1. Remember why you started.
Here comes some tough love to start with. Why did you start your blog? Was it to give you a creative outlet, to improve a skill or was it simply to just share with other people what you love to do with your time? These are the best reasons to start a blog and they mean that you won’t give up easily. If you started your blog to make some extra money, this was not the right reason. The problem with blogging now is that some people see it as an ‘easy’ way to make money and dive in thinking they’re going to come out the other side being the next Zoella. They won’t. Unless they’re genuinely doing it because they love it.

– Remember: It’s not about how many followers you have and which brands want to work with you, if you enjoy it, that should be the main thing.

2. Quality over Quantity
Yep, it’s a cliche, but it really is true. If your blog is full of different sized, out of focus and repetitive photos then it simply won’t be eye-catching and attractive enough to retain readers. This is the same with your writing; make sure that it’s engaging and interesting. This doesn’t mean that you have to write a mini novel for every post.

3. Network, Network, Network
To really get yourself heard within the blogging community, get involved with offline events such as meet ups in your area and brand events. These are great ways to meet bloggers that are into the same things as you are and you can make some really good friends!

Online, you need to follow loads of relevant bloggers on Twitter, Bloglovin’ and Instagram. This is great for interacting, gaining inspiration and also growing your own following. The more followers you have, the more likely you are to pop up in the ‘suggested followers’ sections of social media, thus giving you even more chance of gaining followers. Twitter chats are an amazing way to grow your visibility online. There are loads of different topics for these chats and they happen on every night of the week. My favourites are:

– #FBloggers (fashion bloggers) chat which is Monday 8-9pm and is hosted by Becky from Beckybedbug.com and usually has a topic of chat.

– #FBLChat (Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle) Tuesday nights 8-9pm is and is hosted by Jessica from Look What I Got.

– #BBloggers (Beauty Bloggers) chat is on Wednesday & Sunday nights between 8-9pm. You can check it out on Twitter at @Bbloggerschat.

– #SBloggers (Student Bloggers) is 8-9pm and is hosted by Charley from Rambling of a Beauty Blogger on Friday nights.

4. Get creative
Instagram is a blogger favourite and it’s a great way to discover new blogs. Get your photos noticed by using the best hashtags, (we’ll come on to this later) and making them super easy on the eye. I love using apps for pretty-ing up my Instagram snaps which I’ll most likely share onto my blog Facebook page or my Twitter profile too. Some of my favourite are A Beautiful Mess App, which is amazing for adding cute text and shapes onto your pics. Stop Motion Studio is a little gif maker which takes a bit of getting used to and learning the ropes but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’re off on a gif-making spree like no other. Moldiv, like many other apps is perfect for creating photo collages that showcase different areas of an outfit for example.

5. Be organised
The thing with bloggers is that many of us seem to be secret (or not so secret) stationary freaks. Bloggers love a notebook and new pen to try out. Chuck some fresh post-its in there and you’re on to a winner! A top tip that I have is always keep on top of your blogging, make lists of posts you want and need to do and any ideas that you might have for future posts. I always have a list on my phone of ideas and once a week I sit down and organise my posts for the future and make a note of anything that I need to follow up, for example emailing a link of a post to a brand that has been featured on my blog.

Scheduling posts and tweets is also another amazing time saving tip. You don’t have to have weeks and weeks worth of content ready to go up at the drop of a hat but it pays off to get a few days ahead of yourself, especially if you know you’re going to be working or have a busy timetable at uni. There are loads of websites and services that can help you schedule your social posts and most blogger platforms have one built in for your posts. Buffer, Hootsuite, IFTTT and Sprout Social are all different platforms that can help you organise your social profiles, these work especially well for Twitter. Take a look and see which one will work for you.

Another thing that I try to do to make blogging easier is to have mega photo-taking sessions where you can get 3-4 posts shot in one sitting and then you only have to take your memory card out of the camera, drop it, lose it and look for it once a week!

6. Use crafty tricks
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation can be a minefield. Either you get it, or you probably don’t but you don’t have to know the ins and outs of Pay-Per-Click campaigns to help your blog’s SEO and Google rankings. A simple way to help it out is to use the correct tags on your blog post, whether this be on Blogger or WordPress and to always make sure that the titles of your posts are engaging and interesting. Also, it pay to have your own domain name as .blogspot and .wordpress blogs can sometimes look unprofessional and a lot of brands like to work with self hosted bloggers. This doesn’t always stand, a load of big bloggers still have .blogspot blogs but in my opinion they look nicer. I only pay around £3 per month for mine and it’s massively worth it!

7. Find your niche
To really stand out from the crowded room that is blogging you need to differentiate yourself from others and find your niche. This means that you can’t just be another blogger wearing the same pastel coloured heels or talking about the same new release make-up line. Unless you’re getting a preview way ahead of the crowd or you’re doing something completely different with it, you’ll just blend into the crowd. Ask yourself why should someone read your blog over someone else who is possibly quite similar?

8. Work for it.
If you’re serious about your blogging and you really want to start getting the new releases from brands and becoming part of their networks, don’t just sit back and wait for them to come to you. Approach brands and companies that you feel would sit well with your blog. Don’t be afraid that they’ll say no. They might do, but they’ll have their reasons and it will give you something to aim for and there are always other brands that will want to work with you.

– Top Tip: In these emails, be polite, address the person by name (if you’re lucky enough to have a direct email) and let them know why you want to feature their product and what you think your blog can offer them as a brand. Give them some stats and flattery will get you everywhere!

9. Put yourself out there – guest blog, guest blog, guest blog!
Guest blogging is a great way to gain exposure and make new blogging connections. If you post on blogs with bigger followings you open up a massive gateway for yourself. Most bloggers will also tag you on Twitter that you’ve featured in their latest post too which can also boost your following. This also links back to the SEO section as the more blogs you post on that link back to your site, the more credible backlinks you have and the more Google likes you.

10. Use your social wisely
Social media is the best tool a blogger has but you need to be interactive on it and show that you’re active and chatty. Follow like minded individuals and and join in with Twitter chats and strike up random conversations about relevant things. Also, remember to reply to all comments that you receive on your blog, it makes you seem a lot more human and it will encourage people to comment more, this growing your following.

Search for relevant hashtags on Twitter such as #bloggerswanted and #prrequest as they’re normally full of PR people and brands looking for great bloggers to get in touch with them for product features and exciting events.

Always remember to use relevant hashtags on your own posts, be it Twitter or Instagram. You’ll see which ones are flying around at the time but I’ll always use #fbloggers or #bbloggers on the majority of my posts.

– Top Tip: Use the same handles over all social media platforms to make yourself easy to find on other platforms. For example if you have your blog name as your Instagram name but your first name and surname as your Twitter handle you make it difficult for people to find you without a direct link.

11. Mix things up
If you post the same thing over and over, it can become boring and repetitive. Try and be personal and don’t overdo one section of your blog. This is where lifestyle blogs are great because you’re constantly moving between fashion, beauty, travel and food amongst loads of othe