Photography Tips for Bloggers. We are now in the age of photography. As technology continuously makes it easier for us to capture moments, photos have become a very important aspect of everything that we do today. Whatever industry you are in, photos and graphics have become an important part of disseminating information and educating people.

In social media, it’s the key to getting more people to notice your profile. Without photos, it can be quite a challenge to attract people to notice your business because people are naturally visual beings. We like to see interesting things and we are easily attracted to nice images. This is because as humans, it is in our nature to appreciate beauty. So if you apply this in your blogging journey, you need to keep in mind that your photos matter a lot in getting people to read your blog.

Here are 10 photography tips for bloggers.

1. Pick up the best camera.

Before anything else, you need to have the right tools with you. Like any other craft, having the right tools and gears with you is going to make the job a lot easier and better. In this case, your most essential gear to have is a camera. It’s your first key to putting better photos on your blog. Choosing a camera may sound like a daunting task especially that these things are not exactly cheap. But you don’t necessarily have to get the most expensive camera out there to get proper photos for your blog. The best camera is the one that suits your blogging needs. So long as the camera can take nice and crisp photos of the things you want to feature in your blog, that’s good. In fact, some people only use their camera phones considering that mobile phones today can already take high-quality photos! This decision is entirely up to you. Choose the one that suits your budget and most importantly, your blogging needs. Think of it as your lifelong blogging investment.Invest in a good tripod.

Tripods are probably one of the most overlooked gears in photography but it is extremely essential for you as a blogger. There will be a lot of instances where you need a steady hand in capturing images. Using a tripod is going to help a lot in doing this. Moreover, it’s also an important item to have if you are a one-man team. For example, if you write about travel in your blog and you need to have your photos taken, tripods can really come in handy. Make sure to invest in a high-quality tripod as it is definitely something you will use at all times.

2. Use some staging items.

When it comes to making simple items look more aesthetically-pleasing, using some staging items will really help boost your photography to the next level. Staging helps elevate whatever you are shooting and define it well. And it’s not hard to do this so long as you have the right amount of items positioned properly as well as things that you can use to make everything more pleasing to the eyes. For example, marble papers are popular staging items you can use to make your photo look interesting. Whether you are shooting a coffee cup or a laptop for your blog post, a marble paper as your stage can make your photos more aesthetically-pleasing to the eyes.

also read: 10 Blogging Tools for a Better Blogging Experience

3. Set up a small home studio.

If you constantly need to shoot things or people for your blog, creating a personal space in your home as your home studio will be a great idea. It doesn’t have to be super fancy. Just allocate enough space for your home studio and put a good background. More importantly, place your studio in a well-lit room. Light is essential when it comes to good photography.

4. Take photos in natural light.

While light fixtures can add a certain mood for your photographs, nothing can beat natural light. When it comes to photography, natural light should be something you need to prioritize. If you need to take photos of still items, make sure to place in areas where natural light is present. Open your windows if you are shooting inside. If you are taking photos outside, consider the time you are taking your photos for the best results. For example, sunrise or sunset photos can offer a softer view compared to shooting at noon time.

5. Learn the different types of composition in photography.

The composition can help the photographer tell stories in their own perspective. If you want to incorporate this in your blog, learn what types of photo composition you can try to bring out a better or fresh perspective of your images. One of the examples for this is the Rule of Thirds. With this technique, there should be two horizontal and two vertical lines intersecting each other and should divide a piece into nine squares of equal size. With this, your place the subject on either the top, bottom, right, or left area to make a better composition.

6. Watermark your images.

Before publishing your photos in your blog, make it a habit to put watermarks in your photographs. This way, you are establishing your identity as the owner of these photos and when someone else uses it, you have the right to take ownership of the image.

7. Don’t be afraid to try photograph random items for your blog.

Make a stockpile of images that you can use in the future. For example, there will be days when you have to publish a blog post and it’s too gloomy outside to take good photos, having a stockpile of random photographs from the past will help you get photos for your post.

8. Learn to enhance and edit photos.

There will be times when you need to adjust the brightness and saturation of a photo before you hit publish. Learn how to enhance or edit your photos for better images on your blog.

9. Shoot raw.

Shooting in raw format is important. It’s better than JPEG as the latter’s image information is compressed and lost. Raw images will also help you produce higher quality images.

Just like in skin care, exploring photography is a hobby that is meant to be enjoyed, what do you think? put your comments down below.

Blogging is not always sunshine and daisies. There will be times when you have to stop posting for a while due to several reasons. You may have had a stressful week or there’s a family matter that you have to prioritize first. That’s absolutely fine, but when you are not careful, you will soon find out that one week became two, and before you know it, you will realize that you haven’t been blogging for months! And when this happens, it can be a little hard to get back into blogging especially when you are no longer inspired to create content.

If you haven’t come up with a good content to publish for months, it is high time that you rethink your content and change your strategies. You will need to look at blogging on a different perspective especially if you think that your content is not something you want to pursue anymore. It has to be carefully planned as it gives you into a position as a better strategist. You will need something that will get your creative juices flowing, but at the same time, it will open up new ideas in the future so you can consistently get back into blogging again.

