Your Blogging Questions Answered

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blouse ($52) // jeans in petite // jeans in regular // similar earrings // heels (designer dupe) // purse // sunglasses

Welcome Back Cuties!

A few weeks ago, I asked you guys over on Instagram Stories to send me your Blogging/Instagram Questions and today I am finally answering them!:)

Most of the questions have been already answered on my About Me page but I tried to answer as many as possible! If you don’t see your question answered there or answered below, then it probably means I am saving it for a whole blog post:) Another post you might want to go back at read (it’s an old one!) is “Things I Didn’t Know Before Starting My Blog“.

Before I get into this though, I do want to say that in no means do I think I have this whole blogging/instagram world figured out. These are just the answers from my journey and my personal experiences. So I hope you enjoy and find my answers useful!:)

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Your Blogging & Instagram Questions Answered 

How did you start your blog?

I started my blog in July of 2015  after a year of working full-time. My job was less than glamorous and I was craving a creative outlet. Reading blogs became my escape and after talking about the idea of starting a blog of my own for over six months, I finally had the courage to go for it.

Before starting my blog, I did a lot of research, watched a million YouTube videos on editing and website building, put together enough content to last me at least two months and then launched it!

How do you start a blog and what is your best tip for getting started?

My suggestion is to Google “How To Start A Blog” and you will get a million answers! I found this one that I really like. 

Other than that, my advice is to just really find your “why” before beginning and once you launch, stay consistent. Go into it knowing that your blog and Instagram is not going to be perfect right off the bat, it’s going to take a lot of work and you’re not going to grow a huge following overnight.

I also highly suggest investing in a blog and not just starting an Instagram account. Reason being, you don’t own Instagram, but you do own your blog. Your account can be taken away from you at any point but your website can’t…

What website do you use for your website?

I use WordPress.org and my hosting site is Blue Host.

How did you figure out what your blog niche was?

To be honest, I don’t really think I have a blog niche.. I mean, I do – but I don’t and it’s definitely something that I am still trying to figure out… Everyone says that finding your niche is key in the beginning and then to plan on expanding in the future. When I started, I just flat out launched and wrote about anything and everything. While I don’t regret my decision, I do wonder if it would have helped me grow more in the beginning if I would have had more of a niche as opposed to being all over the place.

Did you have a background in website management, HTML, etc. when you started out?

Unless you count my killer Myspace coding skills from back in the day (lol) then the answer is no…. I learned as I went along and watched a lot (like a lot) of Youtube videos and taught myself everything.

When you were blogging part-time, how often were you posting on your Blog and IG? 

I was putting out 4-5 blog posts a week and posting on Instagram every single day! I oddly feel like I put out less content now because before, I was really only writing posts and now that I am full-time, I have a lot more management and pitching that I have to do, that I didn’t really do before.

How long were you blogging before taking it on full-time?

About 2 1/2 years!

How long did it take you to get to 10k followers on IG? 

Almost a whole year! It was a slow but steady climb.

How long did it take you to get to 57k? 

Well….I launched my blog in July of 2015, so it has taken me a little over three years to get to this point. I think that the thought of being able to grow a huge following super quickly is the biggest misconception of blogging. While there are some (like a small handful) who have been able to grow faster than the average person, the truth is that for most, it takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight.

For me, my blog is my #1 priority and I genuinely believe that “Four Quarters is better than One Hundred Pennies”. Meaning that I have really tried hard to build a community over a vast amount of random followers. My end goal is not to become “Instagram Famous”, I’m more focused on building a community.

Did you find that your account grew a lot faster after hitting a certain number?

I will say that once I hit 10k, my account and blog definitely started to grow a lot faster.

What are your thoughts on buying followers/likes, comment pods, loop giveaways and the follow/unfollow method?

