Friday, February 6, 2015

How to start your own beauty, fashion, lifestyle or motivational blog

For those who have never ventured down this road and are unsure of where to start, it's not that difficult. At least in my eyes. All you need is the time, patience to read, follow the directions, have content with images, and last but not least, find and test the blog theme you want to use.

In order to test, you will need to create some content post with images. I normally recommend at least 2 paragraphs, depending on the subject, but try not to make it too wordy, otherwise you tend to loose your audience. Pictures are EVERYTHING! Make sure to have a camera that produces great quality images of your own to avoid copyright infringement, unless you have permission to use images. Yes, even blogs are no exception to this law, in which you could be fined up to $1000 per image, and adding where you got the image from is not enough. There are also sites you can download free images as long as you follow their guide lines. Google free stock images.

I normally recommend blogger.com because it's FREE. You don't get any better than this unless you are planning to create a business website and NOT A BLOG. This eliminates one additional cost of having to purchase hosting. Now if you're seeking a different kind of look for a blog such as a magazine style, than you might want to consider a content management system, such as a wordpress site, not the free version, since there are major limitations, which is a whole lot easier to maintain and more functional. Once again, this is when a web designer will come into play.

Places to find FREE BLOGGER THEMES

Here are a few links to find the right blog to suit your style. Now keep in mind, if you're looking to customize color and layout in which the "customize" feature does not edit, that is when you might want to seek out a web designer, unless you are familiar with editing css. Adding a logo to the header, as long as you can design your own logo and it is the appropriate height and width, will give your blog a professional look. Keep in mind, you don't have to use any of these free themes. You can always use the classic themes that blogger comes with and set it up. I personally use their classic themes because I'm proficient with editing the css.

Here are some links to find a theme:

Create your own graphics with picmonkey.com

This is the easiest solution I can recommend for anyone to use to create graphics for their blog. Standard look to fill the top of blog is 960px (width) x 150px (height). Ex. is what you see at the top of my blog. Mine is wider due to the width of my blog, which can also be customized on blogger.com. Google how to change layout adjustment on blogger and I'm sure you'll find loads of information. Here is a video link on "how to use picmonkey". While you're at it, don't forget to design a matching business card to hand out when you're at social gatherings.

Another great tool to create graphics for your custom youtube video images is www.apps.pixlr.com/express.

Go to "collage" and select the "layout" that you'll like to use. You can adjust width, height, effects and all on the program. Here is a video link on "how to use pixlr express".

How to create & schedule post in Blogger.com

Here's an easy tutorial on how to create a post and schedule it so you don't have to login on a daily just to create a post. This is a major time saver!

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbbsYL6vvIY

Easy way to add social media icons so your viewers can follow you online.

Go to http://addthis.com/

Get a custom url for your blog

This is very important and easy to do. Blogger makes it easy to configure your blog with Godaddy domains. You definitely want a custom url so you don't have to tell people every single time my blog is blah blah blah.blogspot.com. That is just too long for anyone to remember. Not to mention, how do you expect people to take you seriously if you didn't even make it a priority to purchase a domain name. Here's a video on "how to link blogger to godaddy".

Last, but not least, MAKE SOME FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Now, if you want people to find you, like I tell my clients, your website is you and your social media are your friends or customers. If no one knows who you are or doesn't refer you, your website won't get found. So, don't be afraid, put what you do out there along with other content such as motivational quotes, something someone else posted and tag them in it. Don't forget to also chat with other social media comrades, it's not only easy but fun and rewarding. If you want to get noticed, make friends, comment on other bloggers, pretty much, whatever you'll like to have done unto you, do it first.

If all else fails, check out this audio book by Dale Carnegie.
There is too much information out there in the world for anyone to lack in anything. Make the effort and it will pay off!

How To Win Friends And Influence People

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4R2p9WnzAo

I hope this helps.

Take care,

Bye Loves!

GIVEAWAYS