Being Bigger With Your Blog In Your Own Way
As I've been blogging for four years I've had a lot of time to find my feet. A process that I believe is truly lost with people who are just starting out in the blogging world. With the plethora of posts available of 'how to blog' it's hard not to let it get in your head, some, of course, are helpful but many are just patronising. The number one reason that I love blogging so much is because you can do absolutely anything that you want with it and that's something that should be encouraged. There seems to be this unspoken process that we're all supposed to take when really we can all be bigger with our blogs in our way.
I'm lucky enough to have someone who encourages and pushes me to do big things in every aspect of my life, including my blog and that's Jen. Whenever I'm with her whether in person or on Skype she completely inspires me to do the things that I'm scared to do. Chances are that a lot of us want to be doing different things, but we're too scared to do them because they're against the grain. To be bigger it's not just about having good SEO or stats, it's different to each person. For so long we've all defined that to be 'big' in the blogging world that's what you need because we're only looking at one side of the process.
As I'm currently making big changes with what I'm doing with my own blog I thought that I would share some of the things that I've been thinking & going through the process of.
WHY DO YOU BLOG?
Going back to the very bare bones of what your internet space even means to you. Why do you write your blog? What do you want to get out from it? Would you read the content that you're writing?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WRITE?
This was a mistake that I made when I first started blogging, I wrote posts that I thought that I had to write not the ones that I really wanted to write. Nowadays I think wisely about what I'm writing and unless it's something that I'm truly passionate about or interested in then I scrap the idea.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU WANT TO POST?
Completely personal to the individual and their life. Some people like to blog when inspiration hits but some people work better to a schedule. I'm someone who has always worked better with a routine set in place, it doesn't have to be strategic and can be a guideline. We all know what we're capable of doing so go by your own rules and do what feels right to you.
WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR BLOG TO BE?
I've always wanted From Roses to be enjoyable and most importantly a relatable place on the internet. A place that you can visit and not feel so alone in the some of the struggles that we all face in life. When I write beauty content I'm not writing it to sell you products, I've not got the skills to do that. I'm writing to share things that I think are awesome and give my thoughts on them that isn't in the form of a typical review. Everyone has their own ideas of what they want their blog to be and it can take a while to find out exactly what that is. This is why self-exploration is blogging is so important and those first few posts you write aren't anything to be ashamed of.
WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR SPACE TO LOOK LIKE?
We all know what a traditional blog looks like and for so long I thought I had to fit myself into those moulds. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that mould but it didn't feel right for me anymore. One of the big reasons for my blogs move over to SquareSpace was that I wanted to make my blog feel bigger, like a community for my readers. I couldn't do that with just one single page. Then there comes the big decision of what you want your blog layout to look like, I've always had a solid running theme of a soft feminine aesthetic as that's what I love. Even though I'm a monochrome girl with my wardrobe that look has never felt right for From Roses. Your blog design and layout is the first online impression that you're making to others so it's important that it feels like a visual representation of yourself.
TURN CONTENT AROUND
My biggest goal right now is to completely turn around the way I put out content and do something different. Again by moving platforms this has pushed me to do this and more importantly given me the ability to. My visuals are the strongest part of the posts that I put out, I know full well that I'm not the most talented writer around. So I want to utilise my photographs as much as I can and push my content in a more visually led direction.
FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW
Can you imagine not having read a single blog before and starting out completely fresh with no prepositions of what a blog should do or should look like. It's hard to forget what we already know so well but by doing so it gives you the freedom to completely explore what you want.
DON'T BE SCARED
For years, I've been so scared about putting something out there that might not go down so well even though it's something that I'm really passionate about. I've felt totally boxed in by these unspoken expectations and I've not been brave enough to break out of them. Feeling fear is good but when it's holding you back from what you're truly passionate about that's when you've got to get away from them.
To me being bigger with my blog doesn't mean having a million page views or a post that goes viral. It's about being truly happy with the content that I make. To some, it might just be putting out one post a week or having 10 consistent readers or just writing for fun. We've all got our own visions in mind, but they can quickly become clouded by others ideas of what bigger means. For such a long time, I thought to be bigger with From Roses that I had to do things that just weren't comfortable to me. It's the norm for beauty & lifestyle bloggers to go into YouTube and as that's something I'm often asked I thought I would share my thoughts here. YouTube is not for me, the whole process of making videos would make me feel uncomfortable. It's just not right for me and my long-term goals.
What do you want to do with your blog?
R x
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