Tag Archives: bloggers

Things That Are Worth Paying For as a Blogger

While we may make a little bit of money from sponsored posts, advert space and affiliate links, for the majority of bloggers, a blog is a labour of love, and I know that I for one definitely don’t make as much money out of blogging as I put into it.

As a result of this, over the years I’ve learnt all the classic money-saving tips for blogging: hitting up Primark and Asda for blog props rather than Zara Home, robbing B&Q for wallpaper samples to use as backdrops for photos and finding as many high street dupes for our favourite beauty products as possible. The list goes on.

I’m a firm believer that you don’t need to pour money into your blog to make it successful, but with that said, there are a few things that I am more than happy to pay out for in order to keep my blog running as smoothly as possible.

A domain

Whether you’re self-hosted or not, buying your own domain as opposed to being a .blogspot or .wordpress address is 100% worth it. I pay about £18 a year for mine, and not only does it help my blog look more professional, it all counts towards that all important (though also thoroughly pointless in my eyes) DA score.

Buffer Awesome Plan

I’ve been with Buffer since I started scheduling tweets, but there are a whole bunch of other sites available. When I first started out I stuck to the free plan, meaning I could schedule 10 tweets in advance at a time. Now I schedule 5 tweets a day, so it doesn’t take a genius to work out that I could only ever schedule two days at a time, which was a nightmare when half the time I would forget, or if I was away I’d face days of no tweets at all, so before my trip to Florida back in February I decided to upgrade so that I could schedule the whole two weeks I was going to be away, and since then I’d never go back. Its $10 a month, which depending on exchange rate is £7-8, but it makes me so much happier knowing at the start of each week that I’m all set until Sunday night, when I’ll top them up again.

ASOS Premier

I’ve been paying for Asos Premier for 3 years now, and trust me its worth it. £9.95 for the year to get free next day delivery on all orders, meaning I never have to worry about knowing if my items are gonna show up on time. Its kinda like Amazon Prime for my wardrobe, and yes I did once just order a pair of gloves for £5 two days before going to France because I knew they’d get to me on time and I couldn’t be bothered to schlep into town to dig through Primark for a pair.. PS. If you ever return and item for an exchange, the replacement item is also sent next day.

Upgrading your iCloud storage

If you’re forever snapping away for those all too Instagram-worthy shots, paying to upgrade your iCloud storage so you never run out of space on your phone is a lifesaver! I think I pay 99p a month and not once I have I had the dreaded ‘your storage is almost full’ pop up. In fact, I have photos back to December 2015 on my phone and I’m at no risk of running out of room any time soon.

Do you have any services that you swear by?

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Daily Thoughts of a Blogger

Its safe to say that blogging is definitely more a way of life than it is a hobby. Once you enter the world of flatlays and food photography, you also enter a whole new mindframe, and you’ll probably find the same thoughts popping into your head on a daily basis..

  • Good morning world, is it sunny enough to take good blog photos today?
  • Will I be able to get a good enough selfie to justify the amount of time I’m spending on my makeup?
  • OOH LOOK, my Instagram follower count has gone up!
  • (10 mins later) Never mind..
  • Should I branch out and use a different one of my way-too-many lipsticks? Nah..
  • Has my scheduled post actually gone live at the right time?
  • And did I remember to schedule any tweets for today?
  • Ooh, a post idea! Write it down, quick!
  • Why has no one read today’s post yet? Does it suck?
  • Can I get a sneaky photo of this shop display? It would work so well with my Instagram theme..
  • I wonder how many times I day the staff here watch people photograph the food
  • I want someone to take my photo but is it weird to ask?
  • Why am I not Zoella already?
  • Just sat down at my laptop and now all the inspiration I had earlier has disappeared from my head
  • I won’t spend my whole evening on Twitter *three hours later* oops
  • I checked Instagram 2 whole minutes ago, so I should definitely check it again, right?
  • WHY HAVE I LOST INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS AGAIN?
  • I didn’t reply to a blog comment three days ago, is the person going to hate me now?
  • Why does scheduling tweets take SO LONG?
  • I’ve been great today, I should really treat myself..

And the cycle continues!

What are your daily blogger musings?

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Fitspo Blogs To Follow This New Year


Did you know the most common New Years resolution is to lose weight and get fit? It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise, right?

Well if getting fit is a top priority for you this year, there’s a few blogs that you should get reading asap!

Hello, Steph

If you’re looking for fitspo, you need to get Steph on all your feeds – Twitter, Instagram, the full works! This girl lives for fitness, her meal preps are always on point and she’s always posting fierce photos of her transformation to the toned girl-boss that she is!

My Healthy Curves

Breanne is amazing. Despite having to combat scoliosis, she’s always super active and absolutely kicking butt in the gym!

Slimmed Cartree

Corinne’s fitness blog is always filled with great product reviews and advice posts, and she’s always totally honest which is so refreshing

Wedges & Weights

Full of recipes, workout ideas and advice, W&W is all about helping ladies transform not only their bodies, but also the way they feel within themselves AKA fierce and fabulous.

Follow now, thank me later!

And remember, being fit and healthy is great, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be treating yourself. Part of the reason I love all these bloggers so much is because they still get the balance of pizza to salad!

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The Bloggers Who Influenced My 2016

Blogger Influences

While 2016 has been rubbish for many people in so many ways, its actually been a pretty great year for my blog. Yesterday’s post was my 300th post of the year (yes, just this year!), I’ve hit a tonne of milestones and I just feel so proud of all the hard work I’ve put into it, and super happy with the results.

