Five Apps You Should Have For Blogging

Notes...
This app is great to jot down any ideas you have throughout the day. As I mentioned in my previous post 'Tips for Blogging in Full Time Education/Work' I might get ideas when I'm walking around in the day, from seeing outfit ideas or a nail polish colour someone is wearing.

Bloglovin'...
I use this app for a lot of things, to get ideas for blog posts from other bloggers, interact with bloggers and save tips to improve my blogging or a product I might want to try out. The app gives you notifications when someone you are following publishes a new post, so at a lunch break or throughout the day, this is great to give you something to read and interact with the bloggers by commenting. In this app you can also create Collections these are groups of saved blog posts from the bloggers, for example, I have a group called 'Blogging Tips' which consist of blog posts that have tips on how to improve my blog or blogging process.

Canva...
If you are creating an image for your blog post but feel like it's a bit sparse and needs a little something extra this app is the one. Canva has creative fonts and shapes to add to your images so it looks like graphic designer might have gotten their hands on it. I used this app for 'The Vitamin C Booster Smoothie' post, this made the perfect image to advertise my blog post on Pinterest and other social media.

Pinterest...

This is my place of inspiration if I am stuck in a blogging 'rut'. With all of the beautiful fashion, DIY, food and beauty photography you are bound to get an idea of what to write about. This is an app that I tend to scroll through in my spare time or when I'm commuting. Pinterest is also a place to promote your blog, I recommend adding the Pinterest botton to your blog pictures (go here for how to add this) so either your readers can pin your images or you can to advertise your posts to other 'pinners'.

Instagram...

This is another place of inspiration and a great way to promote your blog. Set up an account for your blog to show up and coming blog posts and interact with other bloggers. If you have written a blog post on the perfect slutty brownie recipe- show other bloggers and food lovers #foodporn. 

Tips for Blogging in Full Time Education/Work

Schedule which days you will be posting...

This is simply to make a schedule, you can then plan when to write your blog posts around your week and other deadlines you will have. I have a schedule of posting 2 times a week, on Monday's and Thursday's. In my opinion this amount is manageable with other full time commitments. 

However saying that, some weeks differ- you can have a quiet week and you could manage to post 4-5 times a week, but then you could have a very busy week with only enough time to post 1-2 times a week. I tend to stick to the schedule and save blog posts for those busier weeks. Then, if you feel like you can handle more posts each week, increase it by another day and so on. 

Take as many photos as possible in your free time...

Taking pictures for you blog can be tricky sometimes, if you are just starting out blogging then you may not have the equipment such as light boxes, forcing you to rely on natural light. 

If you are working or studying full time, then chances are you will be doing that in the prime time to take pictures. Therefore, the weekend is the best time to utilise the natural light and take as many pictures as possible to plan for the week of posts ahead. 

Write lots of blog posts ready to publish...

As I mentioned before, some weeks will be busier than others and these very busy weeks can be stressful when you still need to write those blog posts. To put a stop to those rushed, stress filled posts  I write a collection of filler posts you could say. These tend to be posts like 'Links I've Been Loving' and 'Wishlists', I write these posts my spare time and only use them for those jam-packed weeks.

In addition to this, I will also write as many blog posts as possible in the weeks I'm not very busy so there is no worry about not having anything to publish.

Use a notes app on your phone to record new blog post ideas...

Sometimes bloggers can go through a bit of a bloggers block. To get as many ideas flowing as possible as soon as I think of one I write it down, otherwise I will probably forget it by the time I get home. I use the Notes app on my iPhone for this which works great because my phone is on me most of the time and I can quickly jot ideas down. An idea can come suddenly from anything from tasting something delicious to inspire a recipe to seeing how someone wore their kimono. 

Have posts ready for social media e.g. Instagram, twitter...

This is to keep up with social media, the more you are posting, the more people discover you and your blog. If you are a regular poster this will also help to maintain and raise your followers. However, in full time study or work there are some days where work is the only thing you have done and there is literally nothing exciting to report from your day. Try to refrain from not posting at all. Anything I see that I think would look great on my Instagram feed, I take a picture of it- but I limit my posts so I am not posting 5 times a day on the weekend and none at all in the weekdays. I try and stick to one a day or every other day- this all depends on the amount of images you tend to take per week.

I hope some of these tips help and I would love to hear any tips you have in the comments! 

Five Blogs You Should Be Reading

Vivianna Does Makeup // From classic and stylish fashion picks to high end and drugstore beauty picks, this blog covers it all. If I ever have doubt about a product, before buying it I will normally head over to here and search for a review.

Chocolate Covered Katie // You would not believe this is a healthy recipe blog with recipe titles of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pie and Double Chocolate Brownie Batter Pancakes you would think there is no way that could be remotely healthy, but Katie makes it guilt free and it tastes like the real thing (and in my opinion, sometimes even better).

Nouvelle Daily // My favourite posts from this blog have to be the haircare roundups, which include some of the best texturising products on the market. A downside? The amount I have spent in Space NK after reading these posts *shudders*. Plus for bloggers looking to grow and expand your blog like me, there are some great blog tip posts I have found massively helpful!

Blogilates // My favourite fitness blog, she covers recipes, workout calendars and pilates videos for each part of the body your want to tone up. Plus her workout videos are so motivating I can actually get through a few (not pain free of course).

Zoella // Amazing blog look, gorgeous photography and serious blog envy for this one. This is one of the first blogs I started reading and was definitely one of the reasons I started blogging.