How To Create A Blog Post For All Types Of Bloggers


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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Choosing The Right Phone For You


When it comes to choosing your next phone, there are a bunch of facts to consider. Will the camera be good enough for those Instagram shots? Will there be enough storage to hold your screenshots and WhatsApp conversations? What operating system do I want? There seem to be two boats; the Android boats and the Apple boats. Now I've actually been on both sides, starting out with two HTC smartphones and two Samsung smartphones over the years, and it's only been my last two phones where I've had iPhones. What I'm looking for in my next phone is increased storage space, a better camera and to have all the apps that I need on it for blogging and social media. 

Mobile Phone Checker is a new mobile phone comparison checking website that allows you to look at a bunch of the latest phones and see what deals are best for you. I've had an iPhone 5s and an iPhone 6s, but when it comes to my next upgrade I'm torn between the regular iPhones and the Plus versions. When you click on a phone, the website tells you the relevant information and specifications, but you can also check out phone contracts that run alongside it if you're looking to pay monthly like I am. I learned from this website that the cameras are actually different, and before I had just thought that the Plus was more expensive as it was a bigger phone.

There are plenty of phones to compare; from Sony Xperias to Motorola Motos to Samsung Galaxys. The website looks at Sim-Free phones, PayG Sims, Amazon Warehouse Deals and more. I know that come February next year I'll be looking at the website to see whether I'm better off upgrading or getting a whole new contract. I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to Android phones now, but with the phones all in one place you don't have to search for long to find what you're looking for.



What phone will you be buying next?



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6 Things I Love About Summer*



It's that time of year when the weather has been improving and there are a few months of sunshine to look forward to. Summertime can be hit and miss in the UK, so I've not mentioned things like getting a tan because it's nigh on impossible here. 

Travelling

I've always loved travelling and exploring new places. My wanderlust just seems to increase in the summer months and I just want to visit even more areas that I've not been before like Santorini and Venice. There is just something about it being sunny outside and wanting to get ready and head out. It doesn't even matter how long for, whether this is for an afternoon chilling on a picnic blanket somewhere or travelling to a new city for a long weekend. 

Music

Summer just seems to be when a large number of music events take place. I've been to numerous festivals over the years and enjoy watching music in the sun and sometimes rain given it's England. Include something about loving festivals and its festival season. Quite a few artists will release new content around this time, with Major Lazer having dropped its new single "Front of the Line" at a launch event party thrown in collaboration with BACARDI. If you want to see more from the event including an interview with Major Lazer talking about their summer tour new album then you can check it out in the video below. 

Food

This time of year opens new opportunities when it comes to cooking. The first one that springs to mind is, of course, BBQ's. I enjoy going further than your typical sausages and burgers and making seasoned chicken kebabs to throw on among other things. There also tends to be so much fresh veg around now which is a great way to improve your home-cooked meals and add some colour to your dishes.

Photography

Lighting is one of the key elements to getting good photos, so when you have a greater range of lighting conditions it makes for some impressive situations to get photos. Another bonus is that there are so much more daylight hours each day. This comes in particularly useful when you have been out for the day and still need to take blog photos when you get back home. I do own box lights but in a small room there isn't much room for them and the natural lighting works out much better.

Summer Drinks

Having a cool refreshing drink just feels that little bit better when the temperature is high and you're out in the sunshine. One of my favourites is fresh lemonade or pouring out a fruity cider onto a bunch of ice cubes. I also particularly enjoy checking out the range of summery drinks that get released around now. You can't be a good cocktail (or mocktail!) or a glorious pitcher of something refreshing.

Flowers

Doesn't every blogger just love flowers? You may have seen from some of my recent blog and Instagram posts that I've included a number of flowers and they work so well as props and backdrops. I also like having colourful flowers in the house and it can brighten up the room and give the room that summer look and feel. Plus they only last around a week so I have an excuse to pick them up more often.




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Your Great Escape

I've always loved travelling. There is just something about exploring new places that just attracts me to it. Having been on a number of different trips over the years, from quick breaks in Berlin to a more recent trip to Los Angeles last year. I've experienced trips from a night away to nearly two weeks laid next to the pool in the hot sunshine. Short breaks seem to the right combination of time away with keeping busy. I feel like they are where I'm at my happiest when I go away, as I can get quite a bit done without worrying about trying to find things to pass and fill the time.

I've recently booked to go away to Poland for a few days which I'm really excited about. I'm not going to lie, it was a rather random booking as we thought of the ideas one afternoon and by the evening we'd booked the flights and hotel. Wanderlust seemed to strike as I was looking through Twitter and saw some photos of someone's recent holiday.

When you want to book somewhere to go away it would be great to have a quick option to do this. Cheapflights have launched a free-to-install extension for Google Chrome called EscEscape that utilises that escape button that you probably rarely use. Once installed, if you tap escape key (Esc) twice it launches a live flight search to find you the cheapest, quickest and smartest return flights to nearby destinations. It will open in another browser tab and bring up the cheapest option for a weekend break within the next eight weeks, and if you don't like the look of it, double-tap that escape key again to give another choice. Don't worry if you use Safari, you haven't been forgotten as an extension is in the pipeline.

Spontaneous trips can often be the best as you don't spend ages trying to decide where to go as you may never end up booking it. Particularly for short breaks, having less of a strict plan about where you want to go could open up opportunities to visit some amazing places that you would never have previously thought about. Spontaneity will come down to your gut feeling about the location you are trying to book, and for me, I'd say that my gut feeling is normally right, so I guess it won't be long before I book another trip away...


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Buyer's Guide To Olive Oil | Jamie's Italian*

I fell in love with Jamie's Italian when I went with my boyfriend and have been going ever since. Whether it be for a special occasion, making use of the Gold Card or even just popping in for lunch after spending the morning shopping. One appetiser I love is the Bread Basket that comes with a little pot of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Before I started learning to cook thanks to Jamie Oliver's cook books which I'm obsessed with, I never knew that there were different types of olive oil and the infographic below shows a handy guide for buying olive oil for yourself.



I've been using pure olive oil to cook with as it adds to the taste instead of using vegetable oil. I didn't realise that there were different purposes to using certain olive oils so this has opened my eyes a little and makes me want to get my cook books out again to explore further. If you're into Jamie's Italian or like these types of food posts, make sure to check out my other food infographic posts out too.


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