07 October 2013

Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp: Week One: Starting Your Blog

Hi bloggers! Welcome to the first week of the Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp! Are you as excited as I am?! ;) If you missed the introductory post for this series, make sure to check that out.



Perhaps the most logical starting point for a new blog is to ask yourself two things:

Why do I want to blog?
What is my blogging niche?

I'm assuming because you are here, you are either thinking about starting a nail polish related blog, or have recently started a nail polish related blog. So by blogging niche, I mean your focus within nail polish blogging. With so many polish blogs, knowing why you want to blog and what your focus will be, will help set your blog apart from the many other polish blogs out there.

Now maybe you're having a hard time determining your specific focus, or even why you're blogging in the first place (besides wanting to post your nails on the internet). That doesn't mean you stop blogging, or delay starting a blog until you figure things out. It just means that you keep these questions in mind and think about them seriously.

A blog is always a work in progress. When I first started blogging over a year ago, my reasons for blogging were simple: I liked reading polish blogs and wanted one of my own because I thought it would be a fun hobby. My focus was pretty general - to take swatch photos of the polishes in my collection, and to document my attempts at nail art. A little over a year later, my focus is still pretty broad - swatches, reviews, and nail art (with better pictures!). And my reasons for blogging are to provide honest and straightforward reviews of polishes with clear swatch photos, and to show nail art that inspires others. Ask me one year from now, and my responses may be different. I am still thinking of my own answers to the questions I posed above.

My very first blog post (link). Everyone starts somewhere!



Why Blog?

There are many different reasons for wanting to blog, here are just some. They are not all polish-specific:

  • As an outlet for a hobby or passion (this is the reason why many people start polish blogs)
  • To document a journey (i.e. training for an event, getting out of debt)
  • As part of a business
  • To make money (if this is your goal you may want to rethink starting a polish blog!)
  • To get free samples and polishes (also not a good reason to start a blog, I'll explain why in a future post)
  • To connect with like-minded people
  • To provide information


Defining Your Niche

Blogging about nail polish and nail art is already a very small niche within the larger niche of beauty blogs. Yet there are so many polish blogs out there. It's safe to say that polish blogging is an oversaturated niche. Does this mean you shouldn't start your blog? No, it just means you're going to have to work harder to set yourself apart from the other polish blogs out there.

One way to do that is to have a focus that will make you unique. Perhaps you have a very distinctive style of nail art. Or maybe you love indie polish and your goal is to seek out and discover new indie brands and feature them on your blog. Or perhaps you want to focus on the latest trends in nails and nail art. Or maybe you have training as a nail tech and want to write about nail care.

Many people start a polish blog with the general idea that they want to share their manis on the internet, and then they get disappointed because they don't have a lot of followers or visitors to their blog. Don't make that mistake. Think about what you can offer that will make your blog stand out from other nail polish blogs.

*Exercise #1: Imagine Your Dream Blog*
Take a few minutes to brainstorm and imagine what your dream blog looks like. Think about the following:
-How many followers will you have?
-How will you interact with your readers?
-What will be your focus?
-What will the design look like? The photos?
-How often will you post?
-Who will be your main audience?

*Exercise #2: What makes a blog unique?*
Write down your three favourite blogs, the ones that you visit again and again. What makes those blogs stand out for you? What do they offer that you don't get from other blogs? Why do you enjoy visiting them on a regular basis?

Advice: Now that you've envisioned your dream blog and looked at your blogging heros, you might be feeling a bit discouraged. Don't! Everyone starts somewhere. Just remember, it's okay to start small, don't let your dream blog stop you from starting a blog. Just take small steps, and build it up as you go along. Your blog doesn't have to be perfect when you launch it.
Some of my blogging and writing books

How Much Time Will It Take?

Now that we've looked at reasons for blogging, and how to set your blog apart from the other nail polish blogs out there, it's time to look at what kind of commitment it will take.

The general advice is that you should post on a regular basis (at least 2-3 times a week), at least while you are trying to build up a following. I'm sure we've all had the experience where we find a great blog. They seem to post regularly, then suddenly it stops. One, two, maybe three weeks or more goes by and we don't see a post from our new favourite blog. I don't know about you, but I tend to loose interest, and I'll look for other new blogs to follow.

