Nellie and Co.

4 Gifts I Hated Receiving at Christmas, But Love Now

2016-12-19T00:00:00.000+00:00

There are two types of people. There are the first kind, that leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute. They have no idea whatsoever to get anyone, panic buy, and spend an ungodly amount of money on things that, really, nobody asked for, or wanted. Then there are the second kind, who have their gift shopping all wrapped up and under the tree before their Thanksgiving celebrating neighbors can wipe out the Turkey. I'm most definitely the latter and love to be prepared, although you will always find me panicking a week before the big day, wondering if there's enough to open.

Luckily, or rather unluckily, my parents fall either side of the spectrum. My Mum is, and always has been a planner. She'd have Christmas sorted by June and hidden away in any number of cupboards, but my Father, he's.. less organised, and if I could rely on a parent to buy me something I didn't want to receive, it would almost always be off him. Alas, times have changed, and presents I once dreaded receiving have become new favourites of mine to rip away from it's paper instead. Take, for example..

1 | Anything Remotely 'Bedtime Clothing' Related

As a child, I never understood why so many people gave me socks for Christmas. Was there going to be a sock shortage in the upcoming months, and factories would cease to make the tootsie warmers I used to slid across the kitchen floor in? No, they just had no idea what to buy me, and thought socks were a good idea. In hind sight, they were, because I was always losing my socks to the washing machine monster, and without ever knowing it, needed more by the time Christmas rolled around, but at the time, it sucked. Pajamas that were sizes too small on top and huge on the bottom, slippers that you'd only ever Mr Chipley wearing to the corner store, and let's not forget the terrible hat, scarf and gloves combo that always fell underneath the tree.

With age comes wisdom (apparently) and I realise now why these presents are awesome. I put off buying new socks ALL THE TIME because I have other priorities, like food, and bras for big boobs. I avoid buying slippers, because I can never come a decision on what ones I actually want, and which ones are most practical. I never buy gloves, because it makes me look weak, and a scarf, please, I can strangle myself plenty fine without fabrics assistance, but these are the greatest gifts of all. They mean I don't have the adult around the shops on my lonesome and look seasonally single, when I have family who'll buy them because they have no idea what else to buy. I'm rather looking forward to opening my socks and festive PJ's this year.

2 | Gift Cards and Money

I don't know about you, but before I hit my ripe teenage years, money wasn't really an important factor in my life. Sure, I knew some people had more than others, and that was life, but the value of money, and what it was really worth to me, was never all that interesting. I would much rather have opened something, than been given the entire world of options, because I've always been a sucker for chocolate, and I never spent it on anything practical anyway. Fast forward a few years, and the times they did change.

Getting gift cards and money is a regular occurrence for me now as a 20-something. If I get asked for ideas before October, I'm all ready and waiting for a list of good gifts I'd like under the tree, but if you asked me mid-November, I got nothing. Ask me in December, and you may as well give in and haul your ass to the cash machine. I'm a super picky person, and there are certain people who buy me gifts that don't quite have my preferences in mind. When I say notebooks, I mean pretty, inspiring, motivational notebooks with nice looking covers and maybe a little quirky feature, not a 3-pack for £1. Gift cards and money are a to me, what turkey trimmings are to my cat.

3 | Practical Stocking Fillers

At the age of 7, I had no use for earphones. The only piece of technology I could use them in was my Mums portable CD player, and that was never an option. There was never any point in giving me small gifts of bubble bath because bathes were just another thing for my Mum to nag me about. Candles and anything remotely feminine was not a viable option, and let's not even get started on how colouring books and pens were 'all we got when we were your age' because I'm not living in the same generation as you, so how about gifting me something good huh?

These days, there's nothing more stressful to me than being out with my Ipod, only to find that my current earphones have gone all kerplunk on me. They're dead. No CPR. No hope. I'm doomed. Having extra earphones is not only a godsend, but it's easily the best present you can give somebody these days. With the vast array of technology available, nobody is not going to say no to getting a cheap pair of earphones for when theirs find their way into the bin. It's not just the women who are all about bubbles in the bath these days either, my Stepdad is OBSESSED with them, and all the different kinds, for stress and for sore muscles. Who wouldn't want a sneaky bottle in their stocking. Let's no forget how colouring books are now all the range, and perfect for stress. There's nothing I love more than a practical present in my stocking, I wouldn't even take offence at a razor or two.

4 | Sentimental/Personal Gifts

Back in the old days, getting something mushy or remotely personal was just not was Christmas was about. Aw, Aunty Mabel got me a necklace that looks just like the one I had when I was a mere baby, but Uncle Jeff got me a flying, singing, skating Cindy doll, so he's the best human in the whole wide world. Material items were wanted more than memories, and quantity was valued over quality, but now I'm older and (hopefully) wiser, I appreciate a thoughtful gift so much more than an expensive one.

Last year, a certain friend who shalt not be named gifted me a 'Open When' Box full of envelopes. It was a sentimental gift, full of memories we had together, and memories we thought we'd continue to create, and although that friendship has since dissolved and the gift has lost it's meaning, it was still one of the nicest gifts I received. For my 21st, I got the cheapest, most tacky mug featuring a photo of myself and my siblings, but I loved it so much for it's personal value. This year, I'm getting the entire Skulduggery Pleasant series in Hardcover, which just so happens to be my all time favourite series in the entirety of forever, which means more to me than I can put into words. Not every present has to be flashy, and my favourites are always those with meaning.

Let's Not Go Forgetting Though, The Gift of Giving

For the first time in my, rather uninteresting life, I've come to appreciate the feeling that comes with giving gifts to those I love most. In the past, I've bought presents that hoped people would like, but hated parted with money, and would just buy certain presents because it's what you give to that type of person, but this year has been different. I might not be giving people the presents I want to give them, but I'm giving them what they want. Last year I gave my brother some snazzy looking socks (along with other things, I'm no scrooge!), because like I said before, they're practical, but he's 14 and doesn't really want socks. This year, I've bought him a gift card for his favourite game store, and a cool looking tin and book collection centered around a game series he loves. It might not be what I wanted for him, but it's what he wants under the tree, and more than ever, the gift of giving is so important to me.

I've hit an age were Christmas isn't about having the next best gadget sitting under the tree, unlike my teenage brother who really needs to let go of his Xbox One dream, it's about family, and giving the gift of yourself to those you love. After such a tough year for us all, emotionally, politically, and physically, we shouldn't forget that Christmas is about giving the gift that matters most. You.

What presents did you dread getting, but now want more than ever?

Let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to check out my other seasonally festive posts!

Say Hello To Nellie and Co's Free 2017 Planners!

2016-12-11T00:00:00.001+00:00

This time last year, I shared with you my 2016 Blog Planner, and boy was that a petrifying day. I kept convincing myself that it wasn't good enough, even for something I was sharing for free, and that nobody would care, or bother downloading it, but to my complete surprise, you really liked it, and some of you even shared with me your usage of it. I'm telling you, you have no idea how happy that made me, and the pride I felt knowing I'd finally achieved something I'd wanted to do for a long time.

I'd also made the decision to improve upon that planner, and create a new one for 2017.

Alas, as you know, this year has been a rollercoaster, with mental health, a few breakdowns, and getting myself back into a blogging rhythm, so naturally, creating the planners sort of found itself left on the bench of not-so-important priorities. Fast forward to October/November when Olivia @Writing4Joy asked me on Twitter if I'd be making a new and updated planner, and I didn't know. I was still trying to find my footing back on Nellie and Co, and I had all these plans, for changes and new directions, not to mention, you know, keeping my head screwed on, until I remembered how much I enjoyed creating last years planner. Was it stressful? Hell yes, but the reward was amazing, and if there was ever a time to make myself feel proud, it would be now.

Say hello to Nellie and Co's 2017 Planners!

Now, I say planners specially, for two reason. The first being that this isn't specifically a blogging planner, although it did start off that way. I realised that, really, a lot of the original pages could be altered to be none specific, allowing them to be used in any way, which really works for me moving into next year. The second reason being that there are actually two versions of the planner this year, both of them feminine and floral, one blue and yellow themed, the other in pink.

At a quick glance, you can see that 2017's planners look a lot like last years, and that's because I used last years as a template because it worked so well, but there are a few sneaky little changes that were made, in terms of new additions and sprucing up.

The biggest change by far is the design. Unlike last years, the design has nothing in common with Nellie and Co's look, and that was actually intentional. As far as branding goes, I find it extremely important to create a cohesive brand, and while I've seen other peoples brands move into their products, I didn't want to do that this year. It was important for me to create a few product that people felt belonged to them, and no to somebody else, and that had more of a personality. The brighter colours and themes really were a huge part of the process, and I wouldn't have them any other way. Both designs are identical bar their colour schemes, so you're going to get the same quality no matter which one you choose.

Another change was, as already mentioned briefly, switching the planner from a blogging planner, to just, a planner. This to some may look like a step backwards, almost a missed opportunity to target my perfect market, but I'm not really targeting anyone, and neither do I gain much out of pushing the planner on specific people - it's free. I wanted to create a planner that worked for everyone and anyone, whether you're looking for something just to take your notes, file away your plans, and track your year, or if you're super into monitoring everything you do, it can work for you. It's totally up to you which pages you use, customisation to the maximum.

In terms of what is available, there's only a few minor changes on last years version.

The Basics Collection

Single-Page Weekly Overviews (Jan '17 - Jan '18)
Double-Page Monthly Overviews (Jan '17 - Jan '18)
Double-Page Yearly Overview (Jan '17 - Dec '17)
Monthly Title and/or Motivational Quote Pages
Project Planner and Note-Taking Pages

The Goals Collection

Goal Planning Page
Goal Tracking Page
Yearly Goal Tracking Page

The Blogging Collection

2017/2018 Statistics Overview Page
Blog Post Planning/Drafting Page
Blog Post Planning Checklist Page
Double-Page Google Analytics Page

The Book-Blogging Collection

Double-Page Books Read Page
Double-Page Books Bought Page
Double-Page Books Reviewed Page
Only The Best Books Tracker Page

The best thing about all of these pages is that they're all available in both the blue and pink versions, so you choose which pages you want and which you don't, while still having the option to use them at a later date. You could even, if you wanted to, mix and match the two, as their designed the same way. It was always my intention to create something a little, different from Nellie and Co, connected, but also it's own thing, and I really can't wait to be using my own copy really soon. You can download the planners below (as compressed zip files), and if you do download and print them out, share your creations on Twitter and Instagram, and tag me @nellieand_co so I can see them too.

DOWNLOAD BLUE EDIITON DOWNLOAD PINK EDITION

Best of luck for 2017, enjoy your free forever planners!

What do you think of this years planners? Let me know in the comments below.

Blogging Over Christmas: To Post, or Not To Post?

2016-12-04T00:00:00.000+00:00

Last year I shared how, with a little bit of preparation and effort, you can keep your blog running smoothly throughout the festive period, without sticking yourself to your desk, watching the winter days fly by, but this year, I'm wondering if there's any point in posting over the festive period at all. Sure, I have ideas, and content I can share, but will people actually be interested in reading it, and if not, is it a pointless task, spending all that time on writing and typing, creating and sharing, only to get nadah?

I'd like to first make clear that by festive season, I mean the run up to Christmas, from around the 18th-20th December onwards, because let's be honest, that when the stress and panic really kicks in. I'm rather unlucky in that I have a festively-timed Birthday, and that means that I'm actually super busy over the season of good will, and sometimes, more so than others, whether I want to be or not, and that makes for tough decisions in whether to check up on the blog while I'm seeing family, or to hope it doesn't blow up without me. I know, it's a difficult choice, don't remind me..

Of course, last year I continued to post throughout the festive season, and while my pageviews did drop, I still had visits from my regulars, so in my mind, it was worth it. I was helping others, and that's why I do this blogging thing, to help people, to teach people, to share my experiences. What I find myself wondering this year is whether the pressure to publish posts is worth the reward I get when I do it. Nobody does anything for nothing, we all want some sort of satisfaction at the end of things, even if it's just a small gesture, it's the neediness in all of us, so is posting over Christmas worth it?

Well, if you're a blogger who benefits from the Christmas season, like a crafter or decorator, beauty or fashion, then sure, posting things over the festive season might see you getting a surge of pageviews as people want to know what to buy people, or how to decorate their homes on the cheap, but if you're a different kind of blogger, a more teach-and-learn, or book blogger, then, maybe not-so-much.

Me, I'm not so sure where I fit in the blogging community, I'm sort of just, doing things my way, sharing what I want to share, and creating when I want to chat, and that's working for me, but when it comes to posting over the festive season and close to the big day, I probably won't be putting my neck on the line, besides, if Christmas isn't the time to take a break, I don't know when is. Don't go worrying though, there's still a handful of posts coming out the woodwork before I take a small break, after all, I promised I was back for good, didn't I?

Do you have plans to post over the festive season?

What do you think of seasonal posts, and if you're taking a break, how long are you going for?

10 Popular, Well Loved Series I Think I Should Finish

2016-11-28T00:00:00.000+00:00

In the past, I have been known to enjoy binge reading a series or five, and these days, although reading in itself isn't as common a hobby as it was previously, I still enjoy swallowing entire series whole. Alas, while this habit isn't actually a bad one, an unfortunate reaction to that hobby is that I can ~~sometimes~~ quite frequently forget to give series I didn't mind a chance to improve, or I simply don't have to time, nor effort, to give a better the book a second impression. For some series, that's unfair, and for others, I've almost convinced myself that I should give them another go, or at least, consider it. Today therefore, I share with you 10 pretty popular and well loved series that I have a niggling feeling I should finish.

1 | Across the Universe

Have you ever read the start of a series, and liked it, but not loved it, and therefore abandoned it? Sorry Across the Universe, I didn't mean it. You weren't a bad book, you were actually quite good, I just read you at the wrong time. I think.. I recall feeling very amazed by the world building in Across the Universe, but super uncomfortable with the romance part, which was weird, and off putting. That being said though, I felt quite the same about Starters and Enders by Lissa Price, and actually enjoyed those books. Maybe I should give this series a second chance. What do you think?

2 | Chaos Walking

I'm going to be absolutely honest with you guys right now. You have to promise not to scream, or shout, or bite me, okay? I didn't like The Knife of Never Letting Go. Sure, the premise started out pretty intriguing, and I was horrified by the world, but then it went all 'spacey' on me, and all animal cruelty, and I didn't get on board. Oh, and did I mention that almost all the cast felt totally off the rockers? Maybe younger me just couldn't take the amazing, or maybe it really just isn't for me, but I have to find out eventually. Were you a lover or a hater of this series?

