It’s been such a long time since I posted anything about blogging that I thought this excerpt of an e-mail exchange with reader Juli might be interesting to someone trying to build an existing blog or thinking about starting one soon (any kind of blog; not necessarily one about makeup and beauty). 🙂
A lot of people out there know much more about blogging than I do, so please take my responses with a grain of salt. If you find this helpful, I’ll try to post similar things like it more often. Just let me know.
And if you do have a blog, please include a link to it in your comment. I’d love to check it out. Let me know what prompted you to start your blog and what it’s all about.
JULI: I know time is one factor, and since 2007, you’ve had plenty of good quality posts, but what other methods do you use to get traffic [to Makeup and Beauty Blog] and rank so high in Google?
KAREN: Well, thank you for saying that about my posts, but time is a major factor, actually. I spend at least 60 hours/week blogging and have for some years. A lot of it is attention to detail. If it takes an extra two hours to retake a batch of pictures that didn’t turn out quite right, I’ll take them because, like everyone else, I appreciate sharp, vibrant pictures when I browse the web. Early, when I started the blog, I also read a number of e-books about search engine optimization (here’s a great source on the subject) and implemented the lessons from there about post titles and page design. One obvious factor that helps is having a domain name that includes your keywords in it, in my case www.makeupandbeautyblog.com. But that’s only one factor.
JULI: How did you let the world know about your blog? I know one good method is writing guest posts.
KAREN: Wow! Brace yourself for a long answer, but a lot of it just took time. I attended industry events, had business cards made, had t-shirts made that I would wear to events, emailed hundreds of companies, telephoned PR people, wrote guest posts, wrote and published press releases (I recommend prweb and prleap), took classes on writing, took classes on photography, took classes on Photoshop (I highly recommend the video tutorials on lynda.com), read books on HTML and CSS, did some freelance writing for magazines to hone my craft — all while continuing to write 1-5 posts/day. I think it also helped that when I started in beauty blogging, it was a less competitive time, and I had a loving partner in El Hub whose day job allowed me to take some risks I may not otherwise have been able to take (like quitting my day job to blog full time).
I think it’s important to remember, though, that I didn’t do everything at once. I’m always learning, but I love blogging and helping and entertaining people. Because it’s like magic to brighten someone’s day, that drives me to do it and get better along the way.
JULI: When I read blogs talking about being invited to this event, that party, I too want to be part of those. How should I invite myself to these events?
KAREN: Well, it’s not that easy. Many of my relationships took a long time to cultivate, and now I’m friends with people in and around the industry. I’ve taken a lot of different people to lunch and coffee to discuss projects and to just get to know them as people. Sorry to say, but there’s really no shortcut to networking.
JULI: I’m sure there are times when you get tired of this business, so how do you motivate yourself to carry on?
KAREN: The business side is one thing, and all businesses get annoying and tiring at times, but I think if you just focus on your readers, your passions and your craft, always remembering that no one ever owes you their time, it’s incredibly fulfilling.
If you’re interested, here are a few more posts about blogging…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. As always, thank you for visiting Makeup and Beauty Blog. I hope you’re having a good weekend so far. I just got back from a quick dip in the pool, and now I’m off to get a burrito. Today, as they say, I’m living la vida loca!
Great advice Karen. Honestly your blog was inspiration for me to get more creative with mine. Your posts are always original and well thought and always got such cool pics. Thank you for this knowledge and thanks for that photoshp LINK!!! Hugs,
Aw, that makes me very happy to hear! 🙂 Trying to be creative makes me feel better about myself, and about everything, really. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s worth it for the times when it does. Enjoy the rest of your day.
I love your blog!
Hi, Victoria. I love your blog’s template! Very uncluttered and clean with great negative space. I also really like the width of the main column and the thumbnails in the right sidebar under Random Articles. That’s very cool. 🙂
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
I have a nail blog, and I believe that polish should speak fo ritself, it is a necessity to have clear, sharp, color-accurate pictures!
