In my opinion, one of the most difficult parts of starting a blog is the whole starting part. It can feel overwhelming clicking on “new post” and then being faced with a blank screen just sitting there waiting to be filled with awesome and unique content. So, if you are suffering from a little bloggers block, I have put together a list of 25 interesting and unique blog posts that any blogger can do. Hopefully these ideas can help you get started with your own blog or inspire you to breathe new life into an existing one!
25 facts about you
What’s in your bag
The story of how and why you started your blog
A day in the life chronicle
A list of your favorite blogs
Show and tell
Something you collect
A guide to your city or town
Your favorite things
How you’d spend your perfect day
Your bucket list
A top 5 list
Your blog goals
Someone you admire and why
The book(s) that changed your life
An interview or Q&A with another blogger
Your room tour
Your favorite smart phone apps
How you stay organized
A video introduction to your blog
A photo journal
Your wish list
Introduction guide to your favorite hobby
Post from the POV of your pet or an intimate object
Inspirational quotes you love
Do you have any other ideas for blog posts that any blogger could write? What are some of your favorite blog posts? Leave your suggestions in the comments below and if you need additional help getting your blog up and running, check out my Communication Blueprint!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on April 8th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
To be completely honest, blogging has probably played one of the most important parts in the success of my online business. Within Empire Building, I spend a good amount of time talking about blogging, how and why it’s helpful and what you need to know when setting up your own blog, but one topic that I don’t think you can ever have too much information on, is how to become a better blogger. I don’t mean how to become a more successful blogger or a more profitable blogger, although those are very important topics that you can read all about in Empire Building, I am talking today about developing the skill of being a blogger. Blogging is a very interesting and dynamic form of writing that requires regular practice and immense creative skill to master. I’d like to think that after 7 years behind the keyboard of a blog, I know a thing or two about developing yourself into a better blogger. So, today I want to impart upon you 10 tips that can help you build your blogging skill and advance your blogging practice!
1. Write daily.
Just as professional writers of non-fiction and literature must write everyday to build the habit of good writing, so should a blogger write daily in order to build the blogging muscle. Writing, after all, isn’t easy, but the single way to make it easier- the best way to ensure you can quickly process a blog post with complete thoughts and well placed arguments- is to write daily. I’m not saying you need to write a full blog post everyday, but I do think that writing out your thoughts or ideas daily is a great habit to get into. You can write on a word processor on your computer or even in a journal, just get into the habit of stringing words into complete sentences on the regular!
2. Keep a notebook with you at all times.
Now, this notebook isn’t to write in exactly, but rather, to keep track of ideas and inspiration you get throughout your day. I will tell you that I get the best blog post ideas at the most random times, so having a reliable note taking method with me 24/7 is crucial to keeping my ideas safe. Never assume you will remember an idea, write it down and get it out of your head! I happen to use a note taking app on my phone as opposed to pen and paper, whatever you choose should fit your style and convenience!
3. Consider different points of view.
As a writer (because, really, that’s what you are if you keep up a blog) I think it’s enormously important to keep yourself familiar with different points of view on a number of subjects. Writers are most successful when they can see multiple sides of a given situation and navigate fluidly among different positions. To build this skill, regularly read the news and familiarize yourself with all the angles of a given subject or story you come across that interests you. You don’t need to become a current events expert, especially if your blog has nothing to do with current events, however, following news stories is often an easy way to expose yourself to different world views. You don’t need to incorporate these views into your work necessarily, however, you should aim to build your reasoning skills and empathy with a practice like this, which will indeed impact your writing in a positive way!
4. Keep an Editorial Calendar.
It’s not enough as a blogger to just start a blog and write whenever you feel like you have something to say, unless of course you don’t care about growing a following and using your blog to advance your business or career. On the surface, an editorial calendar is a great way to organize ideas and help you to plan your posts, but in a deeper level, an editorial calendar creates accountability for regular posting. Accountability to yourself is a major life and business skill that many people never seem to master, but once you have achieved it, you become a more disciplined and self respecting individual (which is a complete bonus for your career/business). Let’s use me for example. I have been blogging three days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, since 2012. For over three years I have kept up the same schedule and I will tell you, on the few occasions where I have had to stray from this schedule, I have felt intense pangs of remorse and regret. So much so that whenever it does happen, I return to my craft with such an intense furver that I everything about my blog posts, from my writing, to my images, to my content, becomes better. All because I feel a sense of guilt for having broken a long standing tradition. If you can get yourself into a similar situation with your editorial calendar, you are going to be a master blogger in no time!
5. Set goals for yourself.
As with many things in life, goal setting is a great way to not only keep yourself accountable to a task, but also to monitor and track real substantial growth. Set yourself some goals for how many page views you want to hit in a month or how many new followers you want to see from Bloglovin’. Anything related to your blogging that you can then monitor and track to see your own progress. The great thing about goals is that even if you don’t hit them, they end up telling you so much about how you are doing. If you go weeks or months with no progress, you know it’s time to switch things up. But if you go the same length of time and see some small improvement, it’s validation that things are working slowly but surely and then you can attempt to zero in on what exactly is moving the needle!
6. Review your successful content.
Just as goal setting can help you identify what is working and what isn’t in your blogging, so can reviewing your most successful content give you major insight into how you should be approaching your writing. Make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your blog so you can keep track of page views and popular posts, because having this information is invaluable. You can even track your blog post activity on sites like Bloglovin’ and see what posts are getting the most interactions from your readers. These are most likely going to be the types of posts you should focus on or regularly feature on your blog for continued success!
7. Batch your writing.
Once you get into the habit of writing daily, you are going to start to notice that once the words begin to flow they are hard to turn off. Make the most of this and batch your blog post writing so that you can write a number of posts at once. This will help save you time in the long run and help improve your posts because you aren’t having to force yourself to write them when they are due, instead you are writing at a pace that works for your mind!
8. Brain dump regularly.
A brain dump is when you sit down in a quiet space with pen and paper and write out anything and everything on your mind. Any important events, facts, tasks, reminders you have been storing in your brain instead of on paper are to be written down. It’s only when your mind is free of mental clutter that great ideas and great writing can flow. Although I’m pretty good at writing down my thoughts, ideas and tasks so I don’t have to store them in my mind, even I need to perform a brain dump from time to time and when I do, I find that my mind feels so light and nimble that I get the best writing and ideas done immediately after. Try it! You won’t regret it, and then add it as a regular practice during your week.
