I wanted to do something a little different today, and I know I have only been blogging for a couple of months, and am therefore nowhere near any kind of expert, but I hopefully wanted to share through the form of an A to Z list of the things I have learned about the blogging world and the experience of blogging! I'm not trying to give out a help service of give advice to those more experienced than me, just share some of the things I have learned and that have really helped me in the early stages of setting up my blog, that will hopefully help other beginners too!
Authenticity | I learned pretty quick that having an authentic blog was very important. Stealing images and posts from other bloggers or internet sources without proper referencing, or worse, claiming them as your own, can have really bad repercussions on your blogs reputation and the reputation of you as a blogger.
Believabilty | One thing I wanted to do on my blog from the offset is not try and create stories which weren't true and to make sure that I was honest with my bloggers so I had a good believability. Creating a trusting connection and being honest with your readers, I have learned, is key to having a successful blog.
Creative Content | I don't mean making stories up, unless you want to have a short stories blog of course. Blogs that are boring won't get read, so having a creative writing style and making your posts interesting and exciting, especially making your blog witty, with bring people back to your blog.
Definition | It's important to define your blog, whether it's beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food, review, music, or a combination of a few types of blogs. Giving your blog a clear definition will make it easy for people who haven't been on your blog before to know a little about what you're about.
Events | Events are something which are fantastic to cover, and something that I definitely want to expand my blog to include once I have been to a few. I love reading event posts on people blogs, and they are a fantastic opportunity to mix with other bloggers and brands.
Friends | I have met, even in the short time I have been blogging, some lovely people from all over the world, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, and they definitely make it easier to learn new tips and tricks to help progress your blog and cheer you up in such a competitive environment.
Giveaways | Whilst these are something to wait until you are more established before doing, and something which I am nowhere near the point of doing, they are great to take part in when you are first starting up. Not only do they get your name out there, and allow you to discover new blogs and people, they open up your mind to a whole variety of products and ideas.
Honesty | As they always say, honesty is the best policy. Having a blog where you spin stories of fantastic adventures you have been on and products you have tried are next to pointless. Readers will be able to tell when you are, in effect, bullsh*tting them and it could create a bad image for your blog.
Integrity | Blogs are a space for you to share the things you love with the world, and meet like minded people, not a place to spin hate stories and use it had a tool to bully or spread hate, or even scam other bloggers and your readers. Fishing for followers is something I have quickly learned to hate. Bloggers who are constantly sharing their numbers and stats give me, personally an impression that they are in it purely for the followers, rather than the fun of blogging. Whilst it is nice to share your targets and accomplishments, fishing is an entirely different matter. Scrolling through Twitter, discovering new posts and bloggers is one of my favourite things to do in my spare time, but the occasional post of "Follow for a follow" and "Help me get to 'x amount' of followers" really irritates me. What ever happened to doing something for the simple fact that you love it?
Justification | If you want your blog to review products and places, it's important to be able to justify why you have said the things you have said about them. Blogs aren't a place to vent on personal vendetas because you have a grudge against one bad experience. If you genuinely have had a bad experience, by all means review it, but make sure you have evidence for each thing you say.
K...so it's not really a K, but I couldn't think of any - help if you have any suggestions! Let's have another C instead - Collaborations | Any opportunity to do a collaboration with others bloggers can not only allow you to meet some new and fantastic people and give you a fun time, but can also expand your blogs reach to a whole new bunch of readers and followers.
Lightheartedness | Having a blog that has the sole purpose of spreading negativity won't give you a very good reputation. Keeping your blog lighthearted and friendly can spread happiness and give you a much better outreach and reputation.
Media | I have learned that media in many forms, be it social or actual imagery is important for any blog. Social media has been a massive help for me to expand my blog and reach a lot more followers than I could ever imagine in such a short space of time (250+ may not seem like a lot to some people, but to me it's overwhelming). As mentioned above, using other peoples imagery is ok, as long as it is referenced or sourced properly. Using your own imagery can be good, as it gives a personal feel to your blog and can give you some beautiful images that are much more suited to your blog both in feel and content.
Networking | Keeping yourself to yourself, if you want to expand your following for your blog is pretty much pointless. While the main reason for me starting my blog was to get a large following, it is something that quite a few bloggers crave. Networking can also mean connecting with others bloggers, which certainly makes surviving in the blogging world easier.
Openness | While you don't have to spill your deepest, darkest secrets to the world, being open and honest on your blog, and giving away a little bit of personal information about yourself (nothing overly sensitive) can bring your readers to feel closer to you on a personal level and have a great effect on the positivity towards your blog. One of the first posts I did revealed personal information about me, and whilst it was hard to write, it made me feel closer to my readers too, which is a special connection.
