Starting a Blog in the Philippines Now? Influencers vs Bloggers

You want to start your blog in the Philippines?

With the millions of blogs available on the internet, you might think that starting a blog now might be too late.

Let me explain to you why it is instead a very great time to start your own blog.

One of my readers told me: “I don’t want to start a blog now, if you look on social media, there are already so many bloggers. There is so much competition today.” 

My readers are mostly from the Philippines. So, I will be writing mostly for those who want to start a blog in the Philippines. The blogging sphere might be very different depending on your own country.

But those tips can still applied.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese Proverb

A Confusion between Influencers and Bloggers in the Philippines

First, this had to be clear: Social media is not equal to blogging. 

When someone says “if you look on social media there are so many bloggers…”. You know already that this person is confused.

People who have thousands of followers on Instagram are not necessary bloggers. They’re potentially influencers as they a massive following on that online platform and can “influence” their audience’s purchasing decisions.

Press articles and people are often mixing “influencers” and “bloggers”.

Therefore, when someone aspires to become a blogger in the Philippines, he or she gets easily confused.

As I am here to talk about blogging and if this is really what you want to be: a blogger. Do this:

1. Understand the difference between influencers & bloggers
2. Analyze today’s blogging trends in your country

I’ll help you, see below.

The Difference between Influencers and Bloggers

The influencer

Usually the stylish and good-looking people popping up on your social media feed: wearing fashionable swimwear while sipping a cocktail in front of the beach and having an enormous amount of followers are what we call influencers.

It started with the fashion industry: The “It girls”,  popular girls that fashion designers wanted to have in their parties, or in the front row of their shows to enhance their brand.

They were the influencers of their generation.

Now that people are shifting their attention into the digital world. Those It girls went online. 

Brands pay them to wear their clothes that they showcase on their feed. But most of them do not have a website and only publish their content on social media.

And Fashion influencers who want to go to the next level usually have their website where they create and develop their own brand. Thus, potentially becoming bloggers.

The blogger

Bloggers are first known through their website. This is what you need to keep in mind.

They create valuable content, which are mostly shown through written articles. They document and present the information in a more informal way than what newspapers do, in order to be closer to their readers and to communicate their own thoughts.

The successful ones learned how to monetize their blogs by using digital marketing strategies and creating their own products (online or physical). 

Those bloggers are, in a way, influencers because their ideas and talks influence people. We then talk about influential bloggers.

All bloggers can become influencers. But not all influencers are bloggers.

The Blogging Sphere in the Philippines Today

For the 3rd year in a row, the Philippines are stated as the social media capital of the world. According to the latest report, in 2017, Filipinos spent an average 3 hours and 57 minutes on social media.

And with telco companies offering free plans for Facebook and other social networks, the amount of users is increasing every day. 

Which is why influencers who have a great online presence are winning more and more exposure.

However, the truth is that in the Philippines, you’ll see many instagram accounts with thousands of followers, which are not delivering the valuable content that bloggers provide.

Meaning that they are a lot of opportunities to start a blog now in the Philippines.

This is where you can get an edge!

Let me explain.

Content marketing is still king

Blogging is about content marketing: Creating an awesome and complete content that will help people to achieve their goals. 

It is about being informative in your own way thanks to your experience and to your work. This will end up into giving what your audience is looking for: value.

And it’s rarely well done through a little instagram caption. It’s just too short. 

You just understand that it’s easier to bring greater value through a long blog post, written like a step-by-step guide for example. Just because much more information is given.

Hear me out, I am not criticizing social media influencers. Being an influencer is much harder than what it seems. Those who succeed in that path are, I bet, very hard workers!

I can tell with experience: just having an aesthetic Instagram feed requires a lot of organizational skills, efforts and creativity.

Here, I’m just clarifying the difference between those two because I’ve heard so many people mixing the words. 

And I want to make sure that aspiring bloggers know that their goal is to bring value to others and this through inspiring blog posts and content.

The competition is less than what you think

Every day, more and more people create online accounts or new blogs. And this popular trend gives an impression of a saturated market. 

So, thinking that there’s no more room for you could be the obvious.

When I started this blog about learning how to blog. I thought a lot of blogs in the Philippines were dealing with this topic, but:

1. I realized that it was not that much.
2. The content was often elusive or not sufficiently elaborated.

So, I told myself: “alright I’ll start my own, I’ve nothing to lose anyway.”

Do you own research and you’ll see. 

Google the topic of your blog and look how many blogs in the Philippines or Filipino blogs talk about it. If you think you can give as great or greater value than the ones on the web right now. You might be onto something.

Yes, there might be some topics with fiercer competition than others: travel blogs are appearing more and more in the Philippines. Becoming harder to get noticed in this field. 

Although, it does not mean that you can’t go with it: your own personality and voice might make the difference.

Compared to other countries, the blogging sphere in the Philippines is still new. It is not comparable to the US. 

Even in France, the country where I’m from. We’re 5 years late compared to the US in terms of blogging. It is just recently that it is starting to boom. 

Therefore, many topics are still available and are waiting for their blogging representatives. And this could be you.

If you are interested in starting your own blog: click here.