Here are five tips to get back into blogging after a long break.

1. Observe what catches your attention.

It’s easy to say, “Be inspired or be motivated.” But inspiration is not something you can easily come up with if you don’t know exactly what you are looking for. So when you are still in the process of rethinking your content and strategies, look around you and observe the things that catch your attention. This way, you will be able to determine what sort of thing you are interested to know more. For example, you may be interested to always check on the latest technology.

Observe if it is something you would want to write about in your blog. This will inspire you to think of ways to present a topic about technology in a creative way. Sometimes, the best ideas come from long breaks since you get to actually observe the things around you. In order to feel inspired to blog again, put yourself in situations where you can make your mind think of something. This will prompt you to get the best ideas for your new content.

2. Jump right into it! Don’t let the ideas go to waste.

When you finally have an idea – even if it is just a small one, don’t wait up until you can turn it into big ideas. If you keep things aside for a while, you might forget about it and before you know it, you are back into a long break. Jump right into it! It doesn’t have to be perfect at first. The important thing is that make the ball rolling once again. Just start writing and more ideas will come soon after.

You shouldn’t feel bad that you took some time off from blogging, but you should encourage yourself to get back into it. Take small steps in writing new blog posts so as to restore your excitement in creating content in the future. Don’t stay too much on the thinking part, and start implementing what you have planned right away.

3. Personalize your post.

Remember, blogging is about making connections to people. While each blogger has a different and unique way of writing, it is important that you embrace the idea of personalizing your content. If you think your blog is dying, consider putting life back into it by adding a personal touch. Writing a specific topic, especially if it involves something educational, can be a lackluster content to some.

However, if you personalize it and make sure that you connect with your readers more, not only will it attract more people to read your blog, but it will also encourage you to open up more. Convey your own personality when you are writing content for your readers. However, if this is something you are not entirely open to doing, you can always try to collaborate with other bloggers. This will spark a new form of content in your blog and make it a lot more special to your readers.

4. Organize your content properly.

In order to stay consistent and to also remain to inspire to create more content, organization is the key. You don’t want your readers to find your blog to be just a huge block of texts. It is unappealing and can discourage people to check out your content more. When you organize your blog, you will also like what you are looking at since it is clean and easy to look at. In order to do this, make an outline first in your planner on topics you are going to write and use some bullets and lists. This way, it is much easier to put it in your final draft before publishing.

An organized and proper planning of post will encourage you more to get back into blogging. Make it a daily habit of formatting your drafts this way so that you will be encouraged to write more. This is a good habit to keep especially if you want to immediately get back into blogging after a long break.

5. Set realistic and firm goals and make sure you achieve it.

What keeps most of us demotivated sometimes is that we are unable to reach our blogging goals. But perhaps, this is because we are setting too much expectation of ourselves. In order to stay inspired and motivated to blog, set firm but realistic goals for yourself. This way, you won’t slip back into a long hiatus again.

Whatever goals you have, whether it is to monetizing your blog or getting the attention of a company for lasting sponsorship, make sure that you have ways to measure your success. Look through your analytics so you can hold yourself accountable in each step of your blogging journey.

Creating Stunning Infographics has been the key to businesses today. After all, people want to be engaged and entertained when they are checking out on something. And what better way to do that than to have an engaging content for your audience. For that reason, people who run a blog understands how important it is to have an engaging content strategy. It is the secret weapon to attract more potential customers. This could be creating fun videos or writing funny stories, but one other exceptional way to attract more audience is through incorporating stunning infographics to your blog post.

Before we jump into how this works, what exactly is an infographic?

In simplest terms, it is a visualization of a story or a thesis into a data-rich graphic. It is often used as a tool to educate and inform people. For businesses and brands, it is an important way to build brand awareness. Several studies have shown that high-quality infographics are more likely to be consumed by the general public compared to just text articles. It is hard to keep someone’s attention on your website if it is just a bunch of text blocks. People will more likely stay and read your post if you offer them something valuable and is presented interestingly. This leads to a captivating experience that will most likely prompt your readers to share your content.

Infographics are very effective when it comes to catching people’s attention because on a basic human level, people are more likely to engage in blog posts that have interesting visual content. People love to consume visual content that is why it is not enough to weave interesting stories with just words. You will also need to incorporate it with interesting infographics. Infographics attract different people so you can widen your audience and at the same time, you can potentially get backlinks for your website. This will help your blog rank better and increase your traffic from the search engines.

Here are 5 steps to creating stunning infographics for your blog post.

1. Base your infographics on a well-researched post.

Before anything else, it is important that you write first a well-research blog post. If there’s one important foundation that shouldn’t be skipped, it is this. You won’t be able to create a powerful and valuable infographic if you have a weak blog post. Write a proper outline and break it down into sections. If you are writing a blog post about a specific subject that involves facts, make sure that you do a proper research first on those facts. You don’t want to end up sharing the wrong information to your audience. Creating stunning infographics require eye-opening data and in order to get that, proper prior research is very important. Otherwise, you will end up with an infographic that won’t attract as much audience as you want.