3 | The Raven Boys

There's just something about this series that just has me conflicted. I wasn't that amazed by The Raven Boys, so much so, I think I took a few months out from reading it, because I was struggled, but then The Dream Thieves just blew my mind. I was convinced this was a series I was just DESTINED to read, and then, nothing. I wouldn't mind, I took both Blue Lily and The Raven King out the library with good intentions, it just never happened. I didn't even feel guilty about it either. I feel like I'd like to continue, and finish the series, but my motivation to do so is pretty much zilch. If you're there Cait, I'm sorry. Did, or does anyone else feel this way about this series, or is it just me?

4 | The Grisha

I'm almost certain I've talked about my weird thoughts over The Grisha, both in terms of love triangle tropes, and in my age old review, and my feelings are pretty much unchanged. I liked Shadow and Bone, I liked it's world and magic, and the writing was just like music to my ears, (but more like words to my eyes.. anyway!) but the plot was.. meh. I wasn't blown away, and in truth, that's probably the most disappointing thing, because I wanted to be, I expected to be, and I wasn't. The grapevine tells me the series does get better, but I've been bitten before by series like Throne of Glass, and Penryn and the End of Days, I'm not sure I'm open to being disappointed again. Should I give chance this series again, and if so, why?

5 | Red Rising

When Red Rising was released, there were what felt like two types of readers. The first kind of readers sat down and swallowed the thing whole, like some sort of human-snake hybrid with those scary jaws, while the second kind read about a third, and forgot about it. I was the latter, and some days I really regret my decision, and others, I don't mind all that much. This series is easily one of the most cheered about among the book community, and in terms of premise, I'm totally with them, but I just couldn't love it. Strike that, I DID love it, at the beginning, and then it went all 'genetically enhanced' on me and I lost my interest. This is one series that really has me torn, so tell me, is it worth trotting to the library to try this series one more time?

6 | Splintered

If you could have seen my physical sigh of relief when Ashley's post about not liking Wonderland hit my inbox the other day, wow, because phew - *wipes sweat off brow* - I thought I was the only one. I don't like Alice in Wonderland, and trust me, I've tried a lot of different formats, from the original, to comic form, to games, and retellings, and the only time I've even come close to liking it was with Splintered. That world you guys, it was genuinely one of the most beautifully horrific worlds I've ever read about, but the characters, no thank you. That love triangle was just baaaaaad, and the plot was, kind of disappointing. I really don't know about this one guys, I feel like I should, because it could be really good, but it might also be really bad. Should I, or shouldn't I?

7 | Dustlands

Time for some real talk. I actually didn't mind Blood Red Road when I read it waaaaaay back when. Once I got past the writing, which was seriously confusing, and got over some of the characters stupid decision making, I was sold. It was such an interesting read, with a great plot and a strong leading lady, some questionable side characters, and a lot of personal growth, with a sprinkling of romance thrown in for good measure, and I liked it. It would appear I didn't like it enough to continue with though, and I don't know why. Maybe it was the writing, and how it would push me out of the story if I couldn't wrap my head around it. Maybe it was the pacing, which went from zero to ARGH in 0 seconds flat. Maybe it wasn't anything in particular, and I just forgot about it. Have you read Dustlands, and if you have, what's one thing you'd say is worth giving it another shot?

8 | Everneath

Quite some time has passed since I read Everneath, and during that time, I think I've somehow managed to put myself off this series, although I have no idea how, or why. I actually recall liking Everneath in the end, it sort of crept up on me, to the point where I was emotionally invested (and cried like a baby at the end.) I even own the sequel, it sits pretty on my bookshelf, next to it's big sister, staring at me, willing me to read it, but I'm not convinced. Once again, there's a heavy triangle, and when I think back about it, the triangle was a HUGE part of the book, weirdly. I am all for continuing the series, I think, one day, possibly, but I just don't know. I know this series is pretty old in the book world, but should I turn back time and try again?

9 | Trial by Fire

Oh man, this one hurts to admit to. It does, really, because Josephine Angelini is, as far as I'm concerned, a writing goddess, and her Starcrossed trilogy is one of my all-time favourites of the favourites (because of Hector of course!) but Trial by Fire was, not so good. I enjoyed it, the experience was not a bad one to say the least, but it wasn't a good as it could have been either. The world was such a good one, with some pretty awesome ideas, but none of them ever really reached their potential, which sucks. I do feel a pull to this series, and it might be because of Angelini herself being amazing, but still, I'm conflicted. Have you read, and finished this series, and if so, did you like it, and should I get back to it?

10 | Graceling

It's important to mention that way back when I read Graceling, I absolutely, undeniably loved it, rating it super highly and putting in my list of all time favourite standalones, scratch that, all time favourites of ever. Of course, that naturally means that I've totally ignored the following companion novels.. oops? Except, I haven't. I TRIED Fire, I really did, and I got a good fourth of the way through before I took it back the library. It just.. wasn't the same. Obviously, but I expected to fall for Fire like I did Graceling, but nadah. Nothing. Tell me, in your eyes, is this series really a series, and if it is, should I be loyal and finish it for good?

Do you have any series you feel as though you should finish?

Tell me in the comments below, and recommend me some of your favourites!

What's With The Absence of Fat Girls in Fiction?

2016-11-22T23:13:00.001+00:00

I'm the first person to admit that I'm a fatty. I'm obese, if not severely, and if you were to name the most unhealthy foods, I could tell you right now that I probably love them. I've never been as big as I am now, and I've never been the right weight for my body size and type, but I seldom care. I eat what I want, and I don't have any physical health problems to stop me. The same can't be said for the fat girls in fiction, which, considering their size, seem damn near impossible to find. I ask you world, where are the fat girls in fiction?

Of course, the most obvious reason to not have fat girls, or boys for that matter, in fiction, is that it's not healthy, and in the most extreme cases, can kill you. Not something you want to be glorifying in front of young, impressionable children, am I right? Alas, growing up, I never read of any fat girls in fiction. Sure, I didn't read as much back then, but still, not a one, and that does nothing for a growing girl whose never had a boyfriend before. I wouldn't, and couldn't wear shorts because they suctioned on to my thighs, and I couldn't leave the house without a coat because I was afraid my bouncing belly would be off-putting. Was my double chin the reason people didn't want to be my babe, or was it my bingo wings, strapped to my arms, denying me a sweat-free life?

In some ways, media as a whole doesn't like to showcase fat girls or women in anything fiction-related, which is all fine and dandy if that's your preference, but there's so few larger ladies around to show growing girls that there curves aren't all bad, and that's not okay. There's a handful of larger women in the media with a big presence, (pardon the pun) and those women do a great job at putting two fingers up at anyone that says they need to change there body, and my god did I need that sort of confidence as a child, but there just isn't enough of it.

Thankfully, over the last few years, I've seen a lot more fat girls in fiction, and I consider this a good thing. Am I saying we should start giving fat chicks a round of applause when they shove their face full of cake? No, but I do think we should talk about the elephant in the room. Books specifically have improved in terms of featuring larger protagonists; series such as Demon Road by Derek Landy, and standalones like Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven and Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, have brought the topic of fat girls to the forefront of our minds, and as a result, have shown people that we fatties are still human beings, with lives to life and friends that care about us. Sure, some of us don't have the pleasure of driving round town in a flesh eating charger, but that's not the point. Film franchises like Bridget Jones Diary and it's sequels, also play a huge roll on showing we people that even the great Patrick Dempsey can be wooed by a slightly larger lady, and that's a-okay.

If our average ladies are 'plus-sized', then that means that our young impressionable girls are starting to get their curves, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather teach a girl that she can save the world, rid of us zombies, or simply pass her high school tests, whether or not she's got handle bars. I want to teach girls that they're bikini ready, with or without a rounded tum-tum. I want to teach girls that they are human beings, worthy of love, worthy of peoples time, and worthy of being a part in our vast, well rounded world of fiction, because whether you or publishers like to admit it, they are, and they always will be. Besides, who doesn't love stuffing their face with cookies and cake?

Have you read any books featuring larger or fat girls?

If so, what are some of your favourites, and would you like to see more of them?

Why It's Finally Time To Return, and What That Means

2016-11-15T18:00:00.000+00:00

Progress is and has always been a subjective term. It means a lot of different things to different people, but in general, progress is used positively to indicate improvement, or moving in the right, or a better direction. That isn't always the case though, and sometimes, people progress in the wrong way. They, or their situation gets worse, or their progress is hindered by obstacles too tough to get over, and sometimes, progress feels a million miles away from the present.

Progress is subjective, and progress to me is being able to walk out my front door, alone, and go to my social centre for support and guidance. Progress to me is waking up and wanting to do something I wouldn't normally. Progress to me is looking in the mirror and feeling something, even if it's not what I'd like to feel. Progress to me is seeing life go on, and deciding that I want to be there when it does. Call it a light at the end of a very long tunnel, call it a light bulb moment, call it magic, but to me, it's progress, and progress has brought me back here, to Nellie and Co.

I talked, in quite a lot of detail, about my absence from Nellie and Co. and how I was, or wasn't, dealing with such a life changing event, and looking back, I can see how much it helped, to talk about it, and to share it with others, but I can also see I wasn't quite as ready as I thought I was. I'm not the same person that brought Nellie and Co. to life, yet it's the only thing, besides support from my parents and close friends, that I didn't lose, and I struggled with that for some time.

I struggled because Nellie and Co. was, first and foremost, a blog about blogging, and everything that comes with that, but I've found that, actually, I want to talk about what happened to me, and I want to talk about the repercussions of it. I want to talk about mental health and wellbeing, and I want to do to help reduce the stigma that surrounds it. The two never really felt like they could mesh naturally, which left me with two options.

The first option involved creating a separate blog, which in theory was a logical idea, but in practicality, felt like too much. Sure, I would have been able to explore both avenues with freedom and without the worry of clashing my content, but setting up a new just isn't something I can do. The second option was to open up Nellie and Co. to new content and new directions, rather than limit myself to blogging and it's inner workings. This option was easily this most daunting in terms of regret. What if I regretted changing what works, and what if it flops? What if this only makes things worse, and I find myself back to square one?

The defining moment came from my parents, who have been insanely supportive throughout everything, when they asked me why I started Nellie and Co. in the first place. 'I wanted to be creative,' I said, 'to teach people how to be creative too,' I replied, but if I'm being truly honest with myself, that's not the reason. Nellie and Co. exists because I wanted to help people become the best person they can be. I wanted to help people achieve things they never thought they could, and be proud of it. I wanted to become a better person, and Nellie and Co. allowed me to do that. The good news is, Nellie and Co. will still allow me to do that, and here's how it'll all come to work.

The biggest change I'm making is in my categories on Nellie and Co. I still intend to share advice, tips and guidance on blogging and everything that comes with that, but I want to delve into other areas too, although some will become more regular than others. The newest additions that will probably have the most impact are mental health and wellbeing, gaming, and books, which did find itself creeping into my content previously every now and again as it was anyway.

The second biggest change is all about the schedule, or in this case, lack there of. I would love to promise a certain amount of posts each week or each month, but then I would just as equally hate to let you down by not keeping to my word, so this time, I'm taking a much more flexible, adjustable and anti-stress direction. In terms of my progress and recovery, things are improving and dipping each day, things are just as unpredictable as they have been, and that most likely won't be changing any time soon. It's vital that I take time to process what will naturally become a great new chapter in my blogging life, and take any time I may need to adjust.

In terms of social media, things are also going to be changing. Instagram is, and always has been my favourite of the social media's because it allows me to be creative, explore my photography skills, and share the more physical sides of life with people. Previously however, Instagram was a #bookstagram only zone, and I want to rectify that. There still won't be a schedule to speak of, (although I will continue to use Later, because duh!) but I'll also start sharing more behind-the-scenes, personal, and fun posts to coincide with my new, larger collection of categories. Pinterest is also another social media that will be changing, in that I'll be leaving it behind. It's far from my favourite of the social medias, and it's also the most time consuming with little return, making it pointless. It's just not for me, and although it's taken time for me to see that, it's important that I see it.

Of course, with all this change happening, it'd be really easy to lose track of what's actually sticking around, and there's a lot of what's here that's actually staying. Nellie's design will only be getting a little touch-up here and there, and it's existing categories will continue to be updated, just, less frequently. I'll still be chatting as I normally do, with a little more sarcasm, and less professionalism, but it'll be still be fun, entertaining, and worth checking out. Oh, and did I mention that I'm actually excited to back into the swing of things, because I genuinely can't wait. For now though, you can keep up with me on Twitter and Instagram, and be prepared for the next post coming soon.

This time, I'm back for good. 😉

My Unplanned Hiatus, My Great Return, and Everything 'Between

2016-07-14T01:32:00.000+01:00

I've lost count how many times over the last few months I've apologised, and how many times that followed where people have told me to stop. Whether it's my boss in work for being off, or my doctor for always breaking down in front of him, my parents and my siblings, or my work advisor, I'm always apologising for something, but today, I want to start by saying sorry to you. I've been gone for a long time - at least, it feels that way, and I didn't give much warning, or heads up, I just.. vanished. Poof, like a puff of smoke. Do I have a good reason for taking a break away? You can bet your ass, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I left you. I stopped helping, stopped advising you, I stopped supporting you, and nurturing you. I stopped without a word, and I'm sorry.

It's been a really tough few months, but really, if I'm being completely honest with you, it's been a tough few years, and you know when you pack up problem after problem into one big box and padlock it shut, instead of actually dealing with them? Well, that's what I did, and much like all containers, it would only hold so much before it burst, and burst it did. My dam broke, my walls crumbled, and I couldn't carry on pretending, ignoring, hiding, and I couldn't carry on blogging.

So what actually happened for things to reach this point, and are you actually okay Amanda?

Let's start with April '15, when my problems first started, when I realised almost all of my social media life had been manipulated, fabricated, and spun into a web of tiny lies for over 7 years. My 'best friend' at the time confessed to me that many of my 'friends' on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, where in fact fake profiles created with real people's photos, by her. She'd created well over 100, reaching into 150 by the time she called it a day, and over those 7 years, I grew attached to these 'people'. I developed crushes. I fell in love. I shared my deepest secrets, my darkest memories, and even battled my first experience with depression with them, so you can appreciate how not only heartbreaking it was to lose all of those 'friends' in mere seconds, but also lose my trust in said 'best friend', and in people I surrounded myself with. My entire world, and everything, and everyone I knew in it had changed before my eyes. My circles shrunk. My confidence crashed. My life as I'd known it had ended. I was alone.

