Blogging | Tips for beating a slump

We've all, as bloggers, been there. Some more than others, i.e. me once every few weeks. Sometimes it feels as though there is just no beating it - you want to throw the towel in, declare everything in the world that is worth writing has already been written and close down your little corner of the web for good. Believe me I've had this thought more than you may think and it gets especially difficult when other areas of your life begin to take over! Today, however, is not one of those days. Today I'm feeling motivated, but I wanted to take a moment and give a shout out to those of you out there damning the blinking of that cursor, screaming, crying and throwing fits at your device, and those of you who are on the precipice of throwing the digital towel in.

Here are some of my top tips on 'beating' a blogging slump;

Take a break and don't be ashamed;
It can be tempting to apologise to readers when you take a break, but remember your reasons for starting this blog, as a hobby, as an enjoyable way to express your love or dislike for something, or even just to pass the time! As long as you don't have a specific obligation to advertisers or promoters that particular day / week / month then you're quite entitled to a break.

Schedule as far as you can when you're feeling it;
On a good day I can get myself sorted for a solid month in advance, which of course allows me some leeway to have a 'break' if I so choose. So what if one week I'm just not feeling it? I know there's still a post going up every Wednesday and Friday for at least four weeks - and trust me kids there's no better feeling than being organised (yes I realise this makes me sound 'boring' but I'm sipping on my coffee chilling while you're losing your minds over lighting!)

Think about you - not digital you;What do you fancy doing today? Relaxing at home with some Netflix? Chilling with your cat? Or hell going on  an adventure. Think about yourself minus the blog, minus the social media and run with it - and if you've got the time to blog, great, and if not who cares?!

Needless to say this is all much easier said than done - but if you're anything like me then simply seeing things written down can give me a nudge in the right direction. Whether that's the direction of the sofa or the direction of my blog it doesn't matter.

Hopefully from this post you have found what you're looking for, words of encouragement, the realization that a break is just what the doctor ordered or maybe even a kick up the backside, be sure to leave all your tips and hints for beating a blogging slump in the comments below, else you can find me lurking on all of the usual channels, Twitter, Instagram and Bloglovin.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x

Blogging Pet Peeves | Beauty Edition

You may remember back in the times of yore when I wrote a post ranting about my biggest blogging pet peeves. From overly obvious tweet and social media scheduling to auto DMs and of course straight up stealing images and fellow bloggers work to further your own blogging platform, there is a great deal to be peeved about when it comes to blogging in general. However, recently I have found myself becoming increasingly annoyed by the beauty blogging community so today in order to therapeutically cleanse myself of these thoughts, feelings and annoyances and maybe pass some of them along to you!

No swatches

More often than not I'm quite drawn to blogs with beautiful imagery. I am a sucker for a good, well lit product shot despite having never quite mastered the art myself, but there is one thing a beauty blogger can do when taking photographs that will make me instantly click off, unlike, unfollow and never return again. No. Swatches. It's all well and good telling me how amazing the pigment on your new eyeshadow is or how a lipstick's colour has changed your life, but if you don't show me then... it's all lies!!! Admittedly this is something that new beauty bloggers are perhaps not used to doing, however for seasoned pros surely this is just good practice?

'I was kindly sent this by Too Faced...' 

Psst...you forgot to add - 'in exchange for the money I paid for it,'

When this comes from a brand new beauty blogger with a small following you've got to know they're pulling your leg. I have seen countless young girls trying to draw folks in by saying, Anastasia Beverley Hills got in touch with me to review this product... yeah via an advert on Beauty Bay!

Review your damn hauls

I love a good haul post. I like a good nosy in my peers baskets, particularly when it comes to beauty and fashion. However some follow up would be great - or at least a little test of the product before posting your haul, else it's really just, 'hey guys I bought this,' and cue the crickets! 

Ever found yourself guilty of the above? Probably - I know as a beginner in both beauty and blogging I have been guilty of more than I would really care to admit - it's a learning process that is never ending.