2. Find an easy tool to create the infographics.

If you are not a graphic designer and perhaps not familiar into using Photoshop when creating an infographic, you can use pretty much a lot of easy tools out there. Thankfully, there are a lot of free tools online that allows you to create an infographic quickly. Here are two of the easiest tools where you can create stunning infographics.

Canva – it is a platform that provides free and paid templates that will allow you to create infographics. It has an archive full of free and paid pictures and illustrations that you can use for your infographic. It’s currently one of the most popular platforms out there for content creators.

Piktochart – is also a popular online Infographic maker tool that offers free and paid options for creating stunning infographics. It also has a huge collection of templates, illustrations, and images that you can use. Although, there is a limitation if you will use the free version. It will let you create an infographic but it will have a watermark once you download it.

There are a lot of available tools out there such as Infogram and Visually.

3. Use the correct font.

Presenting information on an infographic using the right font is crucial. You might think that a font is just about the style, but it is a lot more than that. It is a secret weapon to attract the attention of the audience. When you are highlighting a specific information, choose a font that will clearly present it and bold the text. You will have to make sure that it matches with everything else in your infographic as well. You don’t want it to look like huge blocks of texts are dumped into an illustration.

4. Make use of symbols and icons.

When it comes to creating an infographic, it is important that you don’t clutter it with a lot of texts. Otherwise, it is just going to look like a block of texts in an image form. So in order to not do that, utilize the power of using icons and symbols, but do not clutter it as well. Incorporate it with the information in your blog posts. For example, if you are writing about food, find symbols and icons relating to foods that you can use on the infographic. This will spark your creativity and be able to connect with your readers. This will also allow you to introduce ideas to your readers through the use of symbols and pictures.

5. Use maps and charts.

When you are incorporating an infographic to your blog post, using relevant and charts I important. It will complete the infographic especially if you are presenting facts and important data. It will add value to your audience and at the same time make them understand your blog post better. This is because an infographic is easier to consume compared to just huge blocks of text. Having charts and maps on your infographics will also make it look catchier and potentially generate more traffic in your website. It’s also more interesting to get shared on social media.

When you were just starting out with blogging, you probably have not considered earning money from it. For a lot of people, blogging is just a fulfilling hobby where you get to express your passion about something or to share a specific knowledge you are an expert of. And while these are great, another great way to earn money is through blogging. In fact, a lot of people out there consider blogging as a full-time career or a side hustle. Whichever is the case, there are ways on how you can make money from your blog.

But make no mistake: the process is not the same way for everyone. While one way is effective to one blogger, it may not be as effective to another one. You may not quickly earn from it, but if you do it correctly, it is definitely not impossible to make money from your blog. In time, it is even enough to support you and your family.

Here are ten effective ways to earn money from your blog.

1. CPC or CPM Ads

This is one of the most common ways to earn money from blogging. CPC and CPM ads are two of the most popular types of ads out there. CPC or cost-per-click ads are usually banners that you place in your sidebar, header, or content. Every time a reader clicks on that ad, you get paid for that click. On the other hand, CPM ads or cost per 1000 impressions are ads that allow you to earn money based on the number of people who view your ads.

One of the most popular networks that have these type of ads is Google Adsense. With this, you do not need to be in direct contact with the advertisers. By simply placing a banner on your site, relevant ads to your content is chosen by Google to appear on your site.

2. Affiliate Marketing

One of the ways to passively earn an income through your blog is through affiliate marketing. With this, an advertiser agrees to give you a commission every time a buyer buys their product which you have posted on your website. The advertiser will provide you with a unique link that will serve as your tracking code so they can determine if a buyer uses your link when a purchase has been done. You can do this directly through the use of banner ads or you can also incorporate this unique link through your blog post. When that buyer purchases something using your link, you get a percentage of the item he or she just purchased.

3. Sponsored Posts

The first two ways above works great if you have enough traffic to your site. You will still earn money even if you have less traffic, but it is most effective if your website is already gaining a lot of traction. But fret not. Another way to actually earn money from blogging is through sponsored posts. With this, a business or brand will agree to give you a payment in exchange for writing or creating a content on your site about them. For example, if you blog about recipes and such, a specific brand that sells a particular food or ingredient wants you to create a content about this product and in return, you get paid. This works perfectly well, especially if your blog is relevant to the brand or business.

4. Digital Products

If you don’t like to advertise other people’s products on your website, you can still earn money from blogging through selling digital products. This could include online courses, workshops, eBooks, photos, videos, themes, apps, plugins, music, and even more! In order to effectively earn from this though, you have to make sure that what you are selling digitally are relevant and useful to your audience. Know what your audience needs first and from that, create a digital product that you can be sure they will use.

5. Memberships

Selling memberships exclusive to specific parts on your website is also another great way to earn money from blogging. For example, if you have a content that you think contains valuable information about a specific topic, you can charge an amount for it to users so they can gain access to it. Make sure that what you are offering has more value than other content that is offered for free elsewhere. One example of a blogger that sells memberships is Mark Manson.

6. Graphic design or Writing services

You don’t necessarily earn money through your blog posts. You can also earn money by selling your services. You can do so by posting an information about your services on the blog. For example, if you are a graphic designer, you can earn money by offering your services through your blog. If you offer writing services, you can also put it on your blog. It is a good way to build your reputation and definitely a great way to earn extra cash.

