Introducing…

Hello! My name is Caroline, a red haired 20 year old blogger who will be taking over Lauren’s blog for today – how exciting!

Basically I am here to tell you a little bit about me and blogging so let us begin.

It is just coming up to a year in June since I created my blog, theadventuresofcarolineosbel. One of my reasons for making one is because I am currently studying Journalism at university so it was important for me to get myself out there to make it in the industry.

However, the main reason is because I wanted to get a lot of feelings and emotions out about certain things. My blog is basically a way for me to express my own opinions without necessarily being judge for them. It is an escapism whilst hopefully helping people through certain experiences in their life that I have had to face.

Personally, I don’t have one specific thing that I write about on the blog. The posts vary every time. They can be anything from film/TV show reviews, the latest fashion/makeup I have bought, help and advice to my personal experiences or 20 random facts about me and vintage things. I post everything and anything.

In today's technologically advanced society, there are loads of blogs/vlog channels that focus on a certain thing such as a fashion style or a genre of music/film etc and I find them rather boring and the same. I try to break this by posting stuff that are random and that I like.

Blogging for many is a way to express feelings but also a way to just be themselves. From beauty and fashion to reviews and health pieces, you can control what you put out there. You can be as crazy as you want to be, nothing is stopping you for doing it. It is so easy to start a blog. There is Blogger or WordPress and many more to choose from so you have no excuse. By setting one up, it is also promoting you. If you are applying for a job, college, university etc, then by saying you have a blog you update regularly then you are showing them creative, organisational, writing, photography skills.

Blogging is so easy and simple to do. It is free and it makes you stand out from the crowd. It gets you talking to people you might not necessarily to talk whilst you express your thoughts and feelings.  Many people blog for fun but to become a successful blogger then it is simple: just do it.

My top 5 tips about blogging:

1.       Blog about things that interest you!
There is no point in blogging something about sport when you hate it. Blog about something you love and that you are passionate about. Don’t waste your energy on writing something that you dislike.

2.       Encourage interaction!

Get your readers involved. If you have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, share your blog on there. Encourage your friends to have a read on your latest article. Then make them share the link on their profiles- more shares, more views, more readers! Able them to follow you on those different sites as well and allow the option for them to comment on your posts. It engages your readers and involves them in the article.

3.       Use images!
Break the text up with pictures that are relevant to the topic. You don’t want to read a text heavy article, people will most likely get bored. By involving photographs you create a more pleasing visual for your audience. If you have a good quality camera/phone then take videos and pictures on that. If you don’t, have a look on a search engine (be aware of copyright though). It makes the blog more appealing.

4.       Update regularly!

I try to post at least twice a week and by doing this it keeps my readers updated with what I am doing in my life. By posting various topics, it keeps them intrigued too. Fashion one post and a review another, the audience doesn’t know what is coming up next on your blog. Obviously if you want to focus on a certain aspect then do it!

Furthermore, prepare your posts! Research the topic and write them a week or two in advances. Try to keep your posts simple. Many people skip read so keep it short and to the point. This saves you from panicking the day/night before the day you publish a post.
Update, update, update whenever you can.  

5.       Be yourself!

Remember it is YOUR blog so post whatever you want. It doesn’t matter if people don’t like what you have written, ignore the negativity. You can delete those comments or simply scroll past them. Don’t let that put you off blogging.

So there you have it! I hope this has helped and that is all from me! Bye x

Follow me on
Instagram: thevintagedaydream
Twitter: carolineosbel
Pinterest: carolineosbel
Tumblr: theadventuresofcarolineosbel

Blogger Interview: Caroline Osbeldiston from The Adventures Of Caroline

Hello everyone! Today's post is a bit different because I've been fortunate enough to get an interview with the lovely Caroline from The Adventures Of Caroline! She is a blogger from the UK who blogs about lifestyle and fashion and also writes help and advice articles and does film and TV reviews! She's here to answer a few questions about blogging.

Hey Caroline! Thanks so much for doing this interview! First, could you explain to us about your blog, and what inspired you to start it?

I have two blogs now. Originally I started blogging because I am studying Journalism at University so set up a blog to get myself out there because it’s hard in the industry. On my The Adventures of Caroline blog, I would post abut fashion, films I have seen, what I love at the moment and just random things etc.
Recently I set up another blog for my photography. I have always had a keen interest in photography and would love to become a photographer/journalist so I decided I would set up a blog for that. Basically, it is to get my photos out there whilst including posts about how to do this etc.
However, what inspires me to continue to blog is that I hopefully am helping people. It has been almost a year since I first posted on the Adventures blog and looking back, it has really helped me get a lot of things of my chest. By sharing my experiences, I have let go of feelings I have had for a very long time but also hopefully helping people that might be going through the same things. That is what inspires me now to continue to blog.

