Tips for New Bloggers

Tips for New Bloggers

I’ve started having a few people emailing and commenting for my Tips for New Bloggers, this is specifically geared towards beauty blogs. Whilst I still feel relatively new to the blogging world – I guess I have been doing it for over 2 years now so I thought I’d share a few of my tips here and I can point people in this direction.

Don’t Invest Too Much

It can be easy to think you need a Macbook, Camera and Fancy lighting as you’re probably thinking you want to be just like *insert your favourite big blogger here*. As I said I consider myself to be still quite new to the blogging world, and I’ve made many friends through blogging – some of who don’t even do it any more after even a few months, you don’t want to be regretting sitting on cash you could have spent on something else. Start with what you’ve got, don’t go out and spend £500 on the latest camera – start with any cameras you have or even your smartphone. For the first 6 months of blogging I used my smartphone instead of  my SLR even though I had one. There’s free tools online to edit photos, so there’s no worrying about expensive Photoshop fees, start small and build your investment into your blog as your passion grows.

gocustomised-iphone6-review

Buy Your Domain Early

Whilst this might sound a bit crazy – I bought helplesswhilstdrying.com over a year into Blogging. I’m a web design/developer with a decent knowledge of SEO but I didn’t want to buy my domain name initially as I didn’t know if I’d actually stick with it, but it doesn’t cost the earth to do and is easy to do through wordpress. When I eventually changed it over my Blog traffic halved for 3/4 months as my site was taking ages to get to the top of search engines again. For the sake of $20 (roughly £20) do it at the start to stop hassle down the line. You’ll build your Domain Authority from the start (I can do a whole separate post on these types of tips if needed.

marc-jacobs-lipstick-review-swatch

Stay (somewhat) Organised

I’m not necessarily a big believer in set schedules for posting – unless it helps keep you on track! Personally for me other than last year when I blogged almost every day – I’ve now gone back to a more casual routine. Definitely do not start with the expectation that you’ll blog every day but start with a plan that you’ll post a few times a week, blogging is a time consuming commitment and it could become quite overwhelming quite quickly if you start with massive ambitions.

Keep a notepad – or note on your phone for any ideas that come into your head, I can have these as I’m walking around at work so I tend to keep a list on my phone and a notepad at home too – therefore I’m never short of ideas and things I want to talk about.

bleach-london-silver-shampoo

For The Love Of God, Don’t Expect Free Stuff

One of the things that annoys me most is people asking how to get free things, in reality if that’s all that you’re here for you probably won’t be here very long. The harsh reality is that the blog market is very saturated, it’s all about how many followers you have and what your domain authority is, it took over a year until I was offered anything for free for the first time. There are lots of online communities to apply for products to review, it is unfortunately still a numbers game and they’ll often want proof of how many followers you have, and have a look at your blog/twitter to see what type of engagement you have and if people seem to be reading and reacting to your posts.

Real-techniques-cleansing-gel-review

Clean Your Products

This might sound obvious – but boy did this take me a long while to figure out. As soon as I started giving my products a quick once over before snapping them it made my pictures look so much better. Wipe those finger prints off your palette  or foundation drips off the pump – trust me.

january-2016-empties

Practice Makes Perfect… Well Almost Perfect

Rarely am I 100% happy with my photos still, especially at this time of year when winter light is the bane of your existence. Most of the time I’m 90% happy with what I’ve got. You can see a massive difference to where I was 2 years ago, or even a year ago to where I am now. I switch up my style all the time as I get bored with using the same background all the time – but develop your style and find how you like your pictures to look, whether that’s something different each time or everything more themed.

Whilst expensive equipment isn’t everything – do take steps to improve and make yourself appear as wonderful as possible. The phrase don’t judge a book by it’s cover is not one which applies often in the blog world. With thousands of new blog posts to compete with – your chosen featured image will often be what people see first, if it doesn’t look some what enticing, people are probably going to scroll and look for something else.

ole-henriksen-skincare-review

Read, Comment and Read Some More

One of the easiest ways to feel welcomed into the very friendly blogging community is to read other people’s posts especially people who are similarly minded to you, comment and read some more. When I actually started doing this – I noticed a massive surge in interest in my blog too and before I knew it I had people I even call friends “in real life” through blogging. Another good way to get your name out this is taking part in twitter chats, I don’t have time to do this as often as I’d like as I’m often driving home when they’re on, but they’re a really fun way to get to know people and discover new blogs too!

freedom-highlight-diffused-review

Show Some Personality and Be Original

I’ve had a couple of emails from people saying they’re struggling to grow their blog and they want some advice. When I look at their blogs the harsh reality is they’re taking images from magazines, or generic product shots from websites – and immediately I’m switched off by it. No one wants to see the same old stuff you can find anywhere. Take your own snaps, however great they might be and people will appreciate it – it also shows some authenticity. I see stock photos, I think – this person hasn’t actually tried it – that’s harsh but true!

Essie-Roarrrrange-Swatch-Review


I hope some of these Tips for New Bloggers helped if you’re new to the blogging world! Welcome, we’re for the most part a friendly bunch!

rachael

Instagram: @helplesswhilstdrying  |  Twitter: @helplessdrying

Helpless Whilst Drying

Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com

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26 Comments

  1. February 21, 2016 / 7:18 am

    These are all great tips! Thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. MyStyleInsideOut
    February 21, 2016 / 7:38 am

    I completely agree with this post! I was once asked if am I getting paid or given products to promote.. My initial thought was, as long as I believe and like the product there no need for freebies or $$ since I know Im fairly new in this blogging world. My main objective is to build a good relationship with some companies..and you never know they might come back for more right? Then you can think of “monetizing” later on. This is such a great post as its pretty direct to the point.. Really helpful to the new bloggers out there! Love it!๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป๐Ÿ˜

    • February 21, 2016 / 11:36 pm

      I don’t find the freebie side of things but agree that shouldn’t matter when reviewing things. I’ve had my fair share of products over the past year to the point where I’m having to be really considerate of what I accept as I have a big backlog of things I just can’t get through or try, but I would never let that away my opinion. Luckily I’ve only had one bad experience with a brand, and that wasn’t even based on free or paid post, they just didn’t like what I said! Everyone other than that has taken any croticisms on board and been welcoming to work with them again!

      • MyStyleInsideOut
        February 22, 2016 / 12:47 am

        right? good or back criticism or feedback makes us better and we learn from it actually. ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. beautycrueltyfree
    February 21, 2016 / 10:33 am

    This was so helpful, Thankyou!

  4. everythingnothin
    February 21, 2016 / 2:16 pm

    Wow!!! What an amazing and well written post!!! Great tips love!! I agree with all of them and am saving this to re-read haha!

  5. February 21, 2016 / 7:14 pm

    As a new blogger, (i only made my first post the 28th of January) this is all really helpful!! I will keep all of this in mind as I further grow my blog!! Thanks for posting on this topic! ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. February 21, 2016 / 7:50 pm

    This is a fabulous post! Really helpful- thanks ๐Ÿ˜€ xxx

  7. February 21, 2016 / 8:23 pm

    Great post! Do you have any tips on photographing makeup with reflective packaging? The struggle is real haha!

    • February 21, 2016 / 8:28 pm

      I’m still trying to figure that one out a lot of the time – you want it in the light, but not too much in the light and cleverly angled so you can’t see your reflection while taking it! Things like grease proof paper have been helpful for me before to dim the light that comes in but not completely get rid of it! X

      • February 21, 2016 / 8:31 pm

        Thank you, I’ll try this! Haha yes, sometimes I think someone should take a pic of me trying to figure out the right angle and getting in all the strange positions in order not to see my reflection ๐Ÿ˜…

  8. February 21, 2016 / 10:34 pm

    Great advice and so true!!! The only thing I have yet to do is buy my domain but I am still not 100% with my blog name and brand so I want to wait a bit. I am doing this mostly to have fun and as an outlet from my all consuming medical student life.
    XO
    -Jani

    • February 21, 2016 / 11:39 pm

      Yes don’t commit until you’ve fully decided! I started mine as I felt I didn’t have a hobby and it’s turned into a bit of a part time job at the minute! I’ll head over and sub to you, look forward to reading your posts!

      • February 22, 2016 / 1:25 am

        Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy my blog as well as continue on your journey. Wish you the best!

  9. February 21, 2016 / 11:30 pm

    Love this! I definitely find that the reading and commenting thing is so true, I always feel so bad when I don’t have time to read thoroughly and comment because I feel like I’m failing to keep up with my friends haha. And I do notice a difference in how much people interact with me as well! xx

    • February 21, 2016 / 11:41 pm

      Yes I definitely go through weeks where I don’t really have time to read and comment and feel so terrible! I’ll normally end up going on a big old spree of people who i feel like I haven’t kept up with in a while!

  10. katyandersonsite
    February 22, 2016 / 4:17 pm

    these are so helpful tips!

  11. July 6, 2018 / 9:27 pm

    For someone who haven’t the time to keep up with blogging as I want too, It’s a different feeling when commenting and exploring new blogs. Not to mention when other bloggers comment on my posts, I’m like “omg they can see my stuff!” I get sort of nervous but I love the interaction. Thank you for sharing the knowledge it was just what I needed!

  12. November 14, 2018 / 2:57 am

    These tips are soooo helpful for someone starting out like me! Thanks for the advice!!

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