Why I started blogging & what I have learnt
This blog is fairly new to me but in reality I have been blogging now for almost 14 years and it is incredible to me that it has been that long. As I grew older and my tastes, passions and habits changed my blogs have changed and evolved entirely, but the art of blogging has remained firm at the centre of what I do.
Where it all began
I started my first blog “Beauty and the makeup bag” back in June 2006 when I had just finished university. Youtube beauty gurus were popular at the time, and while I was nowhere near comfortable in front of a camera to do something similar, I was confident enough to write. I set up a simple blog on Blogger and my blogging journey began.
Beauty and the make up bag was a simple blog where I wrote about some of my favourite beauty products at the time, and although I was small fry I soon had a small following and decided to up my game. Sometime around 2007/2008 I moved my blog to WordPress, bought a domain, changed the name to Beauty Chic and self hosted it myself for the very first time. Soon I was blogging on Beauty Chic with my friend Ellie, who was as passionate as I was about make up at the time (a long way from where I am today – I haven’t put makeup on at all throughout 2020 at the this point) and we co-run beauty chic for many years. It was through Beauty Chic that I really found my love of blogging and also saw my first successes in the blogging world, where we were able to grow a large following who enjoyed our content for the first time.
So why did I leave Beauty Chic behind?
As with so many things our time on Beauty Chic came to an end and although still firm friends to this day, Ellie and I had different projects we wanted to pursue in the long run. For me, I felt like I had said everything I wanted to say about makeup and wanted the freedom of being able to write about whatever I wanted to and the things I was passionate about. My birth into the world of Lifestyle blogging was born and I have never looked back. I still have my own lifestyle blog today and although I wouldn’t say I have the best track record of being consistent there, I love that I have it and it is a space just for me.
I have learnt over the years that keeping space for lifestyle blogging is so important to me, as it is something I will forever come back to, despite having other passions such as this blog, where I continue to share everything to do with running a business, being a busy entrepreneur, Instagram growth, why Pinterest is important, how to build a personal brand and so much more.
So let’s dive in, to the things I have learnt in all my years of blogging that I want to share with you.
It is ok to be multi-passionate
Some of my biggest quandaries across my business have come from being multi-passionate and not quite knowing which direction I am going in. My personal blog and Instagram account have been largely built on who I am and what I am passionate about and a lot of that includes motherhood, while my business is social media and personal branding. These two do have crossovers but don’t always fit together as easily as I wish they would, which is why I chose to keep them separate for the most part. It is totally ok to be multi-passionate and it is ok to have two (or more) spaces for your work. I bring my passions together where I can and keep them apart where it makes sense to. For example, I don’t think some of my Social Media business clients care too much about weaning.
Niche’s are important, but not the end-all
This kind of relates to the point above. Niche’s are important to know who your ideal client/audience/community is but they aren’t the be all, so don’t get too caught up in defining yourself at first. Keep in mind a goal and you why, and from there you will more than likely find a niche you belong in. Also, it’s ok to span a couple of niches if they aren’t too different too. As I mentioned above, being a multi-passionate digital creator within two very different niches has encouraged me to largely keep the two separate and at this point in my business I am more than happy with this decision.
Pinterest is king for getting your content out into the world
I shout about it a lot and mostly nobody listens to me, but Pinterest is absolute king when it comes to marketing. If you know, you know! Pinterest is incredible and content can live on for days, months and even years within Pinterest meaning your content has life beyond just 12-24 hours like some other platforms. I know so many of us (me included) give so much power to Instagram and work so hard when our content there last for such a relatively little time. Honestly, give Pinterest a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Always, always, ALWAYS start your email list early
Don’t be like me and wait until you have been in the game for fourteen years before really starting your email list. Yep, that’s right, 2020 was the year I finally got a handle on what I needed to do. Don’t be like me, start now. And if you think you don’t need one, you do. Trust me.
Ultimately, stay true to yourself
Whatever you decide to do, whatever niche you decide to show up in the most important thing is to show up as the most authentic version of yourself. If you are showing up as you then you will find your audience and you will find your voice. Keep doing you, there is no-one else in this world like you and that’s your superpower.
Are you a blogger too? Drop me a comment below with one of your top blogging tips that you would like to share with our community!