What do you love about blogging?

I love the fact that I can post whatever I want because it is my blog. If like something or want to share something with my readers then I can. I also feel like I won’t be judged. Its weird I know, but because I am posting my opinions then some people may agree and may not agree with them but they are my own views and I am entitled to having them.

Who inspires you most in the blogging world? Do you have a favourite blogger? What do you love about them?

I don’t really have a favourite blog, I just like reading through different blogs. From lifestyle, cooking/baking, music, film/tv shows etc, I like reading something new. From a review to beauty/fashion tips to what people have bought and would recommend etc, it is interesting to read their views about it.

What is your top tip for gaining hits on your blog and gaining followers?

So when I first started blogging, I came up with the 3Cs I would follow: Content, Constant and Colour.
For every blog, you have to have content. What you are going to blog about. So if the blog has a theme (baking, music, fashion, beauty etc), then that is what the content is focused on. Even if the blog doesn’t have a specific topic, it still needs good, interesting content. Something new, something different that they haven’t read before.
Constantly update your blog. If you miss a couple of posts then that’s ok but try not to. By constantly posting two days a week or something then it keeps the audience reading your blog. If you don’t then they will most likely forget about the blog, which is bad because you want as many people reading your posts.
Finally, colour. If you want your blog to look professional then that’s fine. However, you don’t want it to look boring and plain. People like colour. Whether it is a photograph or your layout, by having colour then it brings the blog to life so to speak and engages your audience because it is visually pleasing.
Those are the three Cs I use and hopefully they work in gaining me more followers, I have no idea but it makes the blog yours.

Do you read any blogs yourself? If so, what kind?

I love reading film blogs. I don’t read on specific blog based on this but I love reading peoples views on a film that has recently came out or what they have watched on the TV or what film they have bought recently. It is interesting to find out what other people thought of a film that I have watched or wanting to watch etc. I also read fashion, beauty and music blogs because again this is something I am interested in so it is good to see what other people think about a latest single/album or the newest makeup product and fashion trend.

Is there anything you find hard about being a blogger?

The only thing I struggle with is publishing my posts when I want to post them. I try to publish twice a week but sometimes I only publish one because I am busy or I am at university or something. Time management is key to having a blog. You really do have to be orangised and plan what the posts are going to be about. One thing I do is write the posts out a week or two ahead of when I am actually going to publish them. It just saves time and me panicking the day before or the day I want to post.

What do you think about blogging as a long-term career option? Do you think it's viable? Is it something you would consider for yourself?

Blogging has become a huge phenomenon in recent years, especially vlogging (video blogging). In terms of a long term career, I think if you are determined and motivated to write and update your blog then I think it could actually work. I mean look at Zoe Sugg aka vlogger Zoella. She has made money and she has a huge following on her blog and has recent bought out a book etc so she is doing really well. She just started out by posting videos on Youtube about beauty and fashion etc and now she is a huge star with an international following to be honest so if she can have a career but blogging then I think anyone could.

What is your ultimate goal in blogging? What would you like to achieve? What is your idea of a 'successful' blog?

I don’t really set goals as bad as that sounds but it is to just avoid disappointment really. However, I would like to keep on blogging and to go to events etc that I can blog about and meet other bloggers etc, that would be fun.
In my opinion, a successful blog isn’t about the posts that are published but about the person behind the blog. If they are determined and motivated then that is what makes a successful blog. If they publish things that they wouldn’t normally share then they are 1) releasing any feelings they have, 2) getting their views out there, 3) helping other people from what they have written if they are going through that experience and 4) they are being themselves. In today’s society, I think people believe that they have to fit in with a certain group of something. With a blog they can express their own individual style whether it being lifestyle, fashion and whatnot. I think that is what makes a blog successful, for the person to be themselves.

Finally, if you could solve any common blogging problem, what would it be and why?

I am not going to lie, some posts I have read on different blogs are boring. This necessarily isn’t common but it is a problem because who wants to read a boring, same old blog. No one does as harsh as this may sound. I am not saying that mine is the perfect blog but there is either too much or not enough text on the blogs and this is the same with photographs. You want to read something visually pleasing as well as interesting. By breaking up the text by using images and having a punchy post title then it gives the reader something else to look at etc so I would solve how to make some blogs more appealing to read.

Thanks so much for your answers!

We also have some awesome news here on The Meta Blog; Caroline has kindly agreed to do a guest post for us! She'll be talking in more depth about her blog, and giving us some of her top tips for being a good blogger. Stay tuned...

Lauren xxx