Are you a new blogger or a seasoned blogger looking to enhance your site? Read my response to the Blogger Recognition Award to learn about why I write, as well as discover essential tips for new bloggers.

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I am embarrassingly behind on blogger tags considering that I’m still working my way through tags from 2018. BUT better late than never, right?

Whether I’ve been tagged in a fun challenge or nominated for a blogger-to-blogger award, I’m always so grateful to be a part of this community. I feel such a sense of joy that I’ll get to nominate other bloggers and share my tips for new bloggers.

Thank you to Beckie for this nomination. 🙂 Beckie is a dedicated Episcopal Reverand, a published author, a talented blogger, and a champion for diversity in books and disability awareness. Please click here to read Beckie’s Blogger Recognition Award post and click here to read more about her.

Rules of the Blogger Recognition Award

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you
2. Write a post to show your award
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started
4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers
5. Select 15 bloggers to whom you want to give this award
6. Let each Blogger know that you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How I started The Newbury Girl

False Start

Before settling on The Newbury Girl, I went through several iterations of my blog. I started blogging on WordPress during the summer of 2016 as Lash Night (a now deleted blog). I was craving a creative outlet and wanted to share my passion for the beauty industry with others.

Unlike my current blog, Lash Night was designed to solely focus on the beauty industry. Ultimately, I found that my self-imposed restrictions (and blog name) stifled my creativity. As a result, I struggled to regularly post content. The restrictions, combined with serious personal and professional struggles, caused me to slowly lose my passion for blogging. Eventually, I stopped posting altogether.

Take Two: SustainingU

By February of 2017, I found myself yearning to write again. I felt healthier, both physically and mentally. Also, I was working somewhere new. Moreover, I felt like I could finally breathe again. Finally, I felt that creative fire burning. But what to do?

Unfortunately, my old blog felt tainted by the painful times I was going through when I first started writing. Knowing I needed to leave the past behind me, I made the decision to start fresh. Also, I recognized that (1) my old blog restrictions stifled my passion and that (2) beauty is far more than skin deep. As a result, I expanded the focus of my content to beauty, wellness, and sustainability. Thus, SustainingU was born.

At the time “SustainingU” felt like the perfect name. Not only was my blog going to encompass elements of sustainability, and self-care (both mentally and physically), but “SustainingU” was a play on words. For example, I wanted my posts to inspire or “educate” others as if I were a university professor. However, after a few months of blogging, I felt like this name didn’t quite fit me either. Also, feelings of self-doubt crept in as I began to compare myself to other bloggers.

The Evolution of the Newbury Girl

To refocus myself,  I rebranded my blog in July to what is now The Newbury Girl. At this time that I finally created social media accounts tied to my blog, too. However, I didn’t start using social media to promote myself or to connect with other bloggers until September. While my content wasn’t changing, the new name breathed new life into my blog. I felt like it incorporated more of who I am.

If you are unfamiliar with Boston, then you should know that Newbury Street is one of the premier shopping destinations in the city. Locals and tourists flock to Newbury Street to find everything from affordable, mainstream fashion brands and luxury jewelry shops to the best eats and workout destinations. As a multi-dimensional person and blogger, and a proud Bostonian, The Newbury Girl felt like a better fit for describing all that I am and the topics I wanted to write about.

And here I am, one year in (almost to the day). I couldn’t be happier with how my blog has grown. Also, I can’t believe how I’ve been able to connect with so many other talented members of this community.

Essential Tips for New Bloggers

Plan Ahead

As someone who has gone through many phases of designing my blog, I want to point out that you are in no way chained to your blog’s name or its content focus. Your blog can and should evolve with you. That being said, I’ve found that I am the most successful with my blog when I take the time to plan ahead of time.

By planning ahead, I’m better able to stick to a consistent posting schedule and I’ve been able to go from posting once a week to posting two times a week. Also, by planning out my posts, I’m able to cover a more diverse range of topics without neglecting another aspect of my blog. For example, I’m able to better sprinkle wellness and marketing-related posts into my blog, without losing my beauty focus.

Whether you use an online application, a spreadsheet, or a physical planner (that you’ve purchased or created yourself), planning for the future sets you up for success.

Get Social

Developing relationships with other bloggers is essential. While I was able to develop some blogger friendships through WordPress, social media further helped me to develop relationships with bloggers from around the world! And on days I’ve felt inadequate or felt like giving up, it was the support from these inspiring ladies that encouraged me to keep going. Spoiler alert: many of these women I’ve nominated below. 🙂

In addition to social media being essential to developing friendships, I can say with complete authority that your blog will go nowhere or will grow incredibly slowly without using social media for promotion. As a marketer, anytime I’ve worked with a blogger, content creator, or influencer, social media has been essential to driving traffic to long-form content (blog post or YouTube video). Think about it logically: social media enables you to connect with more of the general public. Even the largest beauty influencers on YouTube alert their fans to new videos via Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

My suggestion is to start with one platform at a time. I highly suggest that new bloggers start with Twitter because people are much more relaxed and willing to connect with newbies. Moreover, there are countless blogger retweet accounts that make it even easier to connect with other bloggers.

My nominations for the Blogger Recognition Award

1.  Jennifer @ The Tar Heel Reader
2.  Jenni @ Housewife Hustle
3. Laura @ Palette of Thoughts
4. Molly @ Mind of Molly
5. Alex @ California Pollution
6. Christine @ Glamour with Christine
7. Kat @ Femenish
8. Sarah @ Life It Or Not
9. Abby, Lauren, & Jordan @ My Lifelines
10. Jess @ Midnight Wink
11. Kate @ Kate Days a Week
12. Rifat @ The Beauty Wonk
13. Emma @ Emma Kernstein
14. Tayler @ Tayler’s Edit

As always, I know that not all of you will write this post – but I am so excited to be nominating you. Not only are you incredibly gifted bloggers, but you actively inspire and support others in the community. I’m so grateful to have met you this past year and if nothing else, I hope that this nomination brings a smile to your faces.

Let’s connect on social media: Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest  | Bloglovin’

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What bloggers inspire you? What are your essential tips for new bloggers? What are your top tips for new bloggers? Let me know in the comments below.

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