Tag: Tips
Today’s post comes from Victoria, who wants to give you a few tips on how to take better care of your hair!
I’ve gathered five professional hair care tips that may surprise you. Interesting tricks that will make your hair stay clean for several days and voluminous blow outs that last a long time. Read this article and find out something new! Continue reading “5 Hair Care Tips You Probably Didn’t Know About”
Christmas is now officially less than two weeks away. Christmas lights are covering near every home, festive music is streaming out of every high street shops, and kids are counting down the sleeps till the big day. And then there are the adults. Those who have lost the unconditional love for Christmas, struggling to recapture that festive feeling of childhood. If you’re one of those adults, here are 5 Tips on How To Enjoy Christmas as an Adult!
Continue reading “5 Tips on How To Enjoy Christmas as an Adult”
Bringing a form of ID (passport and/or driving licence) is a must. Signing a lease, opening a bank account, signing up for healthcare, or heading out to pubs and clubs will require a proof of identity or age.
Additionally, make sure to scan your passport (just in case) and grab an official letter as proof of address. While you’re at it, get some passport photos as you’ll need them for your uni ID card.
Whether you’re commuting to university on a daily basis or simply planning to visit back home, a railcard will make your travels a whole lot more affordable. Train tickets in the UK are extremely overpriced and the costs of travelling will add up to a pretty penny.
As a student, you can pay a one-off payment of £30 and get 1/3 off your tickets for a year (or pay £70 for 3 years). It’s a very worthwhile investment that will pay off within a few trips. Just pay close attention to the T&C – short journeys aren’t covered before 9am, so your card will be completely useless and you’ll have to pay full price!
Every module description you read will mention a core textbook used throughout the module, but it does not mean that you need to buy it. You’ll often find that the lectures themselves are based on the core textbook and the lecturer advises reading additional material as opposed to the core textbook.
If not, the uni library tends to have enough copies for the quicker students; just don’t leave it to the week of the assignments – everybody wants them that week! Also, be sure to check the notice boards throughout the building – they’re just bursting with ads from previous students trying to get rid of their copies for a fraction of the price they paid!
If you’re staying in university residence then you need to be prepared for a relatively small room with very little storage space. Of course, some halls also offer double rooms for those of you that simply have to bring your whole collection of books, cushions, and collectables… But that comes with a bigger price tag!
Ideally you should manage to fit your things into 2 large suitcases. This includes the necessary clothes, bedding, and a little something to make your room more comfortable and homey. If you’re moving to a clinically white room, a colourful comforter, photos or a poster will go a long way to making your room more comfortable.
High school notes and essays are probably the one thing that every student brings to university, only to find that they were completely useless and unnecessary.
University is different from high school. For the most part, you’ll see no real connection between the material you cover here and what you did in school; and when you do, you’ll realise that your old notes are not to uni standard anyway. So don’t waste your precious storage space or your time looking for answers that can be easily found elsewhere.
If you want to capture your audience’s attention, run-of-the-mill tweets saying “read my latest post” are simply not going to cut it – at least not until you have a vast and loyal readership that want to keep up-to-date with your content. “Read my latest post” is simply not an inviting phrase that would attract new readers – especially if you don’t even mention what your post is about.
So instead of tweeting “Hey, read my latest post on xyz” why not try a more provoking “X things you didn’t know about xyz” or “things you should know about xyz before you purchase it!” These tweets tell your audience that you’re not just fishing for views – they will get something out of reading your post too.
In order to have the most success at attracting new readers, you will have to advertise the same post more than once a day and ascertain that your tweet has the chance to be seen by everyone, including those who live in different time zones.
You should however, keep in mind that these tweets will remain on your profile for all to see, and a profile spammed by the same tweet is not going to do well to attract new followers. So every time you promote a blog post, find a different way to introduce it: describe what your post is about; ask a question that your post will answer; quote a part of your post. Then, alternate between these tweets.
Publishing a new post is exciting and it’s only normal to want the whole world to see it, but keep in mind your current followers. Trying to appeal to new readers is all fine and well but remember that your current audience would not want to be spammed by the same tweet 20 times a day, so find the balance between promotion and regular tweets, as well as promoting some of your older posts or your blog as a whole, for variation.
Yes I’m aware that an image takes up 23 characters of your already very limited space for expressing yourself. But you know what? When your whole dashboard is full of text that changes every minute, it’s an image that will make you stop and read the tweet. It’s the image that will catch your readers’ attention amongst the sea of writing, cause them to pause, and hopefully click the link. A picture’s worth a thousand words, and you only need 23 characters.
@LovingBlogs, @blogginggals, @FemaleBloggerRT, @UKBlog_RT, @UKBloggers1, @TheBloggersPost, @RT_Bloggers, & @BBlogRT (for beauty related posts). I use at least 2 of these in every promotional tweet.