It's a difficult situation to describe to somebody who hasn't been through it, which is probably why I denied it'd ever happened for 6-8 months afterwards. Police have described it as a form of cyber bullying, but she didn't actually commit any crimes. Support groups and helplines have called my denial and grief that followed, and the friendship I kept with her because of that, as a type of Stockholm Syndrome. Doctors have called it 'the most extreme case of manipulation, and most unusual causes of PTSD they've ever seen". Sometimes I wish I wasn't such an individual case, so I'd actually have somebody who understood beside me..

Fast forward to February '16 and I reached the end of the line. I was out of work for anxiety and stress, and my depression was kicking me down at every opportunity. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't leave the house unless absolutely necessary. I felt pretty much at a loss. I'd held on to those profiles, those 'friends' for so long, that it eventually became a battle between my memories of them, false, fabricated, Frankenstein memories, or an uncertain and unknown future, which made finally accepting help and support all the more painful, but I realise now that I did the right thing. I started taking medication for my anxiety and depression, and got put on a waiting list for therapy. I started going out a little more, and cooking meals I actually enjoyed eating. I threw that 'best friend' to the curb (via a letter which I've made available for public reading here), and started clearing my life of negative and poisonousness memories I didn't want to let go.

Is waking up everyday as difficult as it seems? Yes. Does remembering everything that's happened hurt? Of course, but it wouldn't be healthy if it didn't, and I can see that now that I'm on the road to recovery. I feel so much more than the emptiness that once filled me. I feel grief, hurt, sadness, anger, hatred, spite, and fear over what happened, and why I'm the one made to suffer, but I also feel excitement and intrigue over what my new future might hold, topped with a ton of anxiety, but I'm getting there, and that's something I never thought I'd feel afterwards.

Pretty easy to see why Nellie and Co. wasn't my number one priority, am I right?

However, if this experience were a cloud, there would be a silver lining, and that's everything good that's come of it all. For starters, I finally said goodbye to my long long locks and am now sporting a new bouncy shoulder length do instead. It was the first of my big lifestyle changes, and I'm certainly still getting used to, you know, not having a million strands of hair all over my face. The second big step was coming out to my parents, and while I wish I could say I did it in an exciting way, I just sort of.. blurted it out instead. These two steps, although minor, where HUGE in terms of finding my future, and what it may hold. I have a certain sense of freedom now, freedom from fake friends, freedom from fear, and freedom from my past, not to mention the freedom to make some serious changes..

That's where Nellie and Co. comes in.

When I took my hiatus to give myself some serious TLC, I always knew I'd return. Was there a set date? No, but I knew I'd get a gut feeling when the time is right, and a few days ago, I got that feeling deep in the pit of my chest. I missed the community, and I missed the people in it. I missed creating and crafting content, and catching up on Twitter. I missed the friends I realised I'd made through blogging, and remembered that the only person who can manipulate my life, and my future is me, so I'm coming home.

It won't be a balloons and banners affair, and neither will you find yourself with an influx of content filling your doorstep, I'm taking things slowly, and allowing myself to make some needed changes. There's no set schedule, at least, not for now, and there's no real rules I'm making for myself either, because rules only ever get broken in the end anyway. While it's main branding won't see any changes, Nellie and Co. might see itself get a slight nip and tuck, and tweaks here and there, because this girl is no longer feeling quite so grey. Content wise, you can realistically expect one post a week, alongside a separate day for Blogger Love. While I've been through and battled depression before now, this time feels much different; things are a lot more complicated and difficult, and there's a lot more to consider, so for now, I ask for your patience and consideration, so I can get myself better, and bring Nellie and Co. back on top.

I hope you forgive my absence, and don't mind me sharing such a personal experience with you. I have plans to share more about the experience and it's repercussions on Safe Space in the upcoming months, but I felt you deserved to know the basics. For now though, you can find me on Twitter, sharing love and finding what makes me happy. Thank you to everyone who's waited for me to come back, and supported me throughout everything. I've missed you all so much.. See you all soon. <3

It's Time To Stop Using Sexual Assault and Rape In YA as 'Plot Development' or 'Character Personality Shifts'

2016-06-22T23:37:00.001+01:00

I've lost count how many times I've read a young adult novel where the main character is trapped in a scene that has them fighting off somebody who's made a sexual pass at them, and I am willing to bet that you've read a scene exactly like that recently too. A scene of somebody being pressured into a situation they don't want to be in, being 'convinced' that what one person wants, they want too, having to forcibly shout, scream and beg for somebody to stop what they think is acceptable. I've read scenes like these one too many times, and I've reached breaking point.

Is this the kind of message we want to send to young readers - 'sexual assault and rape is a plot development in your life' - something that we should all have some sort of experience of to appreciate? That, in order to make it anywhere in life, you have to have been through something horrific and life changing and get through it forever changed, forever affected, to become the person we're meant to be? I know it's not the message I want to send, because I know how it feels..

At the age of 13, I became a victim of sexual assault.

Of course, I didn't know or understand this at the time. I was in a relationship, albeit a naive one with a super sweet guy, but his best friend wasn't qute so sweet, and it's his disrespect for me and my feelings, my protests of no, my whimpers and my heartbreak that turned my life upside down.

I was held beneath him, trapped.
I was blackmailed to perform acts on him.
I was abused, assaulted, hurt, and a victim.

It's without a doubt one of the most traumatic and most harrowing experiences of my life, but it had everlasting repercussions. When I shared my experience with close friends, I wasn't believed, I was branded a cheat, a slut, and a whore. I was the biggest gossip going. I was a story spread in the corridors of school, and I was watched by teachers for bad behaviour.

While I wish I'd known or understood what happened to me then, because I can say for certain it changed how I developed growing up. Relationships have never been a strong suit of mine, and none of my sexual experiences have been all that positive. I've suffered from mental illnesses and have become an entirely different person than I may have become had I not suffered from that sexual assault, and yet I only see what a difference it's made when I read the same terrible experiences suffered by characters in young adult and how they deal, or don't deal with the issue themselves.

Too many young adult novels gloss over sexual assault and rape as 'plot advancements' or character development to encourage personality shifts or romantic affections. This is not the best way to discuss this issue, and two memorable reads of 2014 brought this to light for me even more..

While I actually quite enjoyed Love Bomb by Jenny McLachlan and talked briefly about the issue when it was released, it's a really bad example of a sexual assault experience having a lasting impact on the rather young and impressionable main character, only to lead her into a relationship down the line with no lasting feeling or emotions.

One of the scenes involves the main character and her 'love interest' heading into a bedroom, something the main character is shown to be uncomfortable doing, and then later, encouraged to sit on his bed. This could quite easily be a show of nerves, understandably so, it's her first real relationship, but when kissing and touching certain body parts is taken too far, affecting her confidence and comfort, actions that are stated as being unwanted by the character, they're entirely shrugged off as 'a learning curve of the teenage years'.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the main character is made to feel as though the experience was her fault, that she'd done something wrong, tor disappointed said 'love interest', implying that she should have been more open about the experience, even if she didn't want to be part of it. The most heartbreaking part is that she never actually speaks to anyone about the whole experience, and the 'love interest' in question is never punished for his actions..

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen also touched upon similar experiences, and although these are actually explored in more depth, they're never explored like they should have been, and it contributed hugely to my feelings towards the novel when I read it.

The main female character is first told that her 'boyfriend's' parents will be home when plans are made to meet at the 'love interests' house, only to later be told upon arrival that they are not there. Almost unsurprisingly, the 'love interest' then encourages alcohol towards the female main character, something she naively agrees to, and then later tries to encourage her to embark in sexual activities she makes clear she doesn't wish to be involved in.

Words such as 'no' and 'stop' are used frequently, and once the traumatic experience is over with, the female character is later left questioning whether the 'love interests' apology was for the actions he took upon her, or because he couldn't continue with them. Later in the novel, the female main character is plied with more alcohol at a party with 'love interest' who has already proven his intentions, and is taken into bed with not one, but two males who are clearly nowhere near as intoxicated as she is, and then proceed to determine whether she is aware enough to take part in sexual activities with her.

When it becomes clear that she is not, they proceed to attempt to undress her, take photographic evidence and then leave her unattended, vulnerable and almost unconscious, only for her younger sibling to find her. The female character does, eventually, speak to people about the experience, and while legal proceedings almost take place, lack of evidence proves to be a standing factor and the accusations are dropped. Public people of power, both in a school and legal environment are made aware of these actions, yet once again, the 'love interest' is never punished for his actions, despite witness accounts..

These moments and scenes taken out of the novels in questions may seem rather small in comparison to the actual novels themselves, but they speak volumes when pinpointed and separated from the rest of the writing, which only goes to show societies lack of understanding about these experiences. They're easily dismissed as a plot device, or as a way for a character to change their personality, or for a relationship to occur with somebody else, rather than actually be delved into in a much deeper, much more positive way. Jamie of Perpetual Pageturner asked whether it's the authors responsibility to make sure that important topics are given the right message in fiction, and in this case, I say yes, it is.

You can't feature rape or sexual assault in young adult novels and not make clear that these actions are wrong, and worse illegal. You can not bring up these moments and not make clear that it's not just a part of growing up and learning more about yourself, that it's actually something abnormal, something victims should talk to people about, and find justice for. If we don't, how can we expect society to take the real life cases of sexual assault and rape seriously?

You can't, and shouldn't shrug of these types of abuse, because by doing so, you help feed the wrong impression, and create more innocent victims who don't see that what's happened is not okay. These 'love interests' were never punished, were romanticised, and were further allowed to be involved in the victim's life, with no consideration of it might affect them in future, from their trust and emotional interests with others, to their confidence and comfortableness in society, to serious mental issues due to trauma. You can't write about these subjects and not call it what it is. It's time we stopped using sexual assault and rape as a plot and treated it with the sensitivity and honesty it deserves.

How Do You Feel About the Use of Sexual Assault and Rape in Fiction?

4 Signs Of Blogger Burnout (and How To Overcome Them!)

2016-06-15T21:23:00.001+01:00

Of all the stresses and complicated decisions to make when it comes to blogging, getting and dealing with blogger burnout is one of the most inconvenient and infuriating of the lot. You know the feeling of sitting in front of your screen, fingers itching, begging to type something, anything, and yet nothing will come. You're dead in the water. You're running on empty. Your brain has packed a sack and ran away with your imagination. I know the feeling well, and sadly, there's little chance you'll ever blog for long without feeling this way.

And yet, there are ways to combat the feeling, and signs to look out for before it has a chance to destroy your passion and motivation for getting creatively stimulated. There's subtle signs, and some of them can be mistaken for other problems, but if you're feeling these signs in relation to your blog, then it's time to do something about it.

Sign #1 | You're uninspired by your blog

It happens to all of us at some point, and for some, it happens more than once, but don't feel disheartened if you're starting to feel uninspired by your blog and what you love. For most, blogging is a creative outlet, a hobby that we're prone to pour more time and energy into than we have to give, and given time, this will predictably start to show.

Some of us will start to pick up hobbies we thought dead and gone, such as cooking or crafting, and find that blogging, while still a passion, is less of a priority. Some will find themselves in a round rut of wanting so badly to blog, but never feeling inspired or motivated at the prospect, and on these occasions, there's only really one thing you can do..

Take a break from your blog to focus on you.

All those late nights cramming in content, lunch breaks wasted on scheduling content - we all forget how important putting ourselves first is, and we very rarely look after ourselves properly as a result. If you're feeling a lack of motivation or feeling uninspired to blog, then it's time to focus on you.

Maybe you're going through a rough patch, struggling with mental health or a difficult spell in your job. Maybe you're feeling a little lost on your future and feel as though your blog is changing without you. No matter what is, chances are it's what you need to dedicate more of your time to, and by distracting yourself from it, you're helping nobody.

Task: Spend some time looking at what might be affecting you in other areas of your life and take some time to iron out those creases. Don't be afraid to time time away from your blog and spend it on other more productive avenues if you know it'll benefit you in the long term.

5 Simple Solutions That Actually Improve Your Self Care

Sign #2 | Struggling to find content ideas

We've all sat down in front our computers or laptops ready to create the best, most kick-ass content we've ever written, only to find ourselves in the same spot an hour later with the same blank page and not an ounce of brainpower left. You've either been left with no ideas, or the ideas you've had you've over-though completely and drained all the life out of.

There are a lot of different ways to combat this issue, one of the best being to take a look back at your old content and see if:

you can create a follow up post. Taking a look at your old content can help you realise that you've actually learnt A LOT more about a certain subject, and can delve deeper into said topic with a follow up post.
you can create an updated post. We've all been in a position of having an opinion, only to find ourselves having a change of heart. If you've written a post on a certain topic you feel differently about now, share it.
you can create a new format for your content. As with everything, sometimes things work better if how they've been created is altered. One of the best ways of creating new content from old content in a new format is updating a written tutorial in the form of a video tutorial, or an email series.

You can also have a brainstorm session or gather inspiration from other places, and then writing down all the posts you have the creative interest for, no matter how absurd or unusual and working on a way to make those ideas happen. No matter what your blog subject or your topics, there's always a way. Some ideas you can use for guest posts that match the topic better than your blog, while others can be used as quick tips on social media. Not every idea has to be a post.

How To Come Up With Awesome Blog Post Ideas

Task: Look back on your old content and ask yourself: is there any way I can use this ideas for a new angle? Can I create a follow-up post, or update it with new information? Make a note of all your old posts you can use as inspiration for future content, and how you can use them later.

Sign #3 | Feel trapped in your topics/niche

I can't tell you how many times I've seen and read posts talking about 'blog strategies' and 'how to plan your blog for the future', but I can tell you there's been A LOT. For good reason - it's one thing to be blogging for the fun of it, with no set goals or road to travel, but if you're looking towards an end result, it's recommended you pick yourself some topics, and sometimes a narrow niche too.

The Two Big Options Behind Solving 'Choosing The Wrong Niche'

Sometimes the niche we choose is wrong though, and we can find ourselves stuck with topics we don't feel inspired by anymore, which leads to feeling burnt out my blogging about subjects you don't feel anything for. Quite often, we'll find ourselves burnt out by our niche or topics because they no longer fit with our plan or strategy, and that's why re-evaluating and checking in our goals is so important.

