Behind The Blog: The Blogging Process

Welcome back to Behind The Blog!

Tonight I'm going to take you into the world of how I get a blog post out there... It's pretty simple, but also time consuming and it basically consists of the four P's: Planning, Prepping, Posting and Promoting...

Planning

The most important part of my process is planning! Deciding what I want to post and when and getting it down on paper is vital to the smooth running of my posts. To be honest it's only something I started doing to any great effect late last year and boy does it make a difference, especially when a challenge is coming up. It's the getting it down on paper that seemed to do it for me, using the calendar on my phone or laptop just didn't work for me, I've enjoyed planning on paper so much it's now practically another hobby. Let's take a look in the diary...

I use this to plan everything in my life including the blog posts which are always on cute bits of washi tape and case studies which are on little luminous tabs. I used to write a journal so I also use it for a bit of that as well as motivational quotes, doodles, stickers, stamping and all sorts. I love it! To go along with my planner, I also use these nail templates to sketch out my designs...

These are almost essential during something like a 31 Day Challenge and much like with planning, I didn't realise until I started using them how much easier they could make doing my manicures! Having the layout of a design pre-drawn makes such a difference to the speed I create a design, just tweaking it as I go if needed. You can find the ones I use from Nail Lacquer UK HERE.

Prepping

Of course prepping a post includes doing the manicures, and I tend to do them in bulk - say five or so on a weekend, but you see the results of that in almost every one of my posts and I will be taking you into my nail room and sharing my stash in further posts so for this installment it's all about the photo's... Taking pictures,choosing one and editing it takes as long as the mani itself sometimes! The camera I use is actually just my mobile phone...

I use my trusty Samsung Galaxy S5 to take ALL my photo's! Prior to that it was my S3 and many moons ago when I started it was a lil ol' iPhone. I also use mobile apps to edit my photos; PicsArt to add my watermarks, PhotoGrid to create collages and almost always Instagram to crop and filter my photos using the Valencia filter between 50 and 100%. As for where I take my snaps... This should make you laugh!

...That's right, it's my downstairs loo!!! LOL! Believe me I have tried light boxes, lamps, daylight bulbs, led's and every room in my house to get good pictures; but none of them ever produced consistent results. My downstairs loo is the one haha! The combination of the ridiculously bright - so that it warms your head - bulb in the huge overhead spotlight and the daylight from the window create the perfect environment for mani snaps. Now you know me really well!!

Posting

When it comes to posting on my blog, I tend to write each one on the day so I do a lot of it, editing over and over. Although I do my mani's in bulk I prefer writing the content itself on the day and making it relevant, though I think I need to start scheduling at this point to stay on track. My platform is Blogger and I always use my laptop! I love my HP Folio and it's hard to get hold of now. You can't beat a small lightweight, super-fast, hard wearing laptop for blogging and other constant internetting/writing activities. So this is life through my eyes a lot of the time...

Yep, we're in the bathroom again hehehe, but more usually I am sitting on the floor in the living room with my hamster Humbug joining in on the action...

How cute is that?! I just had to include it in the post!

Promoting

You may think that I can relax once I've hit 'publish' but no, now I have to share on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest! Plus I now upload to Nailpolis... It can get overwhelming but I am getting better at it!

There are other places to share such as Google+, but for now I think I'm full to capacity on this front! It definitely makes a difference to your blog to be visable in multiple locations and have people be able to interect with you the way THEY prefer; it will also be essential when it comes to running a nail tech business! Always thinking ahead...

All in all I probably spend 20 hours a week on the blog and manicures, it's no small undertaking that's for sure... But I love it!

That's all for tonight, if you're left wondering anything else just drop me a comment below... 

Next Week: The Nail Room

Rebecca x