7. Consulting services

Once you have built a name in the niche or industry you are in, people are going to be interested in how you got into it. Your readers will want to do the same and know exactly the steps you have taken. For this reason, you can be a consultant for your specific niche. You can do this by talking to them via phone, email, or Skype and charge them per hour.

8. Sponsored social media content

Today, having a social media account has become a supplementary platform for your blog. Businesses today love to work with influencers who can give them an airtime on your social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It’s easy to do and you can charge it depending on the size of your reach.

9. Merchandise

Another good way to earn money from your blog is to sell a merchandise. This could be handmade goods, t-shirts, and other items that are relevant to your blog. Just add a plugin like Woocommerce on your blog and you can easily get extra cash from your blog.

10. Product reviews

A lot of businesses today gives their products to bloggers so they can review it for a fee. A lot of tech bloggers today earn from this when tech businesses ask them to review gadgets and other items. Just make sure that you clarify that you cannot guarantee a positive review and that you can give their money back if you can’t give them a good review.  

Whether you are just starting out with blogging or not, having the right tools in hand will make the whole blogging experience better. In order to better connect with the world through your content, you need to have the right tools that will make the work easier and faster. After all, when it comes to blogging, the work does not end in publishing the content you have just created. You need to strategize and find ways to attract visitors and loyal readers again and again to your site. Suffice it to say, you need to keep them engaged.

When it comes to maintaining an engaged audience, you need to do an extensive research and for that, you will need the right blogging tools. With these tools, you will be able to get things done accurately and efficiently. But whether or not they’re free, they are all helpful to your blogging journey.

Here are 10 blogging tools for a better blogging experience.

1. Google Keyword Planner

If you are having difficulties looking for keyword suggestions, one of the best tools that can give you the right keywords is the Google Keyword Planner. It is a powerful keyword research tool that will help you find the right keywords for your blog. It’s free and you just need to create an AdWords account before you can start using this.

2. Google Trends

For bloggers who write about current events or anything related to hot topics, publishing a content that is relevant to the current trends today is very important. One of the tools that can help you learn the top searches and charts of the day is Google Trends. It does not provide the actual keyword search number but that does not mean you cannot use it. Use this tool smartly and play along with the Keyword Planner tool as well so you will get the results you wanted.

3. SEOPressor Blog Title Generator

It can be quite a challenge to come up with a catchy title sometimes. So if you are a WordPress user and want a title generator that is not only catchy but also SEO-friendly, use the SEOPressor Blog Title Generator plugin to get blog title ideas with pre-decided keyword categories.

4. Pixabay

High-quality images are important when it comes to blogging because it adds a touch of creativity in your content. You will need to have an image that perfectly matches your blog content and if you don’t have one, you can always use stock photos. There millions of high-quality images from Pixabay that you can use for free. It is a great resource that has no copyright restrictions. On top of that, no registration is also required.

5. Readability Checker

Based on a lot of studies and observations today, on an average, people read at a 7th-grade level. So unless your blog caters to an extremely intellectual audience, you need to make sure that it is easy and simple to read. To simplify your blog posts for your audience, using Readability Checker which is a free readability tool can help a lot.

6. Canva

Perhaps one of the best blogging tools when it comes to creating and editing images is Canva. Sometimes, we need to create graphics to better provide quality content on our blogs and social media accounts. If you are not a professional designer, it can be quite a challenge to create one without the right tools. But with Canva, you can do it all easily. You can make hundreds, or even thousands of graphic designs easily. There’s a limited number of free stock images you can use, but for those that are not, most of them are just $1!

7. Pinterest

A lot of bloggers do not take Pinterest seriously, but it is actually one of the platforms that can help you generate more organic traffic to your site. This is because people who visit Pinterest usually look for a specific topic and when you incorporate it to your blog, you will be able to get more free traffic. A lot of bloggers today get a lot of their traffic from a Pinterest search! It is not just about those cute photos. Whatever niche you have, just incorporate the right Pinterest graphics for it and soon, you will be able to get a good amount of traffic from it. It may take time when you are just starting out, but once you have established your profile, you just leave it there and you’ll gain more traffic this time, making your whole blogging experience even easier than before.

8. Grammarly

When we are creating content, sometimes, we get carried away so we do not notice that we commit some grammatical errors. But fear not; Grammarly is one of the best online grammar checkers that will help you check and correct spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, alternatives, and more. You can either copy your content and paste it on the Grammarly online checker or add it on your Chrome browser so you can use it whenever you have to.

9. Buffer

One of the tools that will make the whole blogging experience better and faster is Buffer. It can be time-consuming to manually share posts in all of our social media platforms. Buffer is a very efficient scheduling tool as it supports a lot of networks and is easier to use.  You just integrate your social media accounts and once you have published a new post, you can easily schedule your post and distribute across all your networks.

10. Google Analytics

Monitoring and tracking your traffic is important so you will know what to improve and determine what your audience likes. One of the best and most popular tracking tools that will make your blogging experience a whole lot better is Google Analytics. It provides accurate statistics on blog traffic but also tracks almost everything.  It has a variety of features like monitoring the source of the incoming blog traffic, number of visitors per day, unique visitors, most visited pages, and more!

