Every September I make it a point to share weather-appropriate outfits here despite the push for fall fashion by retailers that starting in July. But I hate to be totally irrelevant, so I do try to start incorporating fall colors and transition pieces at least!
This top hits both of those objectives! It's a perfect fall color but in a style and fabric that works for now and in later in official fall.
This shirt is called the Chelsea Shirt, and it reminds me a lot of the
Portofino Shirt from Express. It fits and feels exactly the same, but the difference is in the details. So let's talk Portofino shirt vs. Chelsea Shirt. The Chelsea shirt is a pullover top with faux buttons, no collar and no pockets on the bust. The Portofino Shirt buttons all the way down, and it does have a collar and pockets on the bust. Both have convertible sleeves. And I guess that's it! Just slightly different styling for whatever floats your boat. I loved this Cabernet color when I saw it in store last month, so I snagged it in my "last hurrah before No Shop September!" Labor Day sale purchase and have no regrets about it! If it's not on sale today, no worries it's sure to be on sale again soon.
I took a poll on Instagram recently asking people which pieces from Amazon they would like for me to share more, and Dresses and Shoes were the top two requests by a lot! So I made sure to include a couple of options from both those categories in my sponsored item selections for this month. My first choice were these $30
cognac mules, and I am loving them! You'll see them again in Wednesday's post, and I've worn them a few more times on days I didn't photograph my outfits just because they're convenient to slip on and comfortable for most of my normal activities (running errands and taking kids to after school activities during the week). I took my normal size, and definitely recommend them as a great fall transition shoe.
Today the ladies of the Blended Blog are hosting an
All Things Blogging link up and I thought I would contribute a few things I've learned in 5 years of blogging. I am deliberately avoiding the common blogging tips: things like "Be yourself," and "Take nice pictures" because that advice is solid...but ubiquitous. There are few things I don't see mentioned much so I will take a stab at them. And these are just in my humble opinion and in my experience, not hard and fast rules. Your experience may vary!
1. Blogging is Not an Equal Pay for Equal Work Industry.
In my early blogging days I thought that if I put more work into my blog (more frequent posts, nicer photos, more time on social media with better strategy), it would pay off. I'd either get more brand deals or I'd earn more affiliate income. I've learned there are no such guarantees. Putting in extra hours does not always lead to extra pay. I could easily find two bloggers with equal quality content (in reality, sometimes they're both using the same professional photographer!) and equal posting consistency who both started around the same time. Blogger A could be making six figures per year, whereas Blogger B could be lucky to make $600 per month (or even year!). I think it's similar to being an actor, where two people can be equally talented and put in equal work, but for some people it pays off more than others because of circumstances, looks, luck, etc. There are a
lot of X factors that come into play with blogging, and I think no one discusses them much because they can't be specifically named when it comes to giving growth tips and tricks. It's not helpful to say, "Be more attractive to improve your chance of success." But let's be 100% honest: beautiful people are going to have a better chance at success in a visual industry. Other X factors may include connections (Know someone famous? Can they mention you on their social media? That will help!), or the random luck of going viral from one thing or another. Of course you will certainly improve your odds of "success" by improving your quality and consistency, so yes, work on those things as much as possible. I'm also not saying this to take anything away from those who make a living in this industry because they
still have to do put in the work! It's certainly not all luck. But for most bloggers, we have to do it for the challenge, learning, growth, connections, and experience or there's a good chance we will spend a lot of time frustrated and disappointed.
