Celebrate Your You-niqueness

DSCF2397

Most bloggers complain about how the blogosphere is such a saturated industry, and how difficult it is stand out or get noticed. Some bloggers wonder how they would ever get noticed with new blogs popping up every minute, with new bloggers thinking they could be the next Zoella. I kind of understand where this ideology is coming from. I mean, all you need to do is to go through the #prrequest, #bloggerswanted or #bloggersrequired (I use these hashtags too) on Twitter to understand this point of view. The blogging world is a lot noisier now than when I set up Fashion and Style Police, three years ago.

DSCF0205

Call me crazy, but I don’t see other bloggers as competitors, I see them as colleagues, and I don’t see any other blog worthy of me copying. I believe every blogger has something new to offer, a story to tell. We all go through life and have different experiences which influence our blogs, and that is our you-niqueness. It could be through how we style our outfits, our writing voice, our photographs, what we photograph, the critical eye we use in reviewing products or anything, every blogger is unique and every blog has the opportunity to shine.

DSCF2416

The problem really is bloggers not setting up blogs to stand out, not bothering or wanting to offer their readers something different. They want to go down the ‘safe route’, which they believe is guaranteed success, so they publish tried and tested posts like ‘this month’s empties’, ‘outfit of the day’, ‘product review’ and so on. They go for blog content that they believe is guaranteed to get them noticed. There is nothing wrong with this post ideas (I feature some of them), or getting inspiration from other blogs or magazines (we all do that), the issue is bloggers taking inspiration a little too far by copying other blogs, and not bothering to put their own spin on their posts.

DSCF0228

The issue is bloggers not being confident enough to celebrate their voice, they feel they have to write what everyone else is writing, wear what every top blogger is wearing, but the question is how do you stand out when you follow the pack? How do you make a name for yourself when you have nothing that sets you apart.

DSCF0050

You copy other bloggers’ poses, writing style, tweets, outfits and you want to get noticed?

DSCF0232

Everyone else is taken so I rather do ME. I celebrate my blog and all it represents, and I make sure I keep it a 100 every time I hit publish. I am not afraid to stand out. All the pictures in the post are from my early days of blogging in 2012 with my good old point and shoot Fujifilm camera, and my style being all over the place. My pictures are a lot better now with a Canon DSLR, and I have twerked my style as well, but sometimes I like to look back to where I started, so I can appreciate where I am, and keep my eye on where I want to be, and just ignore the noise.

DSCF0307

Fashion and Style Police will be 3 in few weeks and I will be featuring a big giveaway soon so keep your eye out for that. In the meantime, enter my current competitions here and here, if you havn’t already.

DSCF1774

Do you struggle to blog the way you want? Do you struggle to stand out from the noisy blogging pack? Drop me a comment, let’s chat.

My Hustle: A Day In The Life Of A Full Time Blogger/Freelance Writer

Being able to write full-time and earn a living wage has become a dream come true. After having my kids, I wanted to have time for them and working from home has given me the opportunity. Many people wonder how I cope with running a regularly updated blog, a freelance career and caring for my busy toddlers. Sometimes, I wonder as well, but all I can say is, you make time to do what you care about, what you have a passion for. It could be hanging out with friends, watching movies, going to the pub, sleeping, or even playing games. I spend my time when my kids are not turning the house upside down writing. I write every free time I get, and when I am not writing, I am thinking of writing. It is a good obsession and I am in love with it.

So many people ask me how I do it, so this post answers the million dollar question. How does Stella run Fashion and Style Police. Here is how, a typical day in my life is as a full-time blogger and freelance writer. For this post, we are going to imagine the day is today, a Saturday.

Fashion Blogger

6:00am

I am usually woken up by one of the busy bees in this hour. I have my quiet time and start the day right.

7:00am

I have a shower, and get dressed. I publish a blog post and share it on my social media channels.

8:00am

Breakfast time, and reply emails or read a book if I am in the middle of one. I love multitasking, can you tell?

9:00am

I check blog stats, moderate and reply blog comments, and wait for my postman to deliver any samples.

10:00am

Take pictures of samples, and get all the details down on paper. I go through my To-Do list and make sure I know what needs to be done for the day.

11:00am

Get dressed and take an outfit picture if the weather is right.

12:00pm

Lunch time, check blog stats, moderate and reply comments.

1:00pm

Scout for blog and freelance opportunities.

2:00pm

Reply emails and share blog posts on my social media channels.

3:00pm

Read and comment on other blogs and check my various Facebook groups, reply emails and moderate and reply comments (this continues for the rest of the day)

4:00pm

Invoice clients and send payment reminders if necessary.

5:00pm

Take a break until 7:00pm.

7:00pm

Dinner time, and I start writing blog posts for Fashion and Style Police.

8:00pm

I edit pictures and continue writing blog posts.

9:00pm

I start writing for my clients.

10:00pm

I continue writing for my clients.

11:00pm

I round-up blog posts and clients’ posts.

Midnight

Bedtime.

So that is how a typical day in my life looks like. My day could vary from time to time depending on deadlines, volume of work, what is going on in my home and so on, but it is usually the same routine everyday. As you can see, my life is far from a walk in the park. I am always on one of many gadgets doing a blog related ‘thing’. No hour goes unaccounted for. The moment I began to see my blog as a business, I saw my luck change. The more work I put in, the more sponsorship I got. The hustle is real and it comes with a lot of hard work. I hardly have time to watch TV, not to talk of having a social life but I won’t have it any other way.

I hope this motivates you to make the most of your free time and chase your dreams. Who knows where it might take you.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend.

 

 

 

error: Content is protected !!