I’ve been blogging for almost four years now. When I first started, I had no idea what I was doing. I was behind as a matter of fact, at least when it came to the blogesphere world. I didn’t even know what a blog was until I saw one of my college classmates blog on Tumblr. I thought to myself, “Wow, this looks simple enough for me to get the hang of.”
After I decided on a name for my blog, which was easily one of the most difficult decisions, I chose a free layout provided by Tumblr and immediately started thinking about content to write about.
Do you want to know who convinced me to start a blog in the first place? My inquiring friends who had daily makeup and beauty questions and wanted them answered in a public format. Yes, my friends were demanding lol. But hey, I’ve already given them a huge thanks for pushing me to this step.
I’ve read many blogs over the course of time instructing me how to correctly write a blog, what to include in a post and so on and so forth. Those sites were great tools, but at one point I allowed them to handicap me and make me overthink entirely too much about the “right way to write and run my blog”.
Sure, there are helpful techniques and tips that can help spread your blog worldwide with the click of a Google search, but for you newbies out there, let’s start with a few simple words of advice to get you going!
1. Start with what you’re passionate about
The easiest way to begin a blog is to write about what you’re passionate about. The reason this is true is because you will 1) have much more content to write about 2) your content will be easier to write because you enjoy talking about it, and 3) when you write about something you’re passionate about, it can serve as a learning tool for your readers, keeping them coming back for more.
2. Create a schedule
When first starting a blog, you may think you can commit to posting everyday, but if you’re like most people you may have a full time job, extracurricular activities, be a full time student, or even have a family to take care of. Setting up a schedule for your posts is so important, because consistency is key! You can start by committing to 2-3 days a week, every other day (Mon, Wed, Fri), or just stick to weekends. You know your personal schedule better than anyone, so commit to days that you know you can get it done.
**Tip: Most blog sites allow you to set up an automatic time and day for your post to go live on your blog. You could write your post the night before and schedule it to go live at 10am the next morning 🙂 All set.
3. Create an editorial calendar
If you want to blog professionally or just for fun, it’s still important to be organized with your blog material. Creating an editorial calendar simply means organizing your posts/material for the month and planning it out in advance. I personally like to create a weekly calendar versus monthly because I edit my topics a lot and write about what I’m in the mood to write about. Create a daily list like so:
-Monday: Fall makeup trends
-Wednesday: Mid week inspiration post
-Friday: Outfit of the day
Don’t feel like you’re limited to one post per day. It’s your blog! Do whatever you want to do! Hell, ignore all of my advice if you want to … it’s your blog! lol
4. Invest in a decent camera
If you know your blog will be heavy with photo content, then your photos need to be the best quality possible. We’ve all visited that blog that had great content but the photos were grainy, too big, and not clear. Don’t be that blog. Believe it or not, it turns people off from even wanting to continue reading your posts (and that’s no good). Now, I know you may not be in a hurry to run to Best Buy to pick up a $800+ SLR camera, and that’s not necessary. There are plenty of “point and shoot” cameras that will give you great quality until you’re ready for something more advanced. My first camera was a Canon Power Shot SX40 HS .
Also keep in mind, if you like to record videos, make sure your camera has that feature as well as great picture quality!
**Tip: If you plan on taking a lot of still shots such as outfit posts, INVEST IN A TRIPOD!
5. Have fun!!
Don’t forget to have fun while you blog! The last thing you want is for it to turn into something serious that’s no longer exciting to keep up. Keep it simple and to the point (because most people don’t like to read a ton anyway lol). Share your blog with your friends and family and the number one tool … your social media channels! Bless the world with your passion and stay inspired!
Extra Tool
All you fashion bloggers out there, check out this site —-> Independent Fashion Bloggers. Super helpful, in depth, tips and advice to take your blog to the next level! Thank me later.
If you have any further questions about my first segment of “Tips for a Beginning Blogger”, please leave them in the comments below!
xoxo