All About Blogging
Hi there, friends!
How is your week treating you so far?
I just spent the better part of the morning taking photos of outfits and kept thinking to myself, “I wonder what people think about blogging? Do they understand the work behind it? Do they consider the amount of time it takes to create blog posts and content on social media? Do they care? Or are they interested?”
This has been coming to my mind quite a bit lately and thus, here we are. I decided to spend my afternoon writing a blog post to share with YOU what blogging is like for ME. A little bit of everything you never really wanted to know. Bare with me…
You can pin this to save it for later or to share. Now, let’s take a look…
Blogging is an interesting undertaking. It is not for the faint of heart.
As with anything you create or share that is “original”, you are subjecting yourself to potential critique, criticism, and rejection as well as potential praise, compliments, and encouragement. It is a bit unnerving at times to put oneself “out there” in sharing real, personal thoughts and tidbits about life. I recognize this is a similar sentiment to many other things that people do like singing, playing music, creating art of any kind, or even starting a business of any kind. It takes bravery and courage on a good day and shaking off the negative thoughts or feedback on a bad day.
I frequently do not feel so brave. 🥴 Yet, I reluctantly trudge onwards to create content - usually things that are on my mind or that I want to share with family or friends because I think someone may be interested in it and if they are then why not share it with everyone?
I started my blog in 2016 after many years of friends telling me I should have a blog because I was already sharing crafts and recipes or outfits and sales with them. I finally took the leap and here we are…almost EIGHT full years later.
So what does the process look like for me to create a blog post or take a photo for social media?
CREATING A BLOG POST:
In no particular order, per se, but generally:
1) I make lists of blog post topics on my phone, in my notebook, and in emails to myself anytime something comes to my mind that I want to share. I may periodically look at old posts of mine to regenerate content or search for blog post ideas but the latter only happens once or twice a year. After this many years of blogging I have general topics that float in and out throughout the year.
2) I plug the blog post ideas into my Google calendar and code them in a certain color (flamingo) if they need to be written and then change the color (peacock) once the post is completed and scheduled. Sometimes these posts get rearranged or postponed for various reasons but this helps me to know what I have coming up that still needs to be addressed.
3) Because I’ve had my blog for so long, I reuse previous posts’ formatting each time and then edit everything within them. This saves me time from having to add coding into boxes (think Pinterest buttons, Bloglovin’ buttons, social media buttons, subscribe buttons, Pinterest boards, etc). If I started any given blog post from a blank format it would take twenty times longer each time and runs the risk of forgetting something that is beneficial in each and every post.
4) I start each blog post with the idea that I am talking to my friends and engaging in a conversation. I realize that this can be cheesy like the jokes about excessively long recipe blog posts that tell some long story before getting to the actual recipe. I try to keep the intro short and inviting because I feel like I’m talking to you when you take the time to read this and I want to engage and invite you into my thoughts.
5) I try* to explain why I’m sharing a post before just shoving anything before you. My hope is that this gives you an idea of if you want to read further. And I always encourage you to pin the posts to Pinterest because THAT is helpful to drive traffic to my site. I have over 100 subscribers but that doesn’t mean everyone reads my posts…so sharing it on other platforms helps drive traffic to it.
6) I use MailChimp for my blog newsletter. Every post that I schedule gets sent to you via MailChimp. MailChimp informs me weekly how my blog posts perform based on the emails being opened or not.
7) I use Google Analytics on my site which informs me about my site’s web traffic at the end of each month. This is a HUGE contributing factor as to why I continued paying for my site even in the two years I stepped away from blogging because life was heavily life-ing me a bit too much. It is fascinating to see how many of my posts are viewed each month based on people searching for topics on Google and choosing my site to look at. 🤯🤯🤯 In viewing the popular topics each month it occurred to me that even though I wasn’t writing at various times and even now that I’m not writing about the topics I originally intended my blog to be about - I am helping people somehow. This may sound silly, but helping others is* and was* my intent with this site - regardless of blog topics.
8) I use Pinterest as way to leverage my hard work. Having a Pinterest “business” account shows me the performance of any pin I create. I create pins linking back to blog posts as well as linking back to my LTK posts.
9) I may start and stop a blog post a dozen times give or take interruptions, to-do’s, or feeling like I’m not focusing well enough at the time.
10) I add pictures, memes, and quotes to each post so that there is a visual break in all of these words! Personally I think it helps keep my own attention when I read other’s posts and hope it engages yours.
11) I create the post’s cover image on the main blog site and the post’s Pinterest worthy image in Canva. I occasionally use a site called BeFunky to create these as well. I’ve been all over the place with these through the years and hope to have fine tuned these to be more visually appealing and a hint more consistent within a general color family.
