Equipment you need to be a pro blogger

When I first started blogging a year ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know what I needed or where to even start. When I googled ‘equipment for bloggers’ I just got results that said a camera, lights and a tripod… Well, no duh.

But there are so many other things needed if you want to be a professional blogger. Here are a few of the essentials in blogging equipment:

Camera, Lights and a Tripod

This is all you really need to get your feet wet. Any camera you can afford at the time will work. I started with a basic Canon Powershot. I now use a Canon Rebel T5i, and I absolutely love it.

I got some soft box lights from Amazon, and my tripod is also from amazon. I recommend starting with box lights and then moving on to a diva light. Diva lights are great for filming just you, but they don’t do a great job if you want to move on to different types of videos (like room tours, etc.). Box lights can be used for everything and anything, so they are multi-purpose.

All together this can cost you about $250, if you are getting a basic camera. If you get a nice camera, you are looking at a little over $1,000.

Lenses

Once you get the hang of blog life, you are going to start wanting better graphics, and that’s when you start looking at lenses. A lot of people are so worried about what camera body you buy, but it’s really all about the lenses.

If you get a decent camera body, you can do anything with quality lenses. I use a low aperture lens on my camera that I bought on Amazon for about $150. There are a lot of lenses to choose from, so once you learn how to work a camera, you will know what kind you need.

Microphone

There are a ton of microphones to choose from, and honestly, I do not have the one I want at the moment. I bought a condenser mic from Tonor for about $25, but the really good ones will cost you a little over $100. You can even get some models that attach to your iPhone.

It is important to know what microphones do.

I went to school for broadcasting, so I have a pretty good knowledge of the inner working of mics, but if you dont, you should read this article. I would go into it more, but that would be a whole new post.

I didn’t use a microphone in the beginning, but I eventually bought one to make better voiceover videos.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds are something I have just started investing in. I feel like the longer you have the blog, the more you acquire.

For videos, I am planning on moving to a new apartment and getting a filming room, but for now I just try to have a clean area. If you want a background, you can purchase a background frame and build your own or buy one. A lot of people make a glitter fringe background this way (think Jaclyn Hill).

For my blog, I purchased a plain white cardboard piece at Michaels. I sometimes wrap it in a gorgeous wrapping paper for pictures or use some pretty stationary. I want to purchase some floor samples and make another background this way. I have waited because I want to have a filming room first, so I can store everything.

This can be as expensive as you make it. Cardboard costs about two dollars. This is really something that just grows as a collection.

SIDENOTE: I sometimes buy pretty kitchen items at TJ Maxx just because I think it will look good in blog photos. I am slowly working towards having a larger collection of blogging props, and this is one way I do that.

Planner

It’s important to stay organized when you are a blogger. I have three planners. One for my regular day, one for my blogging, and one of my planners is just an overview.

Also, I am currently working on a project where I am making my own planner systems to release on my blog, so look for that in the months to come! There will be a blogging planner system with special pages!

Software

Software can vary in these situations. It really is about making the best with what you have financially.

VIDEOS: I use iMovie for videos. This is not because I don’t know how to use other programs (I am a journalist, so I am good at more than 5 different editing softwares), but because I can’t afford Premiere (my preferred editing software). Premiere can be bought as a monthly expense, which I want to do some day.

The important thing is, no matter what software you use, master it. I use iMovie, but I extend it further than the average Joe knows how to do. You have the internet at your fingertips – USE IT! Google tutorials and become an expert at your craft.

PHOTOS: Again, you can buy the Creative Cloud monthly to have Photoshop, but I make do without. For my blog, I use PicMonkey to edit photos. I then bring the photos to Canva to create graphics. My blog has gotten so much better since I started using Canva!

If you are more technical, you might want to think about trying the Gimp, a free software very similar to Photoshop. I was using it for a while, but I just don’t do anything too special with my photos, so I just switched to online editors.

WordPress

I started off blogging on WordPress.com, and I bought my domain there. I highly recommend starting there because it helps give you a knowledge of how blogging and coding works.

A few months ago, I went ahead and moved to WordPress.org. Basically this means I am now self-hosting. It gets really complicated at first, but then eventually you will figure it all out!

I used Etsy and the Creative Market to find new fonts and themes for my blog. If you want to see a post on what I use exactly, let me know in the comments.

When I was using WordPress.com, I used the Sela theme and made my own banner. Like I said, do what you can afford, but master it. Lots of people think just because they can’t afford anything nicer, they are stuck with what they have, but if they just learned about the software, they find out how to do new and advanced things.

These are the true basics for a pro blogger! If you have any other blogging questions, let me know in the comments!

XOXO

Taylor