My Advice for New Food Bloggers! {Hey you asked for it!}

Ok so first of all. I feel really horrible. Horrible that I just left you guys sitting here. Staring blankly at your computer screen. With now yummy recipes. I'M SORRY IF YOU'RE LOSING WEIGHT, OK! But just to make up for it and such, I'm planning on baking up a storm soon. So please. Please don't leave me! I promise I'll feed you. :) 

Moving on. 

It's crazy to think that about… 9 months ago, I had about 20 followers. And 400 followers later, here I am! SO! One of the questions I get asked a lot {and I mean A LOT!} is how I started my blog and built my audience. Instead of sending out tons of emails, I thought I'd gather all my advice to your newbies in a blog post. While yes, it's only taken me like a million months to think of even posting this, and yes, it took months to put this post together, I have come to the conclusion to reveal these secret ninja tips to the world. Just kidding. GOOD NEWS! You don't need nunchucks for any of this. All you need is a brain, a spatula, some recipes, a computer, camera, and you're good to go! 

Hope this helps!

1. Stick with a theme…
When I first started my blog about 2 years ago, I didn't have one {or only a few} things I talked about. My posts were kinda all over the place and disorganized. Once I noticed that, I stuck to food and recipes. And VOILA! I think that a blog that focuses on one or a few things, it just comes off as being more organized. And organization is a big deal in blogging.

2. Social networking is your best friend… 
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social networking sites are one of your main sources of traffic. Sharing your posts on your blogs page will increase views and hopefully you'll gain some new readers as well!

3. Make bloggy friends…
They're one of your keys to success! Getting to know other people who are interested in some of the same things as you are is rewarding in a million ways. You can trade advice and experience as well as help each other out with gaining readers by doing guest posts, sponsoring, and button swaps.

4. Link parties…
I remember when I got my first invite to a link party. If you don't know what a link party is, a lot of blogs have one weekly. You share your recent projects or recipes and others can see them. Usually, the blog author shares a few of their favorite links. Check out some of your favorite blogs, see if they have link parties, or maybe a list of the parties they link up to each week. It's a great way to get some publicity as well as meet some new bloggers and get some inspiration!

5. Communicate with your readers…
I have to remind myself of this constantly. Reply to sweet people's comments on your posts, email them back, ask questions, and comment on their blogs! Even though it may take time to go through pages of comments and emails, a later reply is better than no reply. Those sweets have taken a minute or two out of their day to encourage and inspire you. The least they deserve is a reply. Or a cupcake.

6. Pretty on the eyes… 
For me, one of the main things I look for in a blog, is a pretty, simple design and nice photography. Like they say "You eat with your eyes first!" If you're not personally into design, google some tutorials on how to do your OWN blog design, or check out some professional blog design sites that can custom-make a design that will fit your personality and needs.

7. Photography…
While I know not everyone has shnazzy camera, point and shoot cameras work well too! Letting light into your photography is really important, so I suggest taking pictures either outside or next to a window. If there's anything you'd like to adjust, mess around with the exposure on a photo-editing site {I use picmonkey.com} Just give it a try and know that it DOES take time! Please. Compare my first post to my present posts. It doesn't come overnight, that's fo sho!