Happy Birthday.. A Simple Piece of Me!

I cannot believe today marks 1 year since I’ve started blogging! So much sweat and tears have gone into this, but also joy and happiness!

Throughout this year, I’ve learned so much. All from building my site, to figuring out how this whole blogging community works.

I’m going to be honest, I thought that blogging was going to be sooo much easier than what it is, and a lot of people think (including myself at one point) that when you’re a blogger, it’s such an easy job. Let me be the first to say, it’s not. There is so much more then just writing a blog post. A lot of us have to do photoshoots with the blog post, which means planning and scheduling time to do a shoot. Then comes editing the pictures (if you don’t have someone doing it for you), followed by editing your post, and then placing the pictures on the post. Once you have your post scheduled, there are times where you have to create pins for Pinterest to associate and bring more traffic into your site, and then comes creating content for Instagram. Yeah… a lot goes into it. But I will say, I absolutely love it! I love creating content for you all! Whether it be about fashion, beauty, relationship, motherhood, weight loss, etc. It’s fun for me to do the whole process and I truly enjoy it. And, I think that’s really important. You really have to enjoy the WHOLE process. So if you are planning on starting a blog, make sure you have a passion for it, and have fun with it. The world is yours when it comes to creating the content you want.

The biggest thing I’ve learned when blogging, was to stop comparing yourself to others. I’m not going to lie, I still see myself comparing myself to others, it’s hard not too. BUT, try not too! No matter what your numbers are, what I’ve learned this year, is that companies will love your content for what it is and what you produce. With that said, this year I’ve had the pleasure of working with Wayfair.com, Lavender Sun, Mace Baby, and Yeouth Skincare. I honestly would have never thought within my first year of blogging I’d be working with companies. I wasn’t expecting to work with companies within my first year of blogging. I just wanted to produce the content that I love, gain amazing people like you that love reading what I write, and share my life story. So, it has been an honor to be able to work with companies that I have grown to love. Also, I want you all to know that I would NEVER work with a company that I don’t believe in. I honestly, have been asked by a few more companies to work with, but if I don’t believe in their products and the company I will NOT share them with you all.

So, for those of you that are planning on starting a blog or even YouTube, I do want to share 5 tips just from what I took in throughout my year of blogging that I would love to share with you all;

1. Be authentic– A lot of bloggers + YouTubers have the same content, but stay true to who you are. For example; you don’t want to share certain fashion pieces if you’ve never been into that before just because other bloggers are doing so. 
2. Don’t compare yourself to others– It’s hard not to compare yourself to others. This is something I continue to remind myself on a daily basis. Just try and focus on you and you only. Focus on producing the content you love. When you start doing that, your followers will come. 
3. Be passionate about it– I do believe that you have to have a passion for blogging. As I mentioned above, it’s not as easy as it looks. A lot goes into it. If you are looking to blog just for fun, then by all means do it, but if you are looking to blog to possibly make a career out of, then you must have a passion for it, otherwise, it will not show in your content that you’re producing. 
4. Engage– Engaging with your followers through your blog, YouTube, social medias is VERY IMPORTANT! It shows your followers that you care about what they think and took the time to comment. It builds a relationship/friendship with your followers. Even if it’s an hour a day, take the time to do so.
5. Be consistent– Consistency is the key. Being consistent when it comes to posting on your site or posting on your social media is important. Your followers will know and can expect when you will be posting and can look forward to it. 

Thank you all so much to those that follow along and have been here with me throughout the year. I can’t say it enough, but your support truly means everything to me. I may not be perfect and my commas may be out of place from time to time, but none of us are perfect, right?

xoxo