Tag Archives: Bloggers

How to Blog Safely

June 22, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , 57 Comments

 

Fashion Blogger UK Outfit Picture

 

I find the dangers we bloggers face online very alarming. Crimes like identity theft, scamming, stalking and harassment are only a few of some of these dangers. That’s why it’s important, as a blogger, to protect yourself.
It’s scary the internet, which is in fact, a blogger’s office, is becoming more and more unsafe. We depend on the social media and the internet as a whole to make a living as a blogger. So it is important to remember not to let our guard down and remain safe.

Here are some tips on how you can protect yourself online and continue your blogging activities in peace.

1.    Keep Personal Information Personal
One of the keys to staying safe as a blogger is to set clear boundaries. There should be some things that you should keep off-limits from your blog. Whatever you put online is out in the open for millions of people to see forever, so you have to be extremely careful. Avoid mentioning your phone number, home address or other information that will give out your exact location. If, for whatever reason, you have to give away your home address publicly on your blog, use a P.O. Box. Also, make sure your blog host keeps your contact details private. You may need to pay an additional fee for this but it is so worth it.
When posting pictures, you also need to be cautious. Before posting pictures of yourself, check if the picture has a landmark, house number or anything that can be easily used to confirm your exact location.
Sometimes using your real name or your children’s name, if you are a mummy blogger, could pose a security risk. Use a nickname or screen name on your blog if you can.

2.    Keep your friends and family out of it
As a blogger, you’re not the only one who’s at risk of the dangers on the internet. Your friends and family are too. So think twice before mentioning their full names on your blog. The same way you shouldn’t give out your personal information and be careful about the pictures you upload, is the same way you shouldn’t for them too. This is because through you they can be exposed to dangers online. But if your blog includes your family life, then it is up to you to figure out how to be safe.

 

Fashion Blog UK Outfit Post Image
3.    Look out for comments or tweets made by friends and family
Since your friends and family are the ones closest to you, they may post information you want to keep away. For example, you need to check if they have left you a blog comment referring to you using your full name, mentioned where you live or gave away other private information you don’t want to share on the internet.
4. Friend Requests

I may have offended a few people by deleting their Facebook requests, but let me just say it as it is. My personal Facebook profile is in fact personal. I only add and accept requests from people I know in real life, people I am comfortable with, or people I want to know on a personal level. My Facebook blog page is public, I follow interesting people on Twitter and Instagram, on a daily basis. But my Facebook personal profile is so out-of-bounds. I just see it as very personal. I have a lot of my pictures on there, and pictures of my family and friends, so accepting everyone that adds me will feel wrong.And I think that she should be the same for others but I may be wrong. Lets face it, there are a lot of freaks online, and many hang out on social media platforms, so it pays to be safe than sorry.

How do you blog safely? Do tell.

 

The Power of Social Media

June 19, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 56 Comments

Fashion Inspiration Image
You can’t imagine how much social media helped me grow my career as a freelancer. I always found it fascinating how fast information spreads on social media. So many people are connected together through this medium, it is silly not to make the most of as many social media platforms as possible.
Right here, from the comfort of my home, I can be in contact with anyone regardless of where they are in the world. I guess that’s why there are many social media networks springing up year after year. I wonder how many new platforms would be launched or relaunched this time next year. Just look at Snapchat for example, it has been around for a while now but it looks like people just discovered how cool a platform it is, with all the sudden noise I see everywhere about it. I am on Snapchat, but I don’t use it or plan to use it. I can only cope with a few. I only just started using Pinterest, so please follow my pins, lets pin away together. Also, follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, I am active on all 3.
What’s nice is that I can keep in touch with my audience, my clients, and my friends and family, for free. Well I pay for my WiFi, but communication is a lot easier and cheaper with social media channels, than it was say 15 years ago.

Social media gives my business that needed boost and exposure. I would be lost without it.

Here are some ways freelancers can experience the power of social media –
1.    It Acts as a Platform to Showcase your Skills
When you’re into freelancing or blogging, what’s one thing you need to help your business or blog grow? Clients or readers, as the case may be. The best way to make your potential clients/readers know about you and what you do is by showing off your skills.
Millions of people log in to 1 social media channel daily. Show your unique talent by uploading your work on social media. It can be in form of a well-written article, a video, audio or even a photograph you’ve taken. Whatever form you share your work, social media enables those who view it to assess and appreciate your skills.
Once you put out your best content, it will advertise itself.
2.    It Helps your Work Gain Exposure
This goes hand-in-hand with the first tip. As more people view your work and like what they see, they will begin to share it with their friends. When more people share your work, it gains exposure. It may even go viral and you become a household name in your niche.
3.    It Gives you Opportunities to Network
I have to say that this is one of the most important sides to social media. Social media make it easy for you to get in contact with readers, clients and other freelancers in your niche. You have groups and communities on social media where you can find people in your niche or people looking for what you’ve got to offer.

Developing a good relationship with people in your industry opens new business opportunities in form of partnerships or collaborations. The best part is that you can get to learn from each other’s experiences as well.

I have met so many clients through social media, and many have become regulars. Your network is your net-worth, remember that.

 

New Outfit Joles Lacoste Image
4.    It Helps you Build a Reputation that can be Trusted
Social media gives your target audience access to your life and business. It helps them form a connection with you, know what you are up to and what your freelance business is about or see how you relate outside your blog. As you share value and inspire others with your work, you build confidence in the minds of your clients as someone they can trust for things relating to your industry. Pretty cool, right? This is a great way to retain your present clients and gain new ones.

Social media is very powerful! Make the most of it by being consistent and putting your best work forward every day. Live to inspire others with your kind words and motivation. Give your audience an insight to your world. Most importantly, connect with those who can make you better.