I have never bought followers or likes because I know girls who have in the past or still do and I personally think it’s super embarrassing. You can automatically tell when someone buys likes on a post and it’s misleading for brands. It also hurts your engagement for future posts because the people liking those photos don’t connect with the people that you actually want to reach.

Comment pods I have tried in the past but found them to be way too time-consuming and I didn’t see any real results from from. Loop Giveaways I do, but I try and do less than five a year. Except for when it comes to personal Giveaways with brands! I absolutely love those!

Then as for the “follow/unfollow” method – never. I just don’t understand who that benefits if everyone is constantly following and unfollowing each other? Instead focus on commenting, liking and engaging with others. If you like someone’s profile, cool! Follow them!!! But this follow/unfollow method just seems so meaningless to me and I have never been able to wrap my head around it.

I have found the best results by engaging. I do my best to genuinely engage with as many people as possible, but especially the ones who engage with me. Soley replying back to a comment is not enough, you need to go back to their profiles to like, comment and share the love. I also see the best results when I spend 15 minutes engaging before a post and 15 minutes after.

How long did it actually take you to start making real money with your blog?

A long time. I’m not kidding you when I say that blogging is not a “Get Rich Quick” scheme – lol. But I also wasn’t focused on money in the beginning because I had a day job… this was just my hobby that I genuinely enjoyed doing.

How important is choosing a set filter/color scheme?

I don’t think it’s that important…. I do think that your Instagram should have some sort of “flow” but I don’t think that set filters are necessary. Even though they are really popular right now!

My advice is to look at your own IG account and ask yourself if you like what you see and if you were a stranger stumbling upon your account for the first time, would you want to follow yourself?

When someone looks at your profile, they will decide in less than 20 seconds if they want to follow you or not, so keep that in mind!

How did you meet your blogger friends or girls in the blogging community?

By going to events in my city! The first event I ever went to was an event at Elaine Turner and the first blogger I ever met was Margaret from Style the Girl. I would show up to events that I heard about on Instagram, not knowing a sole and started introducing myself to people. It was literally terrifying but eventually worked out!

Another great way is to reach out to girls in your area over Instagram for a coffee or something!

How important are photos for bringing traffic to your blog?

Super important!! Most people are very visual and photos paint the picture.

What do you think is more important? Professional photos or iPhone? 

I think this depends on your niche. If you’re fashion, I think a combination of the both is key! When I first started, professional looking photos were a necessity, but now, people want more real life, iPhone photos.

If I have a campaign or a blog post going out, I will use professional photography, but if we are just out and about, my iPhone works fine!

How do you stay consistent?

Well, for one, this blog is what pays my rent, so I have too – lol! But in all realness, I’m able to stay consistent because I enjoy what I do. Of course, there are times I feel totally uninspired and in those times, I have to take a step back. Especially from social media! Social media breaks (I’m talking like taking a whole day) are vital to me and my creativity.

How many outfit looks do you usually shoot in a day?

We try our hardest to shoot all of my outfits in real-time when I am actually wearing them. If we do shoot multiple looks in a sitting, we will shoot around three. After that, we are both over it! Then if we are shooting a huge campaign, we will dedicate a day to solely shooting that.

Do you think the market is too saturated for me to start one?

I’m not going to lie, in the past few years, the influencer space has become very saturated but think about it this way- Do you think your city could use a new restaurant? Or do you have enough and there is no room for anything better? What about more doctors? Does your city have too many of those too? In a space that is very saturated, if you truly feel like there is something different that you bring to the table, then room will be made for you. Before starting, you have to ask yourself what sets you apart from the other girls on IG? If you want to start an Instagram or a blog where you just post iPhone photos of your #00td against a white wall, then yeah, it’s going to be hard because there are thousands of girls doing that exact same thing….but if you can come up with your why and genuinely write down what sets you apart and what you bring to the table, then who cares about how saturated the market is? You have something different and are offering value.

xo,

Lauren

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Similar Posts: About Me Q&A; Things I Didn’t Know Before Starting My Blog