Happy Birthday Fashion & Style Police

Fashion and Style Police

So 3 years ago today, I set up Fashion and Style Police, check out my first post here and it has been a hell of ride. Although, I am still learning, I have learnt quite a lot already, and I thought I should share 3 tips I picked up along the way, just incase anyone finds them useful. So here they are:

 

Blog for your READERS

Now this rule only applies if you are a pro blogger or looking at going pro, and want to earn a living wage (if you a hobby blogger ignore this rule).Your readers are your ticket to pro blogging, your ticket to you earning some form of income from your blog, so whenever you write a post, you need to have your readers in mind. I use to believe all the ‘write for myself’ talk most bloggers write about, until I started looking at my blog as a business, and to succeed in this blogging business, your readers need to come first, don’t let anyone fool you, they come even before you.

Say for example you have to write a sponsored post for a clothing brand, make sure the post is going to either educate or entertain your readers, or better still, do both. This way you keep your readers clicking and you keep your bank balance happy. You need to think outside the box, on how you can put your spin on every post you write to make it an enjoyable read, be it product reviews, outfit post, fashion news, or whatever, make sure there is something in it for your readers.

 

Step outside your comfort zone

My comfort zone was to hide behind my laptop, and publish fashion and beauty posts everyday. Now I have stepped outside my comfort zone, and now write lifestyle topics as well, and I enjoy writing them. It keeps the blog content varied (variety is the spice of life), draws in more readers, and enables me work with various lifestyle brands.

I also attended my very first blogging event in real life yesterday and it was GREAT. I met a couple of bloggers in Manchester, had a lovely dinner in a great Italian restaurant and had real life conversations with some cool bloggers. This is way out of my comfort zone but I did it and I loved it. I have never attended any blogging related event because they are usually in London, and the distance is always a perfect excuse for me, but with this event in Manchester, and on a weekend, I had no excuse. I will be writing all about the event in the next coming weeks, so lookout for the post.

Stepping outside your comfort zone could open doors to various possibilities which could take your blog to another level. Scary but true, step outside your comfort zone today, do that thing that scares you the most. Maybe this time next year I will be telling you to set up a YouTube channel, God knows the whole vlogging thing scares the life out of me, but who knows right? Going forward, I will be stepping out of my comfort zone, one step at a time.

Picture

 

Get Free Photos

Pictures are very important, and sometimes I struggle to find appropriate pictures for some lifestyle posts. Well not anymore, I have recently discovered 5 cool photo sharing websites that need no link back or credit. The pictures on these sites are totally FREE for commercial and personal use, I got the above picture from one of them. All you need to do is to save the pictures you want and use as you please. Isn’t that fantastic? Here are the sites:

With these 5 sites, you are sure to find the right pictures for your posts.

 

So there you have them, my 3 blogging tips, a gift from me to you. I hope to have 4 new tips to share with you this time next year, but before I end this, check out my current giveaway for a chance to win £50 Amazon voucher.

cupcakes-926993_640

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

 

 

 

Autumn Flowers

I love when the season changes because I get a wardrobe filled with stylish new pieces, and old pieces I haven’t worn in months, come back to life. I also do a bit of home improvements depending on the season. Autumn for me means more long, chilled nights in, so I like my home to be even more comfortable, I want my home to look and smell good. I buy a lot of candles and luxury flowers in the autumn and winter months, because I spend most of my time in the comfort of my home, away from the cold and the darkness.

Autumn Flowers

The lovely guys at Debenhams Flowers made my week when they offered to send me a Flower Bouquet of my choice. I instantly went for the ‘Designer Red Sky’, which is pictured above. I fell in love with the radiant red roses and the blue hydrangeas because they reminded me of autumn, and the bouquet has some of my favourite colours. When the flowers arrived, I was even more in love. Perfection!

Autumn Flowers 1

The fresh flowers came in a white box, they were hand tied and I could tell they were handled with utmost care. The service was also great. I selected the date I wanted the flowers to arrive and it happened. So if I ever want flowers delivered on a specific date, I know Debenhams Flowers is the best website to place an order, and with the 7 days freshness guarantee, or money back, I can’t ask for more really.

Autumn Flowers 2

I would appreciate if someone sent me next day flowers, I think it is a thoughtful gift to send to close family and friends, so I am offering my readers a 25% discount off The Luxury Flowers at Debenhams, excluding the ‘Flowers by Post’ range. The discount code you need is DFBLOG25.

Happy shopping.

*PR sample included in post.

Sharing A Student House

For those who do not know, I studied my Masters Degree at the University of the West of England (UWE), in Bristol. My first year in 2008 was HORRIBLE, and that is me putting it lightly. I shared a flat, off campus, with 4 other students I have never met before, and it was just a major disaster. We had issues about everything, from cleaning and maintaining the flat, to issues of having constant parties and noise making. I will never forget that year for all the wrong reasons.

University Days

(In my room in Bristol 2008. Gosh I looked so young).

 

I learnt a lot from my experience, and  I thought I should share some survival tips to anyone who might be thinking of sharing a student house or anyone going through the exact same issues I went through.

Here are my top 4 tips:

Share A Flat With Friends

Now this was not possible for me because I was an international student, so I didn’t really know anyone studying at Bristol, but if you have the opportunity to go to university with friends, just share a flat with them. It is a lot easier dealing with people you know than strangers. However, if you find yourself sharing a flat with people you don’t get on with, try to create a conducive atmpsohere for all by staying out of their way. Life is hard as it is already, don’t make it harder by having a row. The year does go by pretty quick, and you will be free to find some other place to rent.

Do Your Research

Do a through reasearch before you resume. My flat was in a block called The Hollies, and it was quite a distance from the main campus, which I didn’t know until I got to Bristol. It was a nightmare getting to classes on time in mornings, the buses were always late and it would have taken me hours to walk down. If I could go back in time, I would have gone for a flat closer to the main campus. Have a good look at the surrounding areas closest to your campus before you decide on where to stay.

University Bristol

 

Sort Out Cleaning Schedule

This should be one of the first things you sort out with your flat mates. Have a meeting and decide who does what and when, and have it pinned to the fridge or anywhere visible so everyone knows when it is their turn. You may have the extremely difficult and untidy people (like I had) who can’t be bothered to clean up after themselves, you could try having a word with them one on one or call a meeting and trash it as a group, or for your sanity, ignore them and clean up when you can if it bothers you that much. That was what I did, I moved out as soon as my lease was up, and moved into a flat with people of like minds, which takes us back to the first tip – Share A Flat With Friends.

Communicate

There should be a free flow of communication to make any house sharing work. There should be regular meetings for general issues to be trashed out, problems can also be discussed before meetings if need be, it all depends on the rapport you have with your housemates, but it is best to discuss any concerns before it gets out of hand. Communication is vital for a peaceful student house sharing.

So there you have them, my top 4 tips for sharing a student house. Most of the issues I had with my housemates, I won’t have had them if I lived with my friends or people with like minds so I think that tip is the most important of all.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any tips to add?

 

*This is a collaborative post.

 

 

 

 

 

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