Here's a general estimate based on a schedule of blogging three times a week:
  • Manicures: 3 x 1 hour each = 3 hours (allow more time if you do detailed nail art, or want to show swatches of several polishes in one blog post)
  • Editing photos: approx. 30 minutes for each manicure/post = 1.5 hours
  • Writing and editing posts: 30 minutes for each post = 1.5 hours
  • Updating social media sites, emails, responding to comments: 20 min x 3 posts = 1 hour
  • Total: 7 hours

Even with a very basic blog, you're still looking at around 7 hours, or almost a full day's work. But many bloggers spend much more than that. 

Here's a breakdown of how much time I spend blogging each week. Keep in mind that I built up to this. I didn't spend this much time when I first started.
  • Swatching: 10 hours (I'm slow, so this results in 10-14 polishes swatched)
  • Nail art (based on two challenge manis per week): 6 hours
  • Editing photos: average 1 hour per post, 5 posts per week = 5 hours
  • Writing and editing posts: 1 hour per post, 5 posts per week = 5 hours
  • Updating social media, responding to emails and comments = 30 min. x 6 days/week = 3 hours
  • Total: 29 hours

Of course this is an approximation - some weeks I spend more, some less. It really depends on what I have planned, my energy levels, and my other work.

So after reading this, you may decide that blogging takes up too much time. Don't worry, our next post will be on blogging formats, and I'll cover microblogging. ;)


Let's Hear Your Thoughts! 

Why do you want to blog? Do you think you have a focus that sets your blog apart from the others?

If you've already started blogging, how much time do you spend on your blog?

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See also:
Introducing the Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp: Kickstart Your Nail Polish Blog!

45 comments:

  1. Honestly, I don't have any specific reason why I started to blog. I just have a lot of time on my hand (I'm on hiatus from work for I don't know how long), and I need a project, so I chose to start a blog. I was already painting my nails almost daily, so I thought why not take pics and post them so I can always come back and look at it. I also want to be better at writing, this is my weakest point, not to mention that English is not my first language, so I think blogging can be an exercise to improve both. This is such a great post, looking forward to the next one!

    Ps. Blogging can be expensive, so I don't think you can make money out of it ;)

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    1. Thanks Novita! Those are great reasons for starting a blog - for me it's been a very rewarding hobby. I definitely agree with you that nail polish blogging can be expensive, especially if you are not getting stuff for review and are buying polishes to show on your blog. But it is possible to make money from blogging, lots of people do, it's just hard in a small niche like this. :)

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  2. Very excited about this series! I thought I was following you already (one of the hardest things about blogging for me so far has been figuring out how to follow people--seriously! I hate the blogger layout!) but now that has been remedied. Looking forward to having by blogging booty whipped into shape :)

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    1. Thanks for following Ashley! I really hope that you find these posts helpful. :)

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  3. Thank you so much for this series and info. Since I avoid social media, I had no idea about blogs. I also had no idea what was going on with nail polish these days, and stumbling upon one interesting polish at the store, then looking it up online and finding this whole blog-o-verse, is how I ended up here. It has become obvious that there are a lot of nail bloggers, and it can be a lot of work (and I'm pretty lazy, so, yeah). It did cross my mind about "free" polish, but nothing is really free of course. Looking forward to your thoughts on that!! Books on blogging even, sheesh...it's so nice and dark here under my rock....LOL!!!

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    1. Haha! You're comment cracks me up. ;) I'm with you, I had no idea polish blogs existed until last year late spring/early summer when a co-worker of mine started a nail polish blog and invited me to follow on Facebook. Not too long after that I was hooked, and my bank account hasn't been the same since. :P

      Yeah, blogging can be a lot of work, but I read the books because I like them, and you'll find a way to blog that works for you - you might just write shorter posts, lol!

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  4. This is going to be such a helpful series of posts. I started a blog earlier this year but became frustrated with a lack of views, I really hope with reading this each week that I can redo and refresh my blog!! Thank you

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    1. Thanks Amy, I really hope that you find the posts helpful. Having a lack of views can be frustrating and it's one of the things I plan to address. The tips throughout the series should help with that.