What are some of your blogging pet peeves, beauty, lifestyle or otherwise? Be sure to share your peeves and comments in the box below, come share them with me on Twitter, or if you'd just like to see who I'll write another peevey post about next then make sure you're following me on Bloglovin.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x

The Power of 'No' | Why I'll be saying 'No' more in 2017

'No'

Two little letters with potential of mass proportions, and despite having seemingly negative connotations, 'no' can actually bring you more joy, help you attain richer life experiences and feel more relaxed than you ever have in your life. 'No' takes much more courage to say than yes, particularly when you belong to the generation where saying no even once can bring you down with a serious case of the FOMOs (fear of missing out..s) Fear that convinces you that saying no could mean skipping out on the adventure of a lifetime, missing out on the best night of your life, or simply waving goodbye to the boat of success entirely...

Which of course is ridiculous.

This is something that has dawned on me only recently, at the ripe old age of 23 having gone through a series of life changes over the last year and a half and learning just where real happiness comes from. And where is that? Has Granite City Girl unlocked the secret to lifelong happiness? Well it's different for everyone, so I guess the simple answer would be that happiness comes from within yourself and can be discovered by asking yourself a few simple questions. What matters to you most? What do you love? Who do you love? And finally what brings you most joy in life?

Well what does this mean for Granite City Girl?

It simply means that this year I won't be grabbing every opportunity flung my way. I won't be reviewing more restaurants just because I've been invited along, I won't saying yes to obscure brand deals that have nothing to do with my blog and do little to peak my interests, and I won't be wasting any more time living behind a screen when I could in fact be out there living life and writing about richer and more interesting experiences than what I ate for lunch that day.

Perhaps most importantly I won't find myself stretched for time, driven to madness by blank pages on a screen feeling mocked by a blinking cursor waiting on tender hooks for the latest and greatest blog post only for 10 other posts written about the same event or subject to pop up with the same inevitable conclusion.

This of course doesn't mean to say the end of Granite City Girl, I still very much love writing, sharing where I've been and what I've been up to, but as I'm about to enter a new and very exciting phase of life it just means something a little different and more of what I fancy and less of what I feel pressure from others to write about.

Thank you for having the patience to stick with me during my many and numerous breaks and of course to reading and sharing in my love of writing over these last few years, I look forward to continuing to share my life and passion as I move forward in life.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x

Barcelona Baby

 
By the time you read this I'll be long gone...... to Barcelona baby!

As you guys know from my last post I am off to Barcelona with my hubby this week and as is a tradition with Granite City Girl and I guess now Hannah Adams Make Up Artistry, I will be taking a little, tiny wee break to refuel, recharge and have myself a jolly good time abroad. Did I mention I run on solar power? Ach see now you know why I've been a big bogged down, I just need to catch me some rays! But my absence of course doesn't mean no content, heavens no! Instead I'll be handing over the reigns of Granite City Girl to some friends from the #Abzmeet gang namely Anastasia of Natbees Fashion.

You can of course keep a spy on my Twitter and Instagram if you want to keep up with what we're doing in Barcelona , where we're going and what we're seeing. Otherwise have a lovely, lovely week guys and I will return next Wednesday as per with brand new content and hopefully a photo diary of Barcelona and our adventures.

Until next time folks, love ya bye!

H.Elizabeth x

Blogging | Starting your own blog

Sounds pretty basic right? Don't you just start writing and press post? Well yes and no,  you'd be surprised how many non starter blogs I have had throughout my life, simply because I was so overwhelmed with the amount of work it can actually take just to get started. From the earlier days of piczo to various wordpress and blogger platforms I've seen 'em all! I have tampered with writing a film review blog, dabbled in beauty tutorials and even tried my hand at keeping a virtual diary, but somehow it's only Granite City Girl that has stuck. So from my wealth of failures, experiences and general blogging knowlege, here are my top tips, pointers and unsolicited advice for starting your own blog and more importantly, keeping it going!

