SO YOU WANNA START A BLOG, eh? The number of DM’s I get asking for tips on where to start if you wanna be a blogger are endless. I give blog tips ALL day long over here (love that so many of you guys blog!!), but they are mainly geared at existing blogger’s.
Today I wanted to talk to the people who are thinking about starting a blog, more specifically, sharing what I wish I knew before I started. Things that would, in the end, save me time & make the whole thing go much smoother for me.
You can read all about my blogging journey here, but when I started, there was not a lot of blogger’s on the scene & so I kinda just went head first. It was a mess at first. No rhyme or reason, I posted when I felt like it (usually about Mary Kate & Ashley… I blogged a lot about them back in the day), & I just did NOT know wtf I was doing.
I grew & evolved, clearly (although, where is MK&A?? MISS those bag ladies sm!) & just wanted to share 5 non overwhelming things to help get the gears turning if you think blogging is in your future!!!
wearing: Missguided white balloon sleeve top (sold out- similar!) | Frame leather skirt | Nike Airmax 90 (I got the “big boy version” for a sly $20 discount!! I wear a size 7 & got a size 5.5) | Le Specs ‘Last Lolita’ cat eye sunglasses
The 5 Things I Wish Someone Told me When I Started Blogging
1. Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery in blogging
I know, you’ve heard it before… from me, every other blogger, & all their mom’s too. It’s because it’s a big one. First of all, people notice. The internet is a big world, but it will amaze you how fast things travel. I have had people send me blog posts that literally COPIED & PASTED from my site. This is not cool & there is NOTHING worse than being called out for plagiarism from a peer/someone you respected enough to knock off.
Here’s the deal: there is a difference between being inspired by something someone did versus knocking them off completely.
I am inspired by shit all the time. This post was most likely inspired by something I saw on the gram or on Instagram. IT’S LIFE, especially in this digital world where you can’t NOT be inspired. Everyone is doing something rad, everyone has great ideas, & literally every single thing you see on the internet came from something someone saw.
That said, BLOGGING is a really personal thing to do. You put your heart & soul into your work, your words, your photos, etc. For someone to literally steal your creative concept & then selling that concept to their readers is like me knocking of a Picasso & trying to sell it as a Picasso. YA FEEL ME?
Plus, starting off a blog based on copying another blog you like will only hinder your growth from the very start. What works for someone else may not work for you, & people want to see something new & fresh. Think outside the box, and give people something they haven’t seen before.
2. start off with a STREAMLINED site design
I am a huge stickler on the importance of branding as a whole, especially when it comes to the aesthetics of my site. If you didn’t know, on top of Fashionlush, I also co-own a blog design company (blog-doo)… so you better believe I am pulling out my magnifying glass when looking at sites.
It saddens me because I feel like blogs are taking a back burner to Instagram. So much focus goes into Instagram that blogs are either hastily put together to further monetize a growing Instagram following OR people just kinda let their blogs collect dust.
Every year blog trends change, & you just have to keep up. What my blog started out as, although pretty, is nothing closet to what it is today. I try to evolve my site yearly. Also, your site has to be fully functioning (check features regularly!), the branding needs to be cohesive (same fonts/colors/graphics/etc.), & please PLEASE please don’t make your site too busy!
The more people have to look at, the LESS they will look. You may have 20 GREAT categories you blog about, but for a reader this is a really overwhelming user experience. It’s like a restaurant with too many options, you always end up choosing the wrong thing. PARE DOWN people. Less really is more when it comes to your blog design/layout.
3. have good motives, & be ready to work HARD
Did I ever tell you the story of the girl who messaged me because she wanted to blog & get free clothes like I did? I always respond to my readers, so I messaged her a few tips & kinda touched on the importance of how it’s not all about free stuff. Her response, “well I found you, & saw you, & figured… ‘If she can do it, so can I!'”.
I try not to take shit people say too seriously, but this had me actually SHOOK. I hate confrontation, so naturally I said nothing, but I did rant to Zack about it for an hour & scream into a pillow. If you want to get in to blogging cause you think you’ve got good style & you want free clothes- BY ALL MEANS, give it a go. I am not telling you what to do, but I will tell you why NOT to do it that way.
One reason, & one reason alone, it is not as easy as you may think it looks. Sure, you can go buy 100k followers & comments/likes to match (you can buy ANYTHING these days), but what will you do when the brand who gave you free clothes or PAID you to blog about something asks to see your analytics? THAT’S EMBARRASSING. Sadly, it is not as simple as posting a picture of your outfit & expect packages lined up at your door. If you’re going into it because you think it’s that easy, have a backup plan ready, cause 9.9 out of 10 times that will NOT work.
4. You have to PLAN out everything!!
QUALITY content needs a plan & NO ONE is flying by the seat of their pants in the blog world. I personally started off my blog as a hobby without a plan & there is NOTHING I regret more. Part of me feels like I wasted a good two years being a casual/spontaneous blogger just posting when I felt like it.
Fast forward to current day & I have a content calendar, a list of videos to film, posts to write, SEO tips to follow, to-do lists galore, I literally plan EVERY last detail. I am always writing, taking notes, & preparing. Blogging is real life, but it’s not realistic to assume is will all be REAL TIME.
You won’t always be able to stick to the plan perfectly, but having it there helps structure your content. This post was actually been planned two weeks in advance. I researched good keywords, the photos were taken two weeks ago & edited last week, I have been jotting down these points (awesome notes in my phone is my BFF) ever since I had the post idea enter my brain three weeks ago.
I am writing a night before it goes live because that part I like to be real time, but everything else has been planned in advance so that I can quickly(ish… I’m a talker) get this content live. This week I am planning content for 2-3 weeks out from now, which involves where I am gonna shoot/what content I need to shoot/the SEO research/etc.
5. learn the language of blogging
You do not know how many aspiring blogger’s I come across who don’t know what SEO stands for, what conversion means, & a whole lot of them don’t even know what a dashboard is. IF YOU WANT TO BE A BLOGGER for reals, you need to learn the basics BEFORE you start.
When I made the switch from being a hobby blogger to a legit blogger- I highlighted & dogeared the shit out of Blog, Inc., pinned ENDLESS articles about SEO, & dug deep into what all of my Google analytics meant. I am all about launching your blog quickly, but I seriously don’t recommend going into it blind. You will very quickly be in over your head with a blog to run, but not a clue on how to do it. It may seem daunting at first, but take it slow!! Each week pick a new subject to educate yourself on, & become an expert.
Some of the basics you need to study: must know blog lingo, how to read Google Analytics, beginners SEO for bloggers, how to navigate your blog’s dashboard (depending on what platform you are on- i.e. WordPress or Squarespace), & the components of a succesful blog post.
This is just a starting point, because the truth is, with blogging you are ALWAYS learning. Things are always changing in this digital world, you just gotta stay up with the blog news.