Do bloggers *have* to be relatable?

I love blogging. I love expressing my thoughts in a written way, and learning new skills and interacting on social media. But one of the things I love most is reading other people's blogs, and watching Youtube videos. But if I watched people constantly that reminded me of myself I'd be pretty done with the internet.

Blogging isn't a business for me, and I'm (finally) okay with that

I've been struggling with the world of blogging for a few months now, and it really boils down to one thing: I stopped writing because I was passionate and got into this mindset of 'wow I want to be the next Hannah Gale' (no shade to her, because she is my QUEEN). And I mean, it's great to have goals, but I spent a whole lot of time thinking about my blog as a business: focusing on the numbers (and nothing else), looking for ways to make money, and trying to work out best how to market it. 

I went a week without internet (and it was great)

Moving house is basically the most inconvenient thing in the world. Packing, changing addresses on everything (and always missing a few things you're signed up to), finding a new home, unpacking, aligning your move in and out dates. It's an absolute bitch. And once you get there, you are lucky enough to have no internet/TV/anything nice for a few weeks because of the constant delay on installations that every internet supplier has.

Where have I been?

There's been absolute radio silence over here for almost a month now and ... it's been kind of great. So great that I toyed with the idea of quitting blogging completely, but I really found myself missing it at times. 

3 bloggers I've been loving recently

The blogosphere has been absolutely filled with incredible content this month tbh. I've fallen in love again with blogs I haven't read in a long time, I've found so many new ones to read and I've spent a whole lot of time just reading posts again. Basically bloggers have been killing it in March IMO. 

3 bloggers whose content I've been loving this month

I love sitting down to write these posts. They remind me of all the great posts I've read in the last month, and really help me think about why I love the blogging world. There are some people who are absolutely KILLING IT at the moment and I can't not share the love. I mean, my picks for this month (which was totally meant to be August, oops, I'm still behind), are three ladies whose blogs you absolutely HAVE to read. Like now. You won't regret it.
First up is someone I've mentioned before, but couldn't resist including again because her posts (and Insta stories) have been so damn funny and on point in the last month and a half. Nikki from Love Laughs Lipstick tells it like it is and it's so refreshing. Her post on '20 reasons why Autumn is sh*t' had me genuinely loling. I love Autumn, but you gotta appreciate the hilarious cynicism Nikki portrays in her writing, and I definitely agree with her on some of the points! 
Next up is Nicole from A Beautiful Chaos. I hardly know where to start with her blog and I'm honestly so surprised she's managed to escape being included in one of these little round-ups so far. Nicole is a mental health guru. She tackles key issues and taboo subjects on a regular basis and I honestly wonder how one person can manage to cover such a broad variety of mental health topics. From learning about CBT to how the internet can impact your mental health, if you want to understand more about mental illness then Nicole has your back. Her recent post on 'Not being ill enough to to be good enough' voiced thoughts that have been plaguing me for years that I'd never be able to put to paper with a tenth of her skill.
And finally we have the queen of the blogosphere, Hannah Gale. I'm obsessed. I don't think I've ever come across a blog where every single post screams out at me to read it. One quick glance at all the topics she covers so eloquently will show you why she won Blogger of the Year at the Blogosphere Awards recently. As well as growing a human baby (eeek), she posts about important lifestyle topics alongside giving some much needed heads-ups about all the new fashion you need to know about. Fab new slogan tee out? Hannah's got your back. Her post titled 'my relationship with alcohol' has made me think so much about my own relationship with drinking and how it's changed over the past few years.
This girls are all 100% worth checking out if you don't follow them already! Who else have you been loving recently?
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Key Google Analytics terms explained

Google analytics is a pretty scary place. I avoided it for my first year and a bit of blogging because hell no was I trying to work that out. Anyway, a few very helps pins later (seriously, where would we be without Pinterest?!) and I'd pretty much worked out how to use the damn thing. It can be really hard to understand what people are talking about, or what you're seeing on the screen when it comes to GA, so here's a handy little guide of all the important terms you'll need to know. 

Am I Falling Out of Love With Blogging?

 

I'm a quitter. I have been all my life. There was the month in which I learned guitar, my dabbling in Ancient Greek (what a cool kid), those few months in which I was obsessed with the idea of doing gymnastics and about ten thousand other hobbies that I took up and dropped with a few days, weeks or months. But for some reason, blogging has stuck with me. It's the only hobby that I've kept up and continued for over a year because I bloody love it. Or did, I'm not so sure anymore.
I've been avoiding writing this post for a few weeks because writing it down kinda meant admitting it (does anyone else get this?), but I like to be open on here, and hiding away from how I feel is just going to make my content distanced and impersonal.
In the past few days I've actually begun to feel like I'm getting my mojo back a little bit, but this month has been full of ups and downs in my blogging experience. I seem to have gotten a zillion emails offering cool brand collaborations, only for them to include follow links, no payment, and sometimes even no product. Some were really random, filled with things you guys would never be interested in, or the usual obscure infographics. I even got offered a box of fucking teabags in exchange for an entire blog post and SM posts, because the PR company had 'no budget' for their campaign. I've heard the words 'no budget' so many times this month that it seems unreal. And the worst part? As much as I tell myself it shouldn't happen, I know a newer blogger to the scene would jump at the chance of a freebie or two, so the PR person would still get their campaign sorted, just without me.
I found myself thinking about whether you guys would like to read a post on teabags (albeit special matcha green tea ones, oooh) before considering whether I'd actually enjoy writing it. And I think for me that's where things have gone a little wrong. I considered the fact that it'd bring in low page views before the fact that I'd be doing a good two hours of free work for a PR company. 
My obsession with numbers at the moment has been extreme. Slow growth is a failure, or at least that's what I've been telling myself. And it's even worse when, with a cheeky little purchase, someone gains three times as many followers in ten minutes as I've gained in the last year. But I don't want to have to look back and think that I've bought my way up, and I like genuinely engaging with you guys. I don't want to tweet to a load of bots and have no one actually care about what I'm saying. 
I'm not going to say that when I started blogging things in general were a lot simpler. They weren't, but I was oblivious to a lot of the complexities. Now even when I'm not writing, I'm scheduling content months in advance, thinking of witty tweets to pop onto Buffer to go out during the day, and wondering why I'm wasting my energy doing anything that isn't blogging-related. It shouldn't be like that. I feel a little bit like I'm back at uni again: everyone seems to be doing more and getting further ahead, whilst I'm left trailing behind. 
At the beginning of March I was faced with a dilemma: what do I do with my blog whilst on holiday for most of April? Do I write a post every single day in March so that I have content prepared, ready to publish? Or do I wing it and try to write on holiday? It took me a good fortnight to even consider not publishing new content whilst I'm away, but that's what I've decided to do now. My blogging schedule for Florida is officially cleared. I'll be on Instagram and twitter whenever I feel like it (obvs) and I'm sure I'll think of a buttload of new content whilst I'm out there, but the important thing is that there will be no pressure. I can spend my time chilling by the pool, not hunched over my laptop, forcing content that won't come because I'd rather be somewhere else. I know by the end of the break I'll be itching to get writing again, but that's what it should all be about, right? 
So, goodbye for now - I'll see you soon with posts that feel a bit more me!
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iPhone vs Canon DSLR: which is best for Instagram?

I'm Instagram obsessed, I won't lie. But things have gotten harder on the platform over the past year or two. Gone are the days when grainy photos, meaningless captions and drunken selfies were acceptable. Everyone's taken their game up a notch and it can be hard to compete. I touched on the subject in my post on whether you need to be rich to be a successful blogger.

How to revolutionise your blog using spreadsheets

I've read more 'how to improve your blog' posts than I care to admit. Most are full of the same old tripe: 'good photos', 'make interesting content'. These make me so angry; why am I wasting my time on this bull again? Having said that, I do tend to get lazy or forget them half the time, but let's gloss over that. Every so often, I come across a tip that completely changes the way I blog for the better. The advice to use spreadsheets to help with blog planning? That's probably the best example I have.

Do I need to be rich to be a successful blogger?

This is a question that really has been bothering me for quite some time now. It's also something that I've attempted to answer over and over again, with virtual scrawls over half of each draft. Sometimes it comes out more angry, sometimes it's more hopeful, but I've finally decided to sit down and put my pen to paper (sort of) and share my thoughts.

My Instagram feed is regularly full of Jo Malone perfumes, throwbacks to last summer's Santorini trip, Diptyque candles, and enough 'only worn once' clothes to fill a boat. But what if you simply can't afford to engage in any of that? Does it make you fall behind in the blogging world because you don't have the money to compete? I think the brutal answer - and the one that I've tried to avoid realising - is yes.