Take your time and work from the ground up

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you're starting out is rushing into blogging, particularly when you are bursting with bright new ideas, you could be in danger of just emptying your head all at once on to a web page and suddenly you're left feeling a bit depleted. In fact you'll see when I first started Granite City Girl this happened around the second month of posting and it's just a big ole mess! Take an afternoon, make yourself a cup of tea and write down your first few blog post ideas in a notebook, decide on your own schedule (you can read more about post scheduling here) and build from there. 

Find a user friendly platform you are comfortable with 

Usually you'll find yourself falling into one of two blogging platforms, Wordpress or Blogger (the latter is what I use) Sometimes writing can be the easy part, especially if you're not quite so tech savvy and coding gives you the willies! Don't give yourself another barrier, keep it simple and find what works best for you and build from the ground up, and please, please, don't throw money at your blog right away, research, read and educate yourself.

Speak to your fellow bloggers

This is something I wish I had known and had the gumption to do when I first started out. As much as it may sometimes feel like it, blogging isn't one big race or competition and your fellow bloggers are your greatest allies and more importantly teachers when it comes to starting your own blog. It might be a friend, family member or even a co worker who runs their own blog, pick their brains, ask them their big dos and don'ts, hell ask how they got invited to that amazing event and what their writing process is (isn't that such a pretentious phrase?) They do say you never stop learning and don't be a fool by thinking blogging is any different.

This all feels like advice I wish I had had before starting my own blog so I do hope this helps someone out there at least. Are you thinking of starting your own blog, or maybe you're a seasoned blogger with even more tips to share for the newbies out there, either way be sure to leave all of your thoughts, comments, experiences and tricks below! Otherwise you can catch up with me and my latest posts and musings on Twitter or Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, 

H.Elizabeth

Blogging Pet Peeves | A Rant by Granite City Girl

As a blogger and human being of this particular generation I read a lot of blogs. Through the use of social media and tools such as Bloglovin, technology has enabled me to discover some amazing writing talent, experience the wider world and dare I say live vicariously through my favourite bloggers, but sometimes you'll come across a piece of writing, design or blog in general that makes you question all that you know about the world; and I'm not talking total worldly enlightenment I'm talking, aah the humanity!!! Okay so as you know I may be one to exaggerate but if it helps get my point across then that's really all that matters. In light of my recent burst blood vessel(s) paroosing the twittersphere and blogosphere I thought I would share some of my top blogging pet peeves and just say, stop it!

Image Credit: Pinterest

There have been so many blog posts detailing why this is wrong so I won't go into all of the gory details all I will say however is that this is theft and is a crime against copyright laws. Yes it may make your blog look very pretty, professional even, that is in fact because it came from a professional bloggers post! This makes my index fingers curl up inside my body that's how great a peeve it is for me, it is an automatic 'unfollow' and discredit to your blog. If you want to learn a bit more about image crediting, blogging and copyright you should have a read of Forever Amber's post here.

Scheduled Promo Overload

Last week I unfollowed somebody on Twitter for posting 15 (yes you read that right 15!) promotions for the same post in a row on Twitter. Don't get me wrong, scheduling is sometimes an amazing thing, a fantastic promotions tool for bloggers, but if you're posting the same Tweet at say hourly intervals someone is bound to notice (FYI that someone is me!) for me it's off putting as I like to feel as if I'm having a conversation with the blogger but it's obvious that particular person is switched off and just happy enough to post out automated messages.

Twitter Auto Responses
Bleh, the ultimate form of shameless social media poaching, you know the ones I mean, 'Hi thank you for following me on Twitter, why not follow my blog too,' with sickly, sugary x's and o's. Again it's so impersonal and isn't the entire point of blogging to share your views with the world, open up a dialogue and meet new people. After extensive research and attempting to open up a dialogue with the particulars who have these auto responses I can confirm they are not interested.

