So you want to start a blog? – Blogging tips!

Hello everyone!
Recently, I’ve had a number of people reach out to me and ask for advice on starting up a blog and how to make it successful. Since I’ve had my blog almost a year now (That seems crazy to me) I thought I’d compile a little list of tips if you’re thinking of starting your own blog, or if you’re new to the blogging world.

Have passions and something to write about
To have a blog and enjoy creating content for it, you need to be passionate about what you’re writing about. For me, that’s beauty with a hint of my personal lifestyle in the mix. Before starting up a blog I’d suggest you think about the things you love and how they could feature on your blog. This could be recipes, fitness advice, creative writing or beauty like me! I wouldn’t recommend starting a blog just for the sake of it – have something to say that you’re passionate about.

Don’t limit yourself
When I first started this blog out, the name was ‘jazminsbeautybox’. I fast learnt that limiting myself to strictly ‘beauty’ with the title wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to include travel in there too and some of my own poetry. If like me, you want to venture off into different avenues… don’t limit yourself to ‘Bobs recipes using beef’ – you get me?

Get involved in the blogging community
Since I started my blog I have met some of the most lovely and supportive people who I consider valuable friends. If you want your blog to grow then you need to get involved and meet other people who are into blogging. Find some bloggers that post about things you’re interested in, follow their blog and show your support by liking and leaving comments on posts you enjoyed. The support you show others will be echoed on your own blog by people who want to return the favour and enjoyed your content. It’s how you meet people and get your blog out there.

Be personal
Readers like feeling like they know about you and your life and not that they are reading a false version of you that you put out online. Now I’m not suggesting you start sharing your deepest secrets or your home address, but be a true version of yourself and let your personality shine through in your blog. Take the time to get to know your readers too.

Use your own images
This ones kind of related to being personal but it’s so important to use pictures that you’ve taken yourself in my opinion because it helps to create your online personality and looks real. As you have probably noticed, I’m no photographer but I always give it a go! Plus, you can get into some real trouble by stealing random pictures from google..

Post when you want too
Bit of a funny one really because a lot of people will tell you to post regularly, which of course is the best way to gain a readership etc. However, when you’re first starting out a blog, my advice would be to post something new when you feel like it. If you put pressure on yourself to post every 3 days right at the start of your blogging life, then you’re likely to get overwhelmed and not stick to it and give up on blogging. Until you find your feet, just post when you have something you want to write about.

Promote your blog (but not too much)
One of the best ways to get your blog out there is by sharing it on social medias accounts such as Twitter and Instagram. It’s nice to tweet out a link to a new post on your blog to let your readers know of new content, but it’s going to get annoying if you tweet it out every hour. Follow other bloggers on your social media too.

Have real expectations
When people ask me ‘how do you have a successful blog?’, I’m never quite sure what they mean. To me, a successful blog is enjoying creating the content for it and having people read it and enjoy it too. I am so happy when people like and comment on my posts because I know that my hard work has been appreciated. I feel that people can get ahead of themselves when they first start a blog. You won’t get hundreds and thousands of followers in the first week – not even the first month. You won’t make millions and be sent a tonne of free products like Zoella. But what you will get is a sense of achievement that you have done this whole thing by yourself and really that is something to be very proud of!

Finally… Have fun
Don’t think of your blog as a chore, think of it as a fun hobby! Your passion will shine through.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and found it somewhat helpful. Feel free to ask any questions below!
If you are thinking of creating a blog – I hope you end up loving blogging as much as I do.

Jazmin xx

 

25 Comments

  1. Renard Moreau
    May 29, 2017 / 7:50 pm

    [ Smiles ] Having fun is the most important part!

  2. May 29, 2017 / 8:02 pm

    Totally feel you, I had an instagrampage already before I started my blog and my name on there was life of a dutch girl, but unfortunately, that name was already taken, so I changed life up for beauty. But I think too that you can post about whatever you want. If people don’t like it, they should just unfollow and don’t bother!

    • May 29, 2017 / 8:03 pm

      That’s a shame that it was already taken but beauty by a Dutch girl sounds great anyway! And you’re definitely right with that x

  3. emilyxonline
    May 29, 2017 / 10:46 pm

    If I was a new blogger (basically am since I’ve only been blogging for almost 3 months) – these tips would be so helpful! I love it when bloggers help each other ☺️ x

      • emilyxonline
        May 29, 2017 / 10:49 pm

        You’re welcome lovely! ☺️ xx

  4. King_Lici_Mua
    May 30, 2017 / 1:26 am

    Amazing post and so helpful for someone like me who just started this journey

    • May 30, 2017 / 9:28 am

      Thanks for the nice comment! Glad you found these tips useful 🙂 x

  5. May 30, 2017 / 3:40 pm

    Such fantastic advice! Totally agree about not limiting yourself to your name (or even your content!) Like you said, just have fun and write about what you love – that’s the most important thing! Fab post xxx

  6. June 1, 2017 / 4:40 am

    Really enjoyed this. I made my blog last year but still consider my self as a new blogger since I keep failed to write my blog consistently. You are right, at the beginning we just have to write when we want so we won’t feeling too much pressure and stop blogging. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • June 1, 2017 / 2:06 pm

      Thanks for reading! It’s definitely true to just do what you want and not put too much pressure on yourself x

  7. July 17, 2017 / 2:44 pm

    I too write on blogging. On using your images, there are some niche that you just have to pick images from somewhere else but they should not copy righted ones. Its advisable to look for free images.

  8. daisympalmer
    August 22, 2017 / 4:51 pm

    This is so useful! X

  9. Travels of a beauty addict
    August 30, 2017 / 5:24 am

    Awesome advice! I love creating all of my own images, it’s definitely my creative outlet!! x

  10. September 22, 2017 / 3:38 pm

    Such a helpful post…please have a look at my blog it’s all about fashion beauty n lifestyle

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *