Category Archives: Blogging Tips

Blogging tip: Write for yourself first

July 13, 2020 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , 6 Comments

Many pro bloggers advise you to write for your audience and search engines when you start blogging. This is correct. You should write for search engines and your readers but when you have a new blog, the best thing you can do for yourself and your blog is to write for yourself first. Once you start writing for yourself, everything else will fall into place. You will learn along the way what works for your blog niche, what type of blog posts bring in more traffic, and the types that bring in more engagement. The more you blog, you more you will understand what works and what doesn’t. That way you can twerk as you go along.

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Blogging tip: Write for yourself first

I see many new bloggers falling into the trap of writing like every other blogger. They don’t put their own spin on their blog posts. Their blog looks like every other popular blog on their web and there is no originality. There is a very thin line between being getting inspiration and outright copying. I know it is tempting to be a little bit too inspired while grabbing blog post ideas from your favourite blogs, and this is where many newbie bloggers kill their blogging career before it even gets started.

It is so important to write for yourself first especially in your early blogging days. Your blog needs to bring something new and fresh to the web. That is the only way to stand out in the saturated world of blogging. Anything else, and you just get buried on the web. My advice is to play out with your creativity and discover where your strength is. It could be in your writing tone, photography, video content, or knowledge in a particular niche. There is always room to bring something new and fresh; writing for yourself first is the way to find out what that is.

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When it comes to blogging for success, there is really no tip. One rule could work great for one blog and not for another. The only way to know which rule works for you is to play around with different blogging tips and be original. Practice makes perfect with blogging. The more you blog, the better you become, and the faster you learn. Experience is the best teacher, so if you are contemplating starting a blog, just start and learn as you go along. Good luck xx

Managing your money as a freelancer

June 28, 2020 By in Blogging Tips, Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

I have been freelancing for almost 7 years now and I had to learn on the job. The many articles I read before and while on the freelancing journey did give me tips and tricks to help me as a freelancer, but none of them really prepared me for how to manage my money as a freelancer. When it comes to managing your money as a freelancer, you need to have your numbers head screwed on tight and quick or risk losing the plot. The life of a business owner can be a rollercoaster. You have to be prepared for the busy times as well as the not so busy times.

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Here are a few tips that should help in managing your money as a freelancer –

Set your prices

One of the first things I did was to set my prices. I have a fixed price for every service I offer. That way I don’t have to research or think about what price to give a client for a job. I know what I am worth and I do market research every now and again to make sure my prices are competitive.

Send out invoices

I know many freelancers don’t send out invoices to clients for various reasons but I always make sure my clients receive an invoice for every job. That way I have a trail of all my jobs, clients, and prices. It also makes submitting my tax returns easy since I have all the records in one place.

Take payment in advance

I like to take payment in advance where possible. That way I don’t have to chase payments (that is a job in itself). I appreciate clients that pay quickly and in advance. Going forward, I will be requesting to take more payment in advance. It saves time and effort.

Save for the rainy day

Most freelancers will know all about how busy work can be in some months and how quiet it can be in other months. I have been freelancing for a few years now and I know the pattern. My advice to not just the freelancers but every business owner is to save some money for the rainy day. Don’t spend all your earn, stash some away for when work is quiet.

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Don’t work for free

These days, I thankfully don’t have people asking me to work for free anymore. My work pays my bills and more, so working for free isn’t really an option. I know my worth and I am very quick to ignore anyone who questions it by asking me to work for free or for a ridiculous fee. I manage my money by not working for free.

At the end of the day, we are all different and we will manage our money in our own way. These are some of the ways I make it work for me. Being able to work for me for this long is a dream come true. It has completely changed my life for the better and I am grateful to be able to do all that I do. Apart from this blog which is my main source of income, I am also a Content Writer, Blogger Outreach Consultant, Social Media Manager, Blog Coach, Authour, and Vlogger.

How do you manage your money as a freelancer/business owner?

Blogging and writer’s block

May 24, 2020 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Some days ago, I wrote about me struggling with writer’s block. I have been dealing with blogging and writer’s block since this COVID-19 Pandemic started. These past few weeks have been a rollercoaster for me with my feelings and emotions going up and down like a yo-yo. However, I am happy to say I have finally found my happy place again and I am now back in my working mode again. It took some adjusting with tweaks to my daily routine here and there, but my blogging routine is finally back to how it used to be sort of.

 

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How did I overcome my writer’s block?

My writer’s block was on and off for weeks and I just couldn’t bring myself to write on some days. On some days, I was in the mood to write but didn’t have the time thanks to all the added responsibilities. On other days, I was in the mood to write but couldn’t think or decide on what was best to blog about. I felt it would look a bit wrong blogging about skincare routines or fashion trends for spring while there was chaos worldwide. Not knowing what was ok to write about bothered me for some time. However I had to get out of that state of mind quickly. At the end of the day, my blog is my job, so writing is a must to pay my bills. Fashion and Style Police is about fashion, style, beauty, skincare, lifestyle, travel and many other topics. So those topics are expected and the show must go on. Most of the topics I now write about are a reflection of what is going on but I don’t want to blog to be just about Coronavirus issues going on now in 2020. In a few years, I want to look back and remember how I carried on thriving, working, studying and homeschooling my kids from home during a Pandemic.

Here are some ways I dealt with my writer’s block –

I stopped writing

When it comes to many things, I find that the more I resist, the more it persists. So I just stopped writing completely for days. I believe me stopping writing and not trying to force the process allowed me overcome the writer’s block quicker.

Read read read

I am still reading a book a week and that helps my creativity loads. The more I read, the more I can write. My reading helped me keep the creative writing juice flowing.

Spend time doing what I love

I spent more time doing what I was in the mood for. So apart from reading, I have been sleeping a lot. I have also been watching some interesting shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Spending time with the kids everyday is always amazing. Going for long walks and meditating has also helped my state of mind and mental health. I believe the time I have spent doing what I love has led me back to writing.

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It is good to see the back of this writer’s block. I have learnt from it and I am glad I have gotten my writing mojo back.

How are you doing?

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