I would be honored if you could take a look:
http://chromaticmisadventures.blogspot.com/
Hi Claudia,
I love your pictures! Looks like you’re workin’ that macro mode really well, and I like the consistent structure of the nail swatches with the three images blocked together. The thing about consistency like that is that it becomes cooler the longer you do it.
Keep up the good work!
I love your blog! 🙂
I don’t blog but this is a nice article I appreciate your blog and news an pictures about tabs, am also an animal lover
Hi, Andrea. A fellow animal lover, yea! If you could be any animal in the world, what would it be? For me I’m thinking dolphin (or cat, of course).
Hope you’re having a great weekend.
I think I would also a cat or a bird. Cause they know how defend them selves and Birds for their freedom.
My weekend was good had a beach day today 🙂
This was really interesting to read Karen! And it makes me realize that I don’t want to make my blog into a business! Haha! Right now my blog is my hobby, I do it because it’s fun and I enjoy interacting with other bloggers and people who read my blog. I’m afraid if I start treating it more like a business it will feel like a chore and I won’t enjoy it anymore.
I admire you so much Karen for single-handedly building this blog up to where it is now. You work so hard at it and it’s obvious to everyone who reads your blog. It’s your passion (and your sense of humor, and thorough reviews, and great pictures, and Tabs!) that keeps us coming back!
Hi, Jessi. LOL! You make an excellent point there. Sometimes I can’t remember how or why MBB changed from a pure hobby to a hobby/career, but one thing’s for sure, I spent a lot more time doing things away from computers back when it was just a hobby.
Luckily, I still really enjoy blogging, but I do get tired from time to time. Maybe it’s just my nature to take something I enjoy and, for lack of a better word, obsess. Hence my addiction to makeup. 🙂
Thank you, Karen! I found your tips to be helpful and aspiring. I’m going to bookmark this for future reference too!
Hi, Jenn. I’m glad you liked them. You have a great weekend (and I love the eye closeups on your blog, BTW).
I’ve always loved your blog… yours was the very first blog I ever read and it’s one that I visit multiple times a day. Thanks for always looking for ways to entertain 🙂
Hi, Jill. I appreciate that. 🙂 Congratulations on recently celebrating your blog’s one-year anniversary, and have a happy Fourth! Tabs says hi.
Karen, this was an awesome post. I appreciate you writing this because as I try and take my blog to another level or better yet broaden my audience there are a lot of areas I need to work on like SEO and photoshop/photography. Thanks especially for sharing the lynda link. I seriously need photoshop help 🙂
Hi, Nikkia. I’m glad you liked it. I hope you’re having a great weekend so far.
Thanks for sharing Karen! You introduced me to the world of blogging about 2 years ago. I remember searching for something and finding your blog- I really had no idea that such blogs existed. That night I literally stayed up all night reading through every single post you ever made! It was a long night 🙂
Since then I’ve been blogging as well, and this past January I started taking a new risk too, similar to the one you did, but I wanted to do something different in the blogging world. I created BEAUTEZINE.com, which I like to call a “blogazine”… It’s basically a beauty blog that publishes magazine articles and a monthly online magazine too! I love beauty mags… So my idea was to combine the two worlds! It’s been fantastic so far and I’ve got a lot of great feedback- but I’d never be where I am without this blog, so thank you infinitely for all your hard work, wisdom and dedication 🙂
Hi, Jessica. What a great idea to combine magazines and beauty blogs. I can really see it in your site’s design. Keep up the good work.
Funny you should mention magazines because I’ve also tried to approach my posts in the way of looking at them as magazine articles, as opposed to journal entries. Like you I love the glossies, and so I’ve tried to take a similar writing approach, not necessarily in the layout of the blog, but in the content.
I loved this post, your blog was the one that made me want to start. I was so nervous to try, but i love it now! sucha fun hobby. Thanks for the tips please check out my blog!
polishedfromheadtotoe.blogspot.com 🙂
Hi, Stephanie. That’s so cool! I wish you the best luck with your blog. I like the template you chose. The background flower pattern is very eye catching.