If something doesn't feel right, stop doing it.

Sometimes to move forward, we have to let things go that no longer fit with our future plans, everything from careers to friends, to topics and niches, and one of the best example of this is when I dropped my book blogger label to make space for blogging and design tips and tricks. I felt trapped and stuck in topics and a niche that no longer suited my future plans and my expanding growth, and so I left it behind and started up a new. Same works for all of us - if something no longer fits with us and our plans, it's time to leave it behind.

How I Dropped My 'Book Blogger' Label and Why

Task: Take some time to look at your topics and niche and decide if that's really the sort of subject you want to be blogging about. is there another subject you're passionate about that fits into all of your others, something that might relight the spark? Is there a topic or subject that you feel limits you, or no longer inspires you that you want to throw out? Do it. If something no longer works for you, fire it.

Sign #4 | Feelings of doubt and worthlessness

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all doubted ourselves at some point in our blogging journeys. Some of us have doubted our skills or our knowledge, others have doubted that their content is quality reading, but doubt is a natural process. It shows we're human in the form of fear, in the want to feel loved and appreciated. Doubt keeps to cogs turning, whether we want to believe it or not.

Why You Need To Stop Doubting Yourself and Your Content

When it comes to blogging though, doubting yourself and your content can be a huge sign of blogging burnout, and can result in showing many of the others signs we've already mentioned. It can stop creating new content. It can stop you coming up with ideas. It can stop you enjoying and being inspired by your passions, and that definitely sucks.

When you start to doubt yourself, remember why you do what you do, why it makes you happy, and why you keep on doing it.

One of the best ways to overcome doubt is to remind yourself of all your achievements and how you've been able to help people achieve great things themselves. Looking back at comments you've received, or remembering positive things people have said about your work is a real pick-me-up.

Another way to overcome doubt and not feeling worthy is to talk to friends and confide in people about your burnout. Making friends in the community and people able to share your struggles, your problems and what's troubling you. Having friends in the same industry as you who share some of the same feelings and experiences will allow you to take some of the weight off your shoulders and get back to being your busy blogging self.

How Does a Blogger Combat Questioning Their Worth?

Task: If you start to feel doubt or worthlessness when it comes to your blogging tasks and content writing, confide in friends and share your feelings will people you feel confident and comfortable sharing things with. Remind yourself about what keeps you blogging, what makes you happy, and what feels rewarding, and don't be afraid to give yourself a break.

You don't have to feel burnt out when it comes to blogging, but hopefully when it does come around, and it likely will at some point, you'll have the right tools and right attitude in order to deal with it before it has a larger impact on your creativity. With your burnout in check, you'll be able to get back to being your awesome blogging self, and achieving all the things you want to.

Do you suffer from blogging burnout? How do you beat it?

How Does A Blogger Combat Questioning Their Worth?

2016-06-12T23:44:00.000+01:00

Have you ever had that momentous moment, a light-bulb scenario, where you come up with this absolutely, amazing, fantastic idea for a post, so you start planning that post, deciding on the main points, how you're laying it out, the general direction, whether it's long or short, sweet or savvy, only to find that somebody has else has published their version of your ideas on the same subject already?

Being in the business of blogging and books, it happens more often than I'd like. As much as I'd like to say it doesn't bother me, it does. I'm left questioning myself, my ability, my knowledge, my words, how much I've learnt and what it means to be teaching other people because I love it. It leaves me wondering..

What's a girl to do when she questions her worth?

I receive a lot of praise for my content, both from friends in the business and people I admire and look up to, and it feels absolutely amazing, it's like winning an award every time, and yet it's still not enough. It's not enough to stop the voices telling me my words don't matter. It isn't enough to stop thinking my input isn't as worthy as somebody else. It isn't enough to stop me questioning myself, and everything I do, say and think.

I guess it's one of the many downsides of suffering from mental illness, the downside of never feeling like you're enough, the feeling that what you're doing isn't really as amazing as people say it is, or you think it is. For every compliment I receive on my content or my link-ups, there's plenty of not-so-great thoughts too.

Is what I have to share different to what's been said before?

Everyday, there are bloggers all around the world, typing their first words, creating their first social media profiles, taking the first step on their journey, and it's highly likely their content with be extremely similar to somebody else's already online. Whether it's a case of inspiration, copying, or plain not being aware, the issue of originality is one that is rife amount of community, so it's easy to see how somebody can start to question whether what they have to say is really worth saying, especially if it's already been said before..

In the past, I've taken inspiration from other bloggers and their content, and there's never been anything wrong with that, but surely it's impractical to assume that just because somebody else has said something, you can't put your spin on the topic too? Surely it's impractical to think that your words have any less importance or should be held in a different regard just because somebody has tackled the subject before you? Is it understandable, that sometimes, I feel like a fraud, like my words and my imput, and my gift to the world isn't good enough, in comparison to somebody else?

It'd be silly to never write something ever again, or share a tutorial or a discussion, or a deep-rooted negative thought, or an inspirational, positive piece, because it's what I do, and I know that in the real world, it's appreciated, it's loved, it's enjoyed, and what I have to say and do is enough. I know I shouldn't question my worth, because as long as somebody is listening, as long as my well timed words keep somebody typing, creating and achieving, then I'm doing something right.

Sometimes though, just sometimes, it's harder than you think..

Have you ever questioned your worth and your words?

Blogger Love | 200+ Awesome Posts That Rocked May

2016-06-10T00:26:00.000+01:00

One of my favourite things about the blogging community is it's so vast. There's no little group of people doing one thing, there are thousands of people blogging about a thousand different things, and with so many voices in the community, it's very easy to feel lost among the many many voices. Fear not, because I'm all about sharing my love for all things fabulous, and that includes super awesome blog posts I read last month that deserve your attention. Go forth, explore, find fantastic posts and spread love!

Reading, Reviewing, and All Things Books!

Blogging, Design and Lots of Advice!

Blogging Advice and Guidance

Mallie shared why you should collaborate to create opportunities
Think Creative shared the ultimate guide to getting blogs started
Sarah shared why you need to stay in your line to grow your blog
Krista shared 6 myths to steer clear of when consider a niche
Nesha shared how to set up and stick to batch scheduling days
Hayli shared the difference of content upgrades and lead magnets
Melyssa shared why you should think beyond your blog to monetize
Holly shared how to find support when you feel your blogging alone
Aentee shared 7 things bloggers should never apologise for
Helene shared 14 ridiculous tips every blogger should know
Jess shared why you should stop being so passive on your site
Lory asked: how do you deal with blog comments?
jen shared her best non-finicial investments she's made
Molly talked about bullying and being a professional blogger
Maru shared how to effectively clean up your blog
Zoe shared 30 ways to spring clean your blog and social media
Kayla asked: is your target audience resonating with your copywriting?
Kaitlyn shared the first steps behind starting your blog on Wordpress
Nicole asked: do statistics and reports help you grow your blog?
Victoria shared why she schedules blog posts and how it works
Holly shared 5 blogging fears that stop growth (and overcome them)
Rachel shared how and why she started her blog 5 years ago
Melyssa shared how to create a blog that's popular and profitable
Kate shared how to host a giveaway on your blog legally
Holly shared 6 ways to quickly boost your blog strategy
Maru shared how to overcome and beat blogger burnout

Blogging Tools & Resources

Marianne shared how to offer content upgrades with fake leadpages (part 1)
Marianne shared how to offer content upgrades with fake leadpages (part 2)
Tiffany shared how to add Google Analytics to your Wordpress blog
Krista shared why you should secure your Wordpress blog and 3 ways how
Tiffany shared 5 blogging and business tools worth paying for
Chiara shared 5 amazing skill share classes for blogs and business
Sarah shared 7 essentials to starting your blog or online business
Jasmin shared easy SEO tips for the busy blogger to quickly achieve
Chiara shared how to improve your Wordpress SEO in 5 minutes
Dee answered 5 Google Analytic questions every blogger has
Carrie shared 2 things Blogger does that annoy her (+ their fixes!)

Content and Statistics

Alyssa shared 5 ways to refresh your blogs content archives
Think Creative shared 7 ways to increase traffic with old posts
Kaitlyn shared how to create a killer resource for an opt-in
Melyssa shared the ultimate guide to repurposing your blog content
Fran shared some unexpected places to generate blog post ideas
Kory shared how to create content your audience will love
Krista shared how to leverage your free content to boost sales
Think Creative shared 20 ways to find your best content ideas
Holly shared 25 of the best blog post ideas for beginner bloggers
Fran shared 3 unexpected places to generate blog post ideas

Blog Design and Branding

Krista shared why it's so important to update your Wordpress Plugins
Lauren shared how to use the style editor to customise Squarespace
Mallie shared how to choose colours when creating your brand
Fran shared how to create and customise your Wordpress menu
Chelsea shared why you need a style guide for your blog
Carrie shared how to use CSS to rock your blogs design easily
Ashley shared how to edit your theme's functions.php files
Nesha shared how to create a goodbye page for your clients
Kory shared 5 key investments to grow your blog and brand
Mara shared elements she loves to see in a blogs design
Zoe shared 5 things that make your blog look unprofessional
Alyssa shared how to open pages in New Tab in Wordpress
Nesha shared 10 things designers need to start steamlining

Photography and Blog Images

Chelsea shared 10 awesome tips behind phone photography
Chelsea shared how to take photos that represent your brand
Chiara talked about the rule of thirds in general photography
Miranda shared numerous mail list that send free stock photos
Tiffany shared her 5 favourite free image editing softwares
Chiara shared how to use mock-ups to create product promotions
Chelsea shared 10 easy photoshop tools behind editing photos

Followers, Social Media & Marketing

Holly shared the truth behind 11 of the biggest social media myths
Dee shared how to not suck at social media and grow your brand
Lauren shared the benefits of focusing on your mail list
Pauline shared 101+ catchy opt-in headlines to grow your mail list
Kaitlyn shared why your business doesn't need every social media
Krista shared how to get more shares on social media
Kayla shared 15 podcasts for creative bloggers and entrepreneurs
Sophie shared how to get featured on Bloglovin'
Zoe shared why your social media unfollowers are good for you
Dee shared how to grow your mail list quickly and easily
Jasmin shared how to use Reddit to increase your blog traffic
Jen shared 10 perfect podcasts for big-hearted creatives
Samantha shared annoyance over marking wanted emails as spam
Molly shared how to organise your social media posts
Hayli shared how she doubled her email list every month

Specific Social Media Tips and Tricks

Facebook

Jess shared how to create Facebook adverts that get results
Jess shared how to change your website preview on Facebook

Twitter

Molly shared how she gets the most out of Twitter
Tiffany shared her favourite Twitter chats for blogs and business
Holly shared 7 of the best ways to grow your Twitter community
Amy shared how to build relationships with influencers on Twitter
Holly shared how to curate content for your Twitter profile
Tiffany shared how to create your own 'tweet this' links

Instagram

Molly shared how she used Instagram for #bookstagram and why
Lauren shared non-salesy strategies for marketing on Instagram
Emily shared 10 signs you might be a #bookstagrammer
Alexandra shared 5 tips for beginner #bookstagrammers
Zoe shared why your Instagram feed needs a theme
Amy shared how she got 150 Instagram followers in 2 days
Elle shared how to get more engagement on Instagram
Jasmin shared her top editing apps for photos on Instagram
Chiara shared how to create a cohesive Instagram feed
Amy talked about Instagrams new looks and social mentions
Elle shared Instagram business myths you need to stop believing

Pinterest

Tiffany shared 9 Pinterest boards perfect for lifestyle bloggers
Dee shared her Pinterest traffic and sales masterclass for solopreneurs

Business, Courses and Products

Nesha shared 7 productivity myths that slow your creative business down
Erin shared how to stop make these project scheduling mistakes
Regina shared how to not get caught up in the 6-figure suck in
Alisha shared 4 myths to ignore about running a service based business
Think Creative shared 11 SEO practices to get your business noticed
Erin shared how to avoid clients that keep asking for more
Krista shared where to start when your just starting in business
Lauren shared the basics of running a service based business
Think Creative shared 6 ways to budgets on an irregular income
Hayli shared 2 ways mini courses can change your business
Ashley shared 5 ways she's failed at being a business woman
Chiara shared how to get more clients for your online business
Kayla shared how burnt out business woman can build their own business
Jess shared what she's learnt about success as an entrepreneur
Chelsea shared how to create printables you can download or sell
Lauren shared 7 actionable steps to taking your business full-time
Pauline shared 4 important things you need to know to boost affiliate $$
Think Creative shared 4 methods to talk about price increases with clients
Holly shared 7 things to be aware of if you want to be a freelancer
Regina shared 10 morning writing activities for entrepreneurs
Think Creative shared their favourite payment processors
Krista shared how she grew her business while juggling full-time work
Alisha shared how to manage client expectations and experiences
Melyssa asked: can only certain niches create successful ecourses?
Think Creative shared how to get paid to be a creative
Kaitlyn shared 3 things you can do to get your business back on track
Alisha asked: what makes an incredible service offering to your clients?
Kory shared why she combined her blog and portfolio website
Hayli shared how she stopped being stressed and started making money
Krista shared how to say no and not take every opportunity that comes

Personal Growth, Advice and Success

Holly shared how to be more intentional with technology
Cat asked: why do introverts struggle to ask for help?
Cat shared 7 things that block creativity and how to beat them

What you may have missed on Nellie and Co.

Did You Find Any Fabulous Posts, Let Me Know!

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5 Insanely Silly Love Triangle Tropes I'm Actually Sick Of

2016-06-07T00:43:00.001+01:00

Plain and simple, I have an issue with love triangles. Most people have some sort of issue with love triangles and the tropes that come with it, not the mention the predictability or drama involved, however, I have quite a few issues.. all of them equally brain smashing. I am, as one would call it, a traditionalist in that sense. I like relationships to be very much a Spice Girls Christmas Number #1, and I have quite a few reasons for that, like so.

There's always a 'winner' and a 'loser'

Call it what you want, but there's always somebody that draws the short straw and gets left out of the love boat, and while I'm actually quite alright with that, my issue is why this usually takes numerous installments to get right? Some series go down the 'woman is a prize' route, which is entirely problematic in it's own right and is not okay in the slightest, but it implies at it's strongest that the entire plot is focused on finding Mr or Mrs Right?

