What I learned my first year of blogging: blog tips!

THE INSPIRATION

It’s been a year since I began this blog and it seems a bit unreal! I am so grateful for everyone who visits the site or follows along on Instagram, thank you! I couldn’t do it without you. Please subscribe to the weekly newsletter here for a chance to win my favorites from BeautyCounter: the awakening trio of 3 of products that keep my skin GLOWING! I will announce winner on 1/31. 🙂

I have always been a fashion geek  and use it as an escape and way to express myself. Having my fitness business, MaZi Dance Fitness for the past 10 years, tells me that women want to feel good, more so than look good. I believe that taking time for yourself and putting a little effort in the form of dressing, putting make-up on, working out/eating well and sharing with others is what makes a lot of us feel good. I know it’s not for everybody! Some people are content in the Steve Jobs uniform of black turtle neck and black jeans. I respect it a lot and admire it a bit, but it will never be me. 🙂

In 2016, when I was pregnant with Henrick, my second sunshine,(kind of a weird time to start), I noticed that I started to share my outfits A LOT. It wasn’t strategic but I felt so good when I made a little effort in my pregnant state to look good. Then when he was born I started making an effort to dress my boys the same. Matching outfits, ‘doing it for the gram, kinda thing. I also got so much satisfaction from sharing my wellness insights or mamahood “feelings” and getting positive feedback about sharing. So I kind of trucked along sharing but not really thinking anything of it.

OBSESSION

Enter the end of 2017. As fulfilling as MaZi Dance Fitness is, as an eternal artist, I was craving something more. Something to tinker with and create. I love the quote “Obsession is what the lazy call the dedicated”. All of my life phases have been driven by obsessions; my dance career, my business career, the loves of my life, MaZi Dance Fitness, choreography, etc. It’s not that I care less about all those other things now, but I always crave more challenges and to some extent, novelty. My sister, who is my business partner and knows me better than anyone tells me that to be happy I always have to be creating and struggling a bit or a lot! And then she’ll laugh.

At times, I’ve been accused of being obsessive and that’s fine with me. I don’t know how to live without really being into something or not being into something. If I show up, say it, or do it, it’s because I love it. I’m not going to waste time dancing dances I don’t love, working with brands I don’t believe in, or eating something that doesn’t taste good. LOL. If that’s obsessive, so be it!

The final push to start this blog was that I was spending a lot of time (like many) reading about politics and feeling unhealthy things like anger, disgust, helplessness and sadness. I thought to myself, why am I spending my life reading this stuff? I need something else. Something that I can create and express those feelings with instead of reading idly with the thoughts in my head. So the answer lie in starting my blog. Transferring all those wasted hours reading crap to saying, “I can’t control this, but I can control my actions and what I think and do.”

THE WORK

So the first thing I did was do lots of research on blogging! I read everything I could find and made sure to check out lots of other blogs. Checking out others work is a great way to see different takes on blogging. Sometimes they even give you tips! I also paid attention to some of the Instagram emails in my inbox that offered tips and actually did them! This is what I learned (please keep in mind these are takeaways from my research and there’s a 1000 ways to eat a Reese’s as well as start a blog)!

1. IT’S NOT A COMPETITION, WE ALL NEED LOVE. To get support, you must support- A big take-away from one of my favorite bloggers and also the sweetest human ever Julie from JulzChezXOXO, was to support other bloggers. She said in one of her blog posts that you can’t get there alone and she is right. Sometimes you’re on Instagram and you see these big name bloggers get so much love, you think “well, she doesn’t need MY love, she’s got all this other love”. Wrong! 7 times out of 10, this blogger not only needs your love but will give love back. And love/engagement is what you need to be successful. Don’t do it with the expectation to get anything back, but you will get something back!
2. NEW SKILLZ, WHO DIS? Everyone recommends WordPress.org (not WordPress.com) over Blogger and other sites. I was discouraged by this, because I’m the most awful techie that ever lived. However, I bit the bullet and did the research on how to do my own site. I didn’t want to pay someone so I spent about 2 weeks of my life (working several hours a day) to get it up and running. My point is, if I can do it, you CAN do it.
3. YOU DON’T PICK DANCE, DANCE PICKS YOU There’s a saying in dance that says “You don’t pick dance, DANCE picks you.” Welp! The opposite is true for your niche. YOU have to pick your freakin’ niche! This is the hardest thing for me. Because I’ve had a long crazy life, I know a lot about a few things. BUT. A few things is still too much if you want to have good results. I know a ton about styling, make-up, being a mom, what to eat, working out, buying homes, opening a business, managing/operating a business, the luxury audio market in the U.S., apres ski (not skiing), Chicago, border towns, The Kennedys, Justin Peck and New York City Ballet gossip but that doesn’t mean I should focus on it. I was afraid to pick fashion as my niche because it’s extremely competitive, what if people think my outfits are dumb, I live in the Midwest, I’m from TX, etc. etc. However, it’s what I LOVE!
4. BUY A PHONE SCREEN TO SAVE YOUR EYES Instagram is a beast. I’m not gonna sugar coat it. I would need another blog post about this, because this is not easy. I will say this: it takes time, it takes effort, it takes strategy. Email me if you want to learn more! I’m not an expert and learning everyday but can point you to resources.
5. BE A SNOWFLAKE Be different. Tune out the noise. Another hard one! Once you have your inspo and your vision, please do not compare yourself to anyone else! You don’t know how long they’ve been doing it, where they started, how much they’ve invested timewise and moneywise, and I can guarantee they work very hard at being different. For me, I love dressier clothes (I have to go to work in sweats and leggings!), making fun of my situation with my caption, and showing movement/energy in my pics. I see a lot of my peers killing it with encouraging/spiritual posts, mirror selfies, relaxed outfits, pictures of their kids lunchbox, etc. My point is if you try to copy what you see on your feed or one someone’s blog, you won’t know who you are. Take the inspiration and make it your own!

CLOSING STATEMENTS

With any new endeavor you try, and the risk that comes with it, you’re gonna have days where you feel dumb, embarrassed, exhausted, uninspired. It’s ok! Regroup but do NOT give up. I have had those days with all of the things I have really cared about. Or whatever, OBSESSED about. Remember, you are your own worst critic and if you showed up and did the work, no one can take that away from you! All that experience, the fun, discovery, the laughs, the people you’ll meet, the lessons, they are all yours!

Please leave questions in comments or email me and I will do my best to answer questions about blogging, starting a new business or taking leaps in a future blog post. Cheers to your next obsession and it’s success! XO, Z

And real quick my dress is available in RED and more than 50% OFF!