Karen, you are awesome! I love your blog and I notice the love and dedication that you have for it 🙂
Hi, Lacey. Thank you for visiting MBB. Good job by including different series posts on your blog. I’m a big fan of series and list posts and follow them on other blogs myself. Good luck with your blog!
Fantastic post, thank you! Would love to read more advice from you, it’s very helpful and a great way to see just how much work goes behind the posts we read daily!
Thank you, Advah. 🙂 I’ll try to post things like this more often.
Interesting behind the scenes info-I think one of the reasons I enjoy your blog so much is that it’s so professionally done. And you’re obviously a professional at this! Thanks for all your effort in doing something I enjoy reading every day 🙂
Hi, VictoriaJane. Glad you enjoyed this. Tabs and I enjoy blogging so it’s a win-win! What are your plans for the 4th of July?
ty for the post! I’m always interested on how the bigger blogs got started and how they’re maintained!!
If you have time, check mine out, lmk if you have any suggestions 😉
http://blushingnoir.blogspot.com/
Hi, Brooke! I really like your blog’s layout, and that header image at the top is great. Keep up the good work with your photos, too. They’re crisp and bright. It really looks like you know what you’re doing.
I can’t really think of anything to suggest because I like what you’re doing. Maybe you could put a little more of yourself out there, more personal tidbits about yourself, maybe some additional personal photography, either more pictures of yourself or your other interests or hobbies within your posts.
Thanks for visiting, Brooke. 🙂 Have a happy 4th!
I actually started a blog in January after several months of reading yours everyday. I had had a very long, hard time finding a job after moving to a new state, fell into an obsession with finding foundation, and just decided that I had to tell people what I knew (and what I thought) of products I used. I even attempted a guest post for MBB, but I got so impatient (and had run out of products at the time) that I didn’t even wait for you to post it. For that, I am sorry, but I have been trying to think of a product I have that may be good for another guest post! Any suggestions?
Hi, AnieJ. Gah! The seemingly never-ending quest for foundation. I feel your pain!
Your blog is awesome, Karen! I check it everyday and I make my husband look at all the Tabs pictures! Thanks for putting in all the time and effort-it really shows!
Hi, Vanessa. 🙂 TABS! He’s my inspiration. I’m glad you like visiting the blog. Have a great Fourth of July. Doing anything fun? We’re going to grill up some hot dogs (veggie for me) and have our own little bbq at home.
Thanks for this post, Karen. I appreciate this incredibly generous gesture. I started a knitting blog a few years ago, in which I always sprinkled bits about makeup, because it is my other passion. I’ve begun to post more about makeup in the past few months and am now considering turning it into a general style blog where I could share knitwear design, makeup and other related things. I’m not uninterested in making money, but realize that given the demands of my day job, I can’t dedicate enough time to generate a steady or reliable income stream. As you point out, photography is quite a challenge: taking photos of yarn and completed garments was hard; makeup photography is even harder. In addition to your commentary, your stellar photos drew me – and keep me coming back – to your blog. Though many other knitting bloggers also write about food and sewing on the same blog, I’m not sure how to blend my two interests smoothly though knitwear (fashion) and makeup seem like a more natural fit. I sometimes wonder if I should start another blog. Any advice?
My blog is “When a Door Closes…: at http://celinecrowne.blogspot.com
(I can’t remember why I chose this name for my blog – if I were starting it today, I’d follow the advice you’ve given about domain names, etc.)
Hi, Ava. There are some very different schools of thought out there about niche blogging and what is/isn’t appropriate to blog about on the same blog. Personally, I don’t think the question is what you blog about but how you blog about it. Most blogging gurus will advise sticking to a single niche, like in your case knitting, per blog.
They usually cite two or more different reasons to stick to one niche at a time. The first is advertising. Because ad networks generally target niche ads to niche sites. Sites with broader markets that cover broader categories may earn less than highly focused sites.
I don’t see it that way. I see it better to blog about your passions — all of them — in a passionate way. The more passionate, personal and professional you are, the larger your audience becomes until it makes the influence of the potential niche advertising argument moot.