9. Read articles from professional sites.
Just as it’s important to write daily to become a better writer, so is it important to read daily. But don’t spend all your reading time on fluff articles online. Instead make sure to make time to read articles from professional and reputable sources. Reading the blog posts and articles of skilled writers will help to positively impact your writing. It’s almost like “you are what you read!” So keep the pleasure reading of less skilled writers and sites to a minimum and instead spend some time each day reading articles that are well written, well informed and well edited!
10. Actively seek to improve your writing.
To be honest, I don’t do this one nearly enough! I know there are many ways to improve your writing, from taking courses to joining peer to peer writing groups, but those options are rather time consuming. I have actually been reading an excellent book on writing called On Writing Well that I actually think has had a definite impact on my writing and I’m not even finished reading it yet! Definitely check it out if you are looking to improve upon the technical aspects of writing, it’s very straight forward and easy to follow.
Follow these 10 tips and you will certainly see an improvement in your blogging skills in just a few weeks! Of course, if you are more than just a casual blogger and you are hoping to jumpstart your blog and presence online to support an online business or #sidehustle of yours, I invite you to join my Empire Building Online Business Program to get all my best strategies and personal advice for getting your blog and business noticed online. It’s literally like hitting the easy button for your business, I give you all the strategy and all you need to do is execute! Bet you never thought building an online business could be so easy!
Yesterday, I spent the day in NYC to attend the RewardStyle New York Fashion Week Party! It was a fabulous event hosted by RewardStyle, an affiliate network I’m a member of that focuses on fashion, beauty & lifestyle brands, and held on the roof of the Hotel Americano in Chelsea. I had never been to a RewardStyle event before, but when I got the invite, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some other bloggers within my network, experience some part of fashion week, and do something unexpected! Of course, I am far from being a fashion blogger, so this whole experience was a new one for me. However, I did my homework, had fun and learned a lot of valuable lessons from the whole experience that I’d love to share with you if you are interested in learning some strategies for breaking out of your comfort zone and fitting in anywhere! And I mean anywhere! A NYFW party was the last place I expected to fit in, but you know what? I did and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be!
1. Do your research: As I had never been to this or any similar events in the past, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect so I did some research. I wanted to find out what the event would be like so I knew generally what to expect, I wanted to know who came to events like this as a reference point for who I might meet, and I desperately needed to figure out what to wear since I am not a fashion blogger. I searched through the #rSNYFW hashtag for images of previous years events, Googled blog posts relating to the event, and spoke to some stylish friends of mine for advice on what to wear. Thankfully, this research helped me to understand what to expect, made me feel comfortable attending the event, and helped me understand what to wear,* which was probably the hardest part of the whole thing for me. A lot of times, things in life are scary or make us nervous because we have never experienced them before. When you know what to expect, it really eases your mind!
2. Connect with new people as soon as possible: Since I was going to an event where I didn’t know anyone, I really wanted to make sure I had a few connections made before I arrived. Thankfully, I had found some tweets and IG pictures of people discussing the event, and made some friends before I arrived. I even met a blogger from my area who ended up taking the same train into the event as I did, which was pretty cool! Although I had no set in stone plans with people, again, it was an ease just knowing that there were some faces in the crowd that were expecting to meet me, which was exciting and comforting. Having a few names and faces worked out before an event like this can make you feel like you have friends waiting for you, which can help you break through any resistance you may be facing.
3. Kindness and a smile (and a glass of Rosé) go a long way: Whenever you do something new or go someplace new, it’s a given that some people there are going to be more experienced and some people are going to be new just like you. I met some girls who had been to the event many times before, and others who were first timers like me, and honestly, you really can’t tell the difference most of the time. Which means, most people won’t be able to spot that you are the newbie in the situation either! So, I found that just moving around, smiling, and being polite was an easy way to spark up conversation. Even just saying excuse me can be an opening line to a whole conversation as I experienced myself more than once at the event! I find that the key is to just start talking, once you have a conversation or two under your belt, its easier to transition to talking to new people who have wandered into your sight line.
4. Everyone is at least a little self-conscious: I would like to say I fluttered around the party like a little social butterfly, but I mostly shuffled around the room bit by bit as the party got pretty packed at one point and navigating was more akin to moving pieces around a chess board! So I ended up meeting people unintentionally based on where I just happened to be standing and where I was able to move to as the crowd shuffled around. While I was making my way, I was honestly surprised at the number of beautiful, well dressed ladies at the party who mentioned being a little self-conscious about their style decisions. It was very reassuring for me that real fashion bloggers had a hard time getting dressed for the event, which made me feel much better about my fashion struggles earlier in the week! The truth is, everyone, even the pro’s, get self-conscious. In some instances, I think the pro’s really have it harder because they are expected to be performing at a certain level, which means the pressure is really on for them. Being a little self-conscious is alright I think, but the key is to own the fact and then find the strength to move past it!
5. You belong: When I first received the invitation to the event, I honestly wasn’t sure I should go. It sounded like it might be fun, it was really not that far for me to travel, and it was a chance for me to network with people I’d never normally network with, no admission fee required! But, I’m not a fashion blogger and I wasn’t sure I belonged at the event! You know what though? I was invited. If I didn’t belong, I wouldn’t have been invited. The truth of the matter was, someone wanted me at the party, even if it was just a computer algorithm, so I did belong there! I met a bunch of new girls and as we sat around exchanging Instagram handles I saw that some girls had bigger followings than me and some had smaller. It was a complete mix without which the party would have been a complete bore! So the next time you are faced with an invitation to an exciting opportunity and you aren’t sure whether or not you belong, YOU BELONG! I promise you if the offer is in front of you and you want to take it, you totally belong and you should totally own that!
BONUS 5 Fashion Week Trends I Learned at the #rSNYFW Party
Here are a bonus 5 things I learned that are fashion and beauty related. I did, after all, attend a fashion party, so I thought you might be interested in some latest and greatest news from fashion week!
So you are probably wondering what I ended up wearing to the event? Well, after consulting with some stylish friends, I ended up wearing an outfit that was very me and also pretty darn comfortable, which I needed it to be since I was going to be spending the day in the city and traveling by Amtrak. Here is a pic my husband snapped on my way out of the house! I wish I could have gotten some better pics at the party but it’s really hard to take selfies in a crowded room when you are short like me! I wore head to toe Target, which I found to be ironic since I was attending a fashion week event, but my outfit definitely worked. Here’s what I wore:
I hope these tips help you to break out of your shell and take advantage of some fun opportunities that may come your way! There is nothing worse than regretting that you didn’t put yourself out there so I hope you take these tips to heart and let me know any success stories you have with these tips!
