So You Want to Start a Blog

I get so many questions about blogging, from creating one to working with brands, to growing you Instagram. So I decide to create a series of blog posts where I cover topics with all of your questions answered. Decided to start very simple on this first one and go over the basics. Hopefully you all can gain some helpful insight from this as I am trying to be as transparent as possible.

Starting a blog was one of the best decisions I ever made and if you’re even considering doing it, I say go for it! I talked about it for about 4 years until I finally made it happen. The only thing I regret is not starting sooner. Everyone always says, where do I start, how do I start? The answer is simple, Just. Start. Everything else will follow. Trust me.

Now, by no means am I implying that it’s just all going to fall into place magically if you take pretty pictures here and there on Instagram. Before starting a blog, it’s really important to know the time commitment it truly is. It is definitely an investment which will take time to see growth. Figure out what your passionate about and why you’re doing it. If it’s just because you want free clothes and lots of likes. Then I’d hate to break it to you, you’re not going to get far. Don’t get me wrong, that’s definitely an incredible perk but you’re audience will see right through that and no one wants to follow someone who doesn’t have their own voice and just talks about their sponsored posts without any real significance.

Before you begin:

So you’ve decided to start a blog. My initial advice would be to

• Do your research
  • Scope out your competition and inspiration. See what else is out there so you can figure out how to stand out from the rest and appeal to a potential audience.

Some essentials that helped me. Please note that it’s definitely not necessary but definitely helps, A LOT! *Note: our essentials may be different pertaining to your niche*

• Buy a camera or at least an updated iPhone – I shoot with my Iphone 7 and Canon T6
  • You don’t need to shoot with a photographer to make amazing content. It wasn’t up until a few months that I started working with a photographer. Ever since then, my boyfriend had taken my photos. I personally think this is best. Not only is it free, but you get to be as comfortable as you want and direct your photos in any way. Think of it as a way for you 2 to grow. “What if my boyfriend doesn’t even know how to hold a camera?” Don’t worry about it. My boyfriend was a newbie when we started too but he’ll get the hang of it! Like everything, it takes practice. Which leads me on to talk about posing and location scouting but maybe I’ll save those topics for another time.
• Buy A tri-pod
  • If you don’t have a significant other or friend who can take your photos, A tri-pod is a great way to take photos of your outfits. Other little accessories may be helpful along the way, but I think a tripod is definitely an essential. Not to mention, you can travel with it too.
• Invest in a few clothing staples
  • Buy fresh up to trend clothes: If you’re going to be a blogger, I think it’s really important that you own or purchase some key staples that you can keep around for a long time and use in a variety of ways. Whether it may be a nice pair of levi’s, a leather jacket, some black booties, white tee-shirt. Whatever, your style may be, think about these key pieces that will really help spruce up an outift.
    • If you’re not a fashion blogger, invest in some tools that will take your content far. For example, food bloggers may want to invest in some appliances, a beauty blogger might look to purchasing some nice brushes, a nice mirror or ring light and so on.
• Apps, and/or Adobe Editing Software
  • Now this isn’t completely necessary because Instagram makes it fairly easy to edit a photo on the app and the iPhone quality is so great that maybe a few brightening and contrast retouch here and there will do the trick. However, if you want to get a bit more creative, there are so many fun apps that make it super simple to edit your photos to your style and help you plan a cohesive feed. (More on this later)
• Decide on the Platform
  When I first started I used blogger and it was easy but very limiting in terms of being able to play around with layouts, plug-ins, etc. It was definitely great to start off with but you can’t go wrong with diving all in into WordPress. Although it can be quite challenging, the possibilities are endless on there.Here are a few recs I’ve heard great things about but I highly suggest to do your own research that suit your needs.
  • WordPress
  • Squarespace
  • Blogger
• Register your domain
  • Find a name that defines who you are. Really start thinking about your blog as a brand and go with something catchy and memorable.
  • I personally use Namecheap because it’s super reliable and inexpensive.
• Select a web hosting provider
  • I use Siteground and they actually helped me migrate my blogger blog to WordPress. Amazing service. No complaints here!
• Create Layout 
  • This is my favorite part! Setting up your website/blog and adding some personality is so fun. There are so many blog services and web designers that can help you design the
• Content Calendar
  • Consistency is really key. Create a content calendar to help keep you on track. Your thoughts can really get the best of you so it’s really important to just write all your thoughts out and plan them wisely.
  • I’m still trying to figure this out myself but study your insights and see what days your audience is checking out your profile or website. Or simply just ask them! This will help you determine what you should be focusing on the most on your blog.
  • Plan out your posts and set days for you to post so your viewers know when to expect you. Do you want to do 1 or 2 posts a week? Try not to set yourself up for failure and be realistic with your goals too.
  • Buy a planner, use google calendar, or apps like hootsuite or coscheduling to assist in this. But whatever you do, be prepared to be consistant.
• Create a newsletter 
  • In order to keep your audience coming back, you’ve got to remind them about the content you’re putting out and get them excited about it. Of course you should always be promoting yourself on all your social media but take that extra step and personalize a little email to those subscribers who are obviously want to stay in the loop.

and there you have it! You’re all ready to write your first (or several) blog posts and share it with your audience.

I think this is enough to get you started on your blog journey! Let me know if there are any other questions you’d like me to answer on my next blog post.

If you’re a current blogger, I’d love to know, what was one thing you wish you knew before you started blogging?