Another argument against covering multiple niches is probably more valid than the first. If you start off blogging about one niche, grow an audience, and then change to covering multiple niches, you run the risk (although it depends in every case) of alienating the readers who come specifically to read about your first niche. That is, if you start a blog about knitting and were then to also blog about fly fishing (two very different niches, just to make the point), you’d run the risk of losing some of your knitting readers.
Again, I generally don’t see it that way. I think that if adding posts on a new topic makes you happy, and you approach it with the same level of professionalism that you approached your initial topic, most of your readers will tolerate and perhaps even appreciate learning about something new — within reason, of course. That example of knitting to fly fishing is pushing the envelope, LOL! 🙂
BTW, I like the template you chose for your blog. It has a very wide main content column, which allows for very wide/large pictures, and since I love pictures, I like it.
I would make one suggestion. Take advantage of your wide columns to post pictures that either span the full width of the columns, or left/right align your smaller thumbnail images alongside the article text. I think left/right aligned pictures that wrap around the text, as opposed to sitting centered between paragraphs, look a little better. Just one gal’s opinion though.
I started my blog because I wanted to offer advice for other tanned girls like myself. I could not find too many bloggers of Indian descent, and I couldn’t always use information like “swatches on NW15 skin” or “Makeup tips for green eyes”, because I don’t have green eyes! 😛 I also freelance as a makeup artist, and I thought it would be interested to include fun posts about “behind the scenes” work at photo shoots. One thing I do that I rarely see elsewhere is use other people in my tutorials. It is not very useful when a Youtuber constantly uses her own face for her tutorials. I am not trying to be rude, it’s just that everyone has a different face/eye/mouth shape and it’s always good to see new faces!
I hope to get more people for tutorials, because I want to show that all women are attractive and there’s nothing scary about the world of makeup.
Hi, Chris25. Fantastic! You’re on to something by using other people in your tutorials. Keep that up. That’s the way to do it — trying something new. All of us look to what other people are doing for ideas and inspiration, and very few ideas out there are truly original/unique, but if you approach things from a perspective of, “What’s the most helpful way for me to provide this information?” and then work from there, that’s a good way to go.
Good luck with your efforts. Keep me posted, and happy Fourth! 🙂
I am such a MAC junkie that I’m shocked that I never heard of this color before but it is absolutely gorgeous. I really love the multi dimensional aspect of it and I can imagine that when worn, depending on the lighting, the color must take on difference hues, almost as if you are wearing 2 different lipsticks. This is such an incredibly universal color and can be worn with any outfit, casual or formal, any season and for any event. It’s simply lovely. Thank you for giving one of your fans the opportunity to possibly win it. Good luck to alll!
Diane K.
kleimanlaw at aol dot com
Awesome Awesome Post! I’ve been blogging for a few years but really didn’t take it serious til’ almost three years ago when I lost my full time job. I’m always in a state of learning so this post taught me some more good things when working to build my blog even more.:)
I started Rural Glamour as an outlet for a product junkie like myself who had moved back to rural SC. Before I lived minutes outside of Charlotte NC and if I needed something beauty related I just ran to Sephora. I didn’t even buy drugstore makeup. Now, I had no choice since Sephora was two hours away and I was raising twins full time. I turned RGBL from bit of everything to just beauty and lifestyle about year ago, focusing on my “real life” beauty and life, my life ( budgeting, sale hauling, FOTDs, a bit of jewelry obsession:))
Hi, Jamie. 🙂 I smiled when I opened your blog, and the first thing I saw was your smiling face looking back at me.
I encourage you to continue showing pictures of yourself on your blog because I don’t think my reaction is unique. I think most readers like to see pictures of the person writing to them. A great many beauty bloggers, for a variety of legitimate reasons, refrain from posting pictures of themselves, but I think it’s great.
Good job and continued good luck with your blog!
This was such a great post. I got into beauty blogging in a round about way through YouTube. I started there and its been amazing. How else can you talk to women in Hong Kong, Germany, and Australia about how you all love the same blush? I started blogging about all the beauty products I bought after hauls and found it to be even more fun than making videos. I’m at http://www.crystalis007.com . Thanks for this post, its so nice of you to answer things I’ve always wondered about!
