It’s so hard for me to believe, but this weekend marks the three year anniversary of Something Beautiful!  The fact that my hobby and dream has become the job I get to do every day is such a blessing to say the very least! To celebrate, I thought I would answer some questions you guys sent in all about blogging in hopes that it may help some of you create a reality out of your dreams!

HOW DID YOU START YOUR BLOG?  HOW CAN I START A BLOG ON A LOW BUDGET?

I first started following blogs in college (over eight years ago!), and it was secretly something I dreamed I could do for so many years.  Flash forward to December 2014, where Daniel and I were having a conversation about our goals for the upcoming year with some of our close friends over dinner.  They both mentioned how they had always thought I should start a blog because of my love for fashion, and we laughed at how it had been a dream of mine for a long time but it was slowly becoming a more viable reality.

At the beginning of 2015, our family went through a really tough time and Daniel and I both agreed I needed a hobby that I would enjoy.  He suggested I start sharing my daily outfits on Instagram, and so I did!  I have to admit that at first it was extremely uncomfortable, and it felt like everywhere I went that people avoided talking about it.  I think that’s really what no one tells you about blogging.  It’s not a very well-known industry, and people who know you (especially your parent’s friends…haha) may be extremely confused by why in the world you are posting a photo of “just your outfit and not your face.”  (Keep pressing through the uncomfortable stage of losing followers that were your friends because it’s worth it!).

Over time, people just accepted it and more and more new people started following me on Instagram.  They would ask where pieces of my outfit were from, and over time I started getting asked if I had a blog.  In July of 2015 is when I truly decided that I needed to just step out of my comfort zone and make one, and the same friends that encouraged me to blog that night in 2014 took my first blog photos.  You can see my first post HERE!

As far as starting a blog goes, my absolute number one piece of advice would be to just start!  You don’t need a big pan or a fancy site to start.  And as far as starting on a low budget goes, when I first began blogging I didn’t spend any money at all.  I just snapped #ootd photos of clothes I was wearing that I already had in my closet, and started a completely free website on the Blogger platform.  My advice would be to definitely test it out as a hobby and see if you enjoy it, before diving in and investing a ton of money into it!

HOW DO YOU GROW AN INSTAGRAM AND BLOG FOLLOWING?

My biggest piece of advice on this would be to be social!  I heard once that it’s called social media for a reason, and really have taken that to heart.  I mean it when I say that my favorite part of blogging is interacting with my community, and if you are a new blogger interacting with other new bloggers and girls who are following them is a great way to start!  I am a huge nerd and love to learn from experts on every topic, including this one, and there are also several really amazing courses out there on this.  When I first started I took this course by Hilary Rushford, but I would also recommend this one by Jenna Kutcher.  I personally have not taken her course, but by her content it is probably the one I would choose now with the nature of Instagram being how it is!

Growing a blog following is a bit trickier and definitely more time consuming.  My best piece of advice would be to be consistent.  I know tons of people who have started blogs and become discouraged within the first year that they don’t have a loyal readership.  It takes years of consistently blogging to gain a reader base, but it is worth it!  Pick a few different days per week (I talk about my schedule below) and consistently have a post up those days.  Don’t overwhelm yourself by starting out five days a week, but try to do more than one.  The biggest thing to remember when making a posting schedule is that it’s always easy at the begging because your passion is running high (which is a great thing!).  But think about what schedule you’ll be able and want to maintain 6 months from now, and implement that to start 😊.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG AND SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING SCHEDULE?  HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR CONTENT?

Yes!  I truly think setting and sticking to a disciplined schedule over the past two years has really helped grow my blog and business.  I have a new blog post up every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday (every weekday except Tuesday).  When I first started blogging it was only three days a week instead of four, but I have always stuck to a posting schedule.  I truly believe it helps your reader know what and when to expect new content from you!

For me, having a physical calendar in front of me where I can see what posts and holidays I have coming up is huge.  I use a simple monthly planner and plan about a month at a time.  I do have random campaigns and holidays planned further out, but for the most part I do my planning monthly.  Another piece of advice I received that I have implemented this past year was to make sure I was posting about each of my verticals once a month (minimum).  For me, those are style, beauty, home decor, travel, and lifestyle.  Having a physical calendar allows me to make sure I hit each of these at least once a month!

As far as a posting schedule for social media goes, my advice would be to just be consistent.  I usually post one to two times a day on Instagram, which has also decreased over the past couple year due to the Instagram algorithm.  (More info on posting advice in a question below!)  Also, using a planning app like UNUM or Planoly, helps me layout what photos I am posting next and move them around to see what they will look like on my feed.

HOW DO YOU MONETIZE YOUR BLOG?

There are multiple ways bloggers can make money, but my two largest sources are affiliate links and sponsorships.  An affiliate link works like virtual commission where the retailer pays you, the blogger, for bringing them business.  For example, if someone were to click on a link for the sweater I’m wearing in this post and purchase it (or something else), Nordstrom would recognize that I brought the customer to their site and pay me a commission for that business.  I wrote a much more in depth post about this, and so if you want to know more about it you can read it here!