If you ask any successful bloggers about one tip on how to successfully grow your blog, almost everyone will definitely give one resounding answer. That is consistency in blogging. This is something that we hear all the time, but why does consistency carry so much significance in the blogging field? But before we get into that, what does it mean to blog consistently?

 

When it comes to publishing content consistently, it doesn’t have to be like others. Considering that each blogger have different niches, audience, availability, and other factors, one must think about how they can deliver high-quality content to their audience in a timely manner. Some people may be able to do it once or twice a week. Some may do a bi-monthly update on their blog posts. In fact, some also do it once a month and still get a good amount of traffic in their blog. It all boils down to this; you have got to commit into a schedule that will accommodate your audience and your availability. This is because you need to set a schedule in creating good content and an ample amount of time to promote it as well.

 

How important is consistency in blogging?

Consistency in blogging is very important because it reflects on your dedication to creating content. It will also boost your visibility in the search engines as well as all platforms across social media. When you fail to regularly update your blog, your audience will forget about you and once you publish new content after a long period of time, it may no longer be relevant to them. This is also why you need to consistent with not just your content but also how relevant it is to your audience.

 

The type of content you are publishing will affect this. This is also one of the reasons why you need to have a concentrated niche or focus if you want to transition from blogging just for a hobby to something you want to bring to the next level. If you keep on posting topics that are of various topics of interest, your audience will be confused with the inconsistencies of the content. On the other hand, you will be able to attract a loyal following if you keep on strategically posting a specific content that drove people to follow you in the first place.

 

 

5 Easy Steps to grow your audience and blog more consistently.

1. Make a list of blog ideas.

We cannot avoid experiencing a creative slowdown especially if we are constantly churning out new ideas for the blog. If you want to remain consistent in blogging, make a list of blog post topics whenever you can so that you will never get stuck for ideas in times where you don’t have anything else to write. Try to research what topics your audience is interested in and include it on your list. Try to categorize all the topics and create a checklist. Once you have successfully set those up, you can now start which content you will prioritize and then set up a timeframe on finishing those posts and putting it up on your blog and other platforms.

2. Be realistic on your preferred publishing schedule.

Whether or not you are blogging full-time, it is important that you commit to a realistic schedule in publishing your content. There are bloggers who can update new ones every day, but you don’t have to do it if you can’t. Daily blogging can be very unrealistic especially if you have other things to do. Sometimes, it also takes some time to write a single post so you need to ask yourself what publishing schedule suits you best but at the same time, will keep you consistent. If you choose to post once a week, think of the best day where your audience will surely read it and then stick to it. The important thing here is that you stick to the schedule you have set.

3. Dedicate a time to write content for your blog.

Even if you have written a ton of blog posts in advance and have it scheduled for publishing, the possibility of running out of scheduled blog posts is still apparent. To keep that from happening, you need to make sure that you consistently create something and for that to happen, you need to build good habits in blogging. Routine can be boring but it makes our lives easier especially if we incorporate good writing habits. If you have a busy schedule every day, just set a time, even at least less than an hour before you go to work to just write. Instead of making small talk with your colleagues at work, you can dedicate that time to create a blog post. You don’t even have to finish it immediately. Just start small and once you have time on your weekends, you can immediately finish it and you will definitely feel accomplished.

4. Get rid of any distractions.

Distractions are everyone’s enemy whether they are blogging or not. You need to make sure that you are productive as possible so anything that will prevent you from accomplishing your goals, you need to get rid of them. If you only have a small amount of time to create content, it becomes more important that you remain focused. One way of doing this is to turn off anything that can distract you like your phone. Try to put it on silent and place it face down so you can focus on writing. Another way would be to set a place where you can work comfortably. It differs to everyone so whatever it is that is keeping you from achieving your blogging goals, make sure that you take care of it at once.

5. Break down your task.

You don’t have to accomplish big tasks all at once. Break them down and start small actionable steps. For instance, just create a blog structure for the day. On the next day, write at least 200 words and then edit some photos. Try to do small actions every day and at the end of the week, it won’t be as overwhelming.

 

At the end of the day, what keeps us consistent in blogging is when we find it fun and rewarding. So everything that you do, make it fun and rewarding! Consistency in blogging may sound like it is too much work but if you enjoy it, it won’t even matter since you will constantly do it.

How to find your niche?

Whether you are just starting out a new blog or probably already have one but doesn’t feel it, you need to evaluate yourself if you are really are blogging what you want. Thus, it is important to actually find your niche, it could be a hair dryer review website or simply a beauty niche. Knowing exactly what your niche is will help you stay in your lane and write things that you actually love. Creating something that is valuable to your audience can be quite a challenge considering the number of competitions that you have today. With so many people starting their own blogs nowadays, it is easy to get lost and become relevant to the thousands of personal brands that are in competition with each other every day.

The blogging world is so vast so it is important that you find where you belong. It is important that you know exactly your place so you won’t get lost and be easily intimidated by the number of things that could arise while you are blogging.

