Bloggy Blog Tips From A Non- Professional

I have 2 IRL friends that started blogs recently (Savannah @ Arizona Sunshine and Tori @ a little Leigh way! Go check them out!), and I've met a bunch of other brand-spanking-new bloggers lately and one of the first things I do is point them in the direction of this post from Sarah and this post from Beth. I also posted on Wednesday about GFC - how to use it and how to put it on your blog.

A couple days ago, Savannah posted about her feelings/thoughts on her baby blogger status. And not that I'm anywhere close to level of bloggy fame of Sarah or Beth, but I wanted to share some things that have helped me. Some of these are obvious, some you've heard a MILLION times before but I've found all of them to be either incredibly useful in growing my blog or they just make my life easier as a blogger!

Join A Picture Hosting Site
This isn't necessary, but it's a good thing to do. I use imgur but photobucket is also popular (imgur images show up on my computer at work, photobucket images don't!) It's a great way to keep graphics you use often in a place that isn't your computer's hard drive. Plus you can use it to get an HTML code or direct URL for your images which allows you to make buttons for your blog, link up graphics, put clearer graphics on your blog, and easily send photos to people

Have (at least) A Few Posts Started
When you have an idea start a post. I mean most of my ideas come at a time when I'm on or near a computer. Or I have the blogger app on my phone and start one there. Inspiration comes from the most random places and I've found the best way to avoid bloggers block is to get a bunch started. Some days I work on 5 different posts for 5 min each and then end up writing a whole new one that I actually publish. It's just handy and you can pick up where you left off so easily!

Take Notes
Like #2, write things down! I find I get a lot of my ideas from reading other peoples blogs. Usually it isn't the exact post but a tangent on something I read. When I see a post/website/article I want to reference again, I email it to myself with a subject line that I could easily identify. This also helps you credit people for thier work! If you got an idea from another blogger, almost everyone would love you to go as long as you just mention where you got the idea from!

No More Word Verification
This is prob not a big deal but it's SUPER annoying. It literally took me 8 tries to get it right when I was trying to comment on a blog yesterday and I was realllllly close to not commenting at all. It's a deterrent for spammers but it's a deterrent for real people too. I didn't even know I had a verification on my blog until I saw a post from Candice about it. She has an awesome tutorial on how to get rid of it!

Brand Yourself
I know y'all don't want to pay big money for a custom design but there are cheap designers that are REALLY GOOD. I promise. Laura at Sophie & Rory, who did mine was amazing. Plus you can always mix and match elements that you buy separately. And if you don't want to spend any money you can always learn and do it all yourself! I have designed Savannah's, Tori's and most of Katie's blog and I didn't pay anything for the software! (I'll explain in #8) Try and use a signiture color, font, or graphic and people will easily recognize (and remember) your work.

C O M M E N T
This is the easiest way to meet people and make connections. Make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger usuing Sarah's tutorial or Eva's tutorial. Then comment like crazy. Make them meaningful too! I respond to every email but I only get about 9 comments per post on average. People who get more may not have time to respond to everyone so make it worth it. When someone comments on your post, respond! You have to respond to their email not on the post so they know you answered them. And keep the email chain going as long as you want! Comments are conversation starters so don't be afraid to have a conversation!

If You Don't Know Something- Google It!
Bloggers do tutorials on pretty much everything. Learning a little HTML wouldn't hurt either but the basics are all you need. My most used HTML? <center>.....</center>. If you have a graphic or button you want centered and it isn't working, just put <center> at the beginning and </center> at the end of the objects HTML and they will be center aligned! People love doing tutorials/sharing what they know. If you can't find what you're looking for on google, use those connections you made by commenting and email a more experienced blogger! (You can always email me but I don't claim to know it all!) Also Sarah's tutorials are SUPER helpful.

Custom Graphics / Pictures
I've gotten a lot of compliments on my graphics. More so lately. Wanna know my trick? photoshop 30 day trial. Yea. It ends this weekend so I'm super bummed but that's what I've been using (with help from Sarah's tutorial). But there are so many ways to create custom graphics without paying a cent! Sites like picmonkey and pixlr are free and can do almosttt anything photoshop can (unfortunately not glitter letters). And even phone apps like A Beautiful Mess or collage apps like picstich work great and I use all of them in combinations to get great looking graphics!

Sponsorships / Giveaways
Spend some money. If you wanna grow your blog at a good rate, you gotta get yourself out there! Spending money on your blog seems like a horrible idea at first, but I promise it isn't. Sponsor a few bigger bloggers that you geniunely like and that will do a feature on you in some way and it will pay off. Giveaways are a great way to get more traffic to your blog because people love winning shit. Hosting a giveaway is even better! Get some awesome people to cohost and you're golden! Keep in mind, for this to pay off, you gotta have content people will want to come back to. If you're slacking on posts then it won't do you any good.

10. Social Media Your Face Off

If you don't have a twitter account, get one. That's the biggest thing. Even if you're like ehh I don't knowww. Do it. You get to meet people, get your blog out to people through a retweet who may not have known about it and you get to know people a lot quicker. Butt into conversations. Ask people questions. Reply to someone that you follow that may not know who you are. Trust me. It works. Instagram, facebook and pinterest are awesome too. Even if you're thinking "I don't have the following to get a facebook page" who cares. Do it. You'll be happy you did it sooner rather than later. It's a great idea to have all your usernames the same, and a lot of people use their blog's name. Not necessary but not a bad idea. Next week I'll have tutorials for how to change your twitter, instagram and pinterest usernames.