2. If You Want to Blog About Fashion...
...and make a profit from it, expect to spend a lot of time dressing in seasonably uncomfortable clothing. This is not a requirement of fashion blogging, but you will find that every top blogger does this
because it's what sells. In order to make the big bucks as a fashion blogger, you have to service brands and post what sells for brands. It's not enough to just post what you like to wear if you're looking to make a decent income from this gig. Again, you can absolutely post whatever you like for your own enjoyment, but this is the reality about earning an income if you choose fashion as your blogging niche. It took me some time in the blogging game to understand this behind the scenes reality (i.e. why bloggers were dressing out of season instead of providing wearable, in season inspo), and I wish I had understood this beforehand because it would have saved me some frustration. What I've learned about myself is that I'm not as willing to suffer in the name of fashion as some people are (e.g. I don't like to wear boots and blanket scarves in 95 degree weather in order to sell clothes), therefore I will never make as much as some people! But again, going back to point one...even if I did "suffer" more there's no guarantee I'll make more. My personal philosophy for blogging consistency and sanity has been to really weed out and minimize the blogging tasks I don't enjoy (e.g. wearing seasonally inappropriate clothes, spending a lot of time driving to/from "cool" locations for photos), and focus more on the things I
do enjoy (e.g. writing and friendships!), and let the cards fall where they may when it comes to earnings, growth, etc.
3. If You're Considering Starting a Blog/Just Starting a Blog...
...and you are asking friends "What should my blog be about?" or taking quizzes on Pinterest along those same lines....you probably aren't ready to start a blog. You can go ahead and start one anyway if you want, but odds are good you will run out of ideas/run out of steam quickly. That will make you an inconsistent blogger, which makes it hard to gain any traction or consistent traffic, which ends in frustration and disappointment with the blogging experience. This is probably my most "controversial" opinion here, but I have seen it happen over and over again, and I think there's a lot of bad advice out there about starting a blog when you aren't truly ready to start sharing consistently. Similar to this issue is when new bloggers start asking their audience after their second or third post, "What should I post next?" Girl. You are the content creator! YOU come up with the ideas. They will let you know what they do and don't like from their clicks, page views, comments, etc. I think what happens is new bloggers see established bloggers getting a lot post requests from their followers, and they think the same thing should happen for them if they ask. The reason it doesn't is because no one knows you yet when you're new. They don't know what to ask! Once people build a relationship through a substantial body of content,
then followers may start asking questions and making those requests based on what they see as areas where you have worthwhile answers.
So when
do you start a blog? In my opinion, the best time to do it is when you have
so many ideas and things you want to share and not enough time in the day to share it all! When you have a wealth of experiences or knowledge that you think will benefit others or products you love that you think everyone should know about! In any niche, if you're doing it with a motivation to serve and connect, it won't matter if it's an over-saturated market (because yes, it probably is). You will find so many more worthwhile connections by putting yourself out there and sharing
your favorites and experiences than if you just watch from the sidelines. And if you want to blog about Lifestyle topics, don't stress that you have to come up with new stuff all the time. There are lots of great Link Ups with prompts that help get the creative juices flowing and provide lots of blogging community connection. Beyond that, every restaurant you try, every class you take, every city you visit, every book you read etc. can spawn a post of its own if you want it to! I think that's why lifestyle blogging is so popular. There is no end to the content options and there really are no two people living identical lives. And we all seem endlessly fascinated with how other people do life! There's always something to share and learn. I've personally shifted more into the lifestyle territory over the years because I find it easier to form connections without always buying something new for myself or feeling like I need to push others to buy something new to keep me in business, so to speak. I still love fashion, but the business side of blogging about it isn't entirely aligned with some of my personal philosophies about consumption and spending, so I've had to make changes to work on improving that alignment.
Also, don't feel like you have to wait to start a blog until you can start out with the professional quality of more experienced bloggers. Start where you are and improve things over time as you're ready, willing and able.
Everyone is a little embarrassed of some of the steps on their blogging journey, but it's just part of the experience and there's no getting around it...only going through it. It can be fun and rewarding at every level of the journey so if it's something you've always wanted to try....go for it!
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Well, this ended up longer than I expected for trying to limit myself to sharing just three things about blogging! Some may disagree with some of my points and experiences, and that's okay. I am not an expert and not even a professional, full-time blogger. If nothing else I hope it was somewhat interesting for you to get my take on some of the behind the scenes, less-talked-about aspects of the industry! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and comments on this as always!
