ONE YEAR OF BLOGGING! I cannot believe that a year has passed since I started this outlet for myself. I remember that day like it was yesterday….being completely clueless and not knowing what I was doing or what was to come. I just knew I wanted to create a space where I could express my love for beauty and life. This past year has been eye opening, to say the least. I am of course still learning so much, and haven’t even skimmed the surface when it comes to blogging, but I have learned some really good lessons along the way.

1. Be Yourself – this sounds so simple, right? Most of the time it is, but in the blogging world, it opens you up to the comparison game. In a world where social media is a big part of the business, it’s so easy to get caught up scrolling through Instagram and seeing another blogger’s beautiful photos, or looking at other blogs that are so much better than yours. Don’t let that discourage you or make you think that you can’t be there one day. It’s all about your mindset and staying true to who you really are, no matter what. Don’t try and replicate what someone else is doing just because it’s working for them. That will only get you so far.
2. Be Patient – this one is so important. Being a successful blogger is not something that happens overnight. It takes a lot of patience and persistence before you get your “big break”. Mine hasn’t even come yet, but I know that it will. I know what it’s like to spend days putting together a post that you think is so great, to then have only 15 people look at it. It’s hard and can be really discouraging. But if you don’t give up and stay consistent with your posting schedule and content, then eventually the views WILL come.
3. Consistency is Key – speaking of being consistent, I think this applies not only to your blog posts, but your social media posts as well. I think that the two really do go hand in hand. When you write a blog post, what do you need to do next? Let people know, right? And social media is the best place for that. So I think the bigger the following you’re gaining there, the more exposure your blog will have. Be consistent. Get out a calendar and commit to posting on a certain day every week and stick to it. This will help your readers know when to expect a post. It’s much better than being all over the place. This is something that I’m currently working on and really need to stay on top of too. I’ve sort of been slipping lately….because, well…..LIFE…..but when I actually stayed on a consistent schedule with my posts, it was so much easier for me to stay on track and it really held me accountable.
4. Schedule Your Posts – I used to write blog posts and then post them the same day. Not only was this stressful and had me rushing to finish, but I found tons of errors in my posts because of it. I started writing my posts the day before, or even a couple of days before and scheduled the post rather than posting it the same day. Doing it this way will take out the feeling of having to rush to post it and will free up a lot of your time. For example, let’s say you want your post to go live on Wednesday. Don’t write the post on that day, write it on Monday or Tuesday and schedule it to post on Wednesday morning. This way, when you wake up on Wednesday, your post is already live and you have that day to do other things like post about it on social media, or respond to comments, write other posts, etc…
5. Be Clever With Titles and Wording – when I first started blogging, I wasn’t really thinking much about what to title my posts or the words I was using. I didn’t think it mattered. But what I’ve learned is that it’s SUPER important. You want to be sure that you’re using words that people are actually searching for in Google, like “The Best…”, “How To…”, “5 Tips for…”, things like that. Just think of what YOU would type into Google when you’re searching, and try to build your post titles on that. Once your post starts getting hits, most of your viewers will start coming from search engines, and then you will just continue to grow from there.
6. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone – while I think this one applies to life in general, it has really been a big part of my blogging journey as well. Since I have a beauty and lifestyle blog, lots of posts are going to incorporate pictures of myself. This was a really hard thing for me to get used to because it was super uncomfortable for me to post a picture of myself without someone in the photo with me. I was literally shaking when I posted my very first solo pic haha. I was so nervous! I was ESPECIALLY nervous taking photos in public with people looking at me like I was so self involved haha. But….I learned to get over it. I’m not saying it’s still not uncomfortable, but I’ve just learned not to care so much because it’s just part of my blog and part of my personal brand. If you’re a food blogger, or a fashion blogger, you sort of just have to get used to people staring at you take pictures of your food, or posing awkwardly for the camera. I’ve realized that the more time I spend outside of my comfort zone, the more I grow as a blogger.
7. Say No – this one is simple. When brands reach out to you wanting to collaborate, if it’s not in your niche or something that you’re passionate about, DON’T DO IT. Don’t say yes to a collaboration just because you want free product. This will confuse your readers/followers and it will come across as inauthentic. Recently an eyelash company reached out to me wanting to collaborate. They were wanting me to promote their mink false eyelashes. I have worn falsies about 3 times in my entire life lol, so that was an opportunity I declined because I didn’t feel that it represented who I am. I could’ve said yes just because of the money, but I care more about staying true to myself than getting paid.

 

I am in no way an expert when it comes to blogging, but these are the main things that I have learned during my first year that I think would make a difference for someone starting out. Just don’t give up. If you love it and you are happy doing it, then continue doing it. It may take a while to get where you ultimately want to be, but if you keep at it and be persistent, you will get there. Hopefully these tips were helpful to at least one person, and if y’all have any questions/comments/thoughts, please leave them in the comments or come say hi on my Instagram!——>@kristlelauren