Twitter is probably the most fast-paced environment on the internet; one second your tweet is there, and the next it’s buried under a 100 new tweets. It’s old news. Worse yet, it’s no news. With the tweets rolling in at a 100 posts a minute, it’s far too easy for your tweet to get lost amongst the sea of others and get overlooked.
That’s why you have to be active and persistent, making sure that if one tweet was overlooked, the next one will be noticed. And don’t forget to appeal to the audience from across the globe and schedule tweets for when you’re out or asleep.
Regardless of whether you’re online or not, your earlier activities and scheduled posts will be bringing people by your profile throughout the day, curious about who you are and what you do. So why not leave them a link to your blog so they can learn about you and decide whether or not they’re interested in what you have to say?
While (semi)professional cameras are not necessarily the only way to shoot decent photos, they do offer more flexibility, customisation and higher quality results. If you’re looking to buy a semi-professional camera, I would strongly recommend the Panasonic Lumix G5 or any of the other Panasonic Compact Cameras.
I’ve had my G5 for just over a year now and I’m gonna be honest, I’ve only just now begun to experiment and learn more about it. Up till now it was a point & click operation, with some hoping and praying for a good result. But whether you use a smartphone or a semi-professional camera, you have to know how to work it before you can achieve the best results. So go and dig up your camera manuals, watch some YouTube videos, and break away from only using the pre-set options.
No matter what the subject of your photo, you should always choose a simple, uncluttered background that will help your object stand out to the viewer and not attract attention to the background of the photograph thus distracting from the focus of your shot. To achieve this, it is best to use single colour backgrounds or very soft patterns that do not draw unwanted attention. To make the process easier you could buy a light box
I’m sure you’ve heard that when it comes to quality photos, lighting is key. Well, it’s true. Dark photos which vaguely display the object’s silhouette without showing its key features are next to useless for your readers. Truth is, if you’re reviewing an item that could be bought in stores, the readers can just as easily look the image up on the internet. So why have it on your blog? Visual aesthetic. And badly lit photos are not at all aesthetically pleasing.
Most bloggers would swear by natural lighting and recommend nothing else, but if you live in the north of UK or some other perpetually overcast country, you may realise that natural light is simply not enough. In some cases, a room light will do the trick, while others you may require a video or studio light. I have a simple LED light
Remember when I said that blog pictures are mainly there for visual aesthetic? That means you should try to make every image as interesting and attractive as possible to appeal to your readers. One way to do this is to try out different angles and perspectives of the same object. Try taking photos straight-on, from ground level, or from up top is a good place to start. Same object can look extremely different from a different angle, so find the perfect sweet-spot of your object.
Nothing says professional like a close-up with a blurred background (a.k.a macro picture). And when it comes to the blogosphere, we eat them up like candy. Lowering the aperture setting (f) of your camera will help to create a better distinction between your object and the background. Lower aperture = blurrier background.
For even more definition to your close-up object, you could get a macro close-up lens
Editing your photos (whether you’re using filters or simply adjusting the brightness & contrast) is a quick and simple procedure that can have significant results. Next time you take a photo, try adjusting the white balance, sharpness, and brightness & contrast to improve your image. If you don’t have a photo editing program, here’s a list of blogger resources including some great photo editing websites. You can also see my step-by-step photo editing process here.
Simply put, more snapshots means more choice. Your friends and family will most likely throw suspicious glances in your direction as you proceed to take 30 shots that seem to be identical, but don’t be put off; allow yourself the luxury of selecting a photo rather than being stuck with the only one you have. Remember that a slight change of perspective or a brighter light can mean the difference between an average photo and the perfect snapshot.
Blogging is an art. And much like with art, you have the choice to paint with your fingers or use all of the paintbrushes in front of you. So here’s my list of 35 resources that will make you a better blogger (but will probably not help with the painting). Let me know in the comments if you already use some of these!
Continue reading “35 Resources That Will Make You a Better Blogger”
1. Social media is the biggest and baddest wolf in town, so it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time getting to know the most popular sites and set them up to work in your favour! Twitter and Pinterest are some of the highest traffic source sites for bloggers and should therefore be at the top of your interest list. Craft witty tweets and attractive photos to pin, but be sure to keep in mind the peak sharing times of each platform for best results (check out this post for the best sharing times of each platform).
2. Interact with the blogging community and develop real connections and friendships with fellow bloggers. Read and comment on their blog posts regularly and try to appear on their blog as a guest poster. Not only will they appreciate some new and different content, but you should also be able to snag a couple of new readers. It’s a win-win for all.
» You can also retweet or pin their new blog posts for better exposure which is sure to win you some brownie points or a favour in return. Promoting your own blog is good, but it’s even more valuable coming from someone else.
3. Join Bloglovin’. WordPress and Blogger are probably the two biggest blogging platforms that we use, but they’re so different that simply following a blog from a different platform can be a difficult ordeal. And if it’s difficult, the reader won’t bother. Making your blog available on bloglovin’ assures that readers can follow your blog instantly without having to look around for a follow button that may or may not be available on your blog AND it keeps their feed updated with your latest posts. Exposure to the full.
