Time really flies doesn’t it? It’s officially been three years since I started this blog for mine and it just so happens to be my 80th post as well. Instead of posting personal styling tips, beauty reviews or travel adventures like I usually do, I’m going to talk about the most important things I’ve learned in the game so far. Being a blogger for the past three years has come with its wide range of ups and downs. Sometimes it wasn’t either; sometimes I felt like I was just flatlining with no hope of ever getting anywhere. Well, I’ve had three years to learn from my mistakes so I’m sharing the 5 things I’ve learned as a blogger to whoever needs to hear it. Enjoy some of my favourite throwbacks from when I first started all of this!

 

When I started Michelles In Style, I really had no expectations. I just had a really strong vision one day that this is what I was meant to do and because of it, I started it. It took me a few months from the time I had the idea to actually start it. Then six months from starting to actually commit to a making a blog. But when I did, boy was it something. I remember just having newfound excitement running through my veins again and it kept me more motivated than I had in years. It was something I never knew I needed and something that became more than I ever bargained for. Because of it, I learned so much and I want to keep learning because of it. Here are the five most important things I’ve learned as a blogger so far.

 

1. Learn How to Promote Yourself and Your Brand.

This was one of the hardest for me to learn as I’m naturally more reserved and have never been good at promoting myself. When I first started Michelles In Style, I would only write short lines in my IG captions. Whenever I’d write blog posts, I wouldn’t know how to advertise for them either. I’d just write one vague line about what it’s about and say link in bio after it. This is fine if you’re more established but for a small fry like me who was just starting out, people didn’t know who I was yet. This is where longer captions would’ve helped them get a feel of what I’m all about. As well, it gives off the impression you really care about what you do. I found that people tend to appreciate that more than just one-liners.

Now whenever I write a blog post, I talk more in-depth about what the post is about and something to entice my viewers on why they should read it. As well, shouting it out through a series of story posts never hurt anyone. The whole point is to build trust as a blogger so you can eventually monetize. You won’t be able to convert your audience if you don’t write captivating captions or have a call-to-action at the end of them. Don’t let your efforts go to waste and don’t worry about annoying people either. The ones who are interested will read it. If not, they’re not your target audience and you don’t need to waste time on them.

 

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2. Pitch to Brands Instead of Waiting For Them to Come to You.

To be honest, when I started this thing, I was completely clueless. I figured that in order to get any type of partnership, I would first need a large following and in order to get paid, I would need at least 10 k followers. Both turned out to be untrue. This took more three years to learn! In fact, I remember attempting to make a media kit during the second year but never sent it out because I didn’t think I was good enough. That and I also didn’t know how to pitch either. In reality, people with less than 1000 followers can still get paid brand deals. It all depends on how you sell yourself as a blogger and what you can offer to the brand you are pitching.

I’ve been scammed a couple times by brands asking for “collaborations” when only offering products at a discount price. These people are only trying to sell you products and not trying to have an actual partnership with you. If you wait for brands to come to you, you might be waiting forever unless you go viral that is. Most people don’t go viral overnight so it’s best to start making a media kit that really shows off your personal brand through visuals and stats. This year I finally finished making one and started sending them out after learning how to properly pitch. To my surprise, I was offered media rates for hotels, complimentary services and my very first sponsored stay at a hotel! Sitting at only 3 k, I never would’ve thought that was possible but it is – all I had to do was ask.

 

3. Being Consistent is Key.

One of the things I heard so often throughout the years was that in order to grow, you must stay consistent. Looking back now, I never understood the weight of those words and how powerful it really was. For the past three years, I felt like I was being consistent by posting every two days and sometimes three. It wasn’t until this year that I realized that wasn’t enough to grow as a blogger and to get eyeballs on your content. In fact, for the past year, my following count was constantly going up and down to the point where I thought it was never going to grow. Every time I would gain, I would lose followers. I was contemplating whether or not there was even a point in trying.