So this may have disgressed int more of a social media scheduling, response, twitter rant but it kind of links to blogging right? I'd love to know what your biggest blogging pet peeves are or even social media peeves, in fact just use the space below to have a good old rant, those are my favourites as you can probably tell. Be sure NOT to send me your auto responses on Twitter or spam me with your promos (grrrr internal screaming) but quick plug if you do enjoy my rants and ravings be sure to follow Granite City Girl on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, screaming internally at all of the blogging blunders.

H.Elizabeth x

Blogging | Back to the Drawing Board

Bonjourno to all of you reading (procrastinating) as you can probably tell from the title of this post it is another little update for all of you who do tune in week on week and care about my ramblings, musings and general goings on of the Granite City Girl and today I'm afraid we're going to get a little bit real with ourselves (me) and add a little note on taking on more than you can handle.

As you'll have known if you've been reading these last couple of months have been a little bit difficult between all of the events, life moments and holidays we have been preparing for (yes I know, it's a hard life!) I just haven't been able to give my little corner of the internet the time and dedication I feel it deserves and so I'm bringing myself back down to Earth in the coming months and getting back to basics, in that I am going to be limiting my posts to twice a week once again because it's just a bit more practical between work and a few other exciting life developments. Remember that you can also keep up with me on Twitter and Bloglovin for your daily dose of Hannah!

Until next time folks, we're going back to basics.

H.Elizabeth x

Au Revoir | Granite City Girl's Honeymoon

Bonjour et Au Revoir mes amis! Yes no sooner am I back from my little blogging break than I am jetting off once again, but this time I really do have a good excuse, honest. You see we're off on our honeymoon for a week, finally  after almost 10 months of wedded bliss we are finally off to celebrate! We are so looking forward to our little Parisian break, this past year has been a whirlwind of events, milestones and general happenings, from dissertation all the way back in April 2014, to graduation, our wedding and new job opportunities you could say it has been all go in the Granite City Girl household, and so I bid you adieu today once again as we jet off for another little break, but don't worry I shall return and with plenty of content to be sure to be sure!

 

Until next time folks, I'll send you a postcard, au revoir.

 

H.Elizabeth

Blogging | How to deal with writers block

It's a feeling I'm sure most bloggers, writers and journalists can relate to. You're up and rearing to go, you sit down, whether it be at your laptop, with your pen and paper or iPad you open your documents and.... nothing. Inspiration fails to strike and you're left feeling like a failure... in fact it is the premature ejaculatory experience most writers will face at one point in their career and you're left genuinely feeling as if you have completely lost your writing ability in the night! The fear sets in, what if I never write again? What if my career is over? What if the inspiration never comes? Well today I am here to share my very own tips on how I get over writers block and some coping mechanisms for when I feel I may never write again. 

Step away from the pen/screen;

Although it can be difficult, particularly if you have a deadline to meet but it is honestly the greatest remedy for writers block. Inspiration can strike at any time, any where so get outside, get away from the screens or maybe even just make yourself a cup of tea (and cake) come back in a few hours and I guarantee you'll be rearing to go once again.

Spider diagrams;

These aren't just for school kids and exam revision you know. Write down all of your likes, dislikes, your hobbies thoughts and literally anything that comes in to your head. Take a step back and piece together some post ideas, you may find your most creative ideas come from just pouring out all of your thoughts, and yes I'm even talking about the negative ones.

Draw inspiration from your peers;

For a lot of writers this is a bit of a grey area, but as long as you are careful, do not steal bodies of texts and your ideas are outrightly and obviously your own then you should be home free. What I mean by drawing inspiration is to look at various blogger tags and take part or perhaps try out another bloggers recipe or idea and report back on your blog how you found it (always credit your fellow blogger)

Spend time with people in the great outdoors;

No I'm not talking about going for a hike or on a great adventure (but it would make a great post if you decided to!) Get outside and spend time with your family and friends, catch up with people you haven't seen for a while. People are the greatest sources of inspiration and you never know when it may strike when you loosen your grip!