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  5. Thank you for this series. Although I started blogging almost a year ago, there's still a lot of stuff I can learn. I started blogging because I wanted to show people what I'm wearing on my nails (people around me aren't really interested, so I had to look further), and so far I'm very happy and enjoy every comment I get:-)

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    1. I'm still learning as well, and we've been blogging the same amount of time, so I know how you feel. It is great when you have a hobby that you find fulfilling and can share it with others, I'm so happy to hear that the blog as been working out for you and provides the right outlet. :)

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  6. Hi Meghan! I just wanted to first say that I've been a long time reader of your blog and you are one of the people who inspired me to eventually start my own blog. The reasons behind starting my blog was to share my inspirations derived from colors, design, architecture, patterns, music, culture, life, etc. through my nail art. Of course, I also love swatching my nail polish collection. I've also found that by sharing this passion on the web and through Instagram (which is where it all started for me), I am meeting other talented NPAs that I otherwise would never have had the opportunity to meet in real life. Since I just started the blog last month, I have tons to learn everyday. But, I love every minute of it—I even dream of improvements I can make in blog set up, designs, color combinations, etc.! Thank you for creating this space for new bloggers to gather together and for your generosity in sharing your wisdom and experience! <3

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    1. Lacquertude, thanks for the amazing and sweet comment. I don't really think of myself as someone who inspires others, so I was very touched. I do really enjoy helping other people, which was one of the reasons I started this series. So I really hope that you and other bloggers will find it very useful. :)

      And I'm so glad to hear that you took the plunge and started a blog - good luck!!

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  7. Thank you so much for making this series, I'll be waiting for the next blog post! I recently made a nail blog to share swatches from newly released polishes, show my nail art, and tutorials because instagram or twitter can only hold so many words :)

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    1. Sovianaty - thanks so much and I hope you find the future posts helpful. That's a great reason to start a blog, and one of the reasons I love blogging is that you can write as much or as little as you want! :)

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  8. Great and helpful post! I started my blog last month too and had done some of the soul searching you mentioned, but you brought up things more succinctly than I thought of on my own. Time-wise, I am loving spending time doing the nails, photos & processing, and writing up the posts. Because of my physical limitations, it takes me longer than your time estimates and I have made the commitment to continue at that rate going forward. I think I mentioned earlier, the overwhelming part to me will be how/when/where to follow up with commenting both on my blog and others, and promoting the blog. However, I do not have aspirations to be a huge success (in terms of numbers of followers, etc.); my goal is to have a small but fun group of folks that can enjoy my blog and can offer me an outlet for sharing my hobby with. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom and doing this series - it is very helpful and appreciated.

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    1. Hi Kimett Kolor, I think that's a great that you know what you want out of blogging, and it's very achievable. If things take more time, then maybe posting less frequently, but focus on producing high quality content would be a better approach - more isn't always better. :)

      I'll talk more about social media and followers in later posts. As you might be able to tell, responding to comments in a timely manner is not my strongest trait. ;) But it is important because people want to feel like you are reading their comments. Perhaps setting aside certain times of the day to do things - like responding to comments in the morning and posting to social media in the evening - would help you feel organized. Don't try to do everything at once because it can be overwhelming.

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  9. This was such a great read, and informative post, Very helpful. Thank you so much for making this to keep me busy in my health informatics class haha. But anyway I first created my blog on tumblr, because I liked showcasing my nails, but then I started blogging here on blogspot because I wanted people to actually read what I have to say. I have met awesome wonderful people in this community. I don't think I will be anywhere close to what you and other famous bloggers be, even in ten years, but I hope i will be able to reach out to some people. (:

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    1. Haha! I'm glad that I could provide you with some distraction. :) I also started on Tumblr than moved to Blogger for the same reasons as you. Honestly, I didn't think many people would ever read my blog, and I'm kind of amazed at what it is today - although I don't consider myself even close to those famous bloggers, I still have a ways to go if it's ever going to happen. But honestly the most important thing is community, and it sounds like you have that going already, which is great!

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  10. This was really nice reading! I've had my blog for several months and I started it because I wanted to show my nails to people with the same interest (I wanted to get some more feedback). But I think it's hard to keep up with the "big blogs" mostly because I don't have that many nailpolishes. I don't want to buy stuff just to have something to show on my blog.