Hi, Crystal. Interesting. You don’t see a lot of people jumping from YouTube to text blogging, so kudos for that. The tendency is to go the other way, from text to video. In my case, I like both writing and video, but there are only so many hours in the day. I was a writer first, and at least for now, I generally prefer to write than to produce videos, but basically, whatever works, right?
There’s also another factor true at least in my case. Many of the ad networks out there are less able to sell video placement ads than text ads. I think video advertising is catching up, but blog banner ads, at least from my limited experience, perform better on a CPM basis (cost per thousand impressions).
Anywho, hope you have a great Fourth. Tabs says “mrow!” 🙂
have an awesome holiday weekend, Karen. (or at least whats left of it) …
i may not have said this before, but reading your blog gives me great joy every day!
You too, Nina! It’s so nice to have gotten to know you a little bit through the blog. Thank you very much for visiting and for making my days a little brighter along the way. 🙂 Have a great day.
Great tips Karen! You prob know already but my blog is http://kajalcouture.blogspot.com.
It is such an inspiration that you turned your passion in to your career!
Hi, Kajal Couture. Thank you, and I think you’re doing a great job with your blog, both in the writing and your pics, so please keep it up. I’ve noticed how much better your pictures have gotten over time. Now they’re crisp and bright, which makes your lovely eyes absolutely shine.
Whatever you’re doing today, have a great time. Tabs says hi, and have a happy Fourth. 🙂
“No shortcut to networking” I fully concur! There is a lot of work involved if one wants to get anywhere. Its not “just add hot water” and poof! successful blog! 🙂 Thanks for sharing Karen and as a blogger, I found myself nodding away at all your advise 🙂
Hi, Paris B! How’s it going, girl? Yours is one of my favorite blogs. I love your writing voice, your photography, the creative effort you put into your posts, the layout, your sense of humor — everything. Keep up the good work!
Aloha, Karen! I enjoy reading your blog.
I often think life is either hilarious or irritating, and I have two blogs for the different facets of my life:
http://manicuredlibrarian.blogspot.com/
http://sooslivestoeat.blogspot.com/
Haha, Soos! You cracked me up. 🙂 I, too, think that life is either hilarious or irritating. That pretty much describes it all. Ha!
Thank you so much for this post! Your’s is one of the first beauty blogs I found and I check it religiously 🙂 I’ve recently started my own blog (littlebytesofbeauty.com) and your advice is soooo helpful. My motivation comes from working at Apple where its 80% male. All the boys are constantly geeking out over video games, cars, etc. The few of us girls started bonding over girly stuff and it was so fun, I wanted to expand on that. Your blog is an inspiration to me, keep up the amazing work, and I’d love love love to see more posts like this!!!
Hi, Emily. That’s so great! Coincidentally, my migration from the Windows world to the Mac world coincided with the period in which I started taking blogging more seriously. I think OS X helped me expand my creative horizons. For one thing, I was able to stop spending time worrying about and dealing with viruses and adware and was able to focus more on blogging.
I make no bones about it. I love Apple, and I think their stuff helps me feel more creative.
Hope you had a great Fourth of July. Tabs says hi. 🙂
Hi Karen! Great tips on blogging. I’m trying to become more consistent with my blog but I need to get on point. I really love reading your blog especially your posts about Tabs (he’s such a divo)!
My blog is http://www.JamayaMoore.blogspot.com
This post is so great, Karen! I really just blog for myself; I like to go back and re-read posts from long ago, to see what I was like at the moment. However I love when people read my blog because it’s like they actually take the time to get to know me.
Anyways, congrats on a successful blog because you show how far dedication can take someone, and that’s inspirational for more than just blogging.
I love your blog and always find your articles to be very helpful! Thanks so much for writing this. I am relatively new to beauty blogging and am more a hobbyist 🙂 There’s so much to discover!