Why I avoid being part of 'the blogging community'

This post was partially inspired by allll the drama that took place on Twitter last night after the shortlist for the #bloggersblogawards was announced, but also by a lot of nastiness that's been building up over the past few weeks. For about the last month or so, every time I've logged into Twitter there's been some kind of heated discussion over the notions of positivity and negativity going on. People are starting to have their say against the notion that all bloggers are meant to be positive, which is fab, but what isn't fab is the backlash. People are being slammed for suggesting that they do like to be positive all the time on social media - that's who they are - and others are being slammed for suggesting that negativity takes place. What's even worse is that it's turned the whole notion of 'the blogging community' into a sphere for bullying. Someone dares to suggest a well-liked blogger has a wrong opinion? Suddenly it's the scene with Kovu from the Lion King 2 again. You know the one, where everyone starts screaming at him as he's removed from the Pride lands with the lyrics 'evil as plain as the scar on his face' etc accompanying him. This is not a community, or at least not one I could say I wanted to be involved with in any case.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love some of my fellow bloggers, and totally support them. But do I need to label myself as being part of a (sometimes truly nasty) community to do so? No. If a blogger has a personality that I get on with, a blog I love and a tweet that I think deserves recognition, then of course I'm going to give it a cheeky like or retweet. I don't however, have to feel the need to do that with everyone. If our personalities clash, your blog isn't my thing, or we just haven't clicked, that's okay - I don't need to support everyone, and I would never expect anyone to do the same for me out of a weird sense of obligation.
Now, whilst I'm saying that I don't feel the need to actively support every blogger in 'the community', this equally doesn't mean that I feel the need to tear them down. If you tweet something I don't agree with, cool, that's fine, I'll ignore it. Unless y'know, I really disagree, and then I'll say something, but always to your face, and without asking for backup to bully someone down. Obviously I'm not perfect - no one is, and we all made the odd bitchy mistake, but it doesn't mean someone deserves to be hated on. Equally I'm never going to go out there and slam someone on a post they've written, because that is honestly just cruel. Just as I won't actively support everyone, I see no need to actively tear anyone down, or follow the wave of 'the blogging community' that jumps on someone's back every so often. 
Ultimately, 'the blogging community' for me is something that has become a pit of cliques, bullying and nastiness, with the odd ray of support shining out. No one is ever going to like everyone, and I think the 'community' forces the idea down our throats that if 'so and so' is friends with a blogger we like then we have to support them. No. Support who you want, be kind, and most of all remember that if you don't want to get involved in drama you don't have to. 
Now, before anyone goes on a rant about this being a totally patronising and bitter post - it's not. There are places where you can receive a buttload of online support from bloggers, and #TheGirlGang (@TheGirlGangHQ) is definitely one of those places, and something I'm proud to be a part of. This post was more of a reminder to myself more than anything, and something I wish someone would have said to me a few months ago when I was really feeling the pressure to integrate myself into the community. Maybe one day the blogging community is something I would like to make myself a part of, but sadly that day is not today.
What are your thoughts?
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How to get your own domain name (and why you ought to!)

Over the past couple of months, I've been making a couple of changes here at Nourish ME. I've really been attempting to up my blogging game, and create more varied and generally better posts for you guys. Although getting your own domain seems like a fairly menial change, much like creating your own blogger media kit, it can really make a difference if you want to start monetizing your blog. 
Why do I need my own domain name?
When PRs and brands consider bloggers for collaborative posts, they will often request a certain DA (or domain authority) score. If you still have a blogspot.com or wordpress.org site, or something along those lines, then you don't actually have a DA. Telling them this can come across as unprofessional, and they are likely to therefore look for a blogger who has organised their own domain name. Having said this, I have successfully completed collaborations with brands from my blogspot address, so it by no means totally rules you out. 
It's also a chance for you to rejig your blog name a little if you wish. My old URL was http://nourishmeclean.blogspot.com because initially my blog was all about clean eating. However, in the past year(!) or so of blogging that's become really irrelevant. So, when I switched to my own domain it became www.nourishmeblog.co.uk.
How can I get my own domain name?
I'm not going to lie, when I first started looking into this I was totally stumped. I didn't know how I was going to set one up - would it involve a lot of tricky coding? Or mess up my Google analytics? Would my old address come up as a 404 and lose me tonnes of pageviews? Don't worry, it was a lot easier than I had imagined, and none of these things *touch wood* has happened in the past month or two that I have had my own domain name. Note: what I'm about to tell you only applies to blogger sites (I really have no idea how I would do it on Wordpress, but I imagine it's not too much more difficult). 
You will have to buy your own domain name, but there are a whole variety of websites with different prices and packages that you can do this from. I opted to go with Go Daddy because they had an offer on, which gave me a year's worth of my domain name for 99p. On top of the straight up yearly or monthly cost, you can also opt to buy protection. I did this as well and ultimately I think it came to around £8 for the year altogether. You will have to renew it each year, so be warned: buying it does not mean you own your domain forever.
Here's where we get a bit technical. Once you've bought your domain and are happy with the name, it's time to actually get it connected to your blog. I was going to attempt to write you guys a step-by-step instruction for this but honestly I don't want to have written something wrong that could potentially destroy your blog! Instead, here is a link to Blogger's own really detailed explanation of exactly how to set your domain name up correctly and with ease. It probably took me about an hour in total - you do have to leave it for 24 hours and then come back to make sure everything is set up correctly.
Once you've got your new, sparkling domain name all set up and connected to your blog, you then need to let people know about it! I updated my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook page, Pinterest, Youtube and Bloglovin to show the new URL. However, if people click on your old URL, as long as you've set everything up correctly, it will direct to your new domain anyway!
I really hope this was helpful!
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Hello New Year | 2016 Blogging Goals

