Indian Food Bloggers Earn as Much as 20 Lakhs. A Month.
With the advent of the digital era, blogging which used to be a mere hobby or time pass has turned into a serious business for some. Not many years ago, we barely knew even one blogger emerging into the realms of popularity. But now, it’s not only limelight, to many, blogging has become their bread and butter. Within the universe of blogging, food blogging is something which more and more bloggers are gravitating towards. From those drool-worthy videos on Instagram to flashy reviews on Facebook, food bloggers have found out many ways to make their journey successful.
“A journey which started on social media with only a single follower is now being followed by more than 150,000 people. My intent to start and maintain the blog was to share my mother’s recipes with other home makers and stay connected with this community. It now impacts a sizeable crowd on social media, and I’m being called a trendsetter,” says Karan Dua from Dilsefoodie.
Soon after realising the potential of social media, Dua decided to share his blog on Facebook and Instagram which created a sudden hype around the foodie. “I started receiving calls and invites from new restaurants, clubs, pubs, cafes, and food joints of Delhi and NCR. I understood the market at a very early stage because of which I further became the social media partner and collaborated with brands like Kent Ro, Pepsi, Good Day, HAVMOR ice cream, Quaker Oats, Dominos, and Pizza Hut,” Dua added.
In order to earn money, a food blogger has to use the blog as a catalyst and work his or her way up the value addition chain to become more valuable and appealing to food brand and restaurants. Blogging is a given, apart from that this other ways to become unique is to offer services like writing specialised content, promoting events, hosting or gracing events, graphic designing or managing social media for a brand.
There are ways to monetize a blog both directly and indirectly. CPC ads (cost per click) and CPM ads (cost per 1000 impressions) are the most common ways – Google AdSense appears to be the most popular program for bloggers to promote the brands they struck deals with; affiliate marketing is another way to generate money from a blog.
Nowadays all the top bloggers of all trades and industries are banded in one big group called ‘Influencers’ - and that is a big change. “Thankfully many FMCG food brands have started using Instagram as a common medium for marketing, and pay handsomely to Instagrammers. This is one medium that will continue to shine for a long time,” stated Gurpreet Singh Tikku, known for his blog, Mistertikku. “Now even brand endorsements by bloggers are getting big and in the future, income from brand endorsements shall form a good chunk of income,” he added.
Vickrham Vicky who operates ‘FoodManiacsborn2eat’ is amazed by how the scene has changed. “6 years ago a blogger had to explain what he does and how it benefits a brand. Now the tables have completely turned.” Still, not every blogger contemplates turning their virtual activities into a serious career. Vicky continued, “For amateur bloggers, the goal is to get freebies, free meals and followers - no more. It’s done out of love for cuisine.” he says.
Just as well. Monetizing blogs can take a lot of persistence and is no walk in the park. For the food blogger starting from scratch and not faint of heart, it can pay off in the long run. On an average, Indian bloggers earn anywhere from a mere five to six thousand rupees to as high as 15 to 20 lakh per month. “For a period of 6 to 12 months, you hardly get anything. Instead you need to put in some money to get it running. For me, more than my blog alone the influencer side has worked well,” says Vicky.
Prabhjot Singh and his blog ‘Foodkars’ has grown to a community of over 200,000 readers and followers. His tip for emerging bloggers was to focus on areas you know well: “Many bloggers are just following or I would say running a rat race. These days an individual blogger is covering everything from food, to technology and what not. I am not saying that a blogger cannot ace in more than one area but this should only be done if you truly have [expert] knowledge on the topic”.
