Before you ask me is it still hot over there, yes it is! Yesterday was an odd one, very overcast but still boiling.
Image courtesy of Talía at Thoroughly Gorgeous with Gusto Marbella.
Today I want to talk to you about the joy of having a beautiful blog and why bloggers who gave up are returning back to the online world of blogging and blogs they abandoned.
Why did some Bloggers pause or give up?
When Instagram came on the scene, the shiny new object that promised us we didn't have to spend much time on our blogs anymore, we could become Insta famous.
A space where we could connect more, share our beautiful portfolios, use hashtags as keywords, pretty much like a mini blog.
Instagram was appealing for a while and some people, like me, continue to blog and use Instagram which I still believe is the best recipe for online marketing combined with Pinterest.
But Instagram evolved from posting beautiful content and building a community to feeling pressurised to keep showing up as the rise of the influencers took over.
It is fun if you don't overdose on it, hard not to, but to create on there now is not fast or easy, it is time consuming and takes a lot of strategy, skill and money.
This year alone I have seen various suppliers arrive at weddings with their reels team, someone with them to photograph and video them to create content. Since when did most small business owners require a production team?!
Creating a Production Team just for Social Media
The thing is most businesses don't want to do this, it has become a huge pressure to be constantly showing and creating interesting video content.
I do often wonder when the backlash will happen, if ever, and what the next generations will have to do to flog themselves to death on social media.
Even my 17 year old daughter stopped using Instagram for her dog page as she became so overwhelmed with the whole thing, she enjoyed taking photos and posting them but when it came to reels, videos, etc she gave up.
This I fear is where AI will take over and we will live in a less authentic world. Who here has already seen the AI generated image of the airplane dressed for a wedding?
Keep the Creativity online
The online space needs creativity, it needs blogs, it needs gorgeous photography, it needs nature, flowers, food, travel, advice from experts.
I am still so passionate about this subject after 16 years of blogging it is the one tool I will never stop using whether it be for business or for pleasure.
Blogging bought me everything and more than I could imagine for my wedding business. Not just becoming fully booked with fans from far and wide, many of whom are still friends, but to become an authority figure in the wedding industry. This lead me to having articles published, be on the radio and be asked to speak at conferences.
Blogging opens up Doors
You can read my recent blog post here with more details about how I gradually became an authority in the wedding industry just by blogging.
I know for almost a fact that without my blog my business wouldn't have grown as fast. It all started with me wanting to share my passion for wedding and party styling online and inspire others to what was possible when planning their own events.
Little did I know then how many connections and relationships would develop from my blog, it was extraordinary.
One of my dear friends, who found me via my blog and I did his wedding, is a travel writer and is constantly at beautiful hotels, restaurants and destinations, he is not an influencer but whom does he write for, a luxury travel blog, blogs are definitely not dead.
Whilst the world gets swept away on the next new shiny thing, you can carve your niche by crafting a blog you adore and feel excited about. They say there is a book in everyone so learning blogging skills opens up a wide range of possibilities including turning your blog into another source of revenue.
If you wish to learn skills so you can create effective optimised blog posts and feel confident using Pinterest then on the 15th September my live signature Blogging Brilliance course opens its doors again, the link is here if you wish to sign up, I am offering a 2 part payment plan as well this time.
If you are already in my Blogging Brilliance course and community it is a fabulous opportunity to catch up and revisit the course ready for your autumn marketing and visibility.