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    1. Hey tennnails, I totally understand your frustration. Sammy from The Nailasaurus: http://www.thenailasaurus.com/ is an example of a blogger who started blogging with not very many polishes, she mentions this in her "About" page. It's easier if you are doing nail art, even if simple. You might want to check out her blog, especially earlier posts as an example of how you can get by with not very many polishes.

      I'm sure many people feel the same way you do, and that might be something you can take advantage of in terms of creating unique content.

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  11. This is such a wonderful series!

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    1. Thanks so much Cin! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you like the posts in the future. :)

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  12. Great post, very thought provoking.

    I haven't put my blog out there or done my first post yet, but for me wanting to blog is mainly to share my passion with others. No one in my "world" gets it and that can be very lonely. I work from home all day, and as I'm always by myself, part of my enjoyment is connecting with others with a similar interest. It's a huge polish lover world out there and I follow a ton of blogs when I can.

    Polishing my nails makes me happy, and sharing my pictures with others makes me happy. I don't aspire to have a huge following, just something small and fun and casual.

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    1. I feel the same way and you pretty much said it all for me. No one in my world really gets it. I already do reviews on Makeup Alley and am a top reviewer so I am sort of blogging anyway when I write my reviews. I even post some pics over there. I keep a photobucket account just for posting my artsy manis. I am thinking though that blogging would tie it all together in one nice neat package. It doesn't seem to much different than what I am already doing. I really just want to talk nails and polish without boring the pants off people. That would be funny though - the visual I had of that last sentence. But yeah I agree with you on sharing the nail passion.

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    2. Hi Debbie, that's a great reason for starting a blog. At times, I'll admit, it can be very isolating. You spend a lot of time at home doing your nails, taking photos, writing and editing posts. So that's something to keep in mind. So I encourage you to get involved in groups, there are some on facebook or you can start your own with other bloggers. Join up with other polish addicts and bloggers and do a challenge together. Just keep in mind that the connection you want is not automatic, but it is possible. But first you need to put your blog out there! :) And please keep me updated!

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  13. Ohh actually it's kinda comforting, knowing that blogging actually do consume quite an amount of time. I thought I was doing things really slow. Started my blog over a year ago and I was shocked at how much time I've actually put into blogging. Approximately 6 hours and more. It also depends on how prepared I was to write the post, sometimes longer when trying to figure out what I wanted to say. Well, I can get really forgetful.. so trying to recall what I wanted to say is time consuming. Hahahaha!! :P

    By the way, its really great that you're doing this. I think your advices are really spot on! :)

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    1. Thanks so much for the feedback! I also didn't think blogging would take up so much time, but here I am! ;) Instead of thinking of myself as being slow, I like to think I'm being careful. Lol! :P

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  14. you've done such a good job here, much more professional than the series I started! Great job xx

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  15. I've been seriously thinking about starting a blog. I created a Facebook page for my nails and I do have a large collection of polish. Starting a blog seems so intimidating though. I'm kind of scared. What if no one follows me, what if I can't keep up with it? Thanks for this series and your advice!

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  16. Thanks for this! I've been contemplating starting a blog but I'm kind of intimidated by it. I do have a Facebook page for my nails and have a pretty good collection of polishes. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to keep up with it. Posting to my Facebook page is a lot different than a blog!

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  17. I started my blog because everyone was asking me to start one on my Instagram. Lol I'm still a newbie and need to post more regularly really. I also would like to specialise more in tutorials as I get a lot of requests to show how I did a particular mani. I'm not so much a swatcher but nail artist and so that's definitely my area to concentrate on. This is great advice not sure how I missed this 1st post.

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  18. I've just started blogging, after a few months of following nail art blogs. My niche is to document a journey - nail polish has helped me stop biting the skin around my nails, and I figured that if I put effort into my nails, I won't want the borders to look so bad, and it would stop me. The truth is, I haven't really been that loyal to the aim, but I'm hoping that if I gain followers and get feedback from them, I'll keep to my goal.
    But it's a bit of a catch-22 - I want to swatch and show off my nail polish, but my photos come out pretty icky because of the skin around my nails. I'm getting some indies in soon, so I'll swatch them, and providing quality swatches might help me along towards my goal =)

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    1. Hey, that's a good reason to keep a blog. And while it may feel very awkward right now, I'm sure there are others out there that are going through the same thing and would appreciate your struggles and successes. So maybe you might also do some posts on how to develop better habits (taking care of your nails) and how to stop bad ones (the biting). And perhaps the pressure of having to show your nails on your blog might also serve as an incentive to stop biting. If you know that you have to post your hands and nails. My advice - keep a journal of what works and what doesn't for changing your bad habits, then use that as future material in your blog.

