Given that I started my blog just over six months ago, I thought it might be interesting to share a few things that I have learnt along the way. I also wanted to discuss the reality of blogging versus the perception……
‘Blogging’ has become a word that is widely known in all industries. These days, it is very rare to find someone who doesn’t either have their own blog or follow a blog. The reality is that blogs were actually a thing before we even knew what they were. Many online websites, articles, and even shops are in fact blogs. It is a place where people share / display / sell their opinion, thoughts and products.
In recent times however, blogs have become the ‘norm’, and with this comes the perception that it is easy to have a blog and it’s something that anybody can do in their spare time. Now, I’m not saying that that’s the case, but as with anything, you get out what you put in. For me, my blog is something that I spent a lot of time preparing (it didn’t happen overnight), and today, more than ever, it remains to be something that consumes the majority of my time. I thought it would be interesting to share a kind of behind the scenes to my blog and what is involved in the preparation of a single blog post and the day to day running of my blog.
Planning
Of course, the first thing to do for any blog post is to plan it properly! I keep a list of blog post ideas that I update regularly and refer to when I need some inspiration. As you will know by now, if you have been following my blog since the beginning, I like to try and keep my content as varied as possible, and I don’t really have a niche. I basically write about things that I enjoy or have experienced. This changes daily, so I just keep my blog updated with what is happening in my life at that given time.
Whilst this keeps my blog content pretty varied, I think it is fair to say that the majority of my content ends up relating to cosmetics and interiors. That’s because this where my passion lies. If I am not trying out a new skincare or makeup product, you will find me rearranging a corner, a cupboard or a shelf in my apartment and that’s what is reflected on my blog.
Once I have decided on the topic, I will make lots of notes and a to-do list setting out the following:
- What I want to include in the post
- How I want to structure it
- Photos I need to take
At the minute I am using a few blog planners from the company called Paper Chic Co and they are so handy! They have such lovely stationary.
Photos
The photo part of my blog post preparation is broken down into four sub tasks, so I will discuss these individually:
- Decide on props
- Taking the actual photo
- Editing photo
- Shop the Post
Props
As much as a nice product can make a pretty photo, I love adding some props to make my photos a bit more interesting. My favourite kind of props to use are usually flowers or plants and ornaments/accessories which I have in my home. This could be anything from a candle, to a teacup, or notepad and pen. I try to pick props that compliment whatever product I am photographing.
More often than not, I will spend more time choosing and placing props, than anything else. This is one of my favourite things about blogging; styling products and setting up little photo sets. I get such satisfaction out of this that I wish I could make a fulltime job out of it! Sometimes I will spend time setting up a photo with props, only to take the photo and decide I hate how it looks. Then I will start over and keep going until I am happy with the end result! I can never predict how long it will take me to get my pictures right for a blog post – it can take me anything from 10 minutes to a whole day! There is simply no telling!
Taking The Photo
Once I have my props and products in place, it’s time to take the actual photos! When I first started my blog, all of my photos were just taken with my phone. For my birthday, I got a proper camera (a Nikon D5500 for those of you who are interested) which has really helped with the quality of my photos, but good cameras are complicated and my knowledge of using it is very basic. This is something else that I am working on getting better at. I know there are more advanced ways to use my camera than my current point and click strategy lol. Often I will still go back to use my phone for taking photos too. It really just depends on what I am trying to photograph and where.
Editing
Once I am finally happy with the photos I have taken, I upload them to a photo editing software program that I use called Adobe Lightroom. I am certainly not a photographer (as we have established) so my editing capabilities are very limited. I try to just take a good photo to start with so that it doesn’t require much editing. My best tip for that is to take a photo in the best lighting possible. Daylight always helps make pictures look their best but sometimes if I have a lot of photos to take in one day, the natural light changes as the day goes on.
I use Lightroom to help me make all my photos look consistent. I only started to use this program when I started my blog and I am self-taught with the help of YouTube videos. This makes the process a bit slow for me, but I know I will get faster at this as time goes on.