Are you active on all social media platforms? Which are your favourites and why?

Are Bloggers Selling Out?

May 22, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 62 Comments

Nothing Clothing Company Poncho

It is no news that bloggers make money through a variety of ways, with sponsored posts and product reviews, being a very popular way of making money in the blogging world. I for one, make majority of my blog income through sponsored posts, with product reviews coming close behind. So it comes as no surprise that there is a lot of huffing and puffing about bloggers selling out; publishing everything and anything, regardless of whether it is beneficial to their blog readers, as long as there is some money involved.

The truth of the matter is, many pro bloggers depend solely on their blog’s income, and they work tirelessly to earn it. I am not talking about a regular 9 – 5 weekly job. Pro bloggers work crazy hours everyday, including weekends and evenings, to keep the blog and their social media profiles active. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes you don’t get to see. I know I am always working on my blog whenever I have a moment, and when I am not working on Fashion and Style Police, I am thinking of working on it. In any other job, this would be pathetic, but it is not for me because I genuinely enjoy what I do, and I will keep doing it even if I no longer get press samples or sponsored post opportunities. But then again, Fashion and Style Police is more than a job for me, it is part of who I am.

Many bloggers publish multiple quality posts a day, with amazing photography shared on social media. Many of these blog posts are informative, engaging and entertaining, so it is only fair for us to be paid for our time and effort in publishing these posts. Having said that, I do believe many bloggers have sold out and I will tell you why.

 

OOTD A Tartan Dress

 

It is so hard to reject unrelated sponsored post opportunities these days because great opportunities that do come are few and far between. So many bloggers will grab almost anything offered. So if you are reading a beauty post, and the blogger is all of sudden blogging about life insurance or pets, now you know why. Does it make the blogger a sell out? Yes kind of, but if beauty brands are not interested in collaborating with this blogger, but pet brands are, I won’t blame or judge her for accepting such offers. A girl has to eat…

However if you want to make money blogging, and not look like a sell out, follow these 5 tips:

 

Focus on More Than 1 Niche

Sticking to 1 niche may do you more harm than good. Instead, go for related niches to open more doors of opportunity. Related niches like fashion and beauty, health and beauty, pets and lifestyle, fashion, beauty and lifestyle, are all good examples of how you could position your blog for a variety of sponsored posts and product review opportunities.

 

Always Disclose

I see a lot of bloggers not disclosing press samples and sponsored posts and they wonder why no one is reading their blogs. Transparency and honesty will attract blog fans, so you not disclosing is killing your blog. I know some of the famous and hugely successful bloggers do not disclose, but you have to remember they started their blogs back in the day, when blogs were few. They have established their blogs already so they can kind of get away with not disclosing. Their readers may not know any better or may still idolise them regardless. But as for you that started a year or so ago, think twice before you decide not to disclose.

 

Outfit Post OOTD 1

 

Limit your Sponsored Posts

I sometimes struggle with this as I usually have loads of sponsored posts request at the same time, but when you can, try not to have your sponsored/collaborated posts back to back. So maybe out of 10 posts, you can have 2 or 3 sponsored, but published days apart. I see a lot of bloggers publishing sponsored posts (even when some are not disclosed) day after day, and I wonder what they are thinking.

 

Review Products Honestly

Now this is a very important tip, so I need you all to take notes.

Regardless of whether I am paid for a review or not, or whether I am sent press samples, or they are products I bought, I always write my product review posts in the same style. So short introduction, product description, pros, cons, and if I would recommend said product or not. You won’t know the difference between a review that is paid for and 1 that is not on this blog because they are ALL written honestly, and that is what my readers really care about. However I had to work to earn my readers’ trust, and I did so by reviewing products I bought with my own money as well as press samples. So every week I review a press sample sent, may be paid or unpaid, and then I review a product I bought myself, to balance out. And I still do this.

The main reason why I review press samples and products I buy, is just so my blog is not all about press samples, but products I buy myself because I have interest in them. For instance, I bought these Boots No 7 Quick Thinking Wipes and Oil-Abosorbing wipes with my money, I was sent this Premae Face Wash to review, and I was paid to review this VITASTIK Vitamin Vaporisers. As you can see, my review style is the same, I always list the pros and cons for each product, and I make sure I state any negative or cons in the most polite way possible. I don’t believe in slating brands, so I check the tone of my review, but I make sure I don’t mislead my readers in thinking a product is great if it’s not.

I see many bloggers reviewing only press samples and I wonder what they are thinking. Don’t you buy products? Why don’t you review them as well? I realised I can’t trust a blogger that reviews only press samples because I am not sure how you will review products you buy yourself, and I also cannot trust a blogger that writes only glowing reviews, with no cons whatsoever. All products cannot be that great. For instance, here is a positive product review of 2 Acquablend Bottles I was sent some weeks ago, this review had no cons. Now, here is a not so positive review of MeMeMe Cosmetics I was also sent.

Blogs are not magazines, our readers expect to read real life reviews and posts, they can relate to, so having only positive glowing reviews will bore your readers. There is a very thin line between positive every time, and being a liar.

 

Be a Story Teller

If you are strapped for cash and you are keep getting offers unrelated to your blog, you may still be able to accept them if you have your story telling cap on. Think outside the box, and develop stories that can incorporate the brand in question. So if you blog about parenting and fitness, and you get an offer to write about a fashion brand for example, create an outfit post, and show off your style, or include the brand in a mummy outfit wishlist. There are many ways to include slightly unrelated niches if you think outside the box and let your creative juice flow.

May the forces be with you.

 

 

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