Promoting your blog online does not require a significant amount of time or effort. If you only have a few minutes to spare, there are plenty of effective ways to spend 10 minutes that will help spread the word about your site and hopefully gain you some new followers. With anything online, it’s not how much time you spend, but how you spend that time that counts, so the next time you have a few spare minutes in your day, whether you are waiting in line at the store, or have a short break in your work, consider one or more of these options to get some quick wins for your brand!
1. Pin your blog posts to Pinterest: Pinterest happens to be the major source of traffic for my blog. Get into the habit of spending an extra moment once you have published a new post to share it on Pinterest. Open the blog post as an individual link in a new window, copy the link into Pinterest and pick your best image from your post (a vertical image works best) to represent the article. To save extra time in the future, download the Pinterest Browser Button so that you can easily pin and save posts or articles from around the web quickly and easily without having to go directly to Pinterest.
2. Schedule tweets for your most popular posts: Although Twitter itself doesn’t have an option for scheduling Tweets, I use the desktop application called TweetDeck or the iPhone app Hootsuite to create some automated tweets when promoting a blog post. For maximum impact, choose a few of your most popular blog posts, grab their short links (or shorten the standard link in Hootsuite) and write a few quick tweets to promote them! Schedule them out a few times during the next week so you can maximize their exposure and send more traffic to your site.
3. Take an IG photo to promote your latest post:As one of the fastest growing social media platforms online currently, Instagram is a great way to promote a blog post! Take a styled shot or one of your best images from your blog post and share it on Instagram, letting your audience know that you have a new blog post they wont’ want to miss. Make sure your blog URL is in your profile description OR use a free site like bit.ly to create a custom short link to add to your description!
4. Send an email to a fellow blogger pitching a collaboration: One of the best ways to get the word out and promote your site is to collaborate with other bloggers. Think about some bloggers you admire that have similar sized followings as your own and send them a short email inviting them to collaborate. Make sure you provide a few examples of the types of collaborations you have in mind so that they know you have put some time and thought into your offer! Of course, make sure you are following the blogger on all their social media platforms and interact with them regularly so they know your name and perhaps are equally as excited to work with you!
5. Respond to comments on your blog or other social media: Replying to your blog comments is a great way to foster community around your site. Make sure you are replying to most if not all of your blog comments in a timely manner. This will encourage your readers to comment and engage with you, and ensures that they will be back to your site regularly!
Now, isn’t that quick and easy? I told you that promoting your blog doesn’t have to take up much time, and it’s definitely something you could do even if you find a few extra moments when you are out and about, thanks to the aid of a smartphone! I hope these tips help you promote your blog and gain some new traffic to your site. If this post was helpful to you, please do me a favor and go ahead and share it on social media. Share it on Facebook, tweet a link out to your followers, or even take an Instagram picture and share it with your community! Thanks dolls!
I realized something very important in the last few months. After I launched the Strange & Charmed Shop, things began to rapidly change for me. I was no longer focused on the same things that had once held my attention. My income streams had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks after the shop was up and running, and the fate of my blog held in the balance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am NOT about to tell you that I am closing the blog OR that I am going to stop blogging, that just isn’t going to happen! However, a shift in my perception left me thinking about how I use my blog, the things I share through it and the legacy that I want to create with it. Once it was clear to me that the shop was driving a large portion of my income, I lost a lot of anxiety around my blog and stopped actively seeking out sponsorships and ways to monetize the site. Once I became someone who was creating products, rather than merely someone who shared other people’s products, I realized that I was no longer a blogger. Instead, I am a business owner who blogs.
What is the difference between a blogger and a business owner who blogs?
To a member of my online community, the difference is subtle and perhaps barely even recognizable. When I was a blogger, I was intending to generate income from my writing and seeking the support of sponsors and advertisers in order to produce revenue. Because of this I was spending a good deal of time vetting emails from companies and brands that wanted to place products on my site as a form of advertising, or seeking out and building relationships with brands that I thought my community would want to see me working with. I was much more focused on creating content where I was showing my audience products, things to buy, and hoping to attract sponsors as well as new readers based on the products I was sharing.
Once I opened the shop and that began generating a regular income, it became clear that it was more effective for me to spend my time creating products and services that helped my customers, than simply curating items from other companies. Even though I had always held myself to a high standard when it came to what I shared, once I had the power to actually help solve issues that members of my own community were having through my products, a whole new world of possibility opened up to me. I am not sure if you have noticed, but lately, I have been much more focused on sharing tips, information and even glimpses into my life, more than I ever have before. Content creation back when I was a blogger was always focused on creating valuable content, but it was also compulsory that I found a way to integrate outside brands and companies so that I could monetize and sustain my work on the blog. It was so empowering for me once I made the shift from blogger to business owner who blogs, because I now had my priorities in order and my blog (and YouTube channel) had a new purpose.
I hope that over the last few weeks and months you have been enjoying these subtle changes in my content. For the most part, I doubt you can really feel the shift as a reader, but inside my own mind and at Charmed HQ things seem worlds away from how I used to approach content. It’s so much more relaxed for me to simply share knowledge with you all, give you my best tips and tricks and not have to worry about paying the blogging bills because I have a stream of income that is supporting not only my blog, but also myself and my family! Of course, I only have you, my readers and community, to thank for the success of my shop because you have really made so much more possible for me through your support!
I absolutely loved being a blogger, and for those of you who have never taken on the task you may not truly appreciate the time, effort and mental anguish that can sometimes come with being a full time blogger. If you have a favorite blogger out there on the internet that is constantly producing great content and working with brands and sponsors regularly, I highly suggest going over to their site and giving them a virtual hug and let them know how much you appreciate all they do to keep their content rolling in day after day and week after week. Bloggers sometimes get a tough rap and take a lot of slack for all the hard work they do to publish their content, so spread the love today and make your gratitude known. Thank you all so much for being here with me, and for giving me the opportunity to make this subtle career shift. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know!