I did start a beauty blog about 5 or 6 years ago but I was going through some career changes at that time and couldn’t really focus on blogging. So, it was short-lived. But I love beauty products so much that I thought of blogging again, hence I created another blog early 2010 and have been trying to post as regularly as possible. I do find it difficult to balance my full time job (which takes up 50 – 60 hours of my week) with blogging sometimes and need to plan better.
I love these peek behind the curtain posts. It is amazing how much you put into making such a high quality blog. Any chance you could fill us in on your visitation stats? Unique visitors/day, page views, time on site, pages per visit, bounce rate? How do Facebook and Twitter compare for redirects? I’ve just learned about the analytics at work and am fascinated by it.
I don’t know where my a-little-too-long comment disappeared 🙁
Guess that comment just disappeared, so i am retyping. Pls delete if everything just turns up after a while 😀
Firstly, thanks for sharing all this info. Loved this article as well as all your previous articles on blogging. I started blogging some time back, but when I started I had no definite plans apart from writing a post on weekends – no specific topic in my mind. That’s how I chose the name too – http://www.weekendramblings.com Not my best ideas 😀 Now I do about one post a day, mostly on skincare or makeup products, and some random posts like cooking thrown in every once in a while. I am still learning about all the technical to-do things but I like blogging and it’s mostly fun. Like you had mentioned in one of your articles, I found out I love photography after I started blogging, so that’s my big achievement so far 😀
It would be awesome if you do drop by my blog some time. Oh, and I LOVE Tabs!
I’m not interested in blogging, but this was definitely a great read, nonetheless. It’s nice having a bit of insight into all the hard work that goes into blogging (as I’m totally clueless about that world!). We definitely appreciate all your efforts :] reading your blog while sipping on a cup of tea is my absolute favorite way to wind down my evening and get ready for bed!
GREAT post! I have just begun my beauty blog and it’s great to learn some tips from a master such as yourself. I love your blog because you do put a lot of attention to detail to it and it is fun and quirky. Great stuff!
Beautychattette.wordpress.com
Thank you! The time you put in really shows
Hey Karen, I’ve been reading your blog for so long and I started my own blog like 4 days ago so this post was super helpful but it kinda sounds like I need a better camera for taking photos but I knew that already because its falling apart. Anyway, thanks for this post and I’d love it you could check out my blog at beasbeauty.blogspot.com
xxx
Thanks for the post Karen (we practically have the same first name with a one letter difference, lol) but I must admit I mainly come for Tabs. I started my blog because there wasn’t any makeup review or product review for my country Barbados. Well I’ve never found any. I like to gab about makeup a lot but u know u don’t want to upset your immediate audience by talking about it all the time so I took to the internet where I could yap about it to my heart’s content 😉 Here’s my blog: http://kerenicole.blogspot.com
One month old beauty blog http://www.lucindasbeautyblog.info
I’m really glad you blog about beauty, Karen. It’s helped me streamline my shopping choices, and you’re just entertaining to read! Keep at it my, dear, and thank you!!
Wow! It’s good to see our email correspondence published here. Advice from you should be shared to all aspiring bloggers. Keep going! =)
– Juli
Wow! It’s good to see our email correspondence being published here! Your advice will certainly help many bloggers out there. =)
– Juli
Thank you for writing such a helpful post. You bring me so much inspiration because I want to do what you’re doing and that is blog for a living. I have a beauty blog — http://superglamnews.com/ — and it’s so great reading about others who have been able to make a career out of this. You offered many great resources here that I will take advantage of. I hope you continue writing more about blogging. I’d love for you to check out my blog when you get the chance and let me know what you think. Or tweet me @SuperGlamNews. xoxo.
Even though I’ve had a beauty blog for over 3 years now, I still got some good tips from this, so thanks, Karen.
I am planning on doing more guest posting in the future. I wrote one for Makeup and Beauty Blog last year and plan on doing it again.
Something else I’m doing: trying to post more often. I’d like to get up to the point that you do with posting several times a day. I don’t have the benefit of having another bread-winner in the house like El Hub though, so it’s tough.
You can check out my beauty blog, Makeup Files, at http://www.makeupfiles.com/
Karen, yours was the first makeup blog I ever subscribed to and here 2 years later I’m still reading! You’ve a wonderful job of being informative and entertaining. So many blogs these days are just press releases or very detailed with no persondality–we definitely know your personality and I for one, love that!
