Happy hump day, chickens!
It’s been a while since I’ve done an Ask Me Anything post. It’s when I open the floor to you, when you can ask me, well, anything! Let’s have a virtual cuppa and have a chat, shall we?
Do you have any questions, beauty or related to blogging? Even if you don’t, feel free to drop in and say hi. Tell me about the latest movie you’ve watched (mine was Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. Watched it on IMAX. Fantastic movie, by the way). Tell me what you’ve bought lately (I bought two pairs of sterling silver earrings online, total cost $9. Score!). Have a problem you can’t seem to solve? A problem shared is a problem halved. You get the picture 🙂
If you have any blogging-related questions, do let me know. It will help me a lot in writing my Bloggie Wednesday posts.
My cuppa tea is ready and waiting for you 😀
I’ve a question! Does blogging everyday burn you out and how to do keep going?
Beauty Box recently posted..My New Foundation Routine
Thanks for your question, Yu Ming 🙂
Yes it can and it does. Sometimes my brain would be bursting with ideas, usually just before I sleep, and unless I write them all down, they’re like voices in my head that wouldn’t shut up. On the other hand, when I don’t have any ideas at all but still want to keep to a daily schedule, it can give me headaches at times.
Which is why, even though I can blog daily (as in blog and publish every single day), I try not. I set aside a day (usually Mondays), write and schedule all posts so that I have time to do other things. When I don’t have enough topics to write about, I schedule at least 2 posts, which means it gives me two days to come up with something to write. I don’t give myself the pressure of needing to blog today, or needing to blog tomorrow.
And even if I end up not having anything to write about, oh well, skip one day and move on. Or take a short break and recharge those blogging batteries by reading, going out, looking and talking to people. I gain inspiration that way 🙂
What about you? Do you feel the pressure of needing to blog daily?
I have been toying with the idea of blogging daily because I actually love it when my favourite bloggers do that. It’s like a slice of daily beauty candy in my RSS. But I’m way too scared to do that. I would like for each post to count for something and not have too many “filler” posts but I think even the best bloggers do that and not everyone needs a heavy read everyday.
I try to blog three times a week and sometimes I am brimming with ideas but sometimes I’m as dry as a desert. Though after reading your reply, I think I put too much pressure on myself to keep to a fixed schedule. I actually felt so burned out a month ago that I just had to take a 2 week break.
Beauty Box recently posted..My New Foundation Routine
At the end of the day, I think quality posts trump quantity posts any time. Plus it gets difficult as time goes by when ideas do run out and you get stressed about it, etc etc.
What works for me is writing all these ideas down. Whenever I get hit with an idea, whether I’m in the shower, the loo, eating, etc, I either write them down, or do a voice memo to myself using my phone. It doesn’t have to even be coherent sentences; just whatever’s in your head, write them down in point form or record your voice. When I get the time, I’ll replay the voice memos and write them in my Blog Drafts document. Whether you use these ideas or not for your blog, you can decide later 🙂
Hey I c u wear tighty whities! Do u mind if guys wear the too? Would u date a tighty whitey wearer?
LMAO!!!!
ponikuta recently posted..Giveaway: shu uemura Ultime8 Cleansing Oil
Erm, yes?
Question! What are some of the things you felt you did right and wrong when you started out as a beauty blogger? And things you wish you had done 🙂 thanks in advance!
Missy Lois recently posted..Marshmallow Wonder: Bioré Marshmallow Whip Face Wash
Ahh good question! Just off the top of my head,
What I did wrong: Not replying comments. If you happen to read the archives of my blog, you’ll notice that sometimes from 2007 to 2010, I hardly ever reply to comments. It really was just pure laziness on my part. I addressed the questions directly by emailing the commenter. Other than that, nope, no replies.
When I stumbled upon a Wordpress plugin called ReplyMe (it’s a plugin that essentially emails the commenter when the blogger has replied his/her comment. Just like you’d get an email when I reply to this comment), I decided to try it out. It made such a huge difference. I get more comments than I did before because people know I’m finally connecting with them. Before then, I could have replied or not, but unless you came back here to check, you wouldn’t know. And really, who has the time to check back every blog you comment for replies?
What I did right: When I started out as a beauty blogger, I bought my own stuff. We didn’t have brands sending us stuff to review back then (not in Malaysia anyway, which was where I started blogging). I reviewed what I had, what I was using, and if I wanted to review something, I purchased the item myself. These days, one can get products to review even when just blogging one month in. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I think it gives new bloggers more credibility if you start off with your own stuff first. Then slowly reach out to brands.
