From
Bethany Mota to Nash Grier, the amount of success young people got in 2014 was
incredible. Even if you don’t know or like these people you can’t deny the fact
that they used their creativity to get to where they are. Now, I will allow you
to have inspirations but I will not allow you to compare where you are to
Bethany, Nash or anyone else for that matter. I never thought that I'd be
writing for companies like CurlKit or even my own. I am 20 now but I was 17
when I started passionately blogging. Since then I have given my website a
makeover, become the sole owner of my brand and expanded my blogging
possibilities. It's not impossible. Here are my tips:
Find Your
Passion/Interest. Everybody
has a passion for something. I am passionate about [eco-friendly] beauty,
natural hair, female empowerment and more. So although I choose to focus
primarily on one topic, I still write about others. Don’t limit yourself! Who
says you can’t write about video games, vintage tea sets and soda flavors all
in one blog anyway? Do you love whales? What about your experience with your
faith? Write about it. It makes it A LOT easier to create when you can relate
to it yourself. Don’t ever think that someone won’t pay attention to your
content. There’s billions of people in this world – trust me, someone will pay
attention.
Choose A Platform
(+ Design). From Tumblr to Blogger to Wordpress. These
sites are free hosting sites where you can start your blog. A hosting site is
just a site where you can start up – like a virus (okay, maybe that wasn’t the
best comparison). They come with free templates and easy start-up steps. When
you get the gist of it, you can get into HTML coding, buying a domain and
customizing your blog to fit your vision. The appearance of your blog should
either correlate to you or your content. For me, I like vintage and girly but
modern. I’m a true Virgo-perfectionist so what I see in my head has to be what
I see with my eyes. I started It’s A Curls World (old brand) in 2012 and I’m
only now loving my blog. If you’re not into creating everything from scratch,
save up your money and find an affordable freelance web designer or ask a
graphic designer major for help (for my collegiates out there).
Be Organized. Figure
out what you want to write about and put them into categories. My blog is
divided into categories from hair to health to opinions. When you organize
your posts it makes it easier to fill every section and not have neglected
sections. Trust me, neglected sections are not pretty. This also ties into
scheduling. Pick days when you know you will be able to publish your posts. You
have to give your readers something to look forward to. You don’t have to post
every day, I post on my blog sporadically but I’m always active on social
media.
Pick a [Target]
Audience. For
the most part, when you have a website you can control who keeps coming back.
Figure out who you would want to read your site. My blog is targeted to mostly
girls and young ladies. I also cater a large amount of my attention to girls of
color when I’m talking about beauty. You have to find a way to connect with
your audience. Think about how frustrating it can be when you can’t find
something relatable in a magazine or on YouTube – it’s the same effect. You
wouldn’t make animal-lovers your main audience if you're writing about why real
fur is better than faux fur.
Market Your Blog. You've
locked in your angle, chosen a host, written up some posts and picked your
audience. Now you need to market your blog. You're probably not Beyonce (in
public – we are all Queen B at home and you know it), Zoella or Tyler Oakley so
you have a little more work to do but that’s okay! Join Facebook groups related
to your blog and create accounts on social media. Even if you don’t have these
accounts your readers will. Sign up for Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ etc. The
more platforms you have, the better. Make it easier on yourself by trying to
connect your sites to one another so you don't have to individually post on
every site. Leave your business card on the Subway and if you have cash –
create a small amount of merch that you and your friends can advertise. Making
flyers and the good ol' word of mouth are great options as well.
Be Creative. This
is my favorite step. From your color scheme to your layout-be creative. Let
your blog resemble you. For me, creativity is visual. I like to either
take all my own pictures or get the rights to use other people’s images. Most
of my professional photos are taken by my good friend, Jalessa Montaque who is
open to doing shots for you as well – contact her. I’m also always testing out
new ways to display my header or main blog photos.