» Readers can also “save” your blog post, thus sharing it with their own followers.
4. Make links between your posts and in doing so you will achieve two things: first, you will undoubtedly increase your post exposure as a reader will be interested to read more about a certain point that is linked within the current blog post. Secondly, by making links to your previous posts you will increase your blog’s chances of appearing higher in the Google search (thus bringing more readers) as Google will recognise that your links are well established within the web and appear more often than those of bloggers who do not link back to related posts.
» Linking the related post within a different post informs the reader of the existence of this information AND makes it quick and easy to access via 1 click, rather than searching through your archives.
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1. CAPTIVATING TITLE
Your post title is the first thing to appear in any link or search, and it is therefore your first and possibly only chance to make an impression and convince the reader to give your post a chance. If you fail to capture the reader’s interest with the title, any effort you put into the rest of the post will have probably been wasted. So instead of calling your post “My blogging routine” why not describe it as “5 ways to improve your blog”? Not only will the use of numerals and lists indicate a helpful and easy to read post, but shifting the focus away from ‘your’ blogging routine and offering tips to help your readers will attract much more attention.
2. HOOK SENTENCE
Getting readers to click your link is half the battle; the other half is getting them to stay. In order for you to achieve this, you must have your reader hooked within the first few sentences of your post – that’s where the hook sentence(s) comes in. This can be an interesting statement, statistic or fact that relates to the rest of your post; it can also be a relatable statement or question that will capture your reader’s attention and promise to solve their problem. It may also be a good idea to include your keywords within these first few sentences to improve your SEO!
3. ENTICING IMAGE
Fellow bloggers and other readers alike are very visual creatures and a bad image may often be a deal-breaker that will make you lose out on loyal readership. Ensure to use medium/high quality pictures that span across the width of your post or follow a Pinterest format. If you’re reviewing an item, make sure to take well-lit photos from different angles, showing off all product features or functions. Otherwise, you may choose to use free stock photos from such websites as Pexels or Unsplash.
4. GOOD STRUCTURE
There is probably nothing worse than a badly structured post with no punctuation or paragraphs. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, wants to read a 1,000 word post that appears to be a single paragraph with no structure, subheadings, or bullet points. It’s tiring. Instead, make sure to form proper sentences and group similar ideas under the same paragraph or subheading. Use lists whenever possible as they attract the reader’s attention, convey your point easily, and save time for yourself and your reader.
5. VALUE
The majority of us don’t write a blog post for the sake of writing – we want our content to have value. So we write to share, help, or inspire. Every blog post you create should hold some sort of value to yourself, your readers, or preferably both. Just remember that ‘value’ can refer to more than “how to” posts – your post will have value as long as it is interesting, entertaining, or educational to the reader.
BROWSE
The best and easiest quick-fix for finding inspiration is to browse through different types of online and offline media. News articles, magazines, and my personal favourite – Pinterest. The internet is full of crazy, wonderful, and downright weird things that are just waiting to be written about! Maybe you’ll find an article you don’t agree with; find an interesting fact; or maybe you’ll come across an image or a quote that instantly inspires and motivates you. It’s all just sitting there, waiting for you.
ASK FOR HELP
Nobody is inspired 24/7 and we all understand the stress and pressure of the fast approaching deadline. So let us help. Log on to Twitter and ask your lovely followers (or bloggers using an appropriate hashtag like #BloggersWanted or #AskABlogger) for ideas, inspiration, or tips.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Join in with the frequent Twitter chats to find bloggers of a similar mindset or writing style, as well as to engage with the community and discuss the current blogosphere topics. The hour-long Twitter chats pass in an instant, but they leave you feeling refreshed and more in-touch with your inner blogger.
READ OTHER BLOGS
There is probably nothing more inspiring than reading a blog post that is overflowing with genuine happiness and excitement, and these are the bloggers you should be following and checking up on in your time of need. Every post that they pour their heart into will rub off on you, bringing happiness, motivation and inspiration into your day. Then you can write your own post and inspire someone else.
MAKE NOTES
My phone is overflowing with random notes, quotes, or conversation exerts that I consider to be of some sort of value. Whenever I’m down, bored or uninspired, I look through them for inspiration. Worst case scenario: no blog post ideas come to mind, but I surely make myself feel better!
CREATE AN INSPIRING PLAYLIST
I’ve previously written about the importance of a Blogging Playlist and would recommend everyone to create one for motivation, inspiration, or for getting into a blogging mode. Theoretically speaking, classical or instrumental music should create an inspiring atmosphere. But fear not if that isn’t exactly your cup of tea – songs with meaningful lyrics will also do the trick!
ENJOY LIFE
As I mentioned in my How To Blog series post, blogging is best done in addition to living your life – not instead of it. In order to be genuinely inspired and creative, you have to be exposed to life’s adventures; see and talk to interesting people; or witness something that is just a bit out of the ordinary. Inspiration does not come from staring at the same four walls every day.
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