#WomensMonth: Business can be pretty
Humble beginnings
What started as a humble venture in 2007 showcasing Meintjes’ talented wedding photography, the Pretty Blog has expanded to incorporate several other lifestyle avenues, such as food, homeware and travel. For those who are aware of the blog, you may immediately have had images of quaint wedding venues, intricately-made dresses or delectable eats spring to mind; for those who haven’t yet discovered the blog, it’s a must-see.
The Pretty Blog has also won multiple awards, including being named one of the top five wedding blogs in the world by Bloglovin; recognised by Webfluential.com for having the Best ROI for influencer markting in SA (Creative, Fashion, Lifestyle); and, most recently, winning in the categories of ‘best photography’ and ‘best overall’ for the first South African Travel Blog Awards. Here, Meintjes discusses all things pretty, the blog’s award-winning travel section and her future business plans.
Tell us how your blog came about.
Tell us how your blog came about.In the first three years, I was spending hours in bridal consultations with my clients going through all my images and albums. By being in all these meetings, I realised that my clients (brides) couldn’t envision their wedding without looking at pictures. They needed some form of visual inspiration to help them ‘see’ the possibilities. It was then that I realised there was a huge gap for a digital form of visual inspiration (remember this was before Pinterest or Instagram even existed). That’s where the idea of The Pretty Blog started.
Even though we started with very simple blog posts for brides, I always envisioned that The Pretty Blog would become a digital publication covering a wide variety of lifestyle content, but with one common thread - it had to be in inspiring, pretty and relatable to our audience. We always say: We write for our friends.
What have been some of the greatest challenges while running the Pretty Blog? And what keeps you going when things are tough?
What have been some of the greatest challenges while running the Pretty Blog? And what keeps you going when things are tough?I think the hardest thing is to actually turn a blog into a profitable business. There are many models out there, but if you’re really strict about your content and have a very specific editorial vision, you unfortunately have to shoo away a lot of business, or potential clients. We believe in strong curated content and even though online media is still in its infant stages in SA, we believe pushing through all the tough times will eventually pay off. The key is to survive.
Which blogs inspire you?
Which blogs inspire you?I’m a huge fan of refinery29, not necessarily for their content, but because they really understand content creation and they get online media. That really inspires me.