Sponsorships are when a company or brand pays an influencer (i.e. a blogger like me) to wear their products and usually call out that company in particular.  Any sponsorship I participate in is always something I would purchase with my own money (and usually do), and is always denoted with “Thank you to ______ for sponsoring this post!” at the end.  I will never work with a brand or company that I genuinely do not feel fits my brand.  I turn down partnerships daily, and always want my readers to know that my content has always and will always be organic.  Your reader’s trust is something you can’t buy and is not worth any paid partnership!

DO YOU CHOOSE TO FOCUS MORE ON AFFILIATE SALES VS. BRAND DEALS? WHY?

At this moment, I would say my focus is equally on both sources.  When I first started blogging, I definitely had a higher focus on affiliate sales because my following wasn’t large enough to land substantial brand partnerships.  At this point, I focus on both and feel there are huge benefits to both!

WHAT CAMERA/LENS DO YOU USE?  DO YOU USE ANY SPECIAL LIGHTING (FOR INDOOR SHOOTS)?

For all of our blog shoots, Daniel shoots with a Canon 5D Mark III camera and Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art lens. We love this lens and really feel that it has made a huge difference in the quality of our photos, and the great part is it can be purchased to mount on a Canon, Nikon or Sony camera body.  If you are just starting out, we recommend this Canon 50mm F1.8 lens.  This will give you great detail shots and the low aperture (or f-stop) creates the background blur.  Besides that, we use an iPhone for almost ALL of my Instagram photos!

As far as indoor lighting, I rarely use it and would much rather shoot when there is a lot of natural light coming in, but I do own this set and use it when I need to.

HOW DO YOU EDIT YOUR PHOTOS?

BLOG PHOTOS

For all of our blog photos, I edit them in Lightroom.  We have an Adobe Creative Cloud membership for about $10 a month, which includes Lightroom and Photoshop.

INSTAGRAM PHOTOS

To create an “aesthetically cohesive” feed, I apply to the same one or two filters on every photo.  I edit all my photos in VSCO and 95% of them have the A6 filter applied.  If the photo was taken with my iPhone, I will then adjust the settings as well, such as brightness, contrast, sharpness, increase the warmth, etc. within the VSCO app.

The only other editing app I use at times is Facetune, and it’s mostly to highlight details in certain products I’m wearing, such as sunglasses, lace, or cute straps!

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR BEGINNER BLOGGERS?

My biggest piece of advice would be to start blogging because you’re passionate about what you’re writing about and because you genuinely love it.  If it isn’t out of a passion to do and share what you love, it will quickly turn into a burden.  There may be times that no one reads your blog but you (and your mom!) and you have to be okay with that!

In my opinion, gone really are the days where girls can say, “I had no idea my blog could turn into a way to make a living.”  It’s a large enough industry now that a lot of girls hope that through their blog, they one day can make a living.  And that’s great!  Don’t feel guilty for thinking that, but make sure that money is not the reason you start.

With that, building a successful blog takes patience.  I really didn’t see my blog turn into a business until I had been blogging consistently for about a year and a half.  It doesn’t happen quickly, but if you stay true to who you are and work (really) hard, you can do it!

Being consistent with your posting schedule is also big in growing a blog.  Consistency and showing up persistently is how you become successful at almost anything, and blogging is no exception.  Like I mentioned earlier, sticking to a posting schedule that your readers can rely on, and showing up on their Instagram feed consistently is huge!  Do what works for you and won’t burn you out.  If that’s one blog post per week, and one Instagram post a day at first, then stick with that! 😊

Having a community around you also makes blogging way more fun!  Reach out to other girls on Instagram who are starting their blogging journey, and follow and encourage each other.  If you are local, plan meet-ups!  This last year has been so more fun for me when it comes to blogging because I have made so many friends in the industry and it is so nice to have relationships with girls who are doing the same thing!

Lastly, high quality photos make a world of difference in how readers perceive your Instagram and blog.  This is not to say that your photos won’t get better and better the longer you do it (I could cringe at some of my photos from early on!), but everyone likes looking at a pretty picture.  Investing in a photographer or nice camera would be something I would suggest saving for in the beginning stages of blogging.

Whew!  While this was long winded, my genuine hope is that it would help you if you’re looking for insight for your own blog, or just curious about what I do!  And I seriously love hearing from you (in case you didn’t get that already 😉), so if you ever have any questions or just want to chat, please do reach out!!

And lastly, THANK YOU for making my dream a reality, and for wanting to follow along my blogging journey.  Whether you’re new here, or have been here since my cringe-worthy Instagram photo days, I genuinely appreciate you, and if I could I would hug each and every one of you!  All my love, Daryl-Ann xoxo