A good blogger has to stay constantly inspired in order to keep a steady stream of posts and content up on their blog. So, it’s important to take in a lot of various content, much of which comes in via the web and other blogs and bloggers! It is my firm belief that a majority of content when it comes to online and offline sources isn’t wholly original. It really isn’t uncommon for bloggers to get inspiration from each other and from other sources around the web or things they have seen or experienced in real life. That being said, it is important to properly credit sources and give credit where credit is due if you are borrowing ideas from other people or drawing significant inspiration from another source. Why is it important to credit? Well, honestly it’s important for a few reasons.
First of all you cannot expect to grow and develop your own brand based on the work of others, especially if you are consistently borrowing from the same or similar sources and not giving credit. I’l discuss more about consistent borrowing later on, but when it comes to the act of borrowing an idea from another online source, the web is a large place, but it can also be extremely small, and people will come to recognize if you are taking things constantly from one place or another and avoid your site. Secondly, if you become a blogger that borrows too heavily from one or more places, you will get a negative reputation, specifically if you are “ripping off” ideas. Now, I want to emphasize some delicacy when I say “ripping off” because there are definitely people on the internet that straight up take full blog posts and images from sites and repost them without permission and that is totally not okay, but there are also a lot of places where you see someone taking something seemingly innocent like the title or concept for a blog post and then writing their own version without asking the permission of the blogger who originally created the content or even linking back to the original post, and there is a real difference between the two situations. In the first example, it is full on plagiarism, but the second can seem almost innocent and can sometimes be done without even the blogger realizing what they are doing. The problem is, whether you are doing it consciously or unconsciously, borrowing without sourcing creates a bad reputation for your blog. Finally, when you borrow ideas from other sites and blogs without sourcing or asking permission, other bloggers and especially brands and companies, will start to avoid you, and blogging is all about community building. So without that lifeline, your blog could just die off!
Now, the interesting thing is, that if you actually do source your blog posts properly, you will actually find that you will get many benefits you may not have expected. When you properly link to a blog post and give credit where it’s due, you will find that other blogs and bloggers will be excited that you shared their content, more than happy that you borrowed an idea and it will cause a community to build around you where bloggers and brands will want to seek you out! So remember, borrowing ideas isn’t a bad thing, but there is a right and wrong way to do it and I am going to explain some of those differences to you today!
Photography
When it comes to photography for your blog, images are very important but using other peoples images is risky business. I always suggest using your own original photography whenever possible! Of course, sometimes it’s not possible for you to get a certain shot, and it becomes necessary for you to go to the internet to find an image. When this happens you do have a few solid options. First of all I suggest using creative commons images whenever you can so that you don’t get yourself or your blog into trouble! Photosharing sites like Flickr actually have dedicated sections for creative commons images that makes it easy for bloggers to find an image that is up for grabs. Now there are some rules associated with creative commons images sometimes, and those will be outlined at the image source so make sure to pay attention for those guides to know when and how you need to cite the image, and also whether or not you can use them for commercial, non-commercial or derivative purposes! Now, what happens if you find an image online that you want to use that may belong to a photographer or blogger on another site? Well, first and foremost, if you want to use an image that is not yours, I highly suggest contacting the owner of the image to ask permission to use the picture. If an image is on a blog, message the blogger and ask if you can use the image and make sure they have the right to give you permission. Just because the image is on someone’s website doesn’t mean they took it or have permission to use it or share it with you, so make sure to do your due diligence! If you find an image on a site like Pinterest and aren’t sure who it belongs to, you can do a reverse image search in Google to try to track it down and contact the copyright holder for permission to use it. Finally, if you really need images for your blog posts consistently and you want a quick and easy way to find them legally, try signing up for stock image sites that give you access to thousands of high quality images, but of course, this is at a price!
Design Elements
As a blogger, it seems that trends with website design are ever changing and we often want to make sure our blog is keeping up with the Jones’ in a matter of speaking. It’s definitely okay for you to look around the blogging neighborhood and see what your peers are doing design wise on their sites and draw some inspiration from different design and structural elements you see on their site. However, you need to make sure you are not borrowing too heavily from a sites design when applying new features to your own, after all you don’t want your blog to look like a carbon copy of someone else’s (it’s just not going to make your blog unique and stand out)! So when gathering inspiration from other sites and their designs, there is an unofficial rule of thumb you can use to make sure you are taking the essence of the design you like, while also making it your own and that is to change the design up 80% from the original. Now, that means you should make changes to align the design to your own branding so that only a small essence of the original remains, just about 20%. I know this may seem difficult to gauge, but think of things like font, color schemes, sizes, shapes, textures, alignment and spacing. If you change most of those items up, you will come out with something that is your own creation instead of a copy of another persons design! Remember, good artists copy, great artists steal (Picasso), which means to be great you need to find what is at the heart of the design, keep that true to form and then change all the rest until it becomes something completely new and all yours!
Now, that being said, if you do happen to find a design element from another site that is totally unique and you want to use it as is, you need to get in touch with the designer and get their permission. Don’t be surprised if they ask you to pay for use of the design, that is not uncommon, but if you are really interested in it and want to use it as is, you need to have their permission. Some designers may let you borrow one small element without charge, but then may ask to be credited, it really just depends on the person and the element in question, but you need to ask before you take it so that you don’t get yourself into legal trouble!
Content
Content is obviously one of the most important parts of a blog and as a blogger it is important that although you may find inspiration for yours around the web, that you aren’t taking people’s ideas without permission or reference. For the most part I believe this has a lot to do with common sense and the Golden Rule, which states to treat others how you would like to be treated. If you read a blog post on someone’s site and then decide to write the same post in your own point of view, always source the original post that gave you the inspiration. You don’t necessarily need to ask permission to use someone’s blog post if you are just writing your own version, however, I do think it is polite to give the original author a heads up and share the link to the post with them. A simple email that states something like “I read x post and I was so inspired I wanted to share my own ideas about it on my blog but I made sure to mention and link to your original post as my source” can go a long way. You may even find that the original blogger will want to share or even link to your blog post as well, which will help you get more views! If you do happen to write your own version of someone else’s post, one thing you want to watch out for is to make sure you are of course making different points and using your own point of view. It is not okay to write the same post just in your own words, using the same or very similar points as per the original. Even if you link back and ask permission, this is still a shady practice! Also, at all costs, avoid borrowing content or finding too much inspiration from one specific source. Even if you are properly sourcing, if you find that many of your posts are inspired by the same blogs and bloggers, it may be time for an intervention. You really don’t want anymore than 20% of your content to be directly inspired by other bloggers because you need to come up with your own unique content in order to help build your blogs brand!
