More Tips for New Beauty Bloggers
F. recently wrote me for some advice on becoming a beauty editor. I responded, “You must start a beauty blog,” and we began a dialogue. Here are our latest emails:
Hello Nadine,
Thanks so much for responding to my email and for the advice. I have really been contemplating starting a beauty blog for awhile now and reading your email
has confirmed that it’s time. I had just a couple more questions that I wanted to ask you, if you don’t mind:I want my blog to be geared towards women of color because it can be extremely difficult to find cosmetics for deeper skin tones. I have started practicing writing posts on some products that I think would be wonderful, as well as a cheap-chic story for alternative drugstore products that are comparable to higher-end brands. One of my questions is how do you constantly get fresh content to write about? Whenever I read your blog you don’t just write reviews, you have tons of stories. It’s always exciting.
Also, how long should each post be? A paragraph? I tend to get a little bit keyboard happy and I know that readers shouldn’t read a book when they log onto my page.
Thank You
Thanks F, I appreciate it!
Producing fresh, regular, engaging content is the hardest part of being a daily blogger - sometimes you don’t feel motivated, can’t think of anything to write about, or are too busy with other projects to log on and be brilliant. It goes with the territory, and you have to get creative to remain inspired. Remember–if you’re starting a blog with the aim of making your mark in the industry, you must approach it as your job! Just as you wouldn’t show up to your 9 to 5 and say, “Yeeeeah…I don’t really feel like working today. I’m going to play on Facebook all day. Cool?”, you must be professional and diligent about your blog. To remain inspired, it helps to look at other blogs you admire, to stay abreast of celebrity trends and events, to scour the mags for interesting articles, and also to ask your own friends and readers what beauty issues they’re currently pondering.
Posts can be as long or as short as you want - there are SO many blogs now that every angle is represented. (I love your idea to focus yours on women of color. There are some excellent blogs out there geared toward women of color, but there is always room for another quality entry.) In general, I’d recommend keeping a blog post between 50 - 200 words, with one or two photos per post. Write straightforward titles that will help in SEO searches, label your photos well (ditto), and tighten up your voice. (Don’t forget to edit and proofread yourself!) Readers are coming to hear YOUR angle, so don’t worry about copying others or mimicking tone. Let your own unique perspective and voice shine!
Good luck, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with! xo
You might also enjoy:
Eight Steps for Creating Your Own Blog
How to Break into the Beauty Industry
Track Down Press Releases with BeautyPress.com
Even More Tips for New Bloggers
Tags: beauty blogging tips, how to break into the beauty industry, how to start a beauty blog
November 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Nadine, it’s so heartening to see one beauty blogger supporting another! Great advice.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Nadine, it’s so nice of you to take the time to help out a new blogger. It’s definitely not easy when you’re new at it and I was kind of surprised at how a lot of other bloggers won’t even take the time to write you back or answer a question or two.
You’ve set a great example, and I hope that one day, my co-publisher and I will be able to do the same for new bloggers.
Terrific advice, BTW. You make some very good points.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Such a wealth of information lots of great suggestions, thank you!