Thankfully, in today’s modern world, we are now equipped with enough knowledge and skills to not just create but most importantly, adapt and innovate to what the world needs. So in order to find what your niche is, you have to find what is something you are strongly passionate about that you are willing to consistently write about and share to the world. Moreover, it is not just about passion. You also need to have a purpose or a goal as that will be your guiding light so, in times when you don’t know what you are doing, you can always find your way back to whatever it is that motivated you to get started.

This post will help you through to finding a niche that is both profitable and you are passionate about.

1. Identify and evaluate what it really is you’re passionate and skillful about.

This may be the most cliché advice you will ever receive but it is also one of the most important. You have to be honest with yourself and know exactly what it is you are passionate about. But it does not end on passion alone. You have to consider other things such as if you are good at what you are passionate about. For instance, you may love portrait photography but may not be good at it. Passion alone is not enough to sustain a successful blog. You also need to have a level of skills and expertise to be able to do it right. So if your passion alone cannot sustain it, ask yourself, “What is it really I am good at?” You have to determine if what you want is feasible and not just a dream. But putting all those aside, you can always focus on what you really want, start from there, and develop an attitude of constantly improving your craft. Just remember to keep things real and see clearly where your passion and skills are going to take you.

2. Narrow down your talents and skills and go for something that you would pursue no matter what.

If you are the type of person who knows and can do a lot of things, you have to re-evaluate yourself and try to focus on one thing that you can sustain in the long run. Having so many things in mind can cause a lot of conflict on your part. Do not do something just because you feel like doing it. Make sure that what you are doing is something that you would pursue in the long run no matter what your situation you are in. What skills do you have that you can take with you in the future? What sort of things do you love that you will most probably still love in the future? List down all of talents and skills and rank them into which you enjoy the most to the least you will likely do. Once you have written down all of them, try to check the things that you can eliminate. Finally, rank everything again until you reach a certain point where you can now easily choose what you really want. When you find that niche, you can be assured that you will go for it no matter what because it is one you enjoy and one you are good at. That is one of the most important things that you have to consider.

3. Figure out if the niche you have considered is something that people are interested to know about.

It is not enough to love a particular niche. Otherwise, you won’t be blogging at all. Once you have decided to create a blog, you are not just creating content for yourself. You are also writing for other people so if you want to sustain a blog, you need to find out if the particular niche you have initially considered is something that you can market. It has to be something that people are interested to know about. Otherwise, your blog will remain a hobby and may not grow into a lucrative business. One way of doing this is to do prior research online on what people usually want to know about. You can use some basic keyword research and type in some keywords that are related to your niche. Check out how much is the monthly research volume, the level of competition, as well as other metrics. Knowing all this information prior will prepare and guide you to choosing what specific niche you want for your blog.

4. Find out if you have something different to offer to your audience compared to the rest of your competitors.

You can’t deny the fact that the world is already content-polluted today. Is your blog going to offer something new? Root out all your competitors and find if you can compete with all those well-known and ranking sites. You don’t have to be as popular as others but you gotta have something that is valuable for others. You have to make sure that you are offering a value-based content.

 

Source: Allison Lindstrom

One of the most important decisions you have to make in your blogging journey is choosing the right domain name for your blog. In order to generate positive results, you need to follow essential elements such as finding the right keywords, optimizing backlinks, and creating quality content. All of these are effective strategies to get your blog out in the world. However, if you forget to meet another important element, these strategies can easily crumble down. That is choosing the right domain name. Even if you have good and high-quality content with the right keywords, a huge amount of traffic will be affected if your readers will only be able to find you using certain keywords.

Choosing the right domain name that exactly describes what your blog is all about matters a lot. This is what users will use to identify your personal brand in a better way. It also helps in improving your blog’s visibility and authority in the blogging industry. Domain names have a huge impact on the World Wide Web in terms of search, social media results, click-through

rate, referring links, and more. Suffice it to say, your domain name impacts your online marketing and your brand in ways you just can’t afford to ignore.

So how do you choose a brand name and what is the best way to do it?

Here are ten tips for choosing the right domain name for your blog.

1. Make the name easy to spell and remember.

You need to make sure that your audience will easily remember your brand. For this reason, you need to choose a domain name that is catchy but easy to spell and associated to your blog. This way, your blog name stirs a sense of familiarity to your audience. Make it short and easy to remember. You don’t want a blog name that takes a lot of time to spell and remember. Avoid using unfamiliar words even if it is related to your blog. The simplest domain names are the ones that stand out and are most effective.

2. Include a keyword in your domain name.

Everything is all about improving your visibility in the World Wide Web today. That is why it is also important that you include a keyword in your domain name that basically describes what you are blogging about. For example, if you want to blog about recipes, including this specific word in your domain will greatly help your audience find your blog immediately. Users will be able to find you faster as well. This is an effective approach as it helps users get straight to your website since what they are looking for is already found in your domain name.

3. Avoid using domain names that have numbers and hyphens.

There are big brands out there that have numbers in their names but it is still highly advisable that you avoid including numbers in your domain names. Numbers and hyphens can tend to make a domain name less memorable and easy to spell so if you don’t want to ruin your domain name, it is best that you avoid it. It only makes users even more confused in remembering your domain name.

