4 Pieces of Advice for the New Blogger

How Emma’s Edition got started…

I started posting outfit of the days my junior and senior year of college. I’ve always loved styling outfits so when recruiting season came around at the start of my senior year, I decided to start Emma’s Edition. I wanted to make sure fashion had a place in my future especially since I knew I was going to go into a corporate job.

I asked my friend/photographer Holly if she’s be interested in taking photos for my blog. As a new blogger, I had no idea what I was doing but I knew I needed to be blogging. I loved styling looks, finding shoot locations, and being in front of the camera. However, since I’ve always balanced school and working full time with blogging, it truly has taken me several years for me to figure out my rhythm and discover my voice.

So I wanted to dedicate this post out to any new blogger(s) out there or anyone who’s thinking about blogging. I’ll be sharing only 4 of my tips today and the full set of 12 pieces of advice if you sign up for my email list! I’ll be sending out all my advice to anyone who signs up on my email list between now and the end of the year!

1.You have to figure out how to stand out in the over saturated blogging world

There’s no getting around this fact – the number of bloggers who continue to join the fashion, beauty, mom, travel, teachers, and other spaces has grown exponentially over the past few years. It seems like everybody wants to be a blogger – which is great but this also means more bloggers for the same amount of air space. The battle for people’s attention and gaining followers is incredibly overwhelming at times.

Honestly, it isn’t enough to post pretty photos of an outfit anymore because there are thousands of women who post pretty photos of their outfits.

As a new blogger you have to differentiate yourself. Personally, I write about career advice because I love professional development but I also know a lot of other fashion bloggers don’t talk about careers. But I’ve worked for two fortune 50 companies, I’ve had 4 internships in college, and I’ve worked in sales, finance, and project management. I genuinely love helping people with their careers and know I have the experience to back it up.

My advice for this is pick something unique about you and see if you can bring that into your blog that you feel passionate about.

2. Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers

As a new blogger, you can’t compare your start of blogging to someone who’s been blogging/on Instagram for 8 years. Instagram and all these instagram tools make it so easy to just see the numbers, the comments, and the engagement rates. But if you were a recent college grad who is 6 months into your new job, you wouldn’t expect to be the subject matter expert at that point of your career. You need time to come down the learning curve, learn the groups you work with, and the customer you’re catering to.

Blogging isn’t any different. No new blogger becomes an expert in 6 months. And the truth is everyone is on a step, chapter, and life stage of their blogging journey. You shouldn’t worry about how many likes or followers someone else has because that won’t get you more likes on follows. You should honestly focus on your own journey.

3. Content is King

Which leads me to my next point…focusing on your journey means focusing on the content produce. The content you create is what is going to help you stand out against the sea of fashion and beauty bloggers out there. You have to focus on creating solid content out there. Focus on bringing value to your audience. If they find your content valuable they will continue to come back to your blog and even share the post with their family and friends.

Remember my point about differentiation? Here are a few post I’ve helped my readers with their careers:

How to ask for an Informational Interview

10 Ways to Build a Positive Relationship with Your Manager

10 Steps to Figure Out the Next Step In Your Career

4. Be patient with yourself

I’ve seen a fair number of new bloggers get frustrated with their growth and end up just buying followers. I started by blog in 2013-2014 and have always balanced my blog with school and working full time. I know there are a lot of you (yes you! The new blogger!) out there who are in the same boat as me. We’re balancing our professions and our creative outlets – which take time. And what else takes time? Creating content, figuring out who your audience is, and figuring out what differentiates you from the masses.

I’m sure most of us wish that we just blow up overnight and become a social media star, but unfortunately that isn’t real life. With the exception of a few bloggers who experience crazy growth in a year, most bloggers grow with time. So be patient and be kind to yourself through this blogging journey! You got this!

Are you a new blogger who wants all 12 pieces of advice?!

So these are just 4 out of the 12 pieces of advice I’m sharing to any new bloggers out there. If you’re interested in receiving all 12 pieces of advice, please sign up for my email list! You should see a pop up “subscribe” box if you refresh the page. I’ll be sending the email out before the end of this month!