Tips For Blogging

I've been blogging here now since 2012 so I thought I'd share a few tips I've found to be really useful and that are still useful to me now. There are tips for just starting up your blog but mostly these are just things I do that I think would benefit others too.

❥ Own all of the social media platforms
When you start up your blog and register your blogs name, go sign up to all the relevant social media channels with that name. Get them all from Twitter, a Facebook page, Pinterest, GMail, Tumblr, Instagram etc as you'll never know when you'll want to use them. It's much easier and more helpful if everything is mostly uniform too so your followers can find you easily on all platforms. Sometimes what you want is taken like mine is (and by someone who rarely uses theirs which is annoying) but you can add things before or after it as most of my social media is under hellowonderful_.

❥ Make use of apps
There are some amazing free apps out there that can really help in inspiration and productivity. WeHeartIt is amazing for photo inspiration to use on your blog with credit, Asana is a project app which allows you to create projects, lists within that, tasks within that and is so satisfactory to plug in and organise your work/blog/home life. Evernote is similar and a completely fool proof app. A Beautiful Mess is a great app that allows you to add text, filters, doodles etc to photos on your phone to post online and now you can create collages too but Moldiv is still my absolute favourite collage maker. These come in useful when promoting blog posts via social media and jazzing up general photos.

❥ Schedule your posts
If you have a busy lifestyle scheduling posts can be a lifesaver. You can write up posts over one or two days for the whole week and have them go up at specific times that you choose so there are updates even if you're away, too busy, uninspired or just can't be bothered to sit down and create one day.

❥ Keep a blogging diary
Go to your favourite stationary shop and pick yourself up a 2014 daily diary with enough space to write for each day. Use it specifically for blogging and helping to map out ideas for scheduling in advance so you know exactly where you are, when to write and when to take photos in writing. I find writing on paper really helps me to focus and it really feels cemented as I can't just swiftly delete a task as I can online.

❥ Take your photos in bulk
If there's a day your hair looks particularly great, your skin looks radiant or the lighting is just particularly flattering - take all the photos you need to take there and then. You can change up your make up, clothes, products etc but it's a great way to save time and to plan for future posts too as you can pull the already taken photo from a file to edit and write to without worrying about something that went awry on the day. I don't always do that (like these photos were taken in very low lighting because I didn't plan ahead) but I do try as much as possible to get the best possible outcome from photos.

❥ If you have a sudden burst of inspiration, write it all at once
So you have a sudden burst of inspiration to write six posts in one day? Save five of them. Stash them away in order of priority and keep them for those weeks where you don't have much inspiration so there's something to go up rather than a shoddy half-arsed post written when you really don't feel like it. That's never good for you or your reader as you both feel like it's not your best.

❥ Save a space
I find it much easier to blog if I'm in the right frame of mind and for me that's with a breeze, a mug of coffee and a clean desk area but whether you blog in total silence save the tip tap of your typing or cross legged in front of the TV make sure you're feeling inspired and ready. Often I try and blog on the go and it really doesn't work as well so if you find that happens, write the blog post by hand in a notebook. Often when you go to type it up you can change things that weren't quite right a little later.

❥ Remind yourself that you may never be the best but you can try
With so many amazing blogs out there with seemingly never ending energy, creativity and updates it can be difficult to feel like you'll never truly gain a large readership but that shouldn't stop you from trying. All blogs started with 0 followers but with great interaction via social media, consistent updates, consistently bettering content and quality you start to gain and keep followers and that can be amazing so keep at it if you love it because it's worth it. It's my favourite hobby and my blog is so, so tiny.

❥ You don't need a Mac and a Canon 600D
I have both. I have had my Mac way before I started blogging back in 2007 but the DSLR was a new purchase as I wanted to play around with photography more outside of the blogging world. I often blog on an Acer laptop that belongs to my boyfriend as mine is so battered and sometimes my iPhone takes a nicer photo than my DSLR because of the arrangement of the photo and the lighting because it really is all in the tricks rather than the camera in most cases. If you look at the photos you love the most is it the quality of the image or the way the image is laid out coupled with the lighting and colours? Usually it's the latter and the quality is just a bonus and it's the same with a big camera. Really not worth laying down over £500 for when you have to add another £200 usually for a decent lens too if you have a camera that would do a great job in the right circumstances.

❥ Interact. Read. Always.
Interact in the comments, on Twitter or through your Facebook feed but definitely do interact. It's the way I've found to gain more readers, new friends and lots of inspiration. Read other people's posts, comment on them or tweet them about it - it really is all in the networking and sometimes there comes great friendships that's all the more beneficial not just to your blog stats but to you as a person which reflects on your blog. I've featured lots of blogs I love and online friends I've ended up meeting and adoring.

I hope some of these tips helped and weren't too arbitrary but I feel I've rambled on long enough. If you have any tips share them in the comments as I'd love to read them. Happy blogging!