What I wish I had done: Get to know other bloggers sooner. Blogging can be quite lonely; it’s just one person behind the monitor. There was a point in 2010 that I just wanted to give it up altogether. I had no inspiration to write and nobody to share my passion with in person. Soon after, I had an amazing opportunity to meet with a number of beauty bloggers in Melbourne, that to be honest, I didn’t even know exist! Getting to know them gave me more inspiration to write. It made me want to keep blogging and not throw in the towel so soon.
Woah … that’s a long reply 😛
Wow, thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I never knew about such a plugin, I’ll go have a look to see if there’s something like that on blogger. One of the reasons why I love reading your blog is because of the replies I get, makes me feel so much better as a reader 🙂 I would love to get to know bloggers in my area though I’m at a loss on how to go about doing that. Glad you decided you continue!
missylois recently posted..Marshmallow Wonder: Bioré Marshmallow Whip Face Wash
Thanks for the advice, Tine. Will try harder to “catch” ideas to keep the posts rolling…
Beauty Box recently posted..Lancome La Maison Palette FOTD
My pleasure, Yu Ming 🙂
Hi Tine!
Whats your advice for including personal things about your life in a niche blog like us beauty bloggers? There’s alot of things I’d love to share (eventually), but what do you think is a good balance between your usual content, and something that is waaay off topic?
I’ve been debating with myself over how I will include things that are totally unrelated to the blog, draw interest, and not loose current readers. I suppose that are fans of my blog will be happy to read more personal things about me, but the fear is still there 🙂
Kaye recently posted..Im Now On Instagram, Come For A Visit And Share Yours!
Kaye: Ahh good question Kaye. I think it’s fine to include personal things in your life every once in a while. It helps the readers to get to know you better. For example, the very popular beauty blogger, Temptalia. She mainly blogs about makeup reviews, but every now and then, she talks about her partner and her very cute dog. It’s a break from the routine, and I think her readers appreciate it (I certainly enjoy pictures of her gorgeous Labrador, that’s for sure!).
A good idea is to maybe set aside a day a week to blog personal stuff. For example, set aside Saturday or Sunday for something that’s not beauty-related. Talk about yourself, your family, what you did in the weekend, etc. Weekends are usually more relaxed; traffic don’t come in quite as much compared to the weekdays (this is what I’ve noticed, not just on my blog, but for many other bloggers as well). Test the waters, and blog personal stuff then. Make every Saturday/Sunday not beauty-related. Your readers may or may not like it. You’ll notice from your traffic and comments. If it works, huzzah! If it doesn’t, oh well, you don’t lose much 🙂
Fantastic advice! You are awesome 🙂
I really like your idea of making the weekend ‘those’ days, it makes a lot of sense and I will definitely be taking that up in the future. It can give the readers something they know is coming…
I’ve been a huge fan of Temptalia forever! Although, in recent times I havent had the chance to visit (sadly, as with most of my original fave bloggers) as I dont have the time anymore. I had no idea she did personal posts! So there you go, learn something new every day 🙂
Thanks so much Tine!
Kaye recently posted..Thursday Mani: Chanel Rose Satin
Hi Tine, Do you blog about products you don’t like when they are PR samples, or do you chose to not write about them.
I had a look for ReplyMe and could not find it in the WP plugins 🙁 I’ll keep looking though.
Karyn recently posted..‘So Pretty’ Shower Caps & Giveaway
Karyn: Good question. It depends. If I’m meh about the product (nothing bad about the product, but I just don’t like it that much), I usually don’t blog about them. If the product breaks me out, or doesn’t do as it says, yes I do blog about it. Me being meh about a product is a personal preference; when the product affects my skin in a negative way or it doesn’t do as it’s supposed to, then I think my readers should know about it, just in case it happens to them too.
As for the ReplyMe plugin, here it is: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/replyme/. Hope it helps for you. I’ve not had any problems with it so far. I find that it brings readers back to your website 🙂
Thanks Tine! I tried the link but couldn’t get it to work, but I think I have found a similar plugin and downloaded it.
I’m the same with average products, but if something really stinks I feel the need to warn people!
The link still doesn’t work? Drats that’s strange. Then again, apparently the plugin hasn’t been updated in a long time, maybe that’s why. I don’t have any problems with it, thank goodness (fingers crossed). Glad to know you found something similar 🙂
My question is: how do you create the banner images for Bloggie Wednesdays?
Yishan recently posted..BEAUTYCYCLE Lasting Lip Colour – Orchid, Coral Reef, Cranberry
Yishan: For the illustrations, I look for stock images. Best if I can get them for free, if not, I’ll have to buy them (I received free credits for iStockPhoto from a friend some time ago, who’s also an illustrator). I’m trying to use more of my own photos for the banners now, to save on money and also to avoid copyright infringement. As for creating them, I use Photoshop.