I figured I'd round off the year with a selection of my favourite pictures from this years' posts. I've loved my year of blogging, and it's brought me so many opportunities, which is why I'm looking forward to it simply getting bigger and better in 2016. I'm sure all us bloggers around about now are thinking about what we hope will happen for us and our blogs in the coming year, so I thought I'd start a discussion with you all about our dreams. What do I want? Well, my main goal for this year is to effectively monetize my blog (in boring terms), aka I'd love to be able to go part time, with my blog making up the rest of my monthly paycheck. This would mean I could put more time into blog, pay more attention to my fitness, and spend more time with the little fluffs - Ted the bunny and Hammy & Jeff the dwarf hamsters. Plus, I could take even prettier photos to share with you all in my posts (hello extra daylight hours!) I would love to work with more brands in the coming year, especially beauty ones. Nourish ME is all about caring for yourself and I really love letting people know about new products that will help you nourish yourself, whether it be mentally or physically.  Finally, at the moment instagram is my most successful social media platform. I'd love to get to 5k followers in the next year (as I'm just over 1k at the moment). My twitter would ideally hit 1000 and my bloglovin and Facebook page at least 500.  What are your blogging goals in the coming year?

150 Followers Giveaway | New Years Resolutions & Looking Back

(This looks half empty, but it's not! Body butter always shifts to one side whenever you want it to just stay flat, urgh!)

Full Bloom Lavender Round Essential Body Kit (inc. flannel, bath cream, bath crystals) |

Soap and Glory 250ml The Righteous Butter |

Boots Extracts 50ml Cocoa Butter Body Butter |

LUSH Think Pink Bath Ballistic Bomb |

So as I've reached 150 followers, I've decided to offer you guys the chance to win these goodies as a token of my gratitude! I've really enjoyed creating and improving this blog over the past four or five months and am so looking forward to the next year of more improvements and blogging! Scroll down and you'll see how to enter - UK ONLY, sorry. I will be checking to make sure that you've actually done them!

I created this blog because I believe that what you eat, and the way you treat your body has an incredible impact on your mentality. I find that on days, or weeks, when I eat junk food and don't exercise I lose motivation for uni work, looking good, socialising, and focusing on general life admin (ugh) which I really ought to keep up with. Hence "Nourish ME": to nourish oneself, in my opinion, is to give your body the ability to perform well both physically and mentally. Thus, when I started clean eating I also developed a good skincare regime (which I will get round to blogging about one day, I swear!), regularly moisturising, and switching to products that were a lot less harsh for my skin and hair. Since then, my nails have been growing like crazy, and everyone keeps commenting on how long and thick my hair has gotten! 

So, this year I really want it to get bigger and better, and to keep the goals I set up when I started blogging. I think this is the first time that I've ever made any New Years resolutions, so here goes:

1.) Keep up with regular blogging, and make a list of new recipes!

2.) Go to the gym two times a week, and exercise at home on my new yoga mat on the other days - it really gives you a lot more energy to get on with other week.

3.) Actually keep up with the reading for the final half of the final year of my English Lit degree (this one makes me chuckle thinking about it)

4.) Tackle my problems rather than avoiding them. Work on my experience and endeavour to secure a job in publishing by Summer.

5.) Avoid dairy! Being intolerant to it helps, but boy do I let myself in for it sometimes out of lack of willpower/negligence for what's good for me.

6.) Meal prep - I am so bad at this, so at the end of a long uni day I always end up on the junk trail, but NO MORE. 

What are your New Years Resolutions?

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