12) Once I’ve added all of these and the corresponding links for shopping or back to previous posts, I try to do a quick review, schedule the post, and forget about it. Sometimes I miss editorial mistakes, but I don’t fret too much about that anymore. This is a personal site, not a professional site. I do this for free, I’m not being paid to spend my time this way. If this ever became a much larger “thing”, I would definitely review each post in great detail to ensure grammar and accuracy.
CRAFTING PHOTOS FOR THE BLOG AND SOCIAL MEDIA
1) I am an avid online shopper and also a frugal fashionista. 99% of anything I buy is on sale or I don’t buy it. I also have an idea in my head for appropriate price point for each item I purchase based on how many times I think I may wear it / use it. Sales and clearances create more difficulty for me to find something I like and then to share if with you all because it is a higher risk of going out of stock.
2) When I purchase something it is genuinely because I think I will like it and try to stay true to who I am, what I wear, and what I like versus trending items. I have shared some outfits / dresses on LTK that I ended up not keeping but it is only because I couldn’t wrap my head around myself wearing colors / patterns versus my usual go-to black everything. But, if I like the outfit / dress I may share it even if it is not the right color / pattern for me. For example, there were two floral spring dresses I recently shared that I like the fit and the patterns and colors would have looked amazing on someone else…I just couldn’t get past it for what I’m comfortable wearing (generally more solids and black). Sometimes I like something and share it and it hangs in my closet for a while with tags on it…and after a couple of weeks I determine I haven’t worn it yet, I might as well return it.
3) Once I like how something fits I will set items aside for picture day. I also pull out older items that I’ve shared through the years if they’re still available. I try to mix in older items even if the exact items aren’t available because I can always link in similar items. I shop a lot, but most things don’t make it to the blog and get returned. I take photos in batches as well as snap photos in the mirror on my way out of the house or before/after a work out. I’ve gotten much better about this since last summer. It’s not for vanity, it’s to have on hand to share if it makes sense to. But, because I am in work out clothes most days versus going into an office or out to dinner, I tend to have to take a bunch of photos of “real outfits” in one day.
4) Picture day is an undertaking for me! I will pick out a day that suits my schedule and “needs” for the social sharing. I set up my ring light stand, do my hair and makeup, and get busy taking photos and videos. I am nowhere close to “a natural” so it usually takes me time to get into the groove and thus the first few outfits take the longest to look relaxed in the photos and not like I’m sniffing something disgusting. 🤣🤣 The struggle is real with that particular face I am apt to make.
5) I try to change out accessories, shoes, and jewelry for what makes the most sense per outfit and to switch it up. This takes time so I admittedly do not overthink it for long, but I make an attempt. I may also have to steam items if they’re too wrinkly!
6) I take a bunch of photos and then a video for each outfit. I use my watch to trigger the camera remotely and therefore afterwards have to skim through the photos and videos quickly to make sure I have at least one good one before changing and repeating the process.
7) After however many outfit changes I am typically spent. I like online shopping because I do not like trying on clothes so taking pictures in batches like this and the smiling and the twirling wear me out! Then I have to clean up the disaster I have made in my closet and put everything away.
8) In the coming day(s) I will edit the photos. Inevitably I need to crop them (photos and videos need different angles and I do not change my phone position during this process). I typically need to tweak the lighting on the photos because even if it’s sunny outside and all of the possible lights are on, there will be shadows which alter the true colors. I also have to edit each videos length because videos require me to hit start and then walk over in front of the phone, adjust my hair or outfit as needed, and then start the process of moving so you can see how the outfit “performs” when moving.
9) The next step for me is to figure out which day to share what outfit. Because these apps and social sites use algorithm to promote your content, it is better for me to post daily than to share everything at once. This is also why I stopped posting to Instagram daily because it is just TOO MUCH WORK to do that after already spending the time to share something on the LTK app and then having to interact with any comments. I share the LTK posts to the Instagram & Facebook stories because it is much less work for me at the moment.
10) Creating the post in the LTK app takes time to write any sort of caption and then add items to the post. It’s like having to online shop through the app to link the exact items and to find and link any similar items. It can take time. Once it’s done I typically share the post to Pinterest and to social media as well.
Some people have personal blogs simply to share photos with family and it’s a great way to document life as your children grow up. It can be a money generating business for some people and / or a creative outlet for others. I fall mainly into the creative category even though here and there I may make a tiny (TINY) bit of income from anyone shopping through my commissioned links which do not cost you ANYTHING additional. It’s been a source of creativity to get the thoughts out of my head and I’ve had to remind myself that there is zero pressure to do anything on here. I am the only one with expectations of myself. Perhaps this year will be the year I stop…I think this every year…we never know!
Do you have any type of website that you write on or for? Have you ever considered blogging? Comment below!
XOXO