Planning | Writing in a haphazard way will give your blog a confused feeling. Pre-planning your posts, even if it's just the titles, can make keeping track of your posts very easy. Posting regularly can have a great effect on your following if your readers know what time each day (or however regularly you want to post) to come back and check on your blog.
Quickness | In the early stages of blogging, comments are one thing which can give your blog standing and get it connected to other blogs and a bigger audience. By responding to your commenters, whether they are bloggers or not, can give your blog a personal touch and make people think of you as a real person they are talking to, rather than just a post on a screen.
Realism | Being real is a very important part to any blog. Creating fake posts, stories, and even expanding to fake social media accounts can be dangerous, and ruin a reputation in a matter of minutes. Having just one social media account (for each social media app) can be helpful in a number of ways - helping you as a blogger keep track of everything in one place, helping your readers easily find you (it can also be helpful to have the same or similar usernames for each of your social media outlets), and helping people to know you are legitimate. False accounts, businesses creations and plans can create a bad vibe towards both your blog and you as a blogger.
Scheduling | Having a schedule and scheduling your posts once you have written them is very important, and has been something that I have adopted as part of my blog. Being able to write a number of blogs at a time, and schedule the date and time that they are released has been a god sent to me, especially when I don't know where I'm going to be from day to day and at what times. Also linking your social media accounts and your blog, you can, for example, post notifications of new posts to apps such as twitter and bloglivin' even when you're not around.
Title | Having a catchy title can be very useful, both in the main title of your blog or in the titles of your posts. By having a name which speaks both about you and what you want your blog to be about can be very appealing to your blog readers. For example, the name for my blog, Twisted Beauty, came from wanting to have a blog that was an initial beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog, with a twist. The twist being that I don't consider myself, being a size 16/18, a typical 'beauty', but I still see myself as a beautiful person on the inside. Blog post titles are different, they should firstly be obvious about what your post is about, and secondly be enticing. Misleading readers about your posts can slow down your traffic.
Uniqueness | It's difficult with the number of bloggers out there to find a niche or a uniqueness in the blogging world, but just being yourself can be unique enough. Showing your personality through your blog can bring readers in, and make it more fun for you, as a blogger to write! Creating unique posts or tags can also get you extra views and get you more involved with other bloggers.
Variety | In my blog especially, I wanted to keep to my boundaries of beauty, fashion and lifestyle, but keep it fresh. By having variety, even if it's just switching from doing a post about foundation one day to nail polish the next, can keep your blog fresh and interesting.
Wittiness | Having a sense of happiness and wittiness about your blog can make it much easier to read, and much more likely that people will want to return to your blog a second, third, fourth etc. time.
X...I can't think of an X, once again, if you can, let me know! ...Let's have another E - Expand | Expanding your blog to new people and new horizons can make getting ideas for posts much easier, and give you much more traffic on your blog. It's not just about expanding your blog though, expanding yourself and your experiences can be really fun, and give you opportunities you never thought you could experience. For example, in the next few weeks I'm going to a number of events run by bloggers from coffee meets to chocolate tasting - experiences I never thought I would have, or with people I never thought I would meet.
Yourself | Being yourself is very important. Your blog should be like having you on a screen. I don't mean delving into the darkest corners of your life, but it can be something as simple as the design of your blog. By giving your blog a design that fits what you want your blog to be about and the posts you are posting can make readers feel much more comfortable. I know, when I changed the initial look of my blog to something which I feel suits my personality much better and looks more professional, made me feel better about it.
Zone out the Bitchiness | Nobody has the time or the energy to waste on bitchy people whose sole purpose on social media is to make other people feel bad. It can also have a dramatically bad effect on the reputation of your blog and you as a person, as well as making someone feel terrible about themselves, which is, simple, not on! Standing up for yourself, or others to protect them is a completely different matter, but bullying is unacceptable on any terms. Having suffered from bullying myself, I know how much it can psychologically hurt when you know you haven't done anything wrong. By being involved in the bitchiness can also give a very bad impression to brands who you may want to work with on a professional blog level in the future. This is something I have learned this week from watching a number of things unfolding on social media. Be true to who you are, and don't try to be something you're not. Not everyone will like you, accept that and move on. Focus on the good - focus on the people who love your blog and you for you.
I do apologise for the slight sombre feel to the post at the end there! I hope this has helped - as I say, I'm no expert, I'm just wanting to share the things I have learned in my initial stages of blogging. If you have any more suggestions for things they have learned for the A to Z let me know in the comments below!
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