Thanks for 30,000!

I never thought I'd be saying this, but I hit 30,000 followers combined today! This blog turns three in about three weeks and I think it's a happy accident that I hit 30k today. This is obviously spread across multiple social media platforms (you can see the breakdown here) with Pinterest being around half of the number.
I feel like since I've changed my blog design that I'm a lot happier, and I'm so optimistic for the future of laurahadley.co.uk. Followers isn't everything, but it brings forward new opportunities. I've said in my blog goals and then goals evaluated that increasing your following to the next milestone does set you apart, especially when brands are weighing up who to work with since they have to look at in on a numbers basis in part, to justify the advertisement. 
With me saying I'm looking forward, I'm hoping to start posting a few times a day, with a few chatty updates, opinions on set topics etc being some short posts, and keeping my reviews more in-depth. I've got a few reviews that are going live this week which I'm excited about, including a new food review which I've not done since the summer.
Aside from rambling, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for everyone who shows their support, whether it be chatting on Twitter, making me laugh on WhatsApp, liking my Instagram photos or repinning on Pinterest. Thank you for reading my posts and adding a comment underneath, and thank you for giving me advice, because everyone needs advice.

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Blog Goals For 2017

I love setting myself milestones to pass as it's a great way to keep yourself on track and aim higher each month. I've previously written about my 2016 Blog Goals and revisited them to see what I've achieved. This year I'm setting similar targets but with a few added extras as I'm starting to work on my blog close to full time (although not earning full time yet) so this is definitely a goal I'm trying to hit. Blog Content I'm hoping to write mostly about beauty again this year, with more chatty and opinion posts too. I've been getting more vocal on Twitter and I hosted two #lbloggers chats in 2016 so I'd love to combine the two to create more lifestyle content and host more chats. I was confident enough to post about my implant experience so hopefully I'll be writing more about lifestyle, advice and blogging this year. My beauty content went sky high last year, with some well received posts so I'm aiming high and hoping to create more unique, eye-catching and interesting beauty posts. I've stopped writing about skincare as much as I'd rather focus on makeup and hair since I read those posts the most too. As I will be buying my first mortgaged house this year, (fingers crossed if all things go to plan!) so I'll be writing more about interiors too. Photography Whilst the biggest improvement with my photography so far has been in 2016, I'm hoping to use different backgrounds and props in my photos. If money allows I'll invest in another Olympus Pen lens to create higher quality photography. I'd be open to even creating stock photos to sell to if I improve further.  Collaborations I've tried to include more travel posts this year, even including some vlogs too! I'd love to collaborate with a brand or two for some travel content to write about and vlog as one of my biggest loves is exploring. This would also include more food reviews potentially since dining out is something I won't be able to do much whilst saving for a deposit on a house. I'd love to work with some big beauty brands to create not only blog content but more Instagram comment too. I feel like my Insta feed has vastly improved so working on content exclusively to there would be a fantastic opportunity. I've had so many exciting collaborations and campaigns on the blog this year that I'm really looking forward to what 2017 brings! Followers I'm aiming even higher than this year, and going to include a combined following goal since I hit a big milestone of 30,000 combined in 2016. By the end of 2017 it would be amazing to hit the big 50k and feel that with hard work I could achieve this. For Twitter I'd love to pass 10,000 followers, especially since I'm only 2.5k away now. For Instagram, I want to aim really high but since I've found it's one of the hardest platforms to gain followers on, I'm going to aim towards 5k. Pinterest holds my biggest following of 15k+ but growth has been slower over the past few months, so I'll aim in between 20k-25k and hope for the best. I'm not going to set a Bloglovin goal since I'm barely ever on it anymore as I prefer to share content on social media and connect with bloggers this way too. If I ever hit 2k there I will be happy! Extra I actually completed two online courses in 2016; Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing diplomas which I'm using to help my blog and social media content but I'd love to do a HTML. Photoshop, Web Design or Photography online course as I think they would help give the blog an extra boost. I'd love to be able to design my blog myself in the future but I'm not sure this would be achievable by the end of the year. 

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2016 Blog Goals - Revisited!

Every year I set goals for my blog to work towards, whether it be writing skills. followers, brand collaborations or photography. I also evaluate my goals to see whether I've achieved them, and then write a 2017 version based on what I have achieved in the previous year.
Blog My main aim for 2016 was to work with more amazing brands and I've definitely achieved my goal, even further than I could have ever expected. This year I've worked with Urban Decay, YSL, GlamGlow, Degustabox, Debenhams and many more brands. My goal was to collaborate with more brands mainly in the beauty department to both showcase some new makeup products but also to bring fresh content to my blog. Whilst working with new brands is great, I wanted to continue my previous relationship, especially with brands such as L'Oréal Paris. They're an amazing company to work with an continue to surprise me with their releases. 
I had a goal to create different content, with more beauty and fashion based posts. Pre-2016 my blog was a huge mixture of beauty, fashion and lifestyle but this year it's developed into primarily a beauty blog. Whilst I've not created many fashion posts, I'm okay with that since I find beauty and makeup products more interesting for me, and they're easier to photograph for me. I did create different types of posts this year however, including Halloween and Festival makeup looks which I enjoyed and will definitely make more of next year.
Photography I think the biggest milestone was crossing over to produce photos that not only would I be proud of but brands would be too. I've had emails to ask me how to take blog photos using my Olympus Pen E-PL7 and brands saying they've found me through Instagram because of my photographs which is a huge compliment. Now I'm not the best at taking blog photos but I've improved so much that I really enjoy taking photos now instead of it being a chore.
I now also own softbox lights which I've only used once so far but as the weather is gloomy and dark at the moment I will be probably bringing them out a bit more. Since getting to know my camera and the lenses I'm taking brighter photos first, without having to edit them after.