If that isn't the case, it usually results in one of the romantic interests does something inherently horrific that results in the leading character essentially throwing away everything they've developed with them, see The Hunger Games, or , resulting in the same scenario. Of course, this means the leading character doesn't have to 'choose' a love interest, in that the plot or the direction of the story chooses for them, which is in many ways, lazy writing, and in others, a cop out. It's almost always predictable too, which leads onto my second trope..

There's usually a 'good' option, and 'bad' option

When it comes to love triangles and their basic components, one of my biggest turn offs is having both an obviously good choice and a bad choice, good being the hero, the sidekick, the knight in shining armour, and the bad being, well, bad. The Grisha series is one clear example of a 'good vs bad' choice, and it's for this reason I am yet to continue with it - why must there be a good or bad, why can't there be a middle ground interest? Somebody who's interested in saving world, but doesn't mind if they have to kill a few people to get there? Somebody will a wonky moral compass, but unwavering loyalty and respect for the heroes they support? Why is there is always one or the other.

There doesn't actually have to be a 'good vs bad' option, as evident in If Only. Pine gives Jordan two perfectly good love interests, and not one of them is 'good' or 'bad' they're two very moral, well balanced, fleshed out characters and it worked, and it made sense. When a relationship is meant to work and characters are created to be together, you don't need choices, you just need chemistry.

Certain love interests get thrashed to develop others

When you create a love triangle one of the first things you're going to create is a split fandom, but more than that, you're creating a competition which usually involves the leading characters getting equal action from both love interests, or getting a pretty one -sided perspective. Both of these options suck, but it's made worse when, in order to develop the other love interest, the first because a total dick. Of all the tropes I dislike, this is up there with the best of them.

Quite possibly the biggest example of this in recent months is A Court of Mist and Fury, and while I'm yet to read it myself, I am aware of it's plot points, and certain directions certain characters find themselves taking, both platonically and romantically. Without a doubt, certain characters develop and change, either for the better or the worse, but categorically, the characters were altered to make way for the development and character building of others, and that's not okay in any circumstances.

Other books have successfully achieved great things with this trope, such as Shatter Me, and Awaken, which both develop their leading characters rather than thrash or alter their romantic interests, allowing the leading character to choose a romantic endeavor based on who she has become. It's a tough trope to call, and even tougher to pull off, but generally, I try to avoid these kind entirely.

When unnecessary break-ups motivate romantic actions

I do tend to find breakups in fiction quite.. tedious. I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that people, even teenagers and young adults, don't break up quite so willing, nor often, over such trivial details and small actions. I'm also willing to bet that the teenagers and young adults that do, don't actually go and flirt their way into somebody else's arms that following night, and yet in fiction, everything is a go. There is nothing worse than a rebound, especially if it's part of a triangle.

Let's take for example Meghan from The Iron Fey. At one point, she has a disagreement with Ash, and low and behold, she goes running to Puck and snogs the face off him, the only actual romantic action between the two of them throughout the entire series, only to shrug it off as an 'oops' when Puck questions her on it later. It's an action fueled totally by jealousy, and all in order to encourage the love triangle to brew, even when it's clear it's not going to happen. They're just without a doubt one of the most blurgh things, and just makes reading even more bland.

Killing off or combining love interests rather than choosing

This is most ardently my least favourite love triangle trope, and with good reason, as much like the good vs bad, or winner vs loser, killing off a love interest is just out to take away not only the leading characters choice, but also her love interest dignity and confidence. It's like saying 'hey, I sort of really liked that guy two chapters ago, and was pretty ready to settle, but now he's dead, so.. shall we hook up now or what?' It's disrespectful to your characters, and it's disrespectful to the fans too.

Is it not possible for the a relationship to flourish in the future without the 'other' love interest still chugging along nicely, doing whatever it is side-lined secondary characters do for a living, or must they be cast away, killed off, or a die for the leading character in order to solidify their future?

Worse still is when leading characters get their happy ending wrapped in a bow, because they either get all the luck and end up with their two love interest combined, see The Kane Chronicles, Starters and Starcrossed (sort of), or they get to have their BOGOF deal, having one love interest for now, and another at a later date, see The Infernal Devices and Splintered. These are just as bad as one another, and almost always feel rushed, unplanned, and don't sit all that well with the fans. If you're going to make a love triangle, be prepared to lie in it, and do it with one person.

You'd almost be left thinking I don't like ANY love triangle tropes, but that's not the case. I quite like a good ol' friendship to relationship slow burn, and I'm a right sucker for starting with the sexy times and get into the feels later down the line. I also like me some 'we're from total different backgrounds but it just WORKS' because hey, I think we all enjoy a coming together of worlds, and I really like the idea of having a soul mate - it just makes me feel all gooey inside. On the whole, and for this reason, if I know there's a love triangle brewing, I will do my utmost to stay as far away as possible, and yet sometimes I still find myself stumbling into one, and dreading on these tropes.

How do you feel about love triangles? Is this an extreme overreaction or totally justifiable?

Do Your Free Books Promotions Make Buying Cheap Okay?

2016-06-01T22:07:00.000+01:00

I really like getting books for a bargain, and this is something that has never, and will likely never change. I enjoy spending hours online searching for the best price for the best books, buying used or second hand over brand new in order to spend less, and doing whatever it takes to save money. I'm without a doubt a cheap ol' gal, however, these habits have caused me to consider something much more sinister.

Does the price we pay (or don't pay) for a really book matter, as long as we're promoting it?

If we're searching out these book bargains and deals, buying them and having them shipped from different countries or from somebody else, and so not contributing to the amount of sales the author makes, is it hypocritical? It is excusable? Is it wrong in the grand scheme of things?

Let's say for example that you buy something on Amazon for less than the standard RRP, which is pretty common practice, someone somewhere is losing profits, whether that's the author, the publisher, the designers, the stores you could have purchased the book from instead. Does promoting that book on your blog, on your Instagram feed make up for that loss of profit, or is it okay?

Sometimes I buy books that are shipped from outside the UK entirely based on price, and while this works for as a lone person financing her hobby, it doesn't help my economy, or the people employed in those sectors, be it bookshops, libraries, publishers, or the authors themselves. I'm putting the needs of myself, the need to get that book for as little as possible, without thought that by not purchasing that book at full price, I'm possibly helping destroy jobs and careers.

By not paying full price for a product, am I disrespecting it's value, and it's creators time and effort?

As if my buying habits weren't bad enough, I also don't buy finished copies of books I received as ARC's, and I don't buy books just to complete series if I've read a copy somehow or somewhere else. This is something I've talked about in the past, and it's usually seen as quite a crime in the book blogging community - to not be buying finished copies of books you loved doesn't help you, or the author, but if your bank balance is low and you don't have to buy it, would you?

Buying books through other people, either second hand or through channels that don't charge full price for books obviously has an adverse affect on the authors, their publishers, and the chances they'll get to publish their novels in future. The amount of sales they receive reflects on them, and affects their career in turn. Is always searching for the next, newest bargain worth the affect this has on the entire market, or are there things to be said for the marketing and promotion that's done for a novel and it's author that makes is acceptable?

Should a reader be spending all their money, gifted, saved or otherwise, on books at their full price, in bookstores, just to support the people behind them to the fullest possible amount, or should we be keeping our wallets tight shut and be supporting our publishers, authors, booksellers and libraries more in other ways by promoting their worth, what they do, and the books we do get at bargain prices?

What do you think - does free promotion and marketing make buying cheap books acceptable, or not?

4 Ways To Stay Focused After Smashing Your Goals

2016-05-29T23:42:00.000+01:00

Almost everyone starts the new year off by setting goals, whether those be personal, business or hobbiest goals, and it's at around the half point in the year when you find you're either doing pretty darn well, or not so well. Staying focused on your goals can be a headache, and boy do I know it, but knowing how to stay focused is the only way you're going to achieve them and feel great afterwards. Sharing your building steps, pushing yourself with smaller, more tangible goals - it's all about getting to your goals and feeling absolutely awesome afterwards.

But what happens when you've smashed your goals, what comes next?

People who've reached their goals tend to fall into a sort of void. They've been working at something for weeks, months, possibly years, and when it all comes to a head, they've got nothing left to motivate them. There's nothing to work hard at, there's no reward at the end of the road, just a path that leads to somewhere and nowhere. It's important to remember that reaching and achieving your goals is not the end result, and as with most things, there's always another adventure or exciting journey to be had right around the corner.

Some don't want another all absorbing goal on their plate just yet, and quite understandably so too, and for those people, there's a few things you can be doing after your achieving your goals to keep you going strong until the year ends, rather than resting on your laurels and feeling lost.

Analyze How You Achieved Your Goals

If you've achieved your goals much sooner than you thought you would, then first things first, give yourself a round of applause and get yourself some sort of reward because wow, do you deserve it, but remember to come back and get started on looking at how and why you managed to achieve those goals in record time. While you might have just struck it lucky, one of the reasons people achieve their goals sooner than expected is because they underestimate their worth, and what they can achieve when they put their mind to it, and so they achieve them sooner than they expected to.

I started the year with a goal of achieving 5k pageviews each month by the end of 2016. At that point in time, I was only gaining maybe half that on a good month, so it's fair to say I didn't have high expectations. Fast forward to March, and I'd smashed that goal by 32%. I'd completely and utterly underestimated what I could achieve and how quickly I could achieve it, but what amazed me most was how I'd managed to do it.

My Books, Blogging and Life Goals for 2016

Earlier in the year, I wrote a master list of every resource and every program I use and while their have been more chilled pieces of content in between, most of my content has been in response that master list, sharing the programs I use, the skills and features I've learnt and used most, creating in-depth tutorials and step-by-step processes so you can use those resources just the same, and I'm almost certain that's been one of the driving forces behind my increased pageviews.

Alas, it's worth remembering that what works for me may not work for you in the same manner, however, being able to sit down and take a good hard look at your goals and how you achieved them, including every little step, every minor investment is without a doubt on the best tasks to give yourself afterwards. Did you think that Apple or Facebook just smash their business goals, order themselves pizza and call it a day? Of course not, they gather their evidence and look how they did it, and how they could do it better next time, and so should you.

Extend/Enlarge Your Original Goals

We've already talked a little about underestimating yourself and what you can achieve, and this commonly comes from setting too smaller goals in the first place. I highly recommend cutting your goals into smaller, more achievable steps that make the result all that more tangible, but starting off with a small goal in the first place can turn out to be undermining for you, and less likely to give you that fist-punching-the-air feeling afterwards.

As a small cherub in my first infant school, there was a rather lovely teacher who said to us - "Those that achieve the most in life are those who aim try but miss, yet never give up. Those that aim low and hit have nothing to later motivate themselves." - and that phrase has stayed with me throughout my childhood. The phrase itself has many variations, one of the more common is from Les Brown - "Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit." - and it's a phrase that's never been more right.

4 Ways To Stay On Top Of and Focused On Your Goals

Your goals are only ever as big as you want them to be. If you want to achieve great things, then it's not worth setting small goals you know you'll achieve against goals that will challenge you instead. Having analyzed your goals and how you achieved them, you'll know whether you you smashed your goals by willpower, or whether you were aiming too low to start with, and if it's the latter, it's time to make them bigger my friend. Fear of failure is what stops us shaking hands with success - don't let fear stop you.

Create New Complementary Goals

Let's say for example that you've create a crazy goal and you've achieved it in record time. Your amazed, but your thrilled, and you feel like a million bucks. You've looked at your goals and the steps you took to smash them, and you're ready to do something new and eager to set some more, exciting goals for yourself, but where do I start? If you're confident you've achieved what you set out to achieve and want a new task ahead of you, it's worth setting some new complementary goals that work alongside the goals you've already achieved.

Setting Blog Goals and Why They're Important

Imagine a lady sets out to lose 40 pounds, changes her eating habits, joins the gym and shifts the weight. She feels amazing and she's ready for something new, so she takes up weight training. She's a star, and she's smashing her goals, but she's putting weight on in terms of muscle the more weight training she does, and her figure not what is once was. She LOVES the weight training and reaching her goals, but not how it's undoing all her earlier hard work and first set of goals in terms of being slim and lighter in weight.

As great as it is to set new and exciting goals, if the new goals are going to counteract the previous goals and work against all the hard work you've put into getting to your current position, then there's a very good chance you'll feel like that weight-training lady. It's super important to create goals that will compliment your earlier achievements so you can continue along your journey and reach your final destination. Great examples in the blogging and business world would be growing your email list after growing your social media following, or introducing a new source of revenue in your business if you've exhausted your current stream.

Share Your Achievements and Experiences

If there's one thing sharing your goals does for you, it holds you accountable, and when you share those with your network of support, or community members and band of followers, they'll be ready to hold you accountable too. That's why it's always worth sharing your achievements and success with others, as not only does it say 'look what I did!' but it also says 'see, you can do it too' - especially if you're in the business of teaching others how something is done.

I've shared a lot of my achievements and successes over the years I've been blogging, everything from being featured on Picmonkey, growing my Instagram presence, and creating an awesome Blog Planner, but I've also shared my failures and my really bad life experiences, like my failed side hustle, my life with depression, and my sexual assault, and these, believe it or not, are the things your audience wants to read about.

Okay, they may not be up for the seriousness of the latter two, but your followers and readers want to know how you got yourself featured on one of your favourite programs blogs, or how you've gained over 350 followers in 3 months, or the ins and outs behinds creating your most downloaded product in, forever. They not only want to see that you've done it, and celebrate with you, but they want to see that it can be done, and that with some time, some effort, and a hell of a lot of passion and dedication, they can do it too.

Sharing your achievements and your experiences isn't about showing off and feeling like a god, it's about motivating others to keep on going, to give those struggling an extra boost. Your success is not their failure, it's their motivation, and there's no better feeling than helping somebody achieve something awesome.

You should always, without a doubt reward yourself for achieving your goals, no matter how small, but resting on your laurels and calling it a day is no way to honour the hard work, the time and the effort, and the sacrifices you've made to get there. Set time aside to learn how you achieved it all, and think of ways you can extend or compliment them to achieve more, but above all else, share your achievements and goal smashing will other people. Celebrating a certain occasion is always more fun with friends, but make sure to keep the cake all for yourself..

What do you do when you've achieved your goals?

Don't forget to download your Free Goal Planner below!

