couple of years, has this had a negative or positive affect on the number of people viewing your blog?
I think if anything it has had a positive impact because now people know what beauty blogs are and have an interest in them. If people want to learn about new products it’s easier for them to google it than buy a magazine.
How do you feel about print journalists moving across to the digital realm?
I think it’s good and bad. People on the internet are information hungry, so there will never be enough content, meaning there is room for everyone in digital media. In saying that, I don’t think digital will ever be able to replace the satisfaction people get of sitting down, opening up a magazine and devouring it.
Do you believe that having traditional print journalists launch into blogging helps the
Australian blogging industry?
For sure! You see so many respectable journalists leaving the mag world to enter digital or start up their own blog, which not only proves that digital is the future but also debunks the myth that bloggers are wannabe journalists.
What advice would you give to people entering into the blogging industry?
Be passionate and create something new. There are so many blogs out there, so if you do something that’s been done before, people aren’t going to take much notice. If you aren’t passionate, you may as well quit now.