Social Media Followers Like I said at the beginning of this year, your followers aren't everything. They do however influence which brands will work with you since they have to narrow down their search and this is one way they do this. I didn't hit my 2,000 Bloglovin Goal but I've surpassed 1,900 followers which is close enough, as is Twitter where I aimed to hit 8,000 but have passed 7,500.
My Pinterest goal was high but I actually more than doubled my goal and surpassed 15,200 followers which is amazing. I'm thinking about writing a post in the new year about how I did this since I tend to get questions every once in a while. When I wrote the goals post for 2016 I was on 3,500 followers so in the past year I've gained over 11,700 Pinterest followers. I also passed my Instagram goal of 2,000 followers by hitting over 3,200 followers but my 2017 goal will be a fair bit higher! 
Now we're at the end of 2016 I've nearly hit 30,000 combined followers which is amazing and definitely helps my standing when brands are choosing whether to work with me or not. I'll have to have a think about what I'll be aiming for in terms of that. This year I've also passed 200,000 views on Blogger and I wish I had installed Google Analytics when I started my blog as I would love to see what the difference is there since I'm now hitting 10,000-11,000 blog hits per month there (appears as 12,000-16,000 on Blogger).

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Blog Goals For 2016

Although I've never really written down my exact goals for each year of blogging, I've always had them in mind. It's so rewarding to hit each milestone and that's why this year, I'm keeping a note of what I want to achieve from my blog and social media accounts and will report back in a years time.


My Blog 

I'm fairly happy with my blog layout, but I'm fully prepared to pay to have it redesigned to fit my needs. My sidebar just doesn't fit no matter how many times I try to alter it and I can't pick another font for my headings since I'm limited to what I can do on Blogger. I'd love to have a full design that fitted my blog as a brand with some fancy features like a scrollbar or a nicer 'popular posts' section. My header was done by the amazing Jemma from Dorkface and I'm really happy with it so don't want it changing as far as I can see. 

 
For content, I'd love to feature more food and travel posts, and going to Los Angeles in April will almost certainly help with that. I'll be collaborating with two exciting brands in the New Year which I'm really looking forward to, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Overall, I'd love to work with some more amazing brands, and keep the positive relationship that I have with the ones I collab with already. Once my confidence improves I'd love to feature more fashion posts and also close up makeup shots (on me) to really show off some fabulous products.


Photography 

I think my photography has had a huge improvement in the past few months and since buying my Olympus Pen E-PL7 I'm quickly learning how to take professional looking photographs in minutes. I'd love to improve further by using both of my lenses with the camera to their full advantage and to demonstrate the quality of beauty products through this. The team at L'Oréal Paris complimented my La Vie En Rose photographs which was a huge confidence booster and it's great knowing you can please who you're working with too.


Social Media Followers 

Blogging isn't always about followers, but they do help. Not only do they improve your blog traffic, but they help you gain recognition, open you up to new collaborations and keep you on track to know you're doing well. On Bloglovin' I've not really grown much in the 22 months I've been blogging which is disappointing. I'm not sure why, but it is disheartening. Buy the end of 2016 I'd love to reach 2,000 followers there. Over on Twitter I've had a huge surge which is so pleasing since that's where I focus most of my attention by talking to other bloggers and brands, alongside getting involved in chats and promoting my blog posts. I'm close to 5,000 followers now so I'm setting myself a huge target of getting to 8,000 followers over there which may seem unachieveable, but it's a goal. 

 
Instagram is a huge love of mine and I put a lot of hard work into getting good photographs for it, but again my followers don't grow much there. I think it's so hard to gain Instagram followers so those who are 'Instagram Famous' must put so much time into their profile. By the end of next year it would be lovely to go past the 2,000 mark. Pinterest seems to have had the biggest influx of followers over the past few months and I've managed to hit 3,500 followers pretty quickly. Since it's easier to gain followers there and gain referrals to your blog, I'd love to hit 7,000 followers there - doubling what I have now.

Can I do it? Who knows. The most important goal overall is to improve my blog; with every word written, photograph taken and every backlink I give myself. My heart is in this more than it may be perceived and I want to show the World that this is my portfolio of what could be a future career. Not only is it work experience if you're going into PR/Marketing, but it develops skills that may have gotten a bit rusty since you left school. I'm going to be more vocal about my blog and not shy away from it when people ask about it. I may even venture into getting a Facebook page for it. What do you think?

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