Now, if you are reading a blog post and you see a line or point in the post that gives you inspiration for a completely different type of post on that one little topic, this is one of those examples where you don’t necessarily have to give credit, but if you do, I bet it would be appreciated. In truth, I think this is the best way to find inspiration and borrow ideas online, where you are finding something small that resonates with you and extrapolating on it in your own post. Taking this very post for example, you could read the passage above relating to the Golden Rule and decide that you would like to write an entire post about how to apply the Golden Rule to your interactions online with blogs and social media and call it “The Golden Rule 2.0”! That post would be a completely unique offshoot of this one that really wouldn’t require a link back to mine unless you just wanted to give credit and build a relationship. Also that blog post would be awesome and now I think I am going to add that to my TBW (to be written) list! Feel free to email me if you would also like to try your hand at writing that post and maybe we can do a little link up!
Proper linking and sourcing doesn’t just have positive karmic benefits, but it also has real SEO benefits as well. SEO meaning Search Engine Optimization, which is basically the method by which you can positively affect your rankings in search results by creating good content (aka get more views on your blog)! When you link and credit an alternate source like a blog that may be more popular than yours, when people go to search for that topic, your post may rank higher in search results because you are affiliating your blog post with someone else’s! So really, it just benefits you and your blog to create interesting content and to source whenever you find inspiration elsewhere on the blogosphere!
So what do you do if you’re a blogger and you believe that your content is being borrowed without your permission or a link back to your original content? Well the long and the short of it is that if a single blog happens to be taking ideas, content or other intellectual property (photographs or design) from you and you are seeing a pattern enough to be asking yourself this question, the best thing to do is to politely contact the blog author and let them know you came across their blog and you have found a number of similarities between your posts and let them know that if they have been borrowing, you would truly appreciate a link back to your original post. Also, feel free to reference or even link them to this blog post of mine that explains the do’s and don’ts for them because they may not have been informed enough to know how or when to cite an outside source for their content! Of course, if someone is blatantly plagiarizing or using copyrighted images of yours, you do have legal options available to you, however, I would strongly council that unless the wrong doer is using your work for obvious monetary gain, to simply send them an email and let them know they didn’t have permission to use it and ask that it be removed if that is what you want them to do! Talk softly and carry a big stick is a great motto to use in these situations because I find that you can often resolve these issues simply by asking nicely and being reasonable first. If that doesn’t work, call in the big dogs!
Now, if you would like to get a little more perspective on dealing with someone who may be copying your work or content, I absolutely love this post and video from the incomparable Marie Forleo! It’s called How to Deal with Copycats and Marie brings up a few more points that I absolutely agree with so head on over to her site to find out more about those!
I sincerely hope this post has been helpful for you if you are a blogger looking for the best way to find inspiration online or if you are someone who is dealing with content klepto’s! Let me know your thoughts on this subject down in the comments and if this post was helpful I would love it if you tweeted it out or posted it to your Facebook feed!
One of the most important parts about running a blog or a website is actually creating content that people want to read and doing it on a consistent basis! I know a lot of people write a post with the hopes that it will go viral and put their sites on the map, but the truth is, that rarely happens. However, there are ways to write a post that does help it get more attention from readers, without breaking or even bending the rules of the web. So here are three ways to write an attention-getting post followed by three things not to do if you are trying to get attention for your writing online!
1. Write about what people care about
For the most part, people online are very self motivated. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just in a very literal way. People go online to find things that help them or something(one) else they are invested in. Whether they are looking for entertainment, information or inspiration, your post can be a popular destination for people if you are writing about what people care about. Now, of course, people care about a lot of things, so you really need to narrow this down to writing about what your ideal audience member cares about. Think about what you know and your expertise and how it can help your readers by entertaining, informing or inspiring them!
2. Use a clever and/or informative title
If your post is all about teaching your reader how to boil water, the obvious title of the post would be “How to Boil Water.” That is most likely the exact phrase your reader would use if they were searching the internet looking for a tutorial on boiling water. Of course, not everything is as easy as boiling water, so here are a few tips for creating a great title. First, try to keep the title short and sweet. Long titles end up getting glazed over, and keeping your title short also helps you keep it to the point. Next, try incorporating alliteration. I already explained how rhyming phrases are more persuasive than standard phrases, but alliteration also helps to create a pattern within your title that draws attention to it. Finally, use numbering and common phrasing as often as possible in your title. Five ways to Cook a Turkey, 3 Easy Baking Tips, 10 Songs for Summer, etc are all examples of using numbering to draw in your reader. People love lists after all, and breaking down your post into a numerical sequence can be a big crowd pleaser. Finally, use common phrases. Common phrasing is also important in titles because titles are seriously not the place to experiment with turn of phrase. Remember that “How to Boil Water” example? “How to” is a common phrase people use when searching. I doubt you’d draw a crowd with “The Ways in Which you can make Water Boil.” Seriously, stick to simple common phrases!
3. Use keywords
Keywords are like buzz words that you can use in the body of your post to help draw people in through SEO. I know we already discussed the finer points of SEO, but as a recap, it stands for search engine optimization and it’s basically the process by which you make your online content more searchable for sites like google, yahoo, and bing, so that your content shows up higher in search results. Keywords are a big part of SEO, and there isn’t anything magical about it, it really just comes down to actually using related terminology in your post. Going back to the “How to Boil Water” post, you want to make sure you actually use the words “boil” and “water” a few times throughout the body of your post. That way search engines understand that this post is really about boiling water!
Things Not to Do
1. Write a false headline
I think we have all experienced this as a reader at one time or another. A site puts up a wild headline, something crazy or fanatical that couldn’t possibly be true, and we click out of curiosity only to find that the actual post itself has nothing to do with the headline. This is often considered trolling on the internet, using a false headline to draw people in, and its generally a very bad way to garner views for your site. You may get more eyes on your post initially, but its like crying “wolf” and you will eventually see a negative downturn in views for doing this.
2. Take content from other sites without permission
You would think this one is a common sense rule, but some people have no clue the rules of online etiquette. If you are trying to get attention for your site, you should never outright take the content from another site and use it as your own without permission. Even if you link back to the original content, this is such bad form. Why? Because Search Engines like google know where content originated from, and if you take content from other sites, google will negatively affect your rankings, making it harder for people to find your post. If you like someone else’s content and want to share it with your readers, consider writing a review of their post, explaining why you like it and why you think your audience should read it, and then post a direct link to the original post. And of course, make sure you tell the author of the original post, it’s the classy thing to do and they may even link to your post as well, giving you more traffic!
