A couple years ago I started blogging. I didn't really know what I was doing and it took me a long time to learn quite a few things. Now that I have this extra knowledge, I absolutely love creating these tip and advice posts for you.
Today, I present to you Four Tips for Beauty Bloggers. Even though I say that this advice is for beauty bloggers, this post can really be adapted to other bloggers too. I really hope that you find some value in this post and I'd love to hear from you if you have any other questions.
#1 - Know Your Worth
There are lots of things that I could mention first, but this in particular has made me quite upset lately. Of course it's in the nature of blogging to receive 'freebies' from PR companies or brands, but let me tell you! It's an old expression, but it rings 100% true. 'Nothing in this world is free.' You have to know your worth.
If someone wants to send you a product for editorial consideration (eg: if you really like it, you'll write about it, but no guarantees), no worries. This happens to me all the time and I am incredibly thankful because it's virtually impossible to use your own money to keep on top of all of the new products or trends. But, if you let brands dictate to you and basically send you 10 requirements, you have to realise that isn't fair. They're businesses, and you should treat your blog like a business. Don't let them demand things of you. Blogging is your online space and you should have control.
If a product doesn't fit you, don't feel pressured to write about it either. Trust me when I say that this was something that took me a while to learn. I thought 'ooo look I can get X for free if I just do X'. Overtime, I realised that so many products weren't suited to what I wanted to write about and my audience probably doesn't care about X anyway. Looking back I made so many cringe worthy, forced looking posts. I definitely went through and deleted a whole heap of them because they just made me feel dirty.
#2 - Don't Rush Your Photography
This year I posted my ultimate Five Steps For A Perfect Flatlay which you can read here. Reading that post, you'd know that I am all about photography and taking my time. Especially if you're using natural light, make sure you do it at the right time of day. Don't try and smash out photography just before the sun goes down because all of your pictures will be looking mighty blue and no editing can fix that.
Take your time. Figure out what time of day you have the least shadows, the best natural light etc. Play around with your arrangement. Take a photo, look at the arrangement again, and keep on going. It usually takes me around 5 tries until I'm happy. You can take as many pictures as you like until you get a perfect one, but if you only take one picture, pack up your stuff, look at the photo later and you're unhappy with it - ergh! Worst feeling. It took you so long to set up and you still aren't happy with the end product.
#3 - Proofread
One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started blogging is that I felt sort of anxious when I finished writing a blog post. I hated keeping it as a draft and as soon as I proofread once, I just published the post and let it go. Big. Mistake. It's great to prepare your posts in advance because if you get busy you already have something to put up. But also because it seriously gives you endless amounts of opportunities to double check everything. I've now gotten into the habit of editing and proofreading as I write my initial post. When I think I'm finished, I proofread probably another 3 or 4 times. It does sound strange but I recommend reading out loud. After I have published my post, I proofread once more and if the post is gigantic, I might even ask my boyfriend to take a quick glimpse as well.
#4 - Network
To be completely honest with you, my favourite thing about having a blog is being able to network and meet other amazing bloggers. But, if you live in an area where you don't have many events, understand that networking doesn't have to be in person.
You can easily network over the internet, I mean hey, here we all are! Comment, share, engage with other bloggers posts. Try break the blogging-friend boundary and you might actually make some great friends, not just great blogging friends.
What are some of your tips for beauty bloggers or other bloggers?
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Today, I present to you Four Tips for Beauty Bloggers. Even though I say that this advice is for beauty bloggers, this post can really be adapted to other bloggers too. I really hope that you find some value in this post and I'd love to hear from you if you have any other questions.
#1 - Know Your Worth
There are lots of things that I could mention first, but this in particular has made me quite upset lately. Of course it's in the nature of blogging to receive 'freebies' from PR companies or brands, but let me tell you! It's an old expression, but it rings 100% true. 'Nothing in this world is free.' You have to know your worth.
If someone wants to send you a product for editorial consideration (eg: if you really like it, you'll write about it, but no guarantees), no worries. This happens to me all the time and I am incredibly thankful because it's virtually impossible to use your own money to keep on top of all of the new products or trends. But, if you let brands dictate to you and basically send you 10 requirements, you have to realise that isn't fair. They're businesses, and you should treat your blog like a business. Don't let them demand things of you. Blogging is your online space and you should have control.
If a product doesn't fit you, don't feel pressured to write about it either. Trust me when I say that this was something that took me a while to learn. I thought 'ooo look I can get X for free if I just do X'. Overtime, I realised that so many products weren't suited to what I wanted to write about and my audience probably doesn't care about X anyway. Looking back I made so many cringe worthy, forced looking posts. I definitely went through and deleted a whole heap of them because they just made me feel dirty.
#2 - Don't Rush Your Photography
This year I posted my ultimate Five Steps For A Perfect Flatlay which you can read here. Reading that post, you'd know that I am all about photography and taking my time. Especially if you're using natural light, make sure you do it at the right time of day. Don't try and smash out photography just before the sun goes down because all of your pictures will be looking mighty blue and no editing can fix that.
Take your time. Figure out what time of day you have the least shadows, the best natural light etc. Play around with your arrangement. Take a photo, look at the arrangement again, and keep on going. It usually takes me around 5 tries until I'm happy. You can take as many pictures as you like until you get a perfect one, but if you only take one picture, pack up your stuff, look at the photo later and you're unhappy with it - ergh! Worst feeling. It took you so long to set up and you still aren't happy with the end product.
#3 - Proofread
One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started blogging is that I felt sort of anxious when I finished writing a blog post. I hated keeping it as a draft and as soon as I proofread once, I just published the post and let it go. Big. Mistake. It's great to prepare your posts in advance because if you get busy you already have something to put up. But also because it seriously gives you endless amounts of opportunities to double check everything. I've now gotten into the habit of editing and proofreading as I write my initial post. When I think I'm finished, I proofread probably another 3 or 4 times. It does sound strange but I recommend reading out loud. After I have published my post, I proofread once more and if the post is gigantic, I might even ask my boyfriend to take a quick glimpse as well.
#4 - Network
To be completely honest with you, my favourite thing about having a blog is being able to network and meet other amazing bloggers. But, if you live in an area where you don't have many events, understand that networking doesn't have to be in person.
You can easily network over the internet, I mean hey, here we all are! Comment, share, engage with other bloggers posts. Try break the blogging-friend boundary and you might actually make some great friends, not just great blogging friends.
What are some of your tips for beauty bloggers or other bloggers?
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