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  19. I've just started a nail blog yesterday. I'm a newbie in the nail art world. I discovered nail art via Instagram, i tried it and fell in love. I started a blog to basically track my progress. This bootcamp is going to be my bible until I get the hang of blogging. Thank you sooo much for this series, tons of love ! My only problem now is finding a good photo editing app or program, any suggestions?

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    1. Hi Destiny, congrats on starting your blog. I use Photoshop Elements, but you should also check out PicMonkey - a free online program. Also there's a post on photo editing in this series, I recommend you check that out, also there's some suggestions in the comments for what other people use.

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  20. Thanks for sharing! I googled how to start a nail blog and came across your blog. I'm a full time hairstylist, freelance makeup artist, mom of two and wife. Whew! When I started freelancing as a makeup artist I was wearing acrylic nails and a lot of MUAs would say that how acrylic nails could be a little rough on a clients face. I decided to let to of my acrylics, on top of spending my fill in money on makeup. I started to try and take care of my nails and by polish. Well I developed a polish addiction. Moving forward...I've been looking at and following nail bloggers on Instagram and following their blogs and thought maybe I should go for it. The only thing holding me back is I already have a beauty blog that I barely post to mainly because when I started it another makeup artist tweeted a misspelling I had on my blog. I felt uncomfortable blogging. Needless to say I still blog but not often and I try and double spell check! Lol...I'm not into it to get free products(it'd be nice) but I really want to just get better at doing my nails and my photo quality and as someone else stated share with like minded people. Anywho...I will try and read all aspects in this nail blogging first before jumping in like I did with my other blog. Also I want to separate the two. Thanks again for sharing and sorry for being so long winded. It's just refreshing to chat with a like minded individual. :). Much continued success on your blog!

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    1. Thanks for the kind comment, and I really hope you find these posts useful! I'm so sorry to hear about your bad experience with the typo, that was really immature for someone else to tweet that. They could have emailed you or left a message on your blog if it really bothered them. Keep going with your new blog, and if you have a hard time maintaining two blogs, why not combine them into one? There are plenty of bloggers who do make up and nail polish. Good luck with the blog and if you ever have any questions I'm here. :)

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    2. Thanks so much!! Now to come up with a name. You've been very pleasant and kind. Thanks!

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    3. I can't thank you enough for your encouragement! I couldn't sleep trying to think of names for my nail blog. Lol. I started my blog today and I read your entire series and even others you suggested. I've decided to have a schedule as you suggested. It's still a work in progress. The only thing I seem to have a problem with is the correct time showing up . Other than that I'm pleased with what I've done so far. Once again thank you so much!

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    4. You're very welcome Satsuki! That sounds great and I wish you lots of fun and success. The time sounds like an issue with your settings. But I can't be certain.

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  21. I started my first actual blog and not live journal or tumblr in 2010 (I already had the other 2 for years and years. ) it started as a way to get out my complaints about everything in life & talking about the things in life that made me happy or sad. Really I guess you could say it was a journal. I then created several more to cover different topics. They became less and less updated as working full time I couldn't do what I wanted to do. So in 2012 I decided it was time to combine everything into one blog and just go from there. I on the other hand post daily and have for years with only a few weeks where I had a post every other day (vacation without internet.) I've now been running my blog for 2 years and have almost 30k in followers in various social media. It took a lot of work to get there and I'm constantly evolving. I didn't start polish blogging until last year before that I was a mostly beauty blogger. I never knew there was so many people who loved polish as much as me. It's opened a world of possibility. I have also started to do nail art as well. If it weren't for my iPhone though id never be able to keep up. I spend my 2 days off weekly working on the blog and writing my posts for the following days.

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  22. This series was everything I needed to start my nail blog! I just wanted to thank you for all of the detailed information and great advice you provided! I'm so glad I did it :)

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    1. You're welcome! And good luck with your new blog. :)

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