3. Post infrequently
It really doesn’t take much to be a blogger. Anyone can sign up for a free blog through various sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com and voila, you can call yourself a blogger or a writer! But like anything in life, what actually defines you is the consistent habit. Habit is what defines you! If you really want to be a blogger and really want to get attention from hundreds and thousands of readers, you need to post more than once a month, and really, more like a few times a week! Without the consistent output to your site, you will eventually loose people’s interest, and once you do, it’s very hard to earn it back!
Well, now that you know some important do’s and don’ts of writing an attention-getting post, I can’t wait to see what awesome content you all come up with! If this post helped you learn a thing or two about creating better blog posts, please leave me a link below to a post you write after you read this! I’d love to see you putting my tips into action on your own blogs!
As a blogger, SEO is one of the most intimidating aspects of managing a website. For one, it feels like everyone talks about it like the be all and end all of running a successful online site, and apparently they’re speaking some unknown foreign language throwing around terms that any uninitiated webmaster or blogger would find confusing! It took me a number of years researching the subject to really understand what SEO was all about, and once I understood all the technical terminology and elements involved, it ended up being much less complicated than I once feared. Furthermore, I discovered that as my blogging skills increased, I was naturally incorporating aspects of SEO in my posts without even realizing it! So, you may already implement certain rules of SEO in your current blog without even knowing it, which I hope is something of a relief to you, as I know it was to me! So, I thought it would be helpful if I put together a post on the subject of SEO, demystifying the term and giving you 10 important tips for bloggers to use to better implement SEO into their sites!
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s essentially the process by which you affect the visibility of a website or webpage in organic (aka unpaid) search results. As a blogger, search engines like Google and Yahoo are a major source of traffic to your site. After all, when you first start out with a blog and don’t yet have a large following or significant web presence, you will begin to get readers and an audience via search engines. Someone out there on the web is searching for something, an answer to a question, a product review, an opinion piece on their favorite show, and they come across your blog via the search results. Obviously, if you have ever done a simple google search before, you know that a single search can yield hundreds of pages of results, and your goal, through using SEO techniques, is to get your relevant information higher up on the search results list to increase the chances of your content being seen and clicked on, bringing traffic to your blog!
Why SEO is important?
SEO is important because there are certain things you can do to make sure that your blog posts get seen by more people who are searching for content! You really don’t have to know any coding or have any computer science skills to make sure you are implementing some of the most important techniques. If you have been running a blog for a little while, you probably already have the skills necessary to take advantage of SEO!
10 SEO Tips for Bloggers!
1. Focus on creating high quality content that people are searching for.
This one may seem like a no-brainer to any serious blogger, but you’d be surprised how many blogs and sites create underwhelming content. If you want your content to be seen, you need to create interesting content that people would be willing to spend time experiencing. It also helps if you are creating content that falls in line with what people are searching for. For example, many people use search engines to find answers to questions or to solve problems in their own lives. If you write informational content that helps to answer common questions and issues that may be effecting large groups of people, it is more likely that people will find your content, enjoy it and want to become a regular reader!
2. Writer longer blog posts.
Once upon a time, there was a specific word count that was necessary for webpages to boost their visibility in search, and to some extent, there is still a rule of thumb out there that you should make sure each page of your site contains at least 500 words. However, newer SEO stipulations explain that longer blog posts, in general, do much better in search than shorter ones. I realize this is a little bit of a grey area, but the point is, whenever possible, write longer blog posts. Take the extra time to create a little more content, add a few more points to your article, whatever you need to do to make it longer, that will help when it comes to SEO!
3. Use clever and descriptive titles for your posts.
This is one of those common sense rules of SEO. When you are titling your blog post make sure it adequately describes the content of the post. Furthermore, I always believe it’s best if you create a more clever headline that may include a play on words, alliteration or a numbered list (ex. 10 Ways to Clean Wine Stains).
4. Use images as often as possible throughout your posts.
Image search results are just as important as text search results and pictures do so much to improve the content of a post. Not only do pictures illustrate the content of a post, but they are help to develop the aesthetic appeal of your site. I know when I am searching online, I often give preference to links with images than text alone, even when the text is relevant to my search. A picture is worth 1,000, so use them as much as you can in your blog posts!
5. Make sure to name your images descriptively and also include alt text.
To ensure that your pictures show up in relevant search results, make sure to give your images descriptive names. Instead of IMG_123, give your image a name that explains what people are looking at, that way you increase the likelihood of your images being seen during search. Now, as far as alt text goes (alt text = alternate text), this is an option that you may see in your blog’s content management system when you go to upload new media to a blog post. The alternate text is simply a spot for an additional description that may be more matter of fact than the name of the file. Whenever possible, make sure to add alt text to your images. It doesn’t show up on screen when you publish a post, but it does help boost your images in search.
6. Use descriptive categories and tags for your posts and make sure your permalink are structured by category and blog post title (not by date!)
When you are writing your blog post, you have the option to add categories and tags to your post that help to give a bit of extra description and organization to the content. Make use of both of these features by assigning your post to a category that will act as a means of sorting your post by content, and tags that will help identify key words or terms that describe your post. Make sure to use logical, easy to understand categories, instead of personalized terms that may only make sense to you or frequent readers. For example, file a recipe post under “Recipe” not “Alexis Cooks” because more people will be searching for the term recipe than a more obscure phrase or term. Also, when selecting the structure for your permalinks (the permanent web address that will link back to your post) choose a structure based on your categories and blog post titles, not by a date structure! A category structured permalink may look something like this yourblogname.com/recipe/WorldsBestMeatballs, while a date structure would read more like yourblogname.com/2014/10/26/WorldsBestMeatballs. I think you can see, that the first example is much clearer for people to understand, and that means it’s also clearer for search engines to understand when filing search results!
7. Share your links through social media.
Once you have done all the hard work of creating and writing a great blog post, your work doesn’t end once you hit publish! You need to make sure you put the links to your awesome content out there on the internet for people to find and for search engines to link back to! The more links to your blog floating out there in the web, the better, but make sure not to inundate your social media feed with an endless stream of links. I think a reasonable rule of thumb is not to post more than 1-2 links per hour per social media feed!