Take a blogging break;

Forcing writing, as I have said before, can be obvious once re-read, not just for yourself but for your readers. If you feel your writing is being forced then you aren't truly enjoying what you're doing and you'll find you have pretty much lost sight of why you began blogging in the first place (unless of course you're in it for the money / free products of course)

I hope this has given all of you writers currently facing a mental block a sense of calm and ease, we all face it at some point or other - seriously my job just wouldn't be as interesting if I didn't face the occasional road block and the same comes with a good piece of writing. As always I would love to hear your thoughts, how do you deal with writers block or what do you do when you hit a wall and can't seem to get over it? Be sure to let me know in the comments below, come share your thoughts with me on Twitter or of course if you'd like to keep up with my latests you can find me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, breaking mental barriers.

H.Elizabeth

Granite City Girl is on a break

                           

We were on a break!!! Is probably what you're going to be hearing me say when I return in a couple of weeks, no guys it's not you this time it really is me! But don't worry this really is just a break not a break up, honest.

 

As you guys know I have quite a few things and stuff coming up in the next few weeks, between work, photoshoots, meetings, preparing for our holiday next month as well as being asked to be Maid of Honour at one of my best friends wedding I really feel as though I have been burning the candle at both ends and I'm sorry to say that I feel as though my little corner of the internet has been falling to the wayside. Blogging has become a bit more of a chore as of late than I would generally have liked it to ever become and I have always said that if ever there came a time where I just wasn't enjoying it quite so much or perhaps I felt it was too much of a strain on my life that I would take a break, and that's what I am announcing today.

 

Fortunately guys this isn't forever, blogging and writing continues to be a great love and passion of mine and I do hope you don't miss my posts too much, I hope you understand and remember I'll see you in a couple of weeks as I return to my usual schedule. Of course I'll still be updating you on Twitter so you can always catch me over there if you miss me terribly.

 

Until next time folks, we are on a break!

 

H.Elizabeth x

Blogging | How often should I be posting?

Hello everyone, today I'm back with my (somewhat) fortnightly little snippets of information from the world of blogging, social media, writing and general unsolicited advice giving and given that you still have not shown any disdain towards receiving said advice I am going to continue on with this today and henceforth. So today I'm going to be chatting to you about something that is seen to be quite topical in the blogging world and that is the question of how often you should be posting. You'll know if you have read this segment before that I touched on this in my post which revolved around blog scheduling so I do apologise if I repeat myself here and there but I will try and avoid this just to make it a bit more interesting and informative for you. As I have said in the past with this post and all of my others this is purely of my own opinion and what I find works best for me and you should take this advice as my opinion as opposed to gospel.

When the question of how often a blogger should be posting comes up you will get a plethora of answers, opinions and people preaching to the blogosphere gods that their way is the correct and only way to run a successful blog that people will want to read, return to and perhaps follow. For many that involves being able to post on a daily basis in order to stay fresh and current on their social media and bloglovin feeds however for new bloggers this can be particularly overwhelming (heck I even find it overwhelming and I have been writing for a good year and a bit now) and it might not necessarily be the right route to go down. And for others that means posting one to two times a week or whenever they are able and guess what? That's fine too. Personally I think it's all about the individual, their time management skills and of course their goals.

