Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!
I have been taking a break from blogging this past two weeks because I have been feeling really overwhelmed at posting a blog post every day of the week. Blogging is something that I really enjoy doing and I have always wanted to do but as all bloggers know, it can be very time consuming and it is a lot more work than what it may seem. I always knew that it would be quiet some work but after starting, I quickly realized that it was A LOT more work than what I had initially thought it would be haha
Also, if you are wondering, I did switch over "A Dash of Lisa" from the Wix website to Blogger.com because of many different factors. Blogger.com is so different from Wix and I feel like I have to learn how to blog all over again since EVERYTHING is completely different on this site but I am so excited to start using Blogger and I hope this site turns out just how I want down the road!
Today, I wanted to share a little bit more about myself and some honest thoughts about being a new fashion/life style blogger and things I have learned through my 4 months of blogging so far! ( I can't believe its been 4 months already!) If you are a blogger, I would love to hear your opinion and thoughts about starting a blog so please message me or comment below =)
To begin, My husband Tim, Dash, and I moved to Charlotte, NC almost one year ago in October of 2014. Before that, we lived in Fairfax, VA for 3 years. Tim's parents reside in Charlotte and we thought it was a great idea to move to Charlotte for a few years to help them get started on a retirement job! Before the big move, I worked as a paralegal at a patent law firm in VA but since we moved, we have been pretty busy traveling and planning on opening a restaurant ( coming soon to South End, Charlotte =)) so I have not been working full time. At first, this drove me so crazy! Working 9-5 everyday to not working at all was sooooo boring haha but eventually I got use to the whole not working routine but was still so bored with the extra time I had when we were not traveling or in business meetings. This is when I decided that I will start a blog to keep myself busy on my free time doing what I love to do...FASHION! I really would NOT call myself a fashionista or fashion forward girl but...one thing is true..that I have ALWAYS loved fashion!!! so, with that being said, this was a great opportunity for me to express my love for fashion and style.
That was the brief story of how I got started in blogging! Now on to some things I have learned in the past few months of blogging...
1.) Social media is SO important when you are a blogger of any sort. Whether it be a travel, interior design, food, or fashion blog..etc... Social media is your initial contact with your readers. Without outlets such as instagram, pinterest, or twitter, it would be VERY hard to reach your readers. ( and...I have never used twitter eeekk :/)
2.) This may only concern new fashion bloggers but it takes a lot of money and creativity to think of new outfits DAILY. I never even thought of this but when you purchase something at the store, you really need to wear that piece and blog about it ASAP because 1.) things sell out quick! 2.) If you can't link the item so the readers can purchase the same thing, its not as fun for readers. 3.) trends change so quickly!
I think this is the hardest part for me about being a fashion blogger because when I purchase a new clothing item, I like to hang it in my closet and wait for the perfect occasion to wear the item =). But I quickly realized that this doesn't really work if you are a fashion blogger. So many times where I finally wore that outfit and it was already not carried in stores or sold out... :/ so... now I can't even link the product even though the item is only a few weeks old...such a bummer...
Before I started blogging about fashion, I never knew that stores (usually) only carry an item for less than a month. After a month, all the clothes are brand new and different from the previous month. Crazy!! lol
3.) As most big bloggers have mentioned at some point in their blogs, it really DOES get very discouraging to blog when you feel like you put a lot of work into your blog and you feel like no one cares or even looks at it. However, I have come to realize that this is just like anything else in life. You have to sometimes go through the downs to enjoy the ups =) The best thing that has worked for me when I feel discouraged is to remind myself that I am doing this for MYSELF because I love what I do. I love fashion and make up and pretty things and that is what makes me happy. So... there is nothing to be discouraged about because I am doing what I love and I am doing this for myself and not for anyone else. ( It usually works like a charm ;))
4.) When I first started thinking about blogging, I of course talked to my husband about it. He of course thought it was a great idea to express my love for fashion on this blog ( and so I will leave him alone b/c the blog will keep me occupied ;)). But obviously he as well had no idea that blogging was so time consuming...about a month into blogging, he started second guessing my blog because it was taking up too much of my time everyday. Also, he is my photographer and he wasn't too happy about taking my outfit photos every single day lol (completely understandable)
However, now that its been 4 months, I think he is more hopeful that my blog is actually going somewhere and he has also become such a great photographer and sometimes he notices more things than I do ( for example my shirt is caught in my shorts or my necklace is on backwards) haha
With out the support of my husband, I would have definitely not had the chance or ability to start my very own fashion blog and I am so grateful to have such a great, caring, supportive husband along side me at all times.
(He has also become so good at taking photos, each outfit photo session only takes about 5 minutes now!! yay!)
5. Last but not least, there are SOOOO many fashion/life style bloggers out there and the support I have gotten from them so far is tremendous! I can't even begin to thank the kind words I receive daily from them. It is truly amazing and fun to get to share the same feeling, situations, and goals with these amazing girls/guys! Because of my fellow bloggers/instagrammers, it makes blogging even more fun! Thank you so much guys!
I know this post was sooooo long and if you did read the whole thing, you ROCK! hehe and thank you so much!
I hope you stay tuned on my new blog journey on this new site! I know it will take some time for me to get use to this site but I will make sure to try my best!
Thank you so much for reading!
xo,
Lisa