8. Own your own domain.
In case you didn’t know, it’s always better to own your own domain than to stick with a third party blogging service domain. Once I moved my blog to strangecharmed.com from strangeandcharmed.blogspot.com, my traffic grew rapidly! Although that .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com may seem harmless, it actually overcomplicates your domain and makes it harder for people to find your blog because its actually just a sub-webpage of a larger website. Even if you can’t go the self-hosted wordpress route that I recommend, make sure to spend the extra few dollars a year to buy your own custom domain, even if you stay with blogspot or other similar blogging platforms.
9. Choose a blog layout that shows your complete post on the page- don’t make people click through for additional page views!
We have all been to blogs and websites that only display a summary or the first few lines of a post in their feed, enticing you to click through to the full post if you want to continue reading. Some people consider this something of a nuisance, preferring to click out of the website rather than to pay the toll of an additional page view before any real value has been acquired, but research is now showing that this style of layout actually hurts page views in your SEO rankings as well as annoying your readers. Remember, if it takes a real person an extra step to get to your full content, it also adds an extra step for the search engine as well, and when push comes to shove, your content may be spot on, but if you are putting a barrier between your readers and your content, your traffic and SEO ranking will suffer. If you are using this sort of layout, you should be able to change the default in your websites “reading” options by changing your posts to Full Text instead of Summary.
10. Reach out to other bloggers and do guest posts to increase your inbound links.
Having multiple inbound links is another way to bolster your rankings in SEO, and the best and most legitimate way to do this is via guest blogging on other sites. Not only will guest blogging give you the opportunity to get your content out in front of a new audience that may then begin to drive traffic to your site, but the actual links from other blogs to your blog will show up in search results and improve your site’s overall SEO performance! So make some valuable blogging connections and put your name out there beyond your own little corner of the internet, and you will see a myriad of different benefits!
So, those are my 10 SEO Tips for Bloggers! Like I said earlier, most of these tips are the sorts of things you end up doing as you grow your blog and improve your blogging skills overall, but it’s good to know how much certain techniques are actually helping you beyond the obvious! If you enjoyed this post and you are a blogger, feel free to link back to this post from your own blog and share these important tips with your blogger friends! Also, leave a comment down below if you have any other great SEO tips you think would be helpful to share!
As you may already know, back in July I purchased my first DSLR camera, then of course, being the internet loving, tech savvy chic I am, I went straight to the internet to learn everything I could about photography! Now, to be completely honest, although I had never owned a DSLR before, I did know quite a bit about photography from studying the subject in college as part of my Art History major and just being a general photography geek for years. But, being a photography geek with a new DSLR, I just had to immerse myself with as much information as possible, and let me tell you, it was like being swallowed whole by a leviathan! There is a lot of information out there on the web about photography, and it ain’t all pretty. Worst of all, there isn’t much out there geared towards helping bloggers or even Instagram enthusiast take better pictures. So, being a blogger, such as I am, I thought to myself that it may be helpful if I actually went ahead and shared the information I learned with my readers.
So, the first topic I want to tackle is my all time favorite photography subject: Bokeh!
What is Bokeh?
It’s just a term used in photography to describe the quality of the out of focus elements of a picture. Literally, it comes from the Japanese word ‘boke’, which means ‘blur’ or ‘haze’. If you have ever seen a picture with those little balls of light in the background, that is like the epitome of the word, but bokeh is so much more than great balls of light! So, if you would like to learn more about bokeh and how to achieve this affect in your own photography, you are in luck because this is going to be a fun little post!
Bokeh is All About Controlling Depth of Field
Notice that only the first pair of glasses on the tray is in focus, and the others are not, creating some nice bokeh balls towards the back of the image.
In order to get a good bokeh effect in your images (yes, there is good and bad bokeh, but we will discuss the difference later) you have to understand one of the major principles of photography, which is depth of field. Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and furthest objects in a scene that appear in focus. You can control depth of field three ways.
Aperture: Apertures of 3.5 or greater (3.5-1.2) normally create desirable blur
Focal Length: A 50mm lens is often considered a standard, but you can make do with other focal lengths thanks to the third point
Distance between the camera and subject (and the subject and the background): You can adjust your focal length by stepping closer to or further from your subject. This will help to create a shallow depth of field, but you should also consider the distance between the subject and the foreground or background that you want out of focus. This is less important when using a DSLR with a good lens, but more important if you have a point and shoot!
Don’t Forget Composition and Light!
The best type of background for a bokehful shot is one that would still be considered attractive even if it was in focus.
The composition of your image is very important when it comes to creating good bokeh. Remember, bokeh refers to the quality of the out of focus elements of the image and to a greater extent, how they interact with the in-focus elements. You may think your background doesn’t matter because it will be blurred out, but things like bright colors, lines or patterns in your background can be distracting even with a blur. The subject is always an important part of any image, and a distracting or overwhelming background can detract from your subject and create a mismatch between subject and background, thus resulting in bad bokeh! Try to think of your blurred background as a way of directing the viewer’s eye towards the subject and in turn, pointing the viewer’s eye from the subject back to the lovely blurred, bokehfull background!
And you also can’t forget the light! When it comes to creating great bokeh and especially bokeh balls, you need light in your image reflecting from your background. It’s a popular tactic in photography to use strings of fairy lights in the background of dark images to create an obvious bokeh ball effect, but you can still get great bokeh balls in broad daylight, as long as there is enough light bouncing off objects in the foreground and/or background of your subject. This is why thinking about your composition will help you find a great shot and create an image with awesome bokeh!
No DSLR, No Problem!
This tilt-shift style image was taken with a Canon point and shoot from the London Eye, illustrating that it is possible to get a beautiful hazy blur from a compact camera!
But what if you don’t have a DSLR? Well, good news! Although point and shoot camera’s don’t give you anywhere near the amount of control a DSLR does, they still have a few features you can use to control the depth of field! Many point and shoots come with various modes for shooting that can help you achieve a bokeh effect. Portrait modes are normally good for this because they expect for there to be a single object or person in focus and then, to help the subject stand out, the background is blurred. You may have to do some work adjusting your distance from the subject and the subject’s distance from other objects in the foreground or background of the scene, but portrait modes are generally a good place to start when trying to get bokeh from a point and shoot. A second feature of a point and shoot you can try is the toy camera or miniature effect. Canon point and shoots are notorious for having this setting, which basically blurs the top and bottom of the image for you, so that only the center plane horizontally is in-focus. This is like an instant bokeh helper because the camera goes ahead and adds a blur for you. A final trick you can try with your point and shoot is to shoot in macro mode. Macro mode is normally used when you are getting very close up to a subject and want to focus on detail, but it can also be used on a point and shoot to help you blur your background. Try taking shots with your macro option turned on and off and see what sort of difference it makes!
