Welcome to week 3 of my 10-week Blogging 101 Series! This post is all about writing the perfect blog post. I hope you find these tips helpful but I would also love to hear your own personal advice! Please feel free to ask any questions as well if something seems unclear. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this is useful!

Start an Editorial Calendar

In order to stay organized, you absolutely must have an editorial calendar of sorts. This does not need to be anything fancy or complicated – it can be as simple as a to-do list on a sheet of blank notebook paper. However, you will want to space out posts appropriately and time them so that you do not overload or bore your readers.

If you’re looking to be a little more organized than just to-do lists, I recommend investing in a Plum Paper or Erin Condren planner. These are broken into days and sometimes even hourly periods so that you can schedule your week down to the minute.

When are the best times to post? Many bloggers swear by posting around 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. This gives their readers the ability to read over new posts over their morning coffee or bookmark it to read during their lunch break.

Some bloggers simply post at midnight so if their readers get notifications such as emails when new posts are published, it will be the first thing they see in the morning. Some bloggers will post late at night or during lunch time – it’s all trial-and-error. You have to play around with it a bit to find what works for you.

The Bread and Butter of a Quality Post

Creating a blog post that combines quality writing with content to keep readers captivated is truly an art-form. Especially in our digitally-driven world, attention spans run thin – which means keeping the audience interested in what their reading is a huge challenge.

Here are some ways to craft an excellent blog post:

• Have a kick-ass title that’s informative but also catchy
• Use images and/or other multimedia such as video or audio clips
• Divide writing into sections with compelling sub-headings
• Write short paragraphs
• Use bullet points or numbering when appropriate
• Include links to other content
• Keep it short and sweet – nobody wants to try to decode what you’re saying (unless that’s your thing, then by all means, you do you)
• Include calls to action and thought-provoking questions

All of these components serve as markers on the page to draw the eyes down and encourage more reading. Having visual interests and sub-headings allow readers to skim the post more easily as well which means they can find what they’re looking for faster. You want to keep the reader invested in your post and on their toes!

Reviewing and Editing

You absolutely need to edit and review your posts. This is almost as important (if not more!) than the actual writing of the post. I have found a secret formula to reviewing your writing, so I hope that you find it useful.

Here are some key editing steps:

1. Use spell check
2. Read through everything multiple times
3. Read through everything out loud multiple times
4. Use the stop-and-repeat method. When you are reading through your post and find an error, make that correction, and then begin reading the post from the very beginning. If you do this every time you find an error, you will be able to read through your entire post without finding any flaw
5. Read it out loud to somebody else
6. Have somebody else review it
7. Use Hemingway App to copy-paste your post and check for readability
8. Fact-check – make sure every name is spelled correctly and all your facts are 100% accurate
9. Stand on your bed or chair and read your post out loud in a booming voice as though you were presenting it in front of an audience
10. Shorten and tighten any sentences you possibly can

Once you’ve completed all of these steps and have found no errors in your final read-through, your post should be ready for publication.

Giving Credit and Providing Links

Be sure that when you are using an image, media, or quote that does not belong to you that you correctly link and source it. Hyperlinks are a great way of doing this. I would encourage you to also hyperlink any brands or big names that you reference in your posts so that people can click through them and find out more information. ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT WHEN IT’S DUE!

For example, if I was talking about a dress from Charlotte Russe and a reader had never heard of that store before, they could click through the link and find out. Additionally, this notifies brands and websites that you are linking to their content. This can be great if you’re a fashion blogger who loves Kate Spade and link to their products all the time. You will suddenly be referring a lot of traffic to the Kate Spade website which could get the attention of their managers.

1) Define Your Blog

Before you begin writing or designing your blog, the VERY FIRST thing you need to do is define your blog. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to write about?
• Why do I want to write about this? (Is it to make money? Is it to share my thoughts? Is it to encourage social change? Is it for a professional portfolio? Is it to meet other bloggers? Is it to create a community?)
• Who is my target audience? Who do I want to read this?
• What is my ultimate goal?
• Do I want to make money from this?
• How often do I want to post?
• How much time do I have to devote to this?
• Do I want people to comment or share my posts?
• Will I be comfortable with my family, friends, employers, coworkers, and peers potentially reading this?
• What is your blogging niche? If you had to put your blog under ONE category, what would it be?

2) Brainstorm Ideas for Posts

What do you want to write about? I recommend getting a notebook and bringing it everywhere with you. Whenever you get a new idea for a post, write it down! If you don’t want to carry around a notebook, make a notes section in your phone to jot down ideas.

Personally, I have a terrible memory so I’m always writing down every idea that pops in to my brain!

I promise, you will not regret doing this. You will be kicking yourself later when you run out of ideas. Even if you don’t end up writing about a random idea you had, you can always come back to it later if you need to.

Besides this, I also recommend sitting down and writing out a list of posts you could feasibly write right now and posts that would require more work (taking pictures, making a video, doing research, etc.). This way you can start planning ahead for those ones that will take more time.

3) Research Other Similar Bloggers

It will be extremely beneficial for you to research other bloggers – ones that are successful and ones that aren’t. It’s crucial to understand what works and what doesn’t. Instead of trial and error on your own blog, you can see it in action on other blogs without having to lift a finger. Find blogs that you love and then pin point exactly why you like them. Find blogs that you don’t like or that aren’t successful and pin point exactly why as well!