For example if your goal is to be able to make money from your blog, receive PR samples out the whazoo and generally make a living from your blog (which I imagine is no easy feat and by no means do I do this!) then you should probably be posting on a daily basis to start out at least, but for others, us mere mortals that simply isn't practical. Granite City Girl began as a labour of love for me which in a dream world would be spun into  a full time career but I'm not naieve enough to think that's where we are at the moment and starting out I posted as often as I could with little to no schedule whatsoever, I felt overwhelmed and at times rushed and I really do think it came across in my writing and I like to think since establishing a more manageable routine that my writing quality has improved as well as the general content of the writing (guys?) So I suppose what I'm really trying to say is the tale as old as time, 'don't compromise quality over quantity' 2 to 3 times a week is just fine and very soon you'll establish a following and readership to be proud of because of your top notch content (which in reality is what matters most)

Posting on a regular basis (for me  3 / 4 days a week) has worked wonders not only for the blog but for my own peace of mind and routine. For more information on scheduling see my post on the benefits of a blogging schedule to help you scope your own post frequency. So as always I hope this has helped you out in some small way and has perhaps taken the pressure off of some of you newer bloggers or perhaps even made you rethink your own blogging strategy. Be sure to leave your thoughts on post frequency in the comments below or tweet them at me, perhaps you do post every day and have a great way to manage your time, if so I'd love to hear how you do it! Or of course if you'd like to see more from the Granite City Girl you can follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be monitoring your frequency (Trekkies will surely get that?)

H.Elizabeth x

Q & A | Taking part in blogger chats

Hello everyone, today I'm back with my now fortnightly blogging advice segment because you guys haven't told me you hate it or asked me to shut up yet and because you enjoyed my last post on effectively scheduling posts so much I thought I would share a little bit more about my experiences of blogging. Today I'm going to focus a little bit on expanding your community, making friends and forging relationships with fellow bloggers in the form of a mini Q & A, otherwise I could literally go on all day about the blogging community and engaging with your audience!

What are blogger chats?

Blogger chats are a way in which bloggers, writers, marketing professionals,  and anybody who wants to be part of the community come together for a weekly chat about anything and everything. Often they are centered around a topic of discussion which is open for comment and idea sharing or it is an open chat where you can pose questions, thoughts or comments to the group for comment and discussion.

Who are they for?

Anybody who is involved or has an interest in the blogging world can join in! If your thing is books you can be sure there will be a book bloggers chat or perhaps you're a big foodie and looking to swap recipes, then the food blogger chat is the ticket for you, whatever your niche there will be a chat for that, I for example take part in the lifestyle and beauty bloggers chats.

How do you take part?

Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag (as you'll have perhaps guessed these chats live on Twitter) whichever chat you choose to take part in will have a designated hashtag for example the lifestyle bloggers hashtag is '#lbloggers' and the beauty bloggers one is '#bbloggers' To search for these chats all you have to do is type the hashtag into your Twitter search bar at the designated time and that's that, you are officially taking part in a blogger chat.

What are the benefits of taking part?

Well first of all it is so much fun and in addition to the obvious benefits of being enabled to easily promote your blog and brand it's a great way to meet new people. It is a very rare thing in real life to find people with so much common ground and so much to talk about on a weekly basis and it is a fantastic boost. The blogging community and the weekly chats have helped keep me motivated, inspired and generally upbeat about my writing and life online.

Granite City Girl's blogger chat etiquette

Now as you can imagine, and like with anything there are a certain set of unspoken rules if you like and general etiquette that is expected from you while taking part in these chats and I will one day do a more in depth post on the pros and peeves of blogger chats and etiquette, but today I'm just going to outline the basics:

• Don't spam other bloggers with your link
• You can promote a product or service, but only do it once or twice
• Be mindful of other bloggers and respond to their queries if you can help
• Send your / ask for links towards the end of the chat to avoid spamming



As always I hope this has been able to help at least one of you in some small way (and if it hasn't well it has certainly made me a bit more organised when it comes to blogger chats and obviously given that this timetable will be living on my blog, I really have no excuse for missing one every again. Be sure to leave your questions, comments and feedback below and of course if you are a fellow blogger and have noticed I have missed out one of the key blogger chats or a special nugget of information be sure to share that with me on here, on Twitter or of course if you just enjoyed this post and would like to keep up with the latest Granite City Girl posts you can always come find me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be refining my chat etiquette.

H.Elizabeth x