4. Make sure that it can be easily pronounced.

While you might think that this is not as important as it is, you must keep in mind that a domain name that is hard to pronounce is also not easily remembered. People will most likely to remember a brand if they can pronounce it with their minds.

5. Keep it short.

Nobody wants to search for a long domain name. It is confusing and takes a lot of time. The fewer characters the domain name has, the easier it is to remember it, share it, and also type it. Make it short and specific so it can easily be recognized and remembered. It is a win-win situation for both you and your readers.

6. Go with ‘.com’.

When it comes to choosing a domain extension, it is always a good idea to go with .com. It is the most commonly used and recognized so people will easily associate your blog with it. Use it to your advantage and create an easily recognizable brand with it. Compared to other domain extensions, your domain name will most likely stand out it if ends with a .com.

7. Make sure that your domain reflects exactly what you are blogging about.

When choosing a domain name, it should have a strong idea of what your website is all about. For example, if your domain is TinyHomesDesign.com, people will instantly have a notion that you are blogging about small house designs. People will instantly have an idea of what you are blogging about which is a greater chance of being recognized.

8. Avoid using domain names that could get you in trouble.

If you are still on the hunt for a domain name, make sure that you have done extensive research before buying it. You need to be careful that you are not using a similar one to other brands as you can be penalized with trademark infringement. Ask for a legal advice first as another company might take legal action against you. Moreover, this makes a lot of confusion to your audience which can make a huge effect on your brand’s authority.

9. Make sure that it is social media ready.

If your blog’s name is similar to your social media accounts, then it will be easier for you to market your blog on social media. It makes it a lot easier for users to find you whatever platform they go. Use a tool such as Namecheckr to see the availability of your domain name on social media.

10. Be creative about it.

Show your creative side in choosing your domain name. It is one of the most important elements when you are launching a blog so you have to make sure that it is a result of your creativity. It is totally up to you but you have to make sure that it reflects your blog’s content. What is important is that your audience can easily find you with that name.

One of the best ways to better Ways to Better Connect with Your Blog Readers is to create a deep connection. There are a lot of content in the world today and it becomes a lot harder to be relevant if you don’t have the right strategy. Engaging with your readers is one of the ways to grow a solid following and turn them into loyal fans. When you have loyal blog readers, you can be assured that someone out there is reading your new blog post, and if they enjoyed it, they will also share it with others. If you proactively engage with these people, they will also feel that you care for them and that you are giving value to their time. Active readership is extremely important to growing your blog.

Here are the 10 effective ways to better connect with your blog readers.

1. Know who your audience is.

The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you know who your audience is. When you know who they are, you will understand where they are coming from and what sort of stuff interests them. If you put yourself in their shoes, you will be able to come up with better and interesting ideas to blog about. For example, if you are writing for travelers who are into budget traveling, knowing what exactly they need for their travels will give you an insight for a better content in your blog. Give value to your blog readers and the first step to doing that is to know them.

2. Respond to comments both on your blog and social media.

Another good way to enhance yourself as an authority in your niche is to respond to your blog readers’ comments on both your blog and social media. When your blog readers ask you questions or leave a comment in your blog, make sure to respond accordingly. This will prove a point to your readers that you care what their thoughts are. Not responding to your reader’s comments can ultimately lead to losing your readership. To better connect and build a lasting bond with your audience, you must engage with them by responding to their comments.

3. Make use of humor and a strong emotion to your content.

People today check out blogs to be entertained or to gain knowledge. That being said; do not underestimate the power of humor and putting a strong emotion in your content. For example, you are more likely to build a strong relationship with your blog readers if you make them laugh, smile, or tug their hearts. This is the power of creating content that can drive someone’s emotion. These are things that people can relate and if you publish more content that people can relate in their day-to-day lives, you will be able to effectively connect with your audience.

4. Write a thought-provoking blog post.

One way to remain in a reader’s mind is to give them something that will make them remember or think of something. Writing a story that they will remember can spark an interest in their minds. Create a strong content such as a thought-provoking story that will make them think and perhaps, drive them to have discussions with their friends or family. Doing this will make your audience remember your content and you as the author.

5. Suggest an idea that will make their lives better.

We all go through something in life and if your blog readers get a message from you that will make their lives better, you can create a strong emotion for them. If you want to promote something such as simple living or minimalism, it’s ineffective to shove that idea to people’s throat and demand them to do it. You cannot change a person’s mind by forcing an idea to them. Rather, provide an idea or possible positive outcomes that will happen if they follow your suggestion or idea. This way, you have a great chance to connect with your blog readers and help them evaluate their decisions in life.

6. Make use of social media to entertain your readers.

Keeping your blog readers entertained is important so that you can better connect with them. Each social media platform has a specific strength to drive more people to see your personal brand. Without getting off topic, make use of your social media platforms to entertain your blog readers. Some few examples would be posting memes, interesting videos, beautiful photos, and more. People are generally attracted to graphics so if you can use it to lead your blog readers to your blog, then use social media to your advantage.

7. Conduct meetups and schedule a live event.

Meeting your blog readers personally is one of the most effective ways to connect with them and also gain more readers. You can go to blogging events where you can talk to your readers personally and market your blog to potential readers. You can also hold a workshop or a simple get together with your readers so you can answer their questions on a face-to-face level and also get to connect with them more personally.