Good advice Karen, I always love reading your blogging tips and your re-caps of blogging conferences. I attended my first blogging conference this year–a small one-day event near my home and it was so inspiring and I made such great contacts. I also attended IMATS LA for the first time and made wonderful contacts and got to see some great new lines.
I’ve had my blog for about 18 mo’s now and I never imagined it to be so time consuming and I have a full time job too. Photography is the most difficult for me and I have it a goal to get better at it.
My blog is Prime Beauty for women 40 & over and in their prime! http://www.primebeautyblog.net
Have a fantastic 4th and thanks for all you do!!
Thank you for this post Karen, it’s really inspiring, and I’m so happy that all of your hard work is paying off!
I started my blog a few months ago, I’ve not done that many posts, but I am really enjoying learning more about photography and html as I go along!
I’ll definitely take a look at the links you shared 🙂
Hi Karen! I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now, yours was actually one of the first blogs I started reading daily. I have learned valuable blogging tips from you by reading your blog. Your posts are positive, you take great pictures, and provide valuable insight. I finally took the leap from blog-fan to blogger this year and appreciate even more how much work you and others put into your blogs 🙂 It really DOES take hours and hours to pull it all together!
My blog is http://gothampolish.blogspot.com/. I created Gotham Polish as a resource to find nail polish in New York City! I have so much fun creating a NYC theme around each polish review and share fun facts about the city 🙂 If you’re coming to New York City, check out the “where to shop” page for great places to find nail polish! I even have a Google map 🙂
Hi Karen! I just wanted to let you know that I absolutley LOVE your blog and try to read new posts every day(: I just started a beauty blog a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been trying to do a post every day or at least every couple of days! If you have some extra time I would love it if you could check out my blog: sunbasqueinbeauty.blogspot.com and tell me what you think!(: Thanks so much!
I absolutely love that you did this post and would love to see more. I’m a woman in the tech/copywriting/blogging industries, and also very interested in makeup/beauty and I always love hearing from other successful female bloggers. Thanks for your great work and being such an inspiration. You rock!
Hi karen,
Such a great post as always, I have bookmarked your links so I can look into them in more depth. I always find it really helpful reading your articles about blogging.
I have a beauty blog called miss chew which I have had for almost a year and I love it. I think you are right completely that it just takes time for your blog to grow in almost everyway and that you continue to remain open minded to keep changing and updating your blog to meet the changing times. My blog is http://www.misschew.com I love to review skincare and makeup and I also give tips and tricks pointers too.
Jaime x
Juli, Google has a website that explains how to optimize your site and rank highly in search results. It includes tools, and it’s completely free. http://www.google.com/webmasters/ is it.
Hey Karen,
Awesome post as always. Whenever I read your blog, I feel like you are talking to me as if I was right there with you. Very engaging and personable. I love that!
I had a couple of questions for you. One, you had mentioned that you took some writing classes. What type of classes and where would you recommend to take them? I have always been an avid writer. I was a bartender for the last eight years and kept a bartender blog. Now I am writing about my life as an esthetician. Writing is something that is always evolving with me and what I am currently doing in my life. I wouldn’t mind fine tuning my skills a bit with a class or two.
Also, what do you use for lighting for all of your amazing product photos? Did you buy or custom make a light box? Do you even use a light box? I Googled a couple of light box ideas, but I figured since you posted this topic, I’d ask the expert what she uses.
I only started My Life as an Esthetician a little over a year ago, when I was going to Beauty School. I originally created it to document my experience through school. Now it has grown into a full-on adventure in my professional life, the amazing products I discover, along with interesting and enlightening information I learn along the way.
Thank you for always being such an incredible inspiration!
Hi Karen,
I have read all of your ‘Blogging’ posts and I find them so informative and useful. Thank you for taking the time to help everyone out. You are so selfless!
I have been consistently posting everyday whilst on Summer break so I’d love for you to check out my blog.
Hattie x