So, you want to be a successful lifestyle blogger? What is even classed as a successful lifestyle blogger, and what is lifestyle blogging?
To me, being successful means being happy doing a job i love and being able to do it for a living. What does it mean to you?
Being a blogger isn’t what you may think from the outside. It’s certainly harder and more time consuming than you would think. Personally, i went into blogging as a hobby back in 2015 – before you could even really make money as a blogger.
I wanted to hone my writing skills and to have a place where I could write about my many interests. Although I hoped one day it might become my full time job, i didn’t realistically think that would happen. I couldn’t see where the money would come from
I believe what made me successful in this industry has been my passion and genuine interest in writing content and being adaptable to change. Anyway, as a lifestyle blogger I’ve learnt a lot along the way and wanted to share with you my tips and tricks for survival as a lifestyle blogger.
What Is Lifestyle Blogging?
Lifestyle bogging is where someone creates content inspired from their own life experiences, interests and daily activities. A lifestyle blogger generally won’t have one specific niche they focus on, it will be more generalised on their life as a whole.
A lifestyle blogger is unlikely to be a master in any area, more of a jack of all trades in lots of areas.
What Are Your Interests?
Just because you’re a lifestyle blogger, it doesn’t mean you have to be interested in everything. It simply means you don’t have a specific niche, such as beauty, technology, fashion…etc.
Lifestyle bloggers tend to have their toes in lots of different aspects of life that they just love to talk/write about. Just because you class yourself as a lifestyle blogger, doesn’t mean you should EVER write about something you’re genuinely not interested in. It comes across to the reader as being fake, or pushy, or obviously paid for content.
Stick to what you’re really interested in and write about that.
Be Flexible
Be prepared to jump from one topic to the next at a moments notice. Again, this one is often if you are writing posts daily or you are doing something for a client but it’s a good thing to get used to doing.
For example, this morning I was writing about the evolution of kitchens, then I was talking sunglasses with a potential client, then I began writing this post and half way through that I remembered I had a load of social media posts to schedule. This is where having things written down and being organised will help you stay on track.
Carry A Notebook
ALWAYS carry a notebook around with you to jot down possible blog posts – or note it down in the notes on your phone. You’ll be surprised at how often you have great ideas for blog posts that come at random times. Having somewhere to jot these down as and when them come to you will be very beneficial to you.
It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy, just a few bullet points that will help you remember what you wanted to write about.
Related Post – A Day In The Life Of A UK Lifestyle Blogger
Create Spreadsheets
Create a spreadsheet to schedule and track blog post articles – it’s very easy to loose track of what you have already blogged about.
You can use something as simple as a basic spreadsheet, or even Google sheets. With Google sheets you can easily send the document to you, on pretty much any device. You can also login to the document through the link which can make it easier than a basic spreadsheet. Another benefit of using Google sheets is you can allow other people to view it, or edit it if you have other people in your team.
In this spreadsheet you could include…
- Article title
- Chosen keyword
- Live date
- Link to live article
- If the article is to be sponsored
- Will it include any brands?
- A tick box for any images you plan to take for it
Social Media Scheduling
If you like social media and want to post content out to your followers, you should get something like Hootsuite. A platform where you can schedule your social media content in mass. The basic packages for both of these are free but there is also the option to get the premium package on Hootsuite.
Related Post – Social Media Organisers
This is around £100.00 a year but it let’s you up load posts in mass and takes literally seconds to do. I have only just got this myself and it is amazing! It saves so much time. The only downside is you can’t upload images in mass using this. Of the two platforms, I find Hootsuite much better than Tweetdeck. It’s more user friendly. As you can probably tell from the name, Tweetdeck is just for scheduling tweets on Twitter whereas Hootsuite can schedule across multiple platforms.
Search For Guest Posting Opportunities
Get guest posting. This is a great way to get your content seen by other people that may well not know about your blog. It also gives you get backlinks to your blog which helps with SEO and all that tech stuff.
You do have to be a bit careful not to go over the top though and to only guest post on quality websites as otherwise this could affect your domain score in a negative way. If you aren’t sure about a websites quality or score, use a platform such as Moz. It lets you see the Google domain and page authority scores. But also their spam score. A very useful website to have in your favourites! You can see my blog post with the full list of amazingly useful websites to track scores here.
Get Involved In The Community
Get to know some other bloggers in your circle using the # hours on Twitter. For Lifestyle Bloggers it’s – #lbloggers, #lbloggersuk (if in the UK), #lifestyleblog. There are also loads of Twitter chats you can get involved in to get to know other bloggers in your circles.
There’re also some really good blog support groups on Facebook you can join. Just type in bloggers or blogging into the groups section of Facebook and a load will come up. There are some that focus on specific areas such as Lifestyle or Beauty…etc. But there are some that are for any/every type of blog. I find these are the best as you get an all round feel for what’s going on in the blogging world.
Write About Your Interests
Write about what you’re interested in. Not what you think others might want you to write to get more views. This is totally transparent in lifestyle blog posts where they haven’t really been all that interested in what they are writing. What interests you? I’d much rather read an article where someone was really passionate about the subject.
Include Images
Include images in each blog post. You don’t have to get yourself a posh or expensive camera. Generally a smartphone will work perfectly. It does a great job and you can get Photoshop Express for free. Oh, and when you’re taking photos, make sure you take more than you think you’ll need. More will come out wrong than you think. Plus, it’s always more of a pain to re-set up your shots afterwards.
Use natural light wherever you can. White lights are great but you just can’t beat natural lighting! If you’re taking a photo of a product or person, try to take it with the object more in the shade. Looking out towards the sun. This will make your images more detailed and less washed out by the sun and give it a lovely glow.
Are You In The Right Mood?
Don’t write if you don’t feel like it. If you aren’t in the right mood or just aren’t feeling it, leave if until another day. Moods always come out in posts whether you mean them to or not.
Don’t Rush The Content
Don’t rush your lifestyle blog posts. They should be really in-depth and engaging. If you rush it, you’re more than likely going to miss bits out, have loads of mistakes or you’ll end up looking back on the post in weeks to come and feel really disappointed.
The Negative Side
Lifestyle blogging does some with some down sides. Haters gonna hate! Because you’re writing on the internet, you WILL get people making nasty or very opinionated comments…but that’s ok. You just have to take it with a pinch of salt, don’t take the comments to heart.
I just think, well at least there are people reading my content. And it’s made them have an opinion either way. I think it would be worse for someone to read your posts and not feel anything!
Express Yourself
Let’s go with ‘Lucky’ number 13 to finish this off! Lastly, although blogging can be stressful with deadlines and having to create posts. Try not to let it get to you. Lifestyle blogging is all about letting yourself go.
Talking about what interests you. A place to express yourself. It’s not meant to bring you more stress! It’s a window into your world so If you don’t feel like posting or don’t have the time/want to, don’t!
This is just what I’ve come to notice along the way. So I hope there’ll be something you can take from this. Spread the lifestyle blogging love peeps!
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