But where do I start?

A question that seems to pop up every now and again when I'm chatting to other girls about blogging is, "but where do I start". I have spoken to so many girls that say, they would love to have a blog or start up a Facebook page. My answer back is always, "but why don't you", for some its the element of fear, what will others think.... and I get this. I too had that fear for a very long time (2 years to be exact) but it definitely shouldn't stop you from doing something that you would love to do. Fear aside the next issue is always "but how to go about it". So I have decided to do up a little step by step on my experience, how I started and what has worked for me.

1. Choose a name - This is by far the most important thing that you will do, don't rush the decision. Say the name out loud, strange as that may seem, people will ask you what your blog name is, and you need to be comfortable and proud of that name when you answer. Write it down to see what it looks like on paper, this will be your future branding, logos etc. You will be asked by people why you choose that name, is there a background story? There doesn't have to be, but people do ask these questions in my experience, and I've been asked several times. For example, I choose my name because when I was a teenager I always signed off my name Luv Lisa xx (that might sound silly but its my little story) plus I like the double L and its easy to say when I am speaking to people about it.

2. Set up your accounts - Create a page on Facebook via your personal page, when I set up mine I was going to go Incognito, I was worried that people would know it was my page. However only you have visibility of who owns the page. if you didn't want people to know at initially. Setting one up via your personal page is so easy. Go into your newsfeed, scroll down to pages and click on add page, it will then bring you through it step by step. However you will have to log into your personal page to get to you blog page if you do this. If you want or need to keep these 2 separate you will need to create a new email (possibly with your page name in it) and then set up your page as a new user. With Facebook you can create content, images, links, post before your page goes live. Meaning you can work on your page and how it looks, profile pictures/cover photos etc and then when your happy with it you can go LIVE or PUBLIC. You also have Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat, my advice would be to not overload yourself initially, start with Facebook and when you have the hang of it then start linking more to it, like Instagram for example. I rarely use my twitter and Pinterest, I just don't have the time and its hard to keep up with them all

 3. But how do I blog? - You need to create a website through a source such as blogspot or wordpress. There is so many different options for this (I read an article before hand on the pros and cons of these sites) I actually have a blogspot and a wordpress account but I find it hard to use wordpress, that's just my opinion and I know alot of bloggers that use wordpress and love it. Blogspot is with google and when your blog meets certain criteria you can actually make money from it (I'm not at this stage) It can be hard to set up the actual blog, colours, format, text but I used you tube videos to help me along

In my experience....

You need to be passionate about what your doing or it will soon become a task, I started off with so many ideas and I have hit so many walls along the way. You can become demotivated and that's not me being negative, so many girls I know have said the same, its tougher than it looks and more time consuming than you think

Its hard to be original, so many people blog nowadays, and it shouldn't stop you from doing it. You will need constant content (to keep people interested), sometimes you will put a lot of effort into a blog post only to see that someone else has written something very similar. Believe me it happens

Its hard to grow an "audience or following", just because you post something on your page doesn't mean that everyone will see it. You need people to engage, whether that is a like or comment, the more that do that the more that will see it. We have all seen a notification pop up on our newsfeed saying so and so has liked so and so's page or picture. That's how you gain new followers through engagement

Remember to invite your friends to like your page, and don't be afraid to ask them to invite their friends too. It doesn't hurt. 

People you won't expect will be your biggest supporters, believe it or not your biggest following will probably be from outside of where you live. Maybe it just me, but I have also had this discussion with other bloggers and they have said similar experiences. 

Write how you speak, when I started writing I was trying to use big words, no one cares, I am not a journalist, when you write how you speak people see a part of your personality. As long as people can understand it. My sister gives me loads of feedback and she once said to me that I don't use enough comma's, so when you read my posts the sentence's where too long. I now read all my posts out loud before I post them. I still make mistakes but I'd like to think that I'm getting a little better with time

Be yourself - I know that's so cliche but don't try to be something your not because you will never be able to maintain it. I don't do make up because I'm terrible at it, however I appreciate make up products. It will take you a while to get into your groove, if your anything like me you might tend to over think about everything you post. For example, I am very conscious that I will offend someone. Remember though that people are following you for you

These are just a few little tips. Remember that this is just my experience, every bodies is different and I am by no means an expert. My biggest advice would be, if you want to do this, just do it. Don't let anyone or anything stop you. You have nothing to lose. I was always worried that people might say "why is she a blogger" but who cares, why is anybody?. We all have an opinion and view on things and that's what a personal blog is, storytelling. So bite the bullet, whats the worst that could happen.

Best of Luck

Luv Lisa xx

If you have any questions on anything I haven't covered here please don't be afraid to ask