It may be tempting to go straight into doing your post but this can sometimes cause you trouble further down the line. Spending a bit of time thinking about what you want your post to be like is always worth it. Some of the key things to identify are what style you want the post to be written in, such as a review, chatty post or an advice piece. When you have the idea in your head, you can set out a timeline for yourself to achieve your finalised blog post, taking and editing your photos, writing your content and then doing your last checks before hitting publish. Starting a blog is quite straightforward, so to really make the most out of blogging you should plan each post out even if you're just writing for a hobby.  

Taking photos for your blog is one of the most vital elements and can really compliment what you're writing about. One of the most important things when taking your photos is to consider the lighting situation. This can make or break the outcome of your photos. Where possible try to use natural lighting as this will give the best balance. If this isn't possible, aim to use some form of artificial lighting such as box lights or similar. Think about where you'll be shooting to make sure you have a suitable background, while the use of props can really bring your photos to life. There are a whole range of camera lenses available and using the right one can noticeably improve your picture and give you different options, such as blurry backgrounds. I use two cameras for my photos, the Olympus Pen E-PL7 and the Panasonic Lumix G6. After finishing taking the photos, there are a couple of ways to get your photos onto your device for editing. One helpful article about 'How to Transfer Images from your Lumix' explains how to do this. Once your photos are on your device, you can choose which way to edit them. I edit my blog photos on Photoshop but similar programmes and websites can help you achieve the same edit.


When it comes to writing your blog post it can sometimes be the point where you don't know where to start. This is where you can refer back to your plan to see how you intended to write the post and what needs to be included, as this will help you break it down into sections. If you concentrate on a smaller section at a time, it makes it easier to write. Letting your creative mind flow is great once you've got hang of it, but even if you get stuck you can look for some inspiration and you'll soon be right on track. Once you feel that your post is finished, go back over and read through it one more time. This will help you to spot mistakes you may have missed, along with slight improvements that could be made to make your writing that bit better.

It can be easy to publish your post and think that your work is complete but promoting your post is really important to get people to be able to see your post. Think about how often you want to share it and one what platform. Make use of the photos in your blog post to include in your social promotion as this will help to catch the eye of people scrolling through their feed. The better photos you get, the higher quality your Pinterest and Instagram feeds will be, and posts with photos tend to gain more views from Twitter and Facebook. Overall, having better photos should boost your engagement and increase traffic to your site, and help you find more blogging opportunities.


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