Amusingly Amazed

wonderfullifee:

my blog has been around since 2010 and i’ve been a blogging machine, posting everyday for two years. along the way there have been some bumps, but i’ve always picked myself up and got back on the blogging train. i’ve managed to gain some blogging insight along the way and decided it was time to share. blogging is a great way to reach out to others and post your daily thoughts, but it also has the ability to be a business. take for example one of my favourite blogs, cupcakes and cashmere. since starting her blog, emily has had huge success and as of right now, she’s working on publishing her first book titiled cupcakes and cashmere! she is definitely one of my blogging idols and a blogger i look up to. personally, i hope that someday, i can have the same success she’s experienced! 

1. content is key, but aesthetic is right up there with it: usually, when i visit a blog, the first thing i look at is the header and the layout. if it’s messy and all over the place, i leave. i know it’s not the right thing to do but that’s the way it works. new readers are most likely to follow your blog based on the way it looks and the first few posts they see. however there are some extremely loyal people out there (kudos to you, bloggers love all of you) who go back into your archives and read the posts from ages ago! your blog layout should be clean, not cluttered. fonts should be EASILY READABLE, meaning don’t use some cursive font for the writing that’s size five. it should flow from one aspect to the next and a colour scheme is always a good start. 
2. eye catching titles in fonts that are once again, ones you can easily read (take mine on my page, simple arial narrow, easy on the eyes but still stands out) and don’t hurt your eyes. an eye catching title is also on that brings a reader into your post. tie it into what you’ll be talking about or make it a play on words. these are the things that make people look past the aesthetic and read your posts. 
3. quality pictures and links consist of posting pictures that aren’t originally 200 pixels wide, stretched to fit your layout of 500 pixels and the result is a grainy mess. quality pictures are pictures that have a reliable source that you can link back to * and are of nice quality (things you would find on flickr quality). reposting can work if you’re tying it into a post you’re writing. but i’d recommend staying away from reposting and linking directly back to your blog. that box on the left where the source could go should be the creator of the image. go look at any reputable blog who posts photos, they always link back. it’s the polite and proper thing to do. if you choose not to, you could face some steep consequences (ie. the deletion of your blog, DMCA takedown notices, and even in extreme cases, fines)!
4. in order for a blog to flourish, you need to bring in traffic. this can be done through a variety of ways. advertising is one option. it doesn’t cost much to purchase a small spot on someone else’s blog. as of today, there are a handful of blogs out there who are offering ad spaces on the main page (myself included). it sounds stupid and a waste of money, but if you’re serious about increasing followers and traffic, an ad might be your best bet. another option is social networking. make a facebook page for your blog. make a twitter. and socialize! socialize! socialize! make friends with other bloggers. we don’t bite and we’d love to meet you! 
5. and please, be original. ask any blogger who creates anything, photography, photoshop, graphics, whatever. when we put hours on end into making something, a new theme, a new post or a new idea and people blatantly rip it off, we get angry. it’s sort of a given. there’s a difference between being inspired and being a copycat. if you’re unsure if you’re crossing a line, ask, because you’re better off asking than being labelled a copy. and once again, copyright infringement can lead to serious consequences that tons of people overlook!
6. post on a regular basis. sure we all need a vacation and taking a week off is perfectly fine. i like to try and post at the very least, once a day. it keeps people coming back to your blog to read the latest. i’m grateful for every one of my loyal readers and without them, i’d be nowhere! a great blog is an active one! keep your readers engaged and wanting more. 
7. keep track of your blogging statistics! consider signing up for a free program like google analytics. it allows for bloggers and site owners to view where their traffic is coming from, what languages their blog is being viewed in, the average number of visits on a daily basis. it’s a great way to keep track of what’s going on behind the scenes on your blog. 
8. try and do something different. although it’s hard, it’s something every blogger should look into. there are hundreds of fashion blogs out there, so what? what makes yours different than the one down the road? consider stepping outside of the typical cookie cutter blog image and trying something new. 
9. if you’re in doubt, ask for help! we’re not the big scary bloggers you see us as. in fact, as i’m writing this, i’m laying out on my couch with my feet propped up. not in front of my massive desk with HAYLEY CEO OF WONDERFULLIFEE written on the door. we’re people just like you are and if you do need help (within reason), it never hurts to ask us. that’s why i have a formspring (formspring.me/wonderfullifee) and a twitter. tweet me your questions! i tend to avoid answering html, font and theme questions just because they take forever to explain. but if you have questions regarding the state of your blog, and what to do next, send away! 
10. lastly, mind your manners. it’s hard to do at times. that blog just stole your layout, your idea and i’ll be the first to admit that i don’t exactly take things like this well. it takes all my power to not call out every person who has every copied something i’ve made haha! but sometimes you need to take a breath and let it go. kindly message the person you’re having an issue with, tell them what the issue is and politely ask them to remove or change whatever. bad mouthing isn’t going to get you anywhere and like in the real world, outside of the blogosphere, you should treat people the way you want to be treated. we’re all here to blog and have fun.