Guest Post: How To Speak Your Mind On Your Blog

So you love to talk about new beauty products and that meal you had on your blog, but you’ve come across a subject that not know everyone agrees with.   How do you know when you should be politically correct?  How do you present your views without offending anyone?

Here are some topics that people often have trouble posting about:

  Feminism
Animal Cruelty
Abuse
Political Views
Anxiety

I’m Jacky and my blog is Do It For The Irony, a life+style blog.  I have talked about my views on touchy subjects like the objectification of women in advertisements and how we can actually fix it.  I’ve included some images from my most popular posts!  I have also been involved in some blogger chats, discussing this issue.

                 The answer to the previous question is, “Don’t worry about it.”  There will always be someone who is offended.   Chances are though, someone will identify with you and relate.  The biggest and most caring responses I have ever received on my blog is on posts where I go out on a limb and express my views.  So go for it.  If you’re not comfortable with it just yet, talk with a blogger friend or on a twitter chat and ask if they think it would be appropriate!  The blogger community is extremely supportive of writers and can help.

                 My number one tip for these posts is to communicate your idea clearly.  Use examples, lists, whatever you need.  I, personally, like to use bullet points for my most powerful and relatable points.  That makes sure that your views are translated easily and transparently to your audience.  You don’t want your readers to misread you and think you meant something totally different!  So double-check your phrasing.  

                 Also, what is the point of your post?  Are you promoting your beliefs or are you sharing a piece of yourself?  I ask that because provoking people may get you views in the short run, but it may not help you in the long run.  Just a thought!

                 I hope you enjoyed this post and that it helps you to exercise the loveliest thing about the internet – freedom of speech.  It means a lot to me!  Email me your post if this inspired you to talk about that one thing you can’t bring yourself to hit publish on!  I’d love to see it.  If you’d like some more wild thoughts of a funny creator/style person, find me at http://doitfortheirony.blogspot.com/

or on any of my social media!  I’m always on twitter omg.

http://doitfortheirony.blogspot.com/

http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/8286795

http://twitter.com/doitfortheirony 

http://instagram.com/doitfortheirony/

Guest Post: Do I Need Studio Lights?

Firstly, thank you so much to the amazing team at etailPR for giving me the opportunity to write this guest post for you all. It’s a really great network, and if you don’t use it already, I’d recommend that you do! Onto the post...

If you’ve ever contemplated the idea of starting a YouTube channel, or a blog, chances are that you’ve thought about lighting and cameras. When I started my blog almost three years ago, I took all my photographs on my phone (iPhone 4S at the time). I didn’t invest in my Canon EOS 600D (the typical ‘blogger’ camera) until I was sure that blogging, and making videos, was something I was serious about. 

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no expert when it comes to YouTube, but I have learnt so much over the last few months, and I hope it might help some of you out. 

Computers and Software. I don’t have final cut pro. It’s on my wish list, but for now, iMovie does everything I need it to do. You don’t need to go out and buy loads of equipment when you’re starting off, if you decide it’s not for you, you’ll be annoyed that you’ve wasted your money. 

So then, do I need studio lights? For me, yes. Again, this is something I didn’t buy until I was sure. They’re expensive, and an investment. I live at home, and our house is quite dark, so for me, without lights makes it difficult for me to get the results that I want. 

The following pictures are taken with:

 two soft box studio lights

 one light

natural light in my bedroom

As you can probably see, they make a huge difference. I use at least one light every time I film, and for most of my blog photos. What you don’t know is, that I have around 5 old videos privated on my channel that didn’t use lighting, and they don’t look horrendous. (I’ve privated them because they’re old, and they’re too cringe!) If you want to see my old blog photos, they’re all still in my blog archives. I know a few Youtubers who are blessed with good natural lighting, and really don’t need lights. I do feel that I need them. 

I’d suggest just playing around with it, try different setups, different backgrounds, filming near a window. If you can’t get it to look how you want it then think about lights. Mine are the Photosel SoftBox studio lights, and I got them from Amazon. 

