How I Became a Beauty Blogger/Tips for a Successful Beauty Blog

Hi Bellas,

Again, no new pictures or videos until my laptop is fixed, but today i'll talk about a topic I get asked out a lot?  How Do You Become a Beauty Blogger?  A lot of my viewers ask this question wanting to know how I got started and how to get a successful readership.  I usually answer the question each time, but I think it’d be more helpful to do a post on it.

I always loved makeup. When I was a little girl, I would read through all of the teen magazines like Seventeen, YM, Teen…looking for makeup tips! That’s how I learned the basics.

Then when I was a teen, I got invited to my first Mary Kay Makeup party from a lady who went to my church. It was there that I learned the outer V eyeshadow technique which changed my life! From there, I stepped up my makeup game…doing makeup on myself and my friends. I’ve always had a knack for it.

 

It wasn’t until about 3 years ago, that I started getting serious. I was googling one day looking for makeup ideas for New Years. I loved makeup…but everytime I went to the counter, especially at MAC, they would end up doing my makeup like a baby doll. They refused to put on eyeliner except a super thin amount always telling me that it would close up my eyes. I knew that I needed more eyeliner than the average person, or else it would disappear as soon as I blinked an eye. It was when I was searching the internet, that I first came across http://www.asianbeautyblog.com/. This was a forum where a lot of girls who looked just like me showed different makeup looks and did all these amazing looks. That’s where I First me a lot of bloggers...Stephie, Vanessa from Nessasary Makeup, Alien Man, Fei…just to name a few. We started to form a community of Asian Bloggers…this is where I really learned how to do makeup.

It wasn’t just my basic outer v technique. I learned about primers, how to make makeup show up, what tools to use…all these great things that you wouldn’t know about. It was the beginning of an addiction! Every night for months, I would be in my bathroom mirror after work, trying to recreate a look I saw. There were many nights where my eyelid skin was raw from removing and reapplying makeup. But the practice really paid off! My makeup techniques were expanding and really transforming. I knew I had some kind of makeup skills and decide to finally step up to the plate. Starting a blog is so simple…sites like www.blogger.com are free and have easy to use templates. I armed myself with a digital camera and started documenting the looks I created.

In the beginning, I think I had all of 2 viewers, lol. However, I stayed consistent…kept on practicing, kept on posting. Over time, the posts began to get easier. I got in the habit of taking pictures of my makeup, writing down what I used. Over time, my posts began to diversify…I started doing product reviews, as my confidence grew even videos.

With my own personal blog, here are some things I learned along the way in order to be successful:

• Sign up for a blog!  I used http://www.blogger.com/ which is super easy.  Others use http://www.wordpress.com/   
• Tailor your blog posts to what you think others would want to read…try to pick topics of interest that would apply to a lot of viewers
• Show your personality...make your posts fun and lively, no one wants to read an encyclopedia, lol
• Be consistent with posting…your readers begin to form a relationship with your blog and it’s hard to keep that going when you hardly ever post 
• Make videos…my YouTube videos brought in a lot of blog viewers…just remember to mention your blog on your videos.  Videos also add another dimension to your blog.
• Sign up for beauty blog networks...this will again get you exposed to a lot of other bloggers and audiences...it will help promote your blog as well.  I'm part of the Total Beauty network which has given me the ability to review products from larger cosmetic companies as well as generate revenue from ad space.
• Make use of subject tags on blog entries…this will help when people search google for topics…I’ve gained a lot of new viewers that way
• Stay professional…by maintaining a professional blog, it’s helped my business as a makeup artist grow and has attracted sponsor companies.  Please note, if you have a personal blog, it's fine to be yourself and share your own personal experiences.  However, if you choose to do a specific blog, like a beauty blog, it helps to keep things a bit more professional.  This will help you network and make contacts in the industry.
• Host give-aways and contests for viewers…it will give your audience incentive to continue reading and keep them actively involved in your blog. Urge them to “follow and subscribe”
• Partner with other bloggers…this helps get you exposed to many other audiences that you might not reach
• Read other blogs regularly... leave comments and form relationships with other bloggers.  Reading other blogs also keeps you up to date on current product developments as well as get familiar with how to write and format posts
• Pick an easy to read blog format that will keep readers wanting to come back…no one wants to read a blog with hard to read text and unflattering color schemes
• Set up an email address specifically for your blog...it helps so that you can make sure to answer reader questions, get in contact with sponsor companies...and keep life separate from your private emails
• Proof-read and grammar check...just makes your blog easier to read
• FTC Disclosures:  make sure to include this on your posts where you review or endorse any products. 

This is the story of how i became a beauty blogger.  Of course, everyone has their own journey and tips and tricks.  I hope you all can benefit from some of my experiences.  Please feel free to leave your own advice in the comments.

 

This was just the beginning for me…want to learn how I became a makeup artist? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.

Atlanta Makeup Artist