Software and Apps
This iPhone shot makes you question whether it was taken with a DSLR because of all the lovely blur and bokeh in the background created by using the Big Lens App.
Now, sometimes it just isn’t possible to get a nice natural bokeh effect from your camera. Either because you don’t have a DSLR with the proper lens to pull off the shot, or because you are working with a point and shoot or smartphone camera that just doesn’t allow you the control you need. So, the only way to get that awesome bokeh affect in your image is through software or apps!
Photoshop is probably the most popular way that even pro photographers edit and post process their images. But you don’t have to be a pro to own the application, and in fact, many photo and design enthusiasts already own this software. So, how can you use Photoshop to help you add bokeh to your photographs? Simple, go ahead and import the desired photo into the program. Use the Quick Selection tool to select the elements in your image that you would like to be out of focus and add a Lens Blur! Lens Blur is the preferred blur to use in Photoshop if you’re looking for a bokeh effect because it mimics the characteristics of a camera lens when creating the blur, so it seems more natural on the photo. You may also want to bump up the levels or brightness of the background as well before you add your lens blur so that you have more light to work with in your image.
For iPhone users, there is a great app that I often use to help me create the illusion of depth of field on my iPhone pics, and that is Big Lens. It’s basically a DSLR app for your iPhone that gives you the ability to select an area of your image to be in focus and then add a blur to the rest of the image. You can control settings like aperture, filter and lens to help you create an image that appears to have been taken with a DSLR!
Now, if big blurry bokeh balls are what you’re after, there are quiet a few apps available that allow you the control to add your own to an image, however, I like the app Bokehful. With this app you can load a photo and add custom colored bokeh balls to an image. One word of caution, however, if you want to go this route of adding artificial bokeh balls, is to make sure the image you are using has some bright spots and out of focus areas to begin with and then add the bokeh balls to those areas. If you don’t you will just be adding balls of fake light to your image and it will be extremely obvious (trust me, I made this mistake a lot in the early days of Instagram)! So, bokehful is definitely an app I would use as a final touch after you brighten up an image and then blur out sections with Big Lens.
Other Bokehlicious Effects
These lovely bokeh hearts were created using the DIY template for bokeh shapes linked below!
You have probably seen quite a few photos on Instagram and Tumbler where the bokeh balls aren’t actually balls, but hearts, stars or some other shape. Ever wonder how that effect is created? Well, there are two ways to add custom bokeh shapes to your images. The first is by using a custom template to cover your camera’s lens to adjust the shape of your camera’s aperture as it takes pictures. I actually found a great video on this topic on YouTube that also includes a link to some free templates you can download and make at home. Or, if you would prefer to purchase a complete die cut kit, you can purchase one here. It’s actually quite a fun little DIY for any DSLR owner, and you can create some fun and interesting portraits and even landscape photos using different designs and shapes for your bokeh!
The second, and probably easiest way to create these custom bokeh shapes is through an app! Again, Bokehful and Big Lens both give you options to adjust the shape of your bokeh, as do many other photo filter and lighting effects apps. You may already have such an app in your collection, or you could check out the apps I suggest!
I hope this has been a helpful and informational post for any bloggers or Instagram addicts out there who are as in love with bokeh as I am! If it was, please go ahead and leave me a message on Instagram or send me a Tweet to let me know what you thoughts! Although photography snobs will often say you need a full frame DSLR with a 50mm 1.2 lens to create the best bokeh, the truth is, even the best camera in the world can’t shoot photos on its own. It’s all about the photographer, their creativity and ingenuity in setting up a scene that will produce a beautiful image. So, make do with what you have and get creative. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when you have a concept for a great pic! Your Instagram followers will thank you for it! So, what other photography topics can I help you tackle? Any burning questions I can help you address to help your photography reach it’s fullest potential? Let me know!
I have been wanting a DSLR camera for such a long time! I’m honestly so surprised that it actually took me this long to finally bite the bullet and just buy one, but now I have one and life is picture perfect! Okay, camera puns aside, I am very excited about my new purchase and since it is definitely going to be affecting the blog the most, I thought I should introduce you all to my new toy! Here is my new Canon EOS Rebel T5i… TA DA! Feel free to start throwing confetti on your end of the computer screen!
Now, you might be wondering why I chose this camera and what compelled me to finally make such a large photography purchase. Perhaps you are also a blogger and have been looking for a nice DSLR to help you make the most of your photos as well. That’s pretty much why I decided now was the time to buy. You see, I have been making do with my Canon point and shoot camera for the last few years, and of course my iPhone’s camera as well. Now, however, I feel like with blogging being my full-time career, that I really needed to take my quality up a notch. Once I knew it was time for a DSLR, I knew I would purchase a Canon because I have always owned Canon’s. After looking at the budget I wanted to work within and scouring reviews for different cameras, the T5i seemed to be the best fit for me. Although it is technically a 2013 model, as far as consumer grade DSLRs go, this one is top of the line and checked all the boxes for my needs as a blogger.
Do I think every blogger needs a DSLR camera to take good photos? Heaven’s no! I have said it before and I will say it again, I think it is important for bloggers to make do with that they have and what is in their budget. If a DSLR isn’t in the cards for you, I firmly believe that a decent point and shoot or even your iPhone’s camera can be used to take awesome images for your blog. You may need to do a little more work making sure things like lighting and composition are on point in order to capture the best image possible, but I still know its possible. Heck, I have been doing it for years and I am always complemented on my photos!
So, for me, I am looking forward to using a DSLR, taking what I have learned about styling photographs and images for blog posts and marrying the two together to create some wonderful images for this site! If you would like more details on all the items and accessories I purchased with this camera, like the lens and a very cute camera bag, feel free to take a look at the YouTube video linked below! I did film a haul for all the items I purchased and if you are a blogger looking for the best lens for your DSLR, I talk about the one I purchased and why (Hint, I didn’t bother with a kit lens)! Also, make sure to check out my blog post on Photography Basics to help you take the best photos for your blog, no matter which camera you are using!
I hope you enjoyed this post and this video! Let me know if you use a DSLR, which one you use and which lens you prefer to shoot with. Also if you have any resources that you recommend for beginner DSLR users or any awesome, can’t live without accessories for a DSLR, please let me know in the comments below or feel free to send me a tweet about it!