I recommend making a list of the aspects of a successful blog or a blog that you admire:

• What is the layout of their site?
• What do they blog about?
• How often do they post?
• Do they have a strong presence on social media?
• Do they make money from their blog?
• Do they vary what type of post they do?
• How do they use multimedia?
• Do they interact with their readers?
• Who are their readers? Where do they come from?
• What is their story? (How long have they been blogging, how did they get started, why do they blog, how did they become so popular?)
• What is something you would change about their blog?
• How would you adapt their strengths into your own?

Use other blogs as resources! The more blogs you read, the better understanding you will have for how blogs work. The more blogs you read, the more ideas you will have about your own blog. The more blogs you read, the more inspired you will be!

4) Name Your Blog

This is a fun but also crucial step! Pick something short and sweet but also relevant and catchy! Look to other blogs for inspiration for this as well.

Check back next week for another Blogging 101 Series post all about setting up and designing your blog!

Who’s seen the hilarious and uplifting music video by the fabulous Meghan Trainor for her single “All About That Bass?” If you haven’t yet, definitely watch it below. It’s super catchy but also offers up a great positive message about loving your body!

There’s been a lot of criticism about her promoting one body type as better than others, but what the real message of this song is just all about loving your body for what it is and not trying to conform to the media’s expectations. This applies to women with curvier AND thinner figures.

The media places such unrealistic expectations on us – to have curves but to also be fit and small. It’s obsession with our looks objectifies is and makes is feel as though we’re never quite up-to-par.

This song could absolutely be flipped and just as easily have a woman who has been called “skinny” instead of “fat” singing about how she loves the way she is. It goes both ways! The bottom line message is the same: you are beautiful the way you are and you don’t need to be comparing yourself to others.

Critics point out that she says “skinny bitch” in her song, but if you actually look at that line in context, she follows it up immediately by saying “Hey! No, I’m just playing.” She uses the phrase “skinny bitch” because that’s so often what the media labels women who are “too skinny.” She uses it to poke fun at the media and highlight how ridiculous it is to call women that.

The whole song is upbeat and light – Meghan obviously doesn’t take herself too seriously and I think that’s what makes her message so refreshing. It’s not preach-y, but it gets the point across.

Meghan does not intend to say women with fuller figures are better or more beautiful than those who are thinner. The song is all about embracing your body how it is right now and ignoring the negative messages from the media.

This verse is what it’s all about. YOU are beautiful just the way you are! Don’t listen to the media because they portray an unrealistic idea of beauty. True beauty is within everybody!

Personally, I loved this song – it could definitely be my personal anthem. I found it uplifting, silly, catchy, and positive. It absolutely left me smiling and feeling good about myself – something that’s very, very rare in today’s Photoshop-dominated society.

I got yo back Meghan Trainor! I can’t wait to see what else you produce!

What did you guys think about this song? I want to hear your thoughts!

I’ve made a vow to myself: I will not be heat styling my hair for 30 days.

The only exception will be if there is a very special circumstance (a wedding, a fancy work event, etc.). If I do that, then I will be using very special shampoo to make sure I don’t get extensive damage during these few exceptions.

The goal of this is to hopefully have hair at the end of 30 days that is rejuvenated, healthy, and all-natural. At that point, my natural texture will be completely back and heat styling my hair will probably be pointless because it looks so good without it.

I’ll be updating frequently with pictures and tutorials on curly styles I’m trying, my hair routine, and all that jazz. Keep reading for a few more personal details on why I’m embarking on this all-natural journey.

Me with my extensions (left) versus my natural hair (right):

I tell my friends to love themselves for who they are. I share articles on social media about loving your body and embracing curves. I’ve talked endlessly with my peers, friends, parents, teachers, and mentors about what a negative influence the media has on women’s self-image.

But how can I complain about people conforming to media’s standard of beauty when I do it myself?

I am a hypocrite.

As many of you know, I have struggled with my hair for a long time. Between it’s lack of growth to it’s weird natural texture, I’m never quite satisfied with it. I straighten, curl, and blow-dry it nonstop. I put extensions in because it refuses to grow. (hmm… there’s clips pulling at the roots of my hair and I wonder why it won’t grow…I’m dumb) Doing all of these crazy things to my hair has become an addiction.

I know this may seem silly to some but I hope this resonates with at least a few people reading. I think we all do things for other people – whether we dress a certain way or buy certain brands. When we take a step back, we realize it’s not really for ourselves as much as it is for other people. When you ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” and you’re brutally honest, the answer may surprise you.

I’m not saying that every person who heat styles their hair or wears extensions is self-conscious or conforming to society, no. For some, it’s just a fun way to change up their look. I wish that was the case for me (although I kept telling myself it was just for fun).

When I really took a step back to reflect, I realized I was doing all of this crap to my hair because I genuinely thought people liked me better because of it.

Realizing that, I felt stupid. Why do I even care about the opinions of people who would prefer me to be something I’m not? Why don’t I value those who love me for who I am naturally (curly hair and all!)?

So I let go. I let go of what others think of me. If somebody decides they don’t like me as much just based off of the texture or style of my hair, then I don’t want them in my life. It’s as simple as that.

The people who truly love you won’t care what you look like.

I hope y’all love me because it’s about to be a curly, frizzy mess on my blog for the next month!

Have you ever struggled with an aspect of your appearance? What have you done to cope with that?