Six Tips for the New Blogger

I've been blogging on Ivory Giraffes for a little over a year now. Although I'm by no means extremely successful in the blogosphere, I have learned a few things. I still consider myself a newbie, but I've compiled a list for those who are first timers. (And included some of my all-time favorite pictures from the past year)

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1. Be true to yourself. 
As much as I wanted to be anonymous, it was hard. Really hard. And looking back at my earlier posts I can tell that in my fight to be anonymous I changed how I talked. I created a new persona to go along with my new name. My whole reasoning behind revealing my real name is because I needed to be true to myself. And since then I've found that I love blogging even more than before. It's not a chore. I don't have to gear myself up to be someone else. Being true to yourself may not guarantee oodles of followers, but it does guarantee that you'll have an ultimate blast!

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2. Make your blog look as good as you possibly can.
I don't have the money to have someone who's knowledgeable in HTML  redesign my blog. But I do have the power to make it look as good as I can. Keep it clutter free, and make sure your pictures are good. One thing I'm extremely proud of on my blog is the high quality pictures. 

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3. Scheduled posts are your best friends.
If you dedicate one day a week to write out as many posts as you've thought of, you will be so much less frazzled. Usually I write out in my day planner what posts I want for the upcoming week on Sunday, and then I go onto my account and write up some of the things I've got. Some things can't be written out until the day of (such as outfit posts), but it will relieve so much stress if you have even half of your posts for the week written up in advance. 

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4. Forget about numbers. 

This is one that I'm really trying to teach myself about. And it's super hard. When you don't have many followers you immediately notice when you have a new one. But don't be obsessed about it, it will only drive you nuts. If you're interested in blogging for the followers, you should probably quit now. 

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5. Don't be afraid to take a little break if you need to.

If you're in school and your exams are coming up, take a break. The blogging world will not die without you. I promise. Your followers will understand. You need to make sure you're living your life, and if in order to do that you have to give up blogging for a week so be it. 

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6. Have fun with it!

If you want to post about something different from your ordinary, do it! This is your blog. Your part of the world wide web. Do what you want, and have a blast doing it! Post what you love, and the world will be able to tell.