Shop the Post
Another photo related task that comes along with my blog is the preparation of my ‘Shop the Post’ section. I use a feature (software plug-in) which allows readers of my blog to scroll through images of products that I have talked about in my post and gives the option to click on an image and be directed to the website where they can read about or purchase the product. If I am talking about a particular product I always try my best too include a link to where readers can purchase the item.
Personally I find it really irritating when I read about something I want and then don’t know where I can buy it. I include an image gallery with links (when relevant) at the end of every blog post under a heading called ‘SHOP THE POST’. This adds another task to my list but it is one that I appreciate other bloggers doing, so I hope you all find it useful too.
To prepare the ‘shop the Post’ section, I download images of the products that I want to include and the link to where they can be bought. I then have to add the images and links to the blog program I use (more on that later) and arrange them in the order I want them to appear at the bottom of my blog post. This is not a difficult task but it is very tedious and time consuming (so I hope people like it lol).
Writing the Post
Once I have planned the post, set up, taken and edited the photos, it’s time to sit down and actually write the content. The time taken to write the post really varies depending on the topic. Having a structure planned out always helps, but sometimes I will structure a post around the photos that I have taken and vice versa, so my strategy and format changes all of the time. Again, I never know how long it will take me to write a blog post until I sit down and do it.
Upload Everything to My Blog and Compile the Post
Once I have the photos, text and shop the post section ready, it’s time to compile everything on the blog. I used a platform called WordPress to host my blog. I upload all of my material to the website where I can lay it out and format it in the way I want it to appear. I have to upload my photos to a media library on WordPress and then I can add them amongst my text. Once my images and text are formatted together I go ahead add the image gallery at the bottom of the post. I then choose an image from the media library that I want to appear as my feature image for the post. If you are subscribed to my blog you will see the feature image at the top of the email notification you receive from me each time I upload a new post. Then that’s it, everything is ready to go!
Schedule the Post
When everything is compiled and ready to go, the next thing I have to do is schedule the post so that it is published publically on my page and to ensure an email notification goes out to subscribers.
I then prepare a short post for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook once I have published a new blog post. The hardest part of writing a blog post is actually getting it seen, so I use other social media platforms to try and advertise it. Sometimes I worry that people will find my posts on social media too much or annoying, but I spend so much time and energy preparing my blog posts that I want people to see them at the end of the day. This is why I appreciate it so much when people share it on Facebook themselves.
So those are the main tasks related to writing a blog post every week. Once a post is prepared and published, though, the work doesn’t stop. There are constantly things to update and keep track off on the page. For example, I need to ensure that any links which I have provided continue to work and keep pages like the ‘Things I Love – Beauty’ and ‘Things I Love – Lifestyle’ updated and current.
I try to stay as consistent as possible when it comes to posting on my blog and upload every Saturday at the same time. If I am ever going to miss an upload I always inform my readers of this in the preceding blog. In six months I have only missed two uploads – when I was on holiday, and when I had family visiting. That is probably one of the most difficult things about having a blog. Planning ahead and being prepared week after week is difficult when I cannot judge how long it will take me to write a blog post or trying to do it when something else unexpected comes up in the same week. There have been many occasions when I have known that I will be not be available on a certain week to prepare a post, so it has been necessary for me to prepare multiple posts the week before.
This week is actually an example of this as my cousins are coming to Abu Dhabi, which means that I know that I won’t have the time to work on my blog next week. In instances like this its fine because I know in advance and can plan for it, but that is not always the case. Being organised is definitely one of the most important things when it comes to being consistent with my blog. Sometimes my posts are written weeks in advance (or pictures are taken in advance), and other times they are written in the same week that I publish them.
Despite the many hours of writing and photo taking sessions, I absolutely love having my blog and I am more than happy to invest my time and energy into it. The most rewarding part is definitely when I get feedback on a post, or when people leave comments or message me telling me that they have tried something that I recommend and they loved it. I have also had a few of my favourite brands use my photos on their social media pages. That’s one of the greatest compliments I can ask for.
I just want to say thanks to everyone who is subscribed to my blog and consistently reads my posts. That’s what makes it all worthwhile 🙂 x
SHOP THE POST