2 Big Options Behind Solving 'Choosing The Wrong Niche'

2016-05-26T21:26:00.001+01:00

Choosing a niche is not only a difficult process, but it's also a process many blogger refuse to choose, mainly because of how limiting a niche can be. You see other bloggers talk about how choosing a niche is your number one thing to do when you start blogging, 'too many topics, too few viewers' and other varied advice following a similar form.

Contrary to the advice, I don't have a niche. If we're being technical, my niche could be 'blogging', but to blog is a big subject, from social media, to marketing, to design, to scheduling, to preparing, to growth, to followers, the different avenues are vast. Add to that my book related content and I'm not a niched blogger, and I see that in my figures. However, I also see on a regular basis blogs without a specific niche achieve great things, and it's not impossible to do so.

Finding is a niche, a main topic to blog about is usually the best port of call.

But what if you choose wrong?

What if you choose a niche thinking it's 'the one' and later start to feel limited.

What if your niche starts to feel like a relationship that no longer has that spark. Sure, you might be content in that relationship, but you might also feel like you're not getting anything more out of that relationship. Hey, maybe, you're just settling, and settling for less than happiness is not a good thing.

Are you settling for a niche that doesn't fit right anymore? My friend, you chose wrong.

Oh shit, I chose the wrong niche! What do I do Amanda?

There are two things you can do, and they're both frightening..

Choice One: Expand Your Topics

Your first choices is drop the whole niche thing and go wild. Of course, there's no need to pack up your things, move to some forest and grow a beard like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, just let your imagination take you places it wants to go. Unlimit yourself, if that's even a word. Put your niche in a bottle and cast it away to see, never to be seen again.

Think about the type of topics you'd like to explore or move into, all the while keeping it relatively linked to your current choice of interest. Just because you're ready to break out into the beauty blogging world, doesn't mean your current audience, whatever that audience may be, is feeling the same. There's such a thing called an adjustment period, for you and your followers, and as much you may feel like there's more effort involved, you have to make that adjustment period smooth for your following.

Why?

What if a month, or two months down the line, beauty blogging isn't for you? Would you not rather have the previous topic, and previous following still readily waiting for you to return, or would you rather be left with no ideas, no blog, and no following, stranded on an island of one, feeling sorry for yourself? I don't know about you, but the latter sounds like hell.

Think of how you can make that adjustment period as smooth as possible by incorporating the two or more topics together. For example, if you're a book blogger and find yourself wanting to move into the movie reviewing instead, maybe consider checking out some of the books being made into movies, and review the book and the movie together. Over time, some followers may leave because they don't fancy your movie-buff self, but you may gain a whole lot more that join your most loyal followers instead.

Okay, so what's the second option?

Choice Two: Start a Brand New Blog With a New Niche

But Amanda, what about all my followers I already have, what about them?

Simple. Invite them along on your new exciting journey and don't be afraid to do an Elsa.

Sure, starting a new blog is a little frightening, and very scary, but there's actually quite a lot you can do to set yourself up nicely before you even get that blog out into the world.

Blog Ambitions has a great feature on her blog where she helped get another blogger up and running with her new blog, and shares the growth of the New Blog Experiment on hers, which you can check out here. She shares how some of the best and first things you can do before you open up is getting subscribers before you're live, and starting up a social media presence for the new blog. Letting go of followers you've gained previously won't be half as scary as it sounds if you have a new following completely ready for your new blog and it's niche.

Talking of niche, before you start any new blog, it's super important to figure out what the right niche for is. Having already been there and done that with one, you want to make sure you're getting it right this time. There are loads of posts out there talking about the whats, the hows, and the whys behind a niche, and they are great if you're looking for a focused blog with the hopes of some serious growth in that area.

So how can I go about getting the right niche without putting my finger out to search?

My friend, sometimes, you just have to put that finger out there.

Sure, you have a subject you know a bunch of stuff on, but can you really sustain a blog with the information you have? Will you want to learn more, need to learn more? Will you fall into other topics, other areas? Will you create an umbrella subject, with other subjects within that one subject? Having some idea of where you want this new blog to go will help you when you come to decide on your niche, but let me be certain. You want something you won't feel trapped in, something that gives you some level of freedom, while keeping your feet steady on the ground.

Whether or not you choose to go the niche-free or the niche way, making sure you choose your subjects right is a big commitment and a huge decision, but it's important to not forget to blog with passion, love and knowledge. Choose something you know and love and want to help others feel the same about, and you're already half way there.

Do you have a niche? Do you feel trapped or committed?

7 Super Helpful Things To Consider When Reading Series

2016-05-23T22:45:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time, I was told by Cait from Paper Fury that 'when I start a series I REALLY start a series' and it got me thinking about how and why I read so many series, and why I find it so easy to do. More so than ever before, I'm reading and loving series and rereading even more books because of my mental health conditions, and marathoning series is one of the better habits I've developed because of this.

Way back when, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I got involved in the YA Midnight Reads Iron Fey Read-a-long, which not only introduced me to a really awesome series and encouraged my bad book buying habits, but also gave me my first taste of marathoning series, and I loved it. From that point onwards, I've loved the feeling of zooming through a series, going on another exciting adventure immediately after the first, staying with the world and the characters I love, and I've never looked back. Since then, I've read and marathoned an AWFUL lot of series -

Skulduggery Pleasant (thrice!)
The Faith Series
The Dead Girls Detective Agency
The Gallagher Girls
The Curse Workers
The Lunar Chronicles
Heist Society
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Kane Chronicles
The 5th Wave
Thirteen/Adam
Heroes of Olympus
Alice in Zombieland

- and there's still so many that I've part marathoned and am yet to finish because of release dates, or part marathoned and then waited for finales. However, not everybody is a natural marathoner (and I mean the reading kind, not the running, although the phrase works for that too!) and it's impractical to think they are, so today I thought I'd share with some important points, both positive and negative on marathoning books so you can be as prepared as possible for the awesome heartache that is swallowing a series whole.

The Plus Side

You're Less Likely To Forget Things: Ever started reading a sequel and just thought: 'What?' I know I have and it's pretty darn frustrating. You might have waited weeks, months, or years for this book and start it and BAM! You've forgotten everything. Fear not, with marathoning, you don't forget anything - well, a lot less anyway. You won't forget that major plot point, you won't feel lost in the world, and you'll remember that James is in love with Julie and that Bob is your long-lost vampire grandfather. If your memory is slow and not up to scratch, marathoning could be for you.

Being Immersed in the World: Nobody likes being dragged away from a place they love, (I especially dislike being dragged away from the bookstore because Mum hates the smells of Costa coffee in Waterstones..) and this includes worlds in books. Why would you choose to read everything about this world over a 7 year period? You just, wouldn't, so wait. Collect all of the installments and stay in that world forever - well, a long time at least, and make that wait worth the while, but be warned, there are dangers that come with getting lost in worlds..

You Feel Like You're Reading A Lot: I don't know about you, but sometimes, I feel as though I'm not reading very many books and that sucks, because as you know, I used to blog specifically about books, so I kind of needed to read books before I did anything else, so marathoning a series can get you some quick, enjoyable reads and a handful of reviews in a flash. too.

When I marathoned Heroes of Olympus, I read them at the end of 2014, but didn't post the reviews until the beginning of 2015, which meant when I'd finished all five in the series, I had five reviews ready to roll, and I was able to join in the conversation and fangirling like I'd never been elsewhere. Marathoning reads can get you reading more books, preparing reviews ahead of time and joining those fangirling conversations quicker than you'd think.

The Dark Side:

Playing The Waiting Game: How many times have you read a book and loved it, and read it's sequel and loved that too, and then another and just - why did you wait so long to read this series?! and then the last one and- what? I sense a cliff-hanger.. But.. but it's the last one, there can't be more.. I don't have.. the.. next.. NOOOOOO. I suffered this with The Dead Girls Detective Agency; when I read the first, the mystery was wrapped up beautifully and I expected the sequel to be the same and it just - it wasn't, and there was a cliffhanger, and my world ended. I need that sequel, and yet it's still yet to be written, and if not written, then published, and although I can wait really, I can't. Make sure you have all of the installments, and I mean ALL OF THEM. Do the research people, avoid the cliff-hangers.

Not Knowing Whether To Continue: Investing time marathoning a series means that you're, well, investing time, and effort, you could be using on another book or series, so how do you decide whether or not continue? I suffered this with Vampire Academy, Alice in Wonderland, The Winner's Trilogy and most recently, Throne of Glass, and it's not an easy thing to decide. Do you lumber on and suffer, or drop and go? Decisions decisions..

Other Things To Consider:

The Hangover: You don't get beautiful things in life without a catch, and the catch to beautiful, wonderful, amazing series marathons is the hangover you get afterwards. You've just spent the last 72 hours in a world with wonderful characters, with fantastic powers, with amazing plot lines, with the most beautiful writing this world has ever seen, and now it's over. Finished. Gone. HOW DO YOU SURVIVE?! Easy, you don't. It will hurt. You won't feel like moving. You'll feel lost and alone and your other books will stare longingly at you, but they don't understand. You're grieving, you need time. Trust me, it's the kind of hangover a bacon buttie will not cure.

Neglecting Other Books: There's a tough truth to be told when marathoning books. You will neglect your other books. That to-be-read pile that's getting out of control? There's no hope, forget it. Those arcs that you've got to read before their release? You're going to kick yourself next week. You can't help, you get sucked in, you love the characters, the world is amazing - no mr fluffy contemporary, I cannot read you now, I'm kicking ass and falling in love with crazy, unhinged dragon demons, muwhaha.. ha. Say goodbye to your organised reading system people.

So what have we learnt? Marathoning books is without a doubt on of the best experiences I've ever had, and the rewards are absolutely amazing, however, the waiting and wanting, the research and avoidance of all things spoilery, the pain of knowing, just knowing something bad will happen and not being able to find out, they're proof that everything beautiful comes at a price. Alas, don't be afraid to marathon those series, it's an adventure you really don't want to leave half finished..

Do you marathon reading series? What's your favourite?

The Ultimate, In-Depth, Step-By-Step Guide To Creating Your First Typeform Survey

2016-05-20T23:22:00.002+01:00

Surveying your audience is without a doubt one of the best things you can do for yourself and your blog or business, and of all the survey creating options out there, Typeform is most definitely the most functional, easy the understand and attractive of the bunch. I talked a little about Typeform when I shared some reasons behind surveying your audience and how it can be of help, but being recommended something by someone isn't always a big enough push.

Naturally, trying something new is daunting, and when you don't understand the system, you're likely to abandon the thought, so today, as promised, I'm sharing an in-depth tutorial of Typeform, everything from building and designing your first custom typeform, to how to configure it and analyze all the data you'll receive once it goes live. Complete with screenshots and tips and tricks, you'll be creating surveys in your sleep that your surveyees (yes, that is a word believe it or not!) with be dying to take.

Now it's worth noting that you will need to set up an account at some point during the process, so it's probably much easier to get it out the way before anything else is done. As soon as you've sorted that out - and it shouldn't take all that long - we can get started. It's also worth mentioning that you'll be given the opportunity to watch numerous different walkthroughs throughout your first time, so don't worry if it all looks a little alien, with my help and Typeforms, you'll be survey royalty in no time.

There are two choices when it comes to creating a survey; you can use a ready made template that Typeform provides based on different types of forms, such as customer service feedback, or contact forms, and these forms are great for certain specific cases, however, I recommend you start with a complete blank slate which allows you choose the options that suit you and your needs. I'll be using the custom option during this tutorial, and sharing a quick run down of Typeforms features and options, how to design your survey and how to share it. Let's get started.

Typeform's Building Features

Whether you start from scratch or with a template, getting to grips with each area of the survey can be quite a daunting task at a first glance, but each of the options are easy to use and understand, but here's a quick run down of what each options enables you to do with your survey.

Welcome Screen | This is what will greet your surveyees before they actually answer any of your questions. You can use this area to say a quick hello, share a thank you for completing a certain task, or even quickly double check that they're happy to give the survey and go. You can upload photos and gifs too. At this point, it's all about the friendly welcome.

Short Text | This is usually used when you're looking a quick simple answer to a question. It's very much an open option, so you're likely to get a lot of different responses to a question like this, but it can be helpful in terms of grouping similar answers and gives your surveyee more freedom in answering.

Long Text | This options works exactly the same as Short, with the same inner workings and options, it's just better for longer answers worth more detail and information in them.

Statement | Statement is not a feature I've used much before, however, it's a handy little feature for letting your surveyees know that there's only a few more questions to go, which means it's likely people will quit half way through.

Dropdown | This feature involves setting a question and proving set options for surveyees while also giving them the option to answer freely. You must set a minimum of 8 answers, which could make this feature less used than others, however, if you're looking for variety, this is a good option.

Email | This is also set up quite similarly to other options like Short or Long text, however, this is created for the sole purpose of gaining email addresses. You can offer somebody something exclusive, or simply ask if they'd like to be added to your mail list.

Date | This is as simple as it sounds. You can ask somebody for their date of birth, (depending on your survey) or when they first started following your blog. It's not an option I'd guess is used frequently in our line of business.

Legal | This isn't usually a big issue for bloggers and small business owners if it's just a general survey, however for companies looking for feedback, or collecting information for promotions or purchasing contracts, this is a very important helpful feature. This where you essentially have somebody accept or no accept your terms of service or agreement, or such as accepting that you're information may be shared with third parties if you agree to it, like an email service.

Website | This feature allows you to collect links to external websites. Simple and sweet.

Payment | This feature isn't available in the free version, however you can use this feature to collect payments for a service, a product, or a donation, but it can only be used with a Stripe account. For more information on this feature, checking out Typeforms Help Information on Payment Fields.

Multiple Choice | As you would expect, this option gives the surveyee the option to choose an answer out of a preselected collection decided by you. You can have up to 25 choices, and can further make options available for the surveyee to choose multiple answers or one, however, you cannot do this after you've collected data.

Picture Choice | Much like Multiple Choice, just with pictures for that added design element.

Question Group | This feature allows you to create sub-questions. For example, you could ask somebody to rate, on a scale of 5 stars, your blogs design or general content, or you ask them to give feedback on your customer service or product based on what you advertised it to be and how the end result was received.

This is also the perfect place to talk about Question Variables. When you choose a type of question, you'll see at the very top of your left-side column, you have an option that says + Add Variable. This allows you to slide a question into another.

