Being a blogger in your first year can be exciting, scary, hard, stressful or all of the above lol. When fashion blogging was still a relatively new thing, their weren’t very many forums to connect with other bloggers and get the much needed support that is a must in the first year. As this community has grown over the past few years, places like the Lucky Community Board and IFB have made it easy for bloggers to connect with other bloggers and for a first year blogger that’s so important! Lat week I told you that I had the amazing opportunity to chat with other first year bloggers and I wanted to share with you our conversation.
Alessa from CityStyleLife.com, Jasmine & Brandon from be the plebeian and Victor from Sucker’s Closet were all at the table with me and this is what they had to say about blogging in the first year!
1.What is the birth date of your blog?
A: Well its a little tricky. I initially started with another site name in July 2014 but felt it wasn’t write still. I came up with CityStyleLife.com in August and transferred all my posts over. August 2014 is what I’ll go with.
J & B: September 2014
V: May 11th 2014
2. Why did you start blogging?
A: I had been blogging here and there for about 4 years. Something would always come up and take me away from it. It started as a love for the entertainment and fashion industries but I ultimately decided that a lifestyle New York specific blog was for me and I’ve been blogging regularly every since. What famous bloggers say about finding your niche and then everything comes together? it’s absolutely true.
J & B: My boyfriend and I started blogging because we wanted a creative space outside of our stressful jobs to express ourselves. We also thought it would be a fun idea to work together on a project and this would be a unique way to document all of our adventures in travel and style together.
V: After I watched the TV show “Sex and City”, I was really envy how Carrie can share her stories or ideas through an amazing platform . However, in reality, I don’t have a newspaper column, so I started a blog as a place to express my creativity!
3. What is the hardest part about being a first year blogger?
A: learning that professional blogging is very different than casual. What I was doing before was half-assed and not great. Now…Now I’ve never been happier with the work I’ve produced in CSL’s first year. Also scheduling time to blog is harder now but keeping a calendar on my iPhone has been the perfect way to really hunker me down and get to writing.
J & B: The hardest part definitely has to be finding a routine and schedule that works for us where we’re not spending too much or too little time on the blog. We also find ourselves sometimes getting burnt out from a lack of ideas because we want to continually produce high quality content.
V: I think for me is the hardest part is to find time to create some really good quality contents. I am still a student, so balancing school works and blogging is a huge challenge for me.
4. What is the best part about being a first year blogger?
A: The fans. The people who email and tell me they love what i’m doing. I didn’t expect so much love so quickly and I’ve been so blessed. I’ve guest blogged on several sites now. All of my blog features get seen by many all over the world. I’ve even been mentoring a few bloggers who are starting out who chose me for guidance and help. It’s absolutely been so rewarding.
J & B: The best part about being a first year blogger is the newness of it all! It’s just so exciting “meeting” people that you wouldn’t other wise meet outside of the blogosphere. It’s also been such an amazing experience to be blogging together and seeing all of our work come to life. We also love having creative control on our content.
V: The best part is that I can finally have a platform to show my creativity to people around the world.
5. What is the one coolest thing you have done while blogging thus far?
A: My blogger features have to be the coolest. I have met some amazing people in writing my features for the site. Women of all ages who are so passionate about their love of blogging. I’ve featured fashion blogs and lifestyle blogs and it’s just amazing what I’ve learned about so many in such a short period of time.
J & B: We definitely love exploring the less traveled places, like the LA River. Having this blog really encourages us to get out of our introverted tendencies to stay indoors and explore our own backyard of Los Angeles.
V: The one cool thing I have done while blogging is that I can collaborate and be friends with people that I haven’t met before. I joined some blogging communities this year, I love the connection that I have with others.
6: Where do you see your blog in a year?
A: I hope it gets seen by more people! I mean every bloggers dream is to have the right people see their blog one day and perhaps have grander opportunity. I wish that for myself because I absolutely know I can do it. If you are that invested in something you can do anything to achieve it.
J & B: We definitely wanted to see our blog grow in numbers, but ultimately we just want to be better at our craft of photography and writing.
V: Honestly, I have no idea how my blog is going to be in a year. I will just make it go with the flow and see what happens.
It’s so cool to hear other first year blogging stories and know that I am not alone in my struggles and triumphs in this blogging world. Making connections in this community and having their support gives me the motivation to keep going!
Until next time Diary,
XOXO,
Minnie
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MINNIE ROSE 