8. Gain and keep their trust.

It’s easy to gain trust at the start, but if you want to connect with your blog readers, you have to make sure that you get to keep it. This means that you need to provide them with facts and important information that they actually need. For example, if your blog is all about travel guides, you have to make sure that you are giving them facts about destinations, tour rates, or contact information. Providing wrong information can tarnish your name which will lead to losing your readers’ trust.

9. Ask your blog readers some questions.

You will be able to know what your readers’ thoughts are if you proactively ask them a question. You can either run a survey or post a question on social media and collect their answers. After that, answer each question and acknowledge their questions in your blog. This way, you are giving them credit for their ideas.

10. Let your personality show in your blog and social media posts.

Your readers follow you because they see a person and if you don’t show who you are on your platform, you will most likely lose your readership. Nobody wants to read a content that looks presented by a robot. Add a personal touch and be real to your audience. Make sure to put your personality through your writing to better connect with your blog readers.

How to start a blog

Blogging has come a long way from being just a hobby to being one of the biggest industries in the world. It has become one of the most popular ways of spreading information, news, and communicating. There are millions of blogs online today and if you are interested, you can start one too. But before we get into that, there are important things that you need to keep in mind especially if you want to launch a successful blog. First, you have to be passionate about it and be consistent with it. Before even deciding to create one, ask yourself first on what your purpose is and why you want or why you see the need to start a blog.

If you are new to blogging, you need to be in the right frame of mind to do it since it can take a huge chunk of your time especially when you are conceptualizing ideas and then be putting it to writing. Blogging may sound like a no-brainer but it also takes hard work and dedication to be able to do it. More so if you have a full-time work at the same time. For this reason, you need to know how to manage your time and be passionate enough about blogging to be able to maintain it.

When you are determined to continue, here are the first steps that you need to do in order to start your own blog.

Choose Your Niche

Your niche is your area of concentration for your content. It has to be the main topic that you want to write about in your blog. After all, in order to stand out in the world of blogging, you need to have a specific area of concentration that people will be able to link to you. This way, your blog won’t have mixed topics that are not related to each other. The more concentrated your niche is the more chances of you being an authority of that specific niche.

There are a lot of niches that you can consider and each of them can also have sub-niches. It is up to you how you are going to put them on your blog. Some of the niches you can consider are Travel, Health and Fitness, Personal, Movies, Photography, Food, News and Events, Fashion, Automobile, Technology, Arts and Entertainment, Business and Finance. There are still a lot more you can choose from so make sure to do an extensive research prior to creating a blog.

Make sure that the niche you will be choosing is something you are passionate about. Doing so will help to blog much easier. If you love reviewing food, then the food niche is suitable for you. If you are always on the lookout for new gadgets and tech stuff, you can create an awesome technology blog for yourself. When you love what you are writing about, you won’t even notice the number of hours you have spent to create your content.

Choose the right blogging platform

A blogging platform is an application that one can use in order to publish, edit, and modify their content. In the simplest terms, it is basically the tool that you are going to use to publish your blog. Now, there are way too many blogging platforms to choose from and it is also crucial that you choose the best one that suits your blogging needs. Right now, three of the most popular content management system is WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr. These are free tools that you can use. Since you are just starting out with blogging, these are the best free blogging platforms that you can use to publish your blog. You don’t need to worry about the monthly dues that you have to pay. Rather, you just need to spend the time to create and get your ideas out there. All you need to do is sign up for a free account and from there; you can customize and post your content.

In the long run, if you want to improve your blog and you can shift to a premium option of these platforms. This will allow better customizing and modify your blog to however you want it to be.

 

Create original and creative content

The key to catching your reader’s attention is to create an engaging content that gives value to their lives whether it is for entertainment purposes or knowledge. In any way, it is important that you put your best effort in making the content as creative and unique as possible. In your blogging journey, there will be times when writing content is so easy, but there are also times when you just can’t think of anything. For this reason, it is important that you plan your content in advance to be consistent in posting. If you have saved topics, it will be a lot easier to write something about it.

There are other things that we have to attend every day so when you properly plan your content and utilize post-scheduling, you will not be pressured into always catching up your deadlines. It will also give a positive impact on your blog image.

 

Utilize social media sharing

Gone were the days when a blogging platform is enough. Today, if you want to reach more people, you need to utilize social media sharing. They are one of your keys to successful blogging. It has become a necessity today to create accounts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to market your blog posts. After all, everyone is now on social media. This will give others have the opportunity to read your content. In addition to that, social media allows people to share your content to their own networks as well.

 

Know your target audience

like any other business say an e-commerce business or online cosmetics shop you should know your target audience

It may not be easy when you are starting especially if you are still testing the waters. This may not be your priority as of the moment, but if you want to run a successful blogging career, it is important that you identify the demographics of your target audience. This way, it will give you an idea on what to improve and how to make your content even more engaging to your own audience.

Whatever your reasons are for starting a blog, the most important thing that you need to keep in mind is; if you want to blog successfully, do it passionately.