Blogging Tips For Beginner Bloggers
In 2005, I left my human resource job with a major (German-owned) automotive company because of a child abuse investigation at my first born’s daycare. It’s true. Our little princess (who was at the daycare from 3 months old to 1 1/2 yrs old) was being mistreated. After I found out, spending eight hours a day at a desk, miles away from my daughter, didn’t seem as important anymore. My career goals were instantly foggy. My emotions were high and my trust was broken. Once the incidents were brought to my attention, I couldn’t think straight. I definitely couldn’t focus on work and honestly couldn’t stop feeling guilty.
So, I quit. I quit a terrific corporate job. I had a good career with a fantastic company (for seven years), that I loved dearly. But, God and family were pulling me a different way and it was time to listen. The first year at home was hard. I got up every day at 5:00 a.m. (like I did when I worked) and showered, did my hair and makeup (in between tears), and got dressed as if I had somewhere to go. But, I didn’t. I had nowhere to go. The neighbors found it amusing. I was a bit lost…… And, it took an entire year to realize I was a stay-at-home mom with nowhere to go. But, I still had the most important job in the world. Being a mom and keeping my daughter safe was of the utmost importance.
After a while, I realized I could be a good Mom, a good wife, and help local non-profits where help was needed, all from managing my own responsibilities and schedule from home. But I also wanted to work. I’ve always worked and always loved to stay busy. But, what kind of work was available for a mom at home? I needed one that allowed me to put my daughter first and one that allowed me to have an identity of my own. So, while I was trying to figure this out, I decided to blog.
Glamorous Moms was born and at first, it was just a hobby. I’ve always felt like the things I was interested in, many other girls weren’t. If they were, they definitely weren’t as passionate as I was. I had a ridiculous amount of passion for fashion, beauty products, and trends in both subjects. My family sometimes got it and some of my husband’s family never really got it… I was “too over the top” or “always overdressed” to most… But that’s who I was. I was made fun of from time to time but not when I blogged. And to be quite honest, it was both relieving and invigorating.
After only a few months of blogging, I quickly found my audience. And, my comfort zone. Sponsors, businesses, travel opportunities, and paying advertisers were coming to me. It was a fun new journey and blogging helped me find me again so I turned the blog into a business and here I am 15 years later still blogging (with three blogs) and still sharing my stories and my passions.
I’ve spent the last 16 years blogging and attending blogging/marketing/social media conferences (49 to be exact). I’ve stayed in the business all this time because I made it work and stayed up with the trends of blogging and social media platforms. Most importantly, I’ve been loving it. It’s been a job, a learning experience, a hobby, and a stepping stone to my current success. It’s been amazing.
If you’re a beginner blogger and need to find your audience, follow my helpful tips below to get started. I know you too have a story and there is an audience out there for you. Since I started, I now own three blogs; Detroit Fashion News, Glamorous Moms, and Detroit Mommies, a social media business called The Lazov Agency, and a beauty brand called Glameselle Beauty. I’m currently working on starting my own non-profit organization and have a clothing line coming out soon. You never know what the future holds but I’m certain there is success for you too and it’s just around the corner. You just have to get started and start writing.
Blogging Tips and How to Get Started
- Choose a name – Choose a name no one else is using in your community or niche. Research this heavily and make sure you stand out with your name, for starters.
- Write for yourself first – Let your true self come out in your writing. You can write about your personal life if you choose or write about a career or hobby that you love. It’s your choice.
- Understand your audience – Be sure to write what your readers love after you’ve made a decision on what subject makes you happy. For instance, if you love hair & beauty products and your audience does too, stick with it! Also, be sure to connect with your true readers and followers. Maintain a relationship with them and support them the way they support you.
- Make sure your brand exists everywhere – Stay consistent with your brand. Choose a logo, a color scheme and a slogan that represents you well and use them consistently on all social media channels where you have a presence. Consistency is key. Consistency builds trust.
- Build relationships with niche bloggers – One good thing about bloggers is they love to connect. Especially if you have something in common. Connect with other niche bloggers and maintain a relationship with them. This could lead to not only a good friendship but could also lead to collaborations, community gatherings and opportunities to learn.
- Use an SEO friendly theme – If you don’t have SEO, you’ll barely have an audience and your blog will never get noticed. Use important keywords in your post’s title, address and subtitle. These three are the most important elements. Write a description. Add tags and categories. Use keywords in image file names and alt tags (don’t forget).
- Always reply to comments – Interact with your readers by replying to comments. Readers love it when they can communicate with you and get their questions asked. Once you do, they’ll keep coming back.
- Create a social media marketing strategy – Use a social media calendar and be sure to follow the rules and trends of each platform. Meaning, learn the trends of Twitter, which are different than the trends of Instagram and the trends of Facebook. Pinterest? Completely different from all three. Do your homework, research and study to make sure your social media is always current and used properly to support your blogging efforts and brand.
- Edit your work – Aways re-read your post and make proper edits before hitting “publish”. Use spell check and grammar check at all times.
- Have good gear – Start with a good computer, a good WordPress template (there are others but I love WordPress), a good hosting package, a promising email marketing tool and useful plugins (plugins are going to be your best friends), a good camera (or camera phone to start).
- Learn how to take photos – Photos are everything on a blog and they mean even more on social media. Blog posts should always have photos or don’t write the post. Plain and simple. Photos are also crucial for social media. It has been proven that engagement increases greatly when content is posted with a photo.
- Know your stuff – Be sure to be honest and truthful and know what you’re talking about. You can easily be perceived as an expert or a fake and who wants to be a fake? If people interested in your niche can rely on you for real information, trust and relationships will be built and your audience will grow.
- End with a call to action – At the end of your blog post, ask people to follow you on social media. You can also ask them to share your post with their friends and leave feedback in your comments section. If you are writing about products and services, give a discount code or a link with a discount.
- Link to sources – Give credit to photographers (after asking permission to use the photos). Provide resources for your stats and research when needed.
- Be consistent – Write every day if you can. If your readers aren’t getting updated content and are bored with your long delays between posts, they’ll go elsewhere.
Disclosure – This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking and shopping, you help support Glamorous Moms and allow me to keep reporting on all things glamorous.