Using on of the above examples and another feature, Rating, we're going to ask the surveyee to rate our blogs design. We add in the Question Group feature and set our question to "How would you rate 'insert blog name here's.." making sure to leave the question open. We then save, and when we come back to the dashboard, over hover Question Group and you'll see options on the far right, Copy, Move, Delete, and Expand. Click Expand and and expansion will reveal itself underneath. Choose the Rating feature and add it directly underneath Question Group where the expansion has appeared.

From there, fill in the question as you would any other. When using the Rating feature, you can set the length of the rating, from 1 to 10, and you can also choose what images you want surveyees to rate out of of, such as ticks, trophies, stars and even cats.

Opinion Scale | This features does exactly what it says on the tin, and is pretty handy when you're looking for a better scale than a rating. Using this feature, a surveyee is made to choose a place on the scale that they would put your blog on.

Numbers | This feature is used for numerical answers.

File Upload | This feature allows the surveyee to upload a file of sorts, such as an image for an application, or a document for prove of identification depending on the use for the survey. This is also not available in the free version but you can find out more on the feature on Typeforms Help Information on File Uploads.

Thank You Screen | Sadly, changing this is also a pro feature, however you automatically get a thank you screen that does the job fairly well anyway, so don't worry.

With the features covered, there's a few other things to cover before we get onto the fun part, the designing. There are two other helpful tools when putting together your survey, Jump Links and Variables. Jump Links are sadly a pro feature (which you can find out more about here!) and aren't accessible on the free version, however Variables are included.

Variables are essentially extra features that allow you to turn a survey into something more, like a quiz or a questionnaire by making use of Piping, Hidden Fields, Calculator and Payment, all of which you can check out more on through Typeforms Help Centre on Variables.

Typeform's Designing Features

Now it's onto the designing your survey. There are three general options when it comes to designing you survey: Colors, Fonts, and Background Image. These three features allow you to really customise your survey to suit whatever it's use, whether you're looking for a fun and exciting quiz, or a general survey for your blog.

Colors | You can either go straight for a theme that Typeform already has, or you can create your own, and colors is the first step to doing that. You can choose what colour your questions appear in, what colour the answers your surveyees give are, what colour your buttons are, and what colour your background is. You can choose hex codes from Color-Hex in order to get the right shade, but don't worry if you can't get it perfect.

Fonts | Pretty much what it say on the tin. Choose a font and it'll change all the fonts.

Background | You can upload a photo if you choose, and this will appear throughout the survey.

Typeform's Configure Features

Now it's time to Configure your survey. Configuring your survey is completely up to you, however, I would suggest you at least make sure everything is as you want it if you don't want to edit things. You can Index your survey to Search Result if you wanted to, and you can set your survey to public or private.

You can also set Typeform to send you email notifications when somebody fills in your form, however if you're expecting a large amount of responses, that might not be so wise. You can also send a custom email to people who respond should you receive their email address, but this is also a pro feature.

Another feature you can change is the progress bar, setting it by either numbers of questions or percentages, which can be helpful if you have quite a few and don't want to scare surveyees away. The final feature worth noting when configuring is being able to change the messages that appear throughout the survey, such as mistakes or confirmations.

Typeform's Analyze Feature

Since the Sharing option is such common sense, we'll move onto the Analyze feature. When viewing your Metrics, you'll get a good look at the statistics behind your survey, everything from how many responses you get to how many views, from how they fill it in, to who finishes it in comparison to those who don't.

Results however will share with you all the information that's been put into your survey in a spreadsheet format, which is great if you want to put the information into Google Sheets or something similar, which means lovely fancy graphs too.

Reports allows you to check out the responses people gave to your survey in the form of the survey, from how many people actually answered the question to the amount of people that answered with a specific answer, which is great on multiple choice questions. It's a better way to scan the responses, but Result is better if you want the details.

And there we it, it's as easy and simple as that. Of course, you can make the process easier by using a template, however, it's worth remembering that your template is automatically saved no matter where you are in the process, and you can always make it public or private whenever you want. As with most things, the pro version has better features, more customisable areas and better opportunities, however, I seriously recommend you using the free version has it's perfect for almost any standard survey.

Will you start using Typeform? Have you used it before?

3 Super Simple Reasons To Survey Your Audience

2016-05-17T22:55:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I was scrolling through social media and came across yet another blogger asking their followers what content they wanted to see from them, and sure, every once in a while is a good thing to be doing, especially since your social media followers change quite frequently, but is asking on social media the best method of getting to know your audience? Is there not a much easier, less time consuming method you can use in order to get the best out of the people who read your blog or use your website regularly? Yes, there is. Surveys.

We all know what surveys are; they're those poor people in market centres asking if you can spare a few minutes to answer some questions you neither care about, nor will benefit from at any point in the future, but alas, not all surveys are made the same. Surveys don't just provide the creator with information on a certain subject, or demographic, but they enable the surveyee (yes, that is a word, English is funny that way!) to provide much needed and wanted feedback to the creator, and feedback is the most important thing your audience can give you.

In this day and age, their are very few people blogging for themselves, and by 'for themselves', I mean they don't particularly care about the interaction their getting from other people, or their numbers growing, BUT for every one of those bloggers, there's plenty more who do. Some of them want to turn their blog into their career, while others are happy to see a sizable difference along their journey, but don't want dollar in their back pocket. In truth, it doesn't matter which of these you are, you still need to have some idea of what you audience want, and surveys are the best way to do that. Plain and simple.

But why? Why should I survey my audience? Why can't I just ask on social media?

There's nothing stopping you from just tweeting out to your followers, but a survey allows you to get to the nitty gritty. It allows you to target your audience who really care about your content, the people that check out your blogs content than just stick around for your tweets, and find out what they enjoy, what they want, what they want more of from you as a provider, as a teacher, as a tutor, as a person in the know.

Surveys give you top-quality feedback on your audiences honest opinion of you and your service

A survey provides a certain anonymity that social media doesn't, which means you're automatically more likely to get an honest response. Nobody is going to send you a message saying they didn't enjoy a specific style of content, because it quite frankly sounds cruel, but a survey gives your audience a change to be completely truthful with you. Sure, it might hurt to find out your audience don't actually care about your trip to Turkey in comparison to learning about customising their blog and newest, biggest books of the month, but wouldn't you rather know and stop than turn an interested audience away?

Social media is also much quicker in comparison to a survey, which means you're less likely to get a quality response. If you've only got 5 minutes, you're not going to spend it responding to one question in depth on 20 question survey - you're going to tweet and go, which doesn't help anyone in the long run. A survey in comparison allows your audience to tell you exactly what they want, but most important, it gives them the opportunity to tell you WHY. Once you know WHY your audience wants to know something, you'll be flying.

Surveys allow you to tailor your audiences answers to suit your needs based on what you want to know

Say for example you want to know how people are likely to interact with your content, you can create a survey that gets into the details and helps you come up with the best way to write your content. If your audience says they read your content more on-the-go, you may ind that adding more headings and splitting your paragraphs into smaller chunks works better, as it's easier to scan smaller sections of writing. You might also find yourself writing shorter, sweeter posts so your audience can cram it in before work and still get top-notch content. Surveys help you completely tailor questions to your audience in a way that helps both creator and content-muncher in a way social media never could.

Surveys educate you on your audience in a way statistics never can, from their goals to want they enjoy

There are plenty of methods you can use to check out your audience. You can use Google Analytics Demographics (easy peasy guide to GA for beginners right here people!) to find our what they - male or female - where they live, (by country obviously, we're not stalkers) and even their general age and interests, but what GA doesn't tell you is WHO your audience is. Very few tools show you what kind of people your audience are, whether they're side-hustlers or total hobbiests, whether they're a single mother of three looking for an escape, or a entrepreneur genius with 5 business and 3 in the way, but a survey can, and does.

With a survey, you can find out who your audience is and what makes them tick. What do they come to your blog for, the tutorials, or the general chat? What do they want to achieve in their lives, and how does your blog help? What do they wish on all the stars they knew how to do? A survey enables you to look past the statistics of your audience and see people interested in what you have to offer, which makes what you do as a creative even more important and impactful. You have the ability to change peoples lives, just as long as you know WHO they are.

Okay okay, I'm convinced, but what survey provider should I use? They're are so many!

You're right, there are A LOT of survey providers out there, all promising you different set-ups, different perks, different price ranges and whatnot, and they allow you to achieve all manners of different things, but one my personal favourites is Typeform. It's easy to set up, minimal but customisable and also allows you to check out your responses in detail, from the platform they used like desktops and phones, to how many actually finished the survey against those that didn't (which is extremely helpful in terms in deciding how many questions to include - the less people that finish, the more likely you should dial back on the q's.)

As if all that wasn't enough, it's free too, so I'll be sharing more about Typeform and sharing a complete tutorial from start to finish on how to create your own survey with Typeform in a few days time. We'll be talking about all of the features, how to get into the nitty gritty of the secret tricks and how to nail your first official survey right off the bat. If you don't want to miss this tutorial, make sure you're following along on Twitter and Bloglovin'.

Have you used surveys on your blog before?

How To Customise Simple Blogger Page Tabs

2016-05-14T21:14:00.000+01:00

Learning HTML and CSS can be quite the headache. I know it, I've done it. Alas, it doesn't have to be so, learning how to code can actually be a walk in the park when you know what the heck it is you're actually reading and writing. Through the Basic Blogspot CSS series, I'll be taking you through the code behind your blog, from top to bottom, and how to customise the heck out of some of the most important aspects of your design. Today, I'll be teaching you the code behind your page tabs and the different ways you can style them.

Getting To Grips With Blogspot Page Tabs

Blogspot already has some customising options when it comes to your tabs. You can easily change the tabs text style and colour, and the background and separator colours, but aside from that, the options are limited, and limitations are not good. You need to kick those limitations out the door and get to grips with some actual code if you're going to create something awesome. So, what code is worth knowing concerning your tabs?

div.tabs-outer	This code controls the outer area your tabs lie in within your design.
div.tabs-inner	This code controls the inner area your tabs lie in within your design
.tabs-inner .PageList ul li	This code controls the tabs themselves.

These three codes are the bare basics when it comes to coding your tabs area. Once you know what these codes are and what part of your tabs they control, the sooner you can start to understand what you want to achieve, and what code you need to use to create your perfect look. Now, let's move onto the fun part.

Make Sure You Back-Up Your Template Before Doing Anything!

Make your way through to your Template tab in the sidebar, moving along to Customise just below your blogs preview. Before we start playing with CSS, make sure in your tab options, you have your text options set to black, and your background options set to transparent. Move onto the Advanced area, and then scroll your way to Add CSS. This my friends, is where the magic happens.

First, lets take a look at the 3 different styles of tab you can have. Click to view larger size.

In the first example, you can see how the div.tabs-outer code controls the entire tab area, stretching from left to right, covering the entire width of the screen. This style is pretty common among a lot of Wordpress blogs and is usually found above the header (something else I'll show you a little later on). In the second example, you can see how the div.tabs-inner code controls a smaller area surrounding the tabs, shortening the area to the same width as your blog and it's entire content, sidebar included. In the third example, you can see how the .tabs-inner .PageList ul li code controls the individual tabs, separating them from one another, a style similar to my own.

Now we've got the look, it's time to start playing with some code, but first, what does specific code do?

background	This changes the background colour of an element.
padding	This clears the area around an element within the elements margins.
margin	This clears the area around the outside of an element.
font-size	This changes the font size of an element.
font-weight	This changes the weight of the font in an element.
text-transform	This changes the style of the font in an element.
border-radius	This changes the edges of an element making them rounded.
transition	This controls the speed :hover effects come into play.

Now you know what different types of code change and control in terms of design, it's time to play around.

Creating Page Tab Styles With CSS

To achieve the first example, start with the following CSS:

div.tabs-outer {
background: #HEX-CODE;
}

From this starting point, you can incorporate different design elements that take your fancy.

You could, for example, decide to change the background colour, the padding around the tabs, the space between each tab and centre the tabs themselves. Your CSS would look something like this:

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}
.PageList li {float:none !important; display:inline !important;}

div.tabs-outer {
background: #ff10ff;
padding: 10px;
}

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li {
margin-right: 40px;
}

The above code would result in this look.

Let's explain a few of the details..

The first block of code controls the aligning of your tabs to the centre.
The second block of code controls tabs outer design; the background colour and space around tabs.
The third block of code controls the tabs inner design; the space between each individual tab.

To achieve the second example, start with the following code.

div.tabs-inner {
background: #e6e6e6;
}

If you were to use the same example CSS code used in the previous example, the only change you'd make in the code would be switching out outer for inner, resulting in this look.

The third example is a little more difficult to achieve, but is oh so worth it. Start with the following CSS:

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li {
background: #e6e6e6;
padding: 0px 10px;
margin: 5px;
}

Now, because this style allows you to view each tab individually, you can add more design elements in the code, resulting in a better look. Using most of the CSS code used in previous examples, you could use CSS like this:

.PageList {text-align:center !important;}
.PageList li {float:none !important; display:inline !important;}

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li {
background: #ff10ff;
padding: 10px 40px;
margin: 5px;
border-radius: 10px;
}

You could remove the border-radius: 10px; for more square tabs, but the above code would result in this:

How To Utilise :Hover Effects For Page Tabs

Alas, there's still more ways you can customise your tabs, with :hover effects.

I mentioned briefly earlier about :hover effects and how they relate to transitions.
This is where we learn more about that.

When you hover over something, 9 times out of 10, there's an effect in place that changes the look or style of the something your hovering your cursor over. Nellie and Co. has effects that change the width and shape of an object, that change the transparency of an object, or the colour of an object, and all these are achieved by creating a :hover effect for your element.

Let's go back to style example one.

For this style, you would need to add CSS coding below the previous code like this:

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li:hover {
background: #6e6e6e;
padding: 10px;
margin-right: 20px;
transition: all 0.5s;
}

The hover effect would look like this:

The CSS code you'd need to add to create a ;hover effect for style two would be like this:

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li:hover {
background: #6e6e6e;
padding: 10px;
margin-right: 20px;
transition: all 0.5s;
}

The hover effect for this style would look like this:

The CSS :hover code you'd need to add for style three is much more simple, like this:

.tabs-inner .PageList ul li:hover {
background: #6e6e6e;
transition: all 0.5s;
}

The hover effect for that style would look like this:

:hover effects don't just have to be a change in background colour.

