5 TIPS FOR NEW Bloggers AND FLOWER POWER

Flower power

Before I move on to some important tips for new bloggers, let’s talk fashion. Today’s look and photos have a hippie/festival vibe. The dark floral dress I am wearing is one of my summer dresses which I combined with a classic black leather biker jacket and burgundy over the knee boots. I like wearing my summer dresses in fall and winter; I pair them with leather jackets, blazers, jumpers, long boots, thick puffer coats etc. I accessorised with my favourite cat eye sunglasses, a fringed suede bag and floral patterned long metallic earrings. What do you think about this look?

If you are into street art, these interesting graffiti walls can be found in Penge (South East London).

ZARA Leather Biker Jacket, Boohoo Dress, Aldo Over The Knee Boots, Urban Outfitters Fringed Suede Bag, ASOS Cat Eye Sunglasses, Mango Sanja Floral Earrings

SHOP SIMILAR

5 tips for new bloggers

I started my blog two years ago and it has been quite a journey! I have learnt so much during these two years and although I have read so many tips for new bloggers, there are things I wish I had known from the beginning. I thought I would share these thoughts to help out new bloggers who are just starting their adventure. Have a look at my five tips for new bloggers below!

1. Be patient and prepared to work hard

When starting a blog, a lot of people expect instant results in terms of website traffic, Social Media followers and paid collaborations with brands. When nothing major happens within the first 3-6 months, a large percentage of them give up. How long does it really take to start seeing some substantial financial benefits from blogging? It all depends on how much time you can invest in blogging, however it usually takes years rather than months. If you want to start a blog, at the beginning you should do it as a hobby and enjoy it, but expect nothing in return. Eventually things will start happening but you need to be patient and constantly develop your knowledge. It comes as a surprise to a lot of new bloggers, but it’s not enough to just write a post and publish it on a website. You need to learn how to make your post SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) friendly. You need to learn different ways of promoting your post. You need to be consistent with publishing your posts meaning you will need to make time for your blog when you have no time by compromising your social life and other commitments. You need to be aware that whilst Instagram is a very important social platform and you do need it, it’s now much harder to build up the followers and engagement than it was in the past due to Instagram’s algorithm.

I am not trying to discourage you; if you work hard and stick with it, things will start happening sooner or later. Those who fail are the ones who have high expectations of becoming rich and famous immediately and when this doesn’t happen within the first few months, they give up. By realising that blogging is not going to give you instant fame and fortune and having a more realistic approach you will avoid frustration and disappointment. You will be able to focus your efforts on what needs to be done and achieve better results. The important thing is just to keep going no matter what! Think about it, if it was really that easy and quick to ‘become rich blogging’, everyone would be a blogger!

There will be still times when you won’t feel motivated. I have noticed this psychological phenomenon amongst a few bloggers I know including myself – we all have a similar crisis on a regular basis and say we are done with blogging. At the time when it happens we strongly believe in what we are saying however it always passes and we are soon back to blogging as if nothing happened!

2. Be unique

The blogging market is now very saturated. It was much easier for those who started their blogs 5 or more years ago. Currently there are millions of blogs and competition is very high. The only way you will be able to stand out from the crowd is by being unique and embracing the things that make you and your blog different from the others. By all means take inspiration from other bloggers, connect and learn from them but don’t try to be like them because it won’t get you anywhere. There is no point in doing exactly what somebody else is doing, because they are already doing it!

3. Start your email list early

A lot of new bloggers don’t realise the importance of building up their email subscriber list and they leave it till later (including me!). It’s a mistake because your email subscribers are the only followers that are really yours. Your social media followers belong to the Social Media Platforms which control the reach and keep changing the rules. Facebook and Instagram’s organic reach can be as low as 1%; this means only 1% of your followers will see your post on their feed! This is why your email subscription service is so important. Some of your website visitors will stop by your blog once and despite enjoying the content, they will simply forget about it and never come back. If they are given the opportunity to subscribe and they decide to do that, they will be receiving updates to their email address and are more likely to return to your blog.

4. Be prepared for negative comments

When you to start a blog, you expose yourself and your life to the entire world through the Internet. Unfortunately not everyone is nice or sane and there will be some negative, unfair or even nasty comments on your blog or social media platforms. You need to grow a thick skin and not to take them personally. My approach is to respond to negative comments as long as they are not abusive or insulting. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and not everyone has to like my outfit or agree with my views. In regards to the insulting or abusive comments, the best approach is to ignore them. You don’t have to publish them on your website. You have less control if they appear outside of your website, e.g. social media platforms, but the best approach is to ignore, block and report. The most important thing tough is not let them get to you.

5. Use every opportunity to create a post

When you are starting your blog and you have a full time job, it’s often challenging to get organized and prepare content for your blog on a regular basis. Sometimes things will come up, like a birthday party on Saturday which you cannot turn down and then the weather is really bad on Sunday meaning you lost the only two days you had to take photos for your next week’s posts. Regardless of how many times per week you post, it’s very important to be consistent and not have any unusually long breaks in activity. Therefore you should plan your posts in advance and always have some spare content in the bag. The way to do it is to be always in the ‘blogging mode’ and be prepared to take pictures when you go to your favourite restaurant, when you visit your friends or family who live in another city or in the countryside, or when you attend some interesting events. All of these everyday life scenarios make a great blog post material. People are interested in what you do and they want a sneak peek into your life, it doesn’t all have to be glamorous or extraordinary. The appeal of blogs is to follow the girl next door and see what she is up to as people can relate to this. They want to know what your diet is, what your fitness regime is, what’s in your handbag, what your hair routine is, what you are currently watching on Netflix and what you do at weekends. You need to draw a line though how far you are prepared to go with this and how much of your private life you are willing to expose. There is no right or wrong answer here and it’s entirely up to you where you set this line.

As a new blogger, do you find these tips helpful? And to the experienced bloggers – would you agree with these tips for new bloggers? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a great weekend!

Magda

xoxo

Find out how to be fashionable without spending a fortune: HOW TO BE STYLISH ON A BUDGET AND OTHER STORIES.

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