Now you know my camera and lighting setup and opinions, please come over to my YouTube channel and my blog to see what I actually use them for! The pictures were taken during filming of my new Makeup tutorial video, so be sure to watch it so that you can see the effect better! 

I hope that this post has been useful to some of you, and if you have any more questions, just tweet me at @nellyandnoopy and I’ll be happy to help you out! 

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/nellyandnoopy

Blog: www.nellyandnoopy.wordpress.com 

x

Words and Photographs by Elizabeth Ann 

*None of the photos have been edited, so that you can see the true effects of the lighting.

Showpo Summer Style!

Show ponies! Have you been waiting for the warm weather and sunshine to return? Not long now until you can rock the trends for SS15! From the throwback Seventies style, to soft feminine florals, light denim delights, to a seascape of aquatic prints… there are so many trends and so little time! Get ahead of the trends now and start filling up your SS15 wardrobe…

Summer is right around the corner and with so many amazing styles having been showcased on the catwalks, there is plenty to choose from. 

To set you up for success, we’ve put together some of our fave SS15 pieces from Showpo, which are guaranteed to get you in the summery mood!

If you’ve got 20,000 followers on one platform and are a UK, US or EU fashion blogger, make sure you login and apply for Showpo’s sample campaign NOW! So what are you waiting for?! Head over to the Blogger Network to get your hands on some of this years latest trends.

Earn With Blue Vanilla!

Earn with Blue Vanilla.

There are many ways you can earn through The Blogger Network, promoting brands, lead generation, sponsored posts or in this case by running a click campaign.  A click campaign means you earn commission when you promote a brand on your blog driving your audience to click on a banner or link in your post!

Following on from their sample campaign, Blue Vanilla have now launched their click campaign on the network. You can earn 0.05p each time one of your lovely readers, friends or family clicks through to the Blue Vanilla website from your blog. So for every 20 clicks you would earn £1 and they soon add up.

You just need to make sure that you use your personalised tracking link and banners, that can be found within your account under Promotion > Banners & Links > searching for 'Blue Vanilla' - Click Campaign!

So login now and get promoting.

Terms & Conditions

All clicks generated are subject to approval. Any clicks found to be fraudulent will not be paid out on.

Any blogger found consistently generating fraudulent clicks will be disqualified from the campaign and shall forfeit all commission made.

Any commissions earned from this campaign will be checked and paid on the 28th of the following calendar month once the minimum threshold of £20 is hit.

You may be asked to invoice through paypal for this activity

Only genuine methods of promotions can be used; within a blog post, in your sidebar or on your personal/blog Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages.

Guest Post: New Year Makeup Inspiration

Makeup for New Year’s - Now’s the time, to sparkle and shine!

For a New Year’s party, I love to add some sparkle to my appearance; and for this particular occasion, too much will be just about right. On the AW15 catwalks, there were a lot of beautiful metallic beauty features on show, and I find them perfect as inspiration for great party looks to conclude 2014. 

Focus was set on the eyes at Dior SS15. This look was created using liquid latex and loose colour 

pigments, but you can achieve a similar effect by using a primer and then working with two or three 

tone-in-tone metallic or shimmer eye shadows. Create a graphic shape, reflecting the shape of your 

eye, and dare to cover the whole lid, for eyes that speak for themselves. 

Solid silver at Donna Karan, where loose pigment was mixed with MAC Pro Mixing Medium Shine, to give maximum coverage. Pair with black, smoky eyeliner, for a next to ethereal effect. Extend the silvery shadow around the inner corner of your eye, to open up, and let it fade slightly here.

I love statement lips now and then (now rather than then, actually) and what could be better for the Festive Season than a lush glitter pout à la Rodarte SS15? Carefully mix glitter pigment with lipstick until you have the right amount of sparkle. Make sure to prep your lips with a light scrub and loads of lip balm the day before. Use a lip liner to set the contours and apply two coats using a lip makeup brush.

Have fun at those parties!

Words by: Johanna Bergström 

Image via: vogue.co.uk