Then a funny thing happened, I started consistently tagging brands in my stories and started to post to my feed every single day. And guess what happened? I started to grow. I was growing a handful of followers a day instead of losing. I was feeling pretty unmotivated in the first half of this year to continue blogging only to be met with mediocre results. However, the harder I worked and tried to sell my brand, the more I was able to establish myself as a blogger. For the first time in my life, I’m starting to truly believe you can have anything as long as you work for it. The universe rewards those who put in the effort for what they want because truthfully, if you put in half-assed work, you’re going to get half-ass results.

 

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4. Be on as Many Social Platforms as Possible.

This one’s an important one that I also learned way too late. When I first started, I only focused my energy on Instagram and my blog thinking that was enough. I had a Facebook page but didn’t do much on it and wasn’t too invested into it either. It was only until this year that I realized how important it is to expose your brand on as many social platforms as you can. Although my following is significantly lower on Facebook compared to Instagram, you never know who you may reach. It’s possible that the people who you know personally may be the link to finding your target audience as well. Social media is such a powerful thing that one share can change your entire blogging career.

This year alone, I finally made a Twitter page, a TikTok account and a revamped Pinterest account. As well, I got serious about monetizing my brand by starting an Amazon Influencer Shop and linking all my outfits to my C8KE page. I never really thought about monetizing too much because I didn’t think I had a large enough following for it. Although I’m still in the process of seeing a return on my work, it’s all in the process of building a name for yourself. I was limiting myself to only Instagram for so long when in actuality, there’s so many ways to reach a wider audience. The whole point of doing anything full-time is making a living out of it. In that sense, why not try to expose what you do on as many channels as possible?

 

5. One of Two Bad Posts Doesn’t Mean You Suck at What You Do.

If I had a dollar every time my post flopped and thought it meant I shouldn’t even be blogging in the first place, I’d be a pretty rich woman. There have been many times my posts didn’t get much engagement and I’d take it really hard to the point where I’d want to give up. It wasn’t until later on this year when I started rewiring my mindset into a more positive one that things started to change. When you think about it, we can’t get amazing engagement every time we post. Some posts do flop –  which is okay – because that’s when I get to learn what works and what doesn’t. Blogging is really just a process of trial and error.

To be honest, I do still take it hard sometimes but instead of thinking I suck at what I do, I think about how I can improve in the future. It makes me more motivated to kill it the next time and the time after that. I remember that it’s all about providing value to my audience not vice versa. Of course, this took a lot of work to realize but what helped to change my negative thinking the most was realizing that blogging is my passion. Though some of my posts may not always do well, the point is that I never stop trying. They say one bad day doesn’t equal to a bad life, the same goes for blogging. One or two bad posts don’t mean you’re a bad blogger – it just means you’re learning.

 

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These three years haven’t been easy. When I say I’ve really struggled with finding my voice and what makes me unique, I mean it. There were times I produced content only because I thought it was what my audience would want to see or wrote captions that provided absolutely no value. I realized the more open and honest I was, the better people reacted to it. Though there are so many things I’ve learned as a blogger since starting, an honourable mention needs to go to the most important one of all – which is learning to just be myself.

The real me isn’t always upbeat or overly enthusiastic. I’m actually a really sarcastic person with a dry sense of humour. I found the more I acted like the person that I actually am, the more people paid attention to what I had to say. It’s funny how you hear that your whole life but you never really think that’s the key to unlocking your true potential. I used to have a hard time fusing my two loves of travel and fashion together on my IG feed because I didn’t think it went with “my look”. However, people ended up loving it and I started gaining a larger following because of it.

In the end, when you do things that are true to the person you are, people will always recognize it. After three years of blogging, I’m becoming more comfortable with being me and to be honest – she’s pretty cool. I can only hope that’s one of the reasons you decided to take advice from a blogger who’s still trying to make a name for herself. Happy three years to myself and all the ups and downs that came with it!

 

 

 

As an Amazon Influencer, I earn a small commission on all Amazon products featured in this post.

 

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Looks From When I First Started 

(And one from way back)