By changing the padding values to: padding: 10px 20px; - you could alter the size of the tab box, or by changing the :hover value to a:hover, you can change the text colour by using a hex colour.

One more piece of coding that you may like to know..

You can move your blog header to below your page tabs.

Once you've saved all your CSS, come out of the customising area by clicking < back to Blogger and then go to your HTML next to Customise. You'll be met will a wall of code. Wowzer indeed!

Do not panic, the next step is easy as pie and will allow you the flexibility to either have your tabs above your blog header, or below, as you can see on Nellie's design.

Once in, press Ctrl and F on your keyboard, and a little search box will appear on the right hand side at the top of all the code. In that search box, copy and paste in the following:

Directly underneath that code, you'll see the following:

<b:section class="header" id="header" maxwidgets="1" name="Header" showaddelement="no">
<b:widget id="Header1" locked="true" title="Nellie and Co. (Header)" type="Header">

Swap out 'no' for 'yes' and 'true' for 'false', then save your template.

Now that you're able to move your header below your tabs, your blog could now look like this:

Phew, That Was a Lot To Take In, Right?

Hopefully, you're now not only a little more up on what different coding values mean and do, but you should also now know how to customise your Blogspot Page Tabs simply and effectively. There are many other ways you can customise your tabs, and you'll learn these with time and confidence, and the longer you learn CSS for, the more you'll come to understand. For colour hex codes, check out either colour-hex.com or colorhexa.com, and for more CSS coding options, check out w3schools.com.

Did You Know How To Customise Page Tabs on Blogspot?

My 3 Favourite Go-To Photography & Editing Tricks

2016-05-11T21:58:00.001+01:00

Book and blog photography has quickly become one of my favourite side-projects, and with good reason - I'm actually really good at it. I love coming up with new and exciting prompts, new styles, new ways to show off my products and my collections, and it's almost impossible for me not to take a least one new photo every day. It's without a doubt a new favourite hobby, and worth getting out of bed to do, but my 'perfect photos' are sprinkled with lies, and by lies, I mean some sneaky little hacks.

Is it right to be 'hacking' my photo editing, to be creating the image of something that isn't there, or getting a quick fix from some sneaky lil' editing? Maybe not, but these little secrets have played a BIG part in my social media and blog growth, and have really delivered. Today, I wanted to share with you my favourite photo editing hacks, made possible with Picmonkey, so you can be lil' photo editing monsters with me.

1 | How To Bring a Broken Phone To Life

Frequent followers on Instagram will have seen both black and white samsung phones creeping into many of my photos, and with good reason. Not only is a phone a really good prop on it's own, but you can use it to provide more depth to the photo, like featuring your blog, or your current e-read. Here's the sneaky lil' lie..

Neither of these phones actually work, at least, not properly.

The black samsung phone does work, it's just really not all that good, but the white one does absolutely nadah. It's dead and buried and stone cold sober, and yet, my photography gives it life.

So, how do I do it? Simple, Picmonkey Overlays.

I've talked about overlays previously when I shared the secret behind my previous blog graphics, and by using the same method, I manage to bring both these phones to life, and give the impression they're in working order, when really, they're just chillin', and not at all as good as my photography would make you believe. It's a simple case of overlaying the image you want on top of your photo, tweaking what you need to, erasing what you don't need, and ensuring that you leave a small border between your overlay and where you phones screen meets the actual phone as to make it look a hell of a lot less fake. Like so:

2 | Turning One Photo Into Many With Turns & Angles

Without a doubt this is the simplest of of my hacks, and doesn't involve all that much hard work and time, as the assumption is that you're already snapping photos, so snapping a few more won't make much of a difference in the long run. Or will they? Let's have a think about something

When trying to take one photo, I can easily take between 10-25 depending on how badly my hands are shaking, or the set-up of the shoot, and most commonly, how much variety I want in my angles.

You can turn what could be a pretty bland photo into something simply amazing just by taking a photo from a different angle, or rotating one.

Don't believe me? Just take a look at these photos and see exactly how it works.

The image on the left is the original, while the image on the right is the edited version. In the first set, you can see how the line of books is identical in both images, and yet both photos not only look completely different, but at a first glance, you wouldn't instantly think they were taken in the same five minute session.

Taking multiple photos from numerous angles is also extremely helpful when you've nailed a pretty complicated set-up, because you naturally want to get the most out of it, but the trick is in making each photo look unique, creative and giving a new perspective on a simple set-up.

Let's look at the first photo in this collection. It's exactly the overall look I was aiming for, but for set-up that took me over 20 minutes to get just right, I wanted to get my time's worth, so continued to snap photos across the board. See how the images that follow all focus on a different perspective, on a different area of the original photo and bring something new each time? It's about turning one photo in many, and nailing it.

3 | How To Add Effects To Specific Areas of Photos

I talked a little about this trick when I shared how to I edit my photos, and it's definitely one of my favourite ways to edit a photo exactly how I like it. The trick involves applying special effects to your images, but erasing the effect away in areas you don't want it to be applied. You can also choose to only lightly apply affects in certain areas, as well as on the whole.

The effect works quite a lot like the first hack in that you erase what you want and keep what you don't, so for example, in this image, I wanted to keep Breathe coloured and the rest in black and white so it was the sole focus on the image. By erasing the black and white from Breathe, I achieved that.

You can also do this with effects like soften, by using the same method and erasing the areas you want to soften, but you can also create black into colour affects by changing the hardness of the effect brush, the fade setting and other aspects. You can really quickly and easily create the photo of your dreams by controlling the effect the extra effect you add has. World is your oyster baby.

These are probably the tricks I use most often within all my photography and editing, all of which you can check out on Instagram, and without a doubt they're the kind of tricks I like to see in other peoples photos too, so get creative, use these tricks and get outside of your editing box. Oh, and then point me in the direction of your edited photos so I can admire you're lil' cheeky handiwork using my favourite go-to ideas.

What are your favourite editing tips and tricks?

4 Effective Ways Your Blog Can Benefit Your CV

2016-05-08T23:02:00.000+01:00

We all have CV's, and sadly most of them are more than likely a little out of date, not very exciting and lacking in interesting information about ourselves. It's not that we don't want to share something about ourselves, we're just wired to think we can't get a little personal, but that's the snag. We can actually share something personal about ourselves that shows off in a much more positive light than lazy nights in with our cats ever could, and that's our blogs.

If you run and maintain a blog, you're missing out on great CV content!

Sure, you could talk about how you go running, or regularly train for country-wide swimming competitions, and they may make you sound outgoing and exciting, but that's really not what they want. They want to see your skills set, to see what you're capable of achieving and what you've already achieved. The best and easiest way for bloggers to do this is through their blogs.

Your blog is the perfect form of voluntary work experience, and it shines a light on you in ways you may never have none before, so for people you haven't got much on their CV's in the way of experience, or want to share something a little more fun and person, here's 4 ways your blog can benefit your CV and show off your skills, and why it's worth including it.

1 | Corresponding or Working with Professionals

No matter the type of blog you run, you will almost always end up creating professional relationships with people in the industry you blog in, whether it be stylists if you're into fashion, designers and coders if you specialise in web design, sponsors if you're looking into breaking through from hobby to paid work, or publishers, if like others you enjoy blogging about books. Mentioning that you've worked with these professionals in said industry can be highly beneficial, it shows that:

you can create and maintain professional, workplace relationships
you are comfortable and well educated in email or online correspondence
you understand proper mannerisms and are grammatically fluent
you are confident and not afraid of getting to know the people that will get you places

It's important to remember that in any working position, you will have to be confident, be professional and be able to maintain professional relationships, no matter your personal or emotional feelings at any given time. Working with professionals within your blogging experience can bring a lot of positive benefits.

2 | Social Networking/Marketing

As the internet continues to evolve, so do companies, and as they evolve, so does their use of social media and how they market themselves, their products or services, and their business. As somebody who runs a blog, (I would assume) you would already have plenty of experience in using social networks, getting the most out of SEO and promotion tactics and will have a broad understanding of marketing in the online industry. Mentioning this experience shows that:

you are experienced in social networking and capable of advertising online
you are flexible and able to to adapt along with social networks as they continue to evolve
you know how to get the right product or service to the right audience, quickly and easily
you are educated in online etiquette, language and understand the restrictions of social media

As the world continues to make use of the internet and social media more and more, the need for experience and education in this sector is increasing every day. Your experience, whether as a hobby or a part-time professional could just be enough to snag you that job ahead of your other competitors.

3 | Organisation, Planning and Scheduling

One of the most important and frequently given pieces of advice when blogging is the organise yourself, have a plan of action, and prepare and schedule your content. If you do all three of the above, you're well on your way to proving that your time-keeping skills are excellent, that you can work to a deadline, and that you always aim to finished and complete your work on time, to the best of your ability, at the highest quality possible. Organisation is possibly the most important of these three when consider your résumé, employers are looking for proof that you can organise yourself, organise others should the need arise, and that you're a tough bird to get flustered too easily. Using this experience easily shows that:

you have impeccable time-keeping skills and can work within set periods of time
you can organise yourself professionally and calmly, and are in control of the task in hand
you can work to deadlines, complete tasks on time and ensure the work is of a high standard
you take any amount of work seriously and understand the need for being punctual, professional and precise

These three skills are things many employers expect, but so many employee's take for granted when explaining what they're positively great at. Being tidy, on time and a little anal in organisation is only a good thing, and there's never anything to be ashamed of in admitting it.

4 | Passion and Dedication

If you claim to have no hobbies, or that you're pretty work obsessed, employers can take that as a positive, but many like to know that you have something away from home, that you are decidedly human in that you actually appreciate a break away. By having a hobby like blogging that you dedicate time, effort and pour love and energy into shows that:

you're passionate about what you love, and enjoy sharing that passion with others
you will put time and effort into something that you feel strongly about, no matter the rewards
you have the ability to turn something you love and are passionate about, into a rewarding hobby
you can create a positive space in which you work well, stay positive, and feel comfortable in

Passion and dedication for something, for anything, highlights that you're an exciting person, that you have things you absolutely love outside of your working life, that you take a task and make it as fabulous as it can be, and if you're in the right environment, you can work positively and enthusiastically, and if there's anything employers want, it's enthusiastic and hard working staff.

Bloggers: What skills have you gained through blogging?

How To Find Time Restricted Tutorials With Search Tools

2016-05-06T21:51:00.000+01:00

Whenever I'm searching for tutorials online, the first thing I do is check is the date in which the tutorial was posted. There's nothing worse than finding what looks like an AWESOME tutorial, only to find it's from 3 years ago and hasn't been updated, rendering it, and your time, a waste. That post may have quality, top-notch content, and as far as Google and SEO is concerned, it answers your question, but if it's not up-to-date, then it's no good for you. It's one of the big reason you should always revamp your content for new readers - you never know when somebody will stumble across your content.

So, how do you find the most up to date tutorials that will give you the answers you need now rather than years ago? You can do it with the help of Google Search Tools. These tools allow you to specify the type of search you want Google to do. For example, you could specify for Google to search for results in a certain country, or a specific type of image on Google Images, but in our case, you can specify the time or dates you want Google to search within, a criteria you could say, to find you the most up-to-date, reliable source of information or tutorial you can find. Today, I'm showing you how.

No matter how you search Google, Search Tools is always available.

Search tools essentially allows you to narrow down your search in order to find the best choices within a set criteria. In our case, we're looking for a tutorial on how to make a blog images, one of the most common searches for newbie bloggers out there given how important visuals have become. You can see that there are a variety of options, varying from 2014-2015.

Psst, check out how I make my blog graphics..

For somebody starting out in 2016, a tutorial from a few years ago might not be up their alley, after all, times have changed, as have trends and styles, so something a little more up-to-date is more their thing. We're going to narrow down Google's Search Results to only show tutorials within the last year.

Click on 'Search Tools' and an extension will appear.

In normal search results, you'll be given two options. The first is to search by country which means you'll get results based on the country you're in, or a country of choice, which is great for college projects requiring specific news around the world, or for ease of use when it comes to understanding information. The second option is by time, as in the period of time you want Google to search within. This the option we're going to be using today.

Click on 'Any time'. A drop down menu will appear.

This is where Search Tools starts getting to work. From here, you can choose to period of time you want to search in, getting as close to the present as possible with 24 hours, or choosing past month or past year, depending on what it is you're looking for. You can go one step further an create a custom rance, which allows you to get really specific and will more than likely bring up the exact results you're after, although this does take a few seconds longer. In our search, we're sticking to past year.

Choose a time period, and your search results will reorder themselves.

You can see how the results now only show results from within the last year having used Search Tools, which will more than likely result in more up-to-date content, better results, and depending on the search, better quality. It's worth remembering that these results are not usually ranked as highly as the first collection not set within the dated period of time, but this isn't that much of problem. You can further narrow your search either by date or by relevance, however I like to stick with relevance, as that's the most important aspect when checking out tutorials.

There are over 2 million blog posts written every single day (src) and every writing those posts is using SEO correctly, then that's a lot of content being added to Google. Finding the best and most helpful content to help you solve your problem can be like finding a needle in a haystack, but with Search Tools and the power and knowledge to use it, you can make it so much easier. Google's Search Tool's feature can be used for almost anything, and it's definitely worth taking a look, playing around, and seeing it if can benefit you.

Did you know about Google Search Tools?

Blogger Love | 200+ Awesome Posts That Rocked April

2016-05-04T21:45:00.000+01:00

Reading, Reviewing, and All Things Books!

Libraries, ARC's and Buying/Lending Books

Nordie talked about her lending books horror stories
Jorelene talked about getting, using and reading ARC's
Christina talked about bloggers remorse on ARC's and reading
Liran compared ARC's to it's finished copy counterpart
Bec shared how to improve your Netgalley review ratio
Kate shared a book bloggers guide to requesting ARC's
Nemo shared how to use multiple libraries with Overdrive
Lauren shared why she buys old books that get new covers

Characters & Topics in Books

Emily talked about the power of retellings in the modern era
Kaja asked: should romance be realistic in all fiction, or just some?
Kaja talked about supernatural romances and how they're weird
Rachel talked about diversity in books and wanting normality
Emz shared the importance of character psychology in books
Chiara talked about LGBTQIA and erasure in the book community
Molly talked about feminine roles and strong female characters
Jo talked about the lack of periods in young adult fiction
Kristen asked: how much science do you like in your science fiction?
Cait asked: do we need books