A lot of change has happened this year, from my layout to my writing style and the topics I’ve written about, and every one of these changes has made this blog reflect my true personality more and more. Finding my blogging voice has absolutely rocketed my confidence, but looking back I’ve come to realise that I have quite a few other bloggers to thank for inspiring me..

Dorkface

Without a doubt, Jemma is absolute blogger goals. She is the loveliest person, her work ethic is incredible, and her style is 100% goals. I’ve always loved bright colours, and in a world full of marble backdrops, Dorkface is a ray of sunshine and rainbows.

Vix Meldrew

I don’t think a blog has ever been more true and relateable, and I don’t think I’ve missed a single post this year because this girl cracks me up. Reading Vix has given me the confidence to write exactly how I want to, whether I’m feeling sassy and sarcastic, or completely open up about my feelings – not that I could ever do it as well as she does!

British Mermaid

Cara is the most beautiful person, both inside and out. I’ve been lucky enough to become friends with her this year, but as well as just being all-round amazing, she’s inspired me to wear and feel confident in whatever clothes I want, and frequently find myself thinking ‘would Cara like this?’ when I’m shopping.

Hello, Steph

I knew that 2016 was the year I’d be making much more of an effort with my fitness, but this girl has made me want to push myself harder and further. She’s my absolute fitspo queen and I’m always keeping an eye out for her amazing meal prep photos and workout selfies!

Belles Moments

This year would have absolutely not been the same without this girl. She’s my Disney soul mate and become one of my closest friends, and I can’t wait for all our 2017 adventures together. Plus she has a dreamy Instagram account that you should 100% be following.

What bloggers have had the biggest impact on you this year?

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May Monthly Favourites

Another month has gone, and we’re already almost halfway through 2016. I can’t even..

So something I’ve really loved this month has been sharing love, whether it be retweeting a blog post I enjoyed, helping a friend reach a follower goal or just throwing compliments around like confetti, it gives me warm and fuzzies, and on that note, I thought I’d start sharing some of my favourite things each month!

May Monthly Favourites

Blog Loving

First up, I’ve really been enjoying reading more fitness blog posts, including 10 Things Only Fitness Fatties Will Understand from My Healthy Curves, and pretty much everything that Hello, Steph posts. You go girlies!

My lovely advertiser Sam from Made From Beauty has the prettiest Instagram – I’m talking major goals right there – and I’m shamelessly re-watching all of Milly’s vlogs because I’m gonna miss her loads when she leaves for WDW at the end of next month, waa! And speaking of Disney, Amy’s Club Villain review has actually got me considering changing my firm anti-villain beliefs..

I’m really just loving the whole community right now, from the #disneybloggerschat on Thursday nights to the amount of love being spread on #FF Fridays. Bloggers rock y’all.

Pinterest

I used to pin fairly religiously, but it kinda went on the back burner a little while ago, so I’m really happy to be getting back into it now. I’m especially loving some of my new boards, Pastel Dreams and Summer Vibes, and of course I’m crazy excited to be adding things to my sister’s Wedding Planning board; if you didn’t already know, she’s just got engaged!

Body Confidence

I’m still not exactly where I was planning on being in terms of fitness and bikini-readiness, especially after a bit of a break at the beginning of the year and a few naughty weeks, but I’m actually finding my confidence again; wearing crop tops to the gym, more Snapchat selfies (sorry not sorry) and just generally feeling happier in my own skin!

Grey T-shirts

I’m never really much of a t-shirt wearer, but I got two of the cutest logo tees from H&M and I’m obsessed with both of them!

Holiday Planning

For me, the only thing more exciting than a Disney holiday is planning one, and I’ve got at least three coming up, eek!

Bullet Journalling

In an attempt to organise my fitness training, I decided to join this bullet journal craze with a Leuchtturm 1917, and while I’m not entirely on top of it just yet (I’ve yet to add any washi tape!), I’m pretty excited to really get into it.

What have you been loving this May?

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Friday Favourite Five – Everyday Bloggers

New series, yay! Each Friday I’ll be sharing five of my favourite ‘insert weekly theme here’, and this week I’m starting off with what I call my ‘everyday bloggers’.

Now I try to keep up with a lot of different blogs, but when I say everyday, these are the blogs that I check without fail every time I hit the internet, to see what’s new, and I think you should too! It also just so happens that these are all really sweet girls with slight Disney obsessions..

1. Cocktails In Teacups

Amy’s blog is the perfect combination of lifestyle posts, from fashion and beauty to home and outdoors, and a lot of Disney! She’s also an inspirational single mother to a totally adorable little girl, and I always love reading about their adventures!

2. Underland to Wonderland

A more recent favourite, I admire Natalie as a blogger so much! She’s totally dedicated, an amazing photographer and such a lovely person!

3. Blog of Shadows

Kayleigh was the first blogger I ‘met’ when I started LottieDoesDisney, and Blog of Shadows was the first blog I read and checked regularly. She’s a super talented make-up artist and while her blog focuses around this, she also shares a lot from her Disney World trips!

4. Briar Rose Blog

Another newer favourite, Briar Rose is quite possibly the prettiest blog ever! From dreamy fashion posts to cosplay and shopping hauls to die for, as well as a lot of real life, and all beautifully written, I definitely recommend it!

5. Paintpotted

Paintpotted was another early favourite of mine, after discovering Amy on Instagram. As well as beauty and lifestyle, Disney is high on the agenda, and if you read nothing else, check out her amazing Disney World proposal story – its perfect!

Who are your favourite bloggers?

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