Hi everyone! I encourage anyone and everyone who is thinking about making a blog to JUST DO IT! It is so much fun and it is never too late! No one can offer what you can because your perspective is totally unique!

Here’s a few tips/FAQs about starting:

Where did you buy your domain?

I bought blushinginhollywood.com from webhostinghub.com on 7/14/15. I pay $14.99/year for domain registration.

Where is your website hosted?

I also use webhostinghub.com for hosting and pay $107.88/year for their “Spark” package. I love their “on call” live chat feature and have used it a TON! They’re available 24/7 to help me with any issues that pop up.

What blogging platform do you use?

I currently use WordPress.org. My friend Molly of GirlGetGlamorous.com warned me to use the WordPress.org (vs. wordpress.com) because it allows much more flexibility especially when it comes to monetization! WordPress.org allows you to use a “Jet Pack” plug in that helps with things like ad inserters. I pay $13/year for domain mapping.

I also have played around with and love Square Space.  My sister uses it for her website HannahClairePhotography.net which is GORGEOUS. My friend Annabelle also uses it for her blog and e-commerce store AdderallAndCompliments.com.

Do you use a web designer?

Nope! I haven’t (yet!). I just use a free WordPress theme and customize it with colors!

What camera do you use?

I use and LOVE my Sony A5100 digital camera. This camera has a “beauty filter” where it airbrushes your skin and automatically color corrects for you. You can also wirelessly send photos to your phone and post them on Instagram even if you don’t have wifi! It also has an amazing flash so it takes great photos at night. You can read more about it in my Kim Kardashian’s Selfie Secrets post.

Photo Editing

I have been using PicMonkey to edit photos and make headers for the blog for a few years now! I pay $33/year for a premium membership so I can have access to all of the images and fonts and I find it worth it, but the free version is great as well!.

I also use Canva for image editing and Pixabay for royalty free images.

Marketing/PR/Growing a Following/Working With Brands/Brand Strategy etc.

I’m a huge fan of The Influencer Podcast by Julie Solomon. I paid for and took her Pitch it Perfect course and can’t recommend it enough! I have learned SO SO much from this course! If you want to becoming a branding and marketing expert and learn to pitch to brands this investment will pay off in disciplines!

I also learn a ton from Jenna Kutcher’s Goal Digger podcast.

Where do you get most of your traffic?

The majority of my web traffic comes from search engines. I use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and keywords so people can find my blog from Googling. I learned a lot about this from the book Blog, Inc.

I also get a lot of traffic from Pinterest. You can check out my Blogging Pinterest board to read more blogging posts and tips for SEO.

Comment below and tell me about your website or blog or what website or blog you WANT to make!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means I earn a (small) commission if you decide to make a purchase. This helps enable my insane beauty product shopping addiction so thank you! Read more about what that means and how it works on my Disclosure page.