Hello! Today I am finally getting round to a post that has been sitting in my drafts for months. The main reason it's taken me so long to publish this post is that I don't feel as if I'm an 'expert blogger' and therefore shouldn't be giving advice on blogging. However, I get asked daily on Snapchat and Facebook about my tips on starting and running a blog, so here they are!
First of all, we should probably start with a bit of background on Penneys To Prada and how it all started. I decided to set up this blog just as I started my first year of college. I'd have a few other blogs before this, but never a 'fashion blog' of sorts. I loved English in school and as the college course I was starting was mostly computer/tech based, I knew I'd miss writing.
When I first started blogging on Penneys To Prada, I'm pretty sure my only audience was my mum, my sister and a few of my friends. I never let that phase me though. I enjoyed what I was doing even if there wasn't hundreds of people reading it. I kept at it, Instragram-ing my outfits, sharing my favourite beauty products and slowly, over time, people took an interest. If you'd told me back then that Penneys To Prada would be where it is today, I'd have never believed you. I think that's why I still enjoy it so much, almost 2 years later. Every milestone still holds the same excitement as some of the first ones.
Now we have that covered, I'm sure you want to hear the actual blogging tips I have? Here they are:
1. Keep it genuine.
Post about what you love and have a genuine interest in, not what you think other people will be interested in or what other bloggers are posting about. This will keep your content genuine and also interesting for you.
2. Be realistic.
You don't have to buy the latest and greatest products in order to 'keep up' with anyone else. An important thing to keep in mind in relation to this tip is that most of the top bloggers often get given things on a complimentary basis.
3. Scheduling is everything.
Whether it's an actual blog post, or a Facebook post, the option to schedule posts is a life saver. If I'm having a particularly good blogging day, I'll write a few posts and have them ready to go throughout the week to take the pressure off. The same goes for Facebook, most of the time at the weekend when I want to relax, I'll schedule my posts and let Facebook post them when I tell it to. Very handy!
4. Invest in photography.
This is probably one of my 'top tips'. Photography to me is one of the most important parts of a blog, and is a huge deciding factor in whether I enjoy a blog or not. For an example of fantastic blog photography I'd recommend checking out Michelle Alice! I use the Fujfilm X-M1 to shoot my blog photos and it definitely does the job. I could talk all day about blog photography so I may write a dedicated post all about this soon.
5. It's not a competition.
It can be very easy when starting off in the blogging world to compare yourself to others and feel like you have to compete with other bloggers. It's important to overcome this way of thinking pretty quickly otherwise you'll end up only posting because someone else did and that's not good at all. Blogging has been a very positive thing in my life, and I briefly touched on this in 'A Big Thank You', back in January. I've met some amazing people through blogging who I'd consider my friends so supporting instead of competing is definitely the way to go.
6. Some people won't get it.
In almost every single message I get related to blogging, there is always a worry of how people will react. It's a totally understandable thing to be nervous when setting up a blog but it's definitely not a valid enough reason to hold you back. Some people just won't get the whole blogging thing and that's fine, they're not the ones who are setting up the blog.
If you're thinking of starting a blog, I hope you found this post helpful and also, be sure to let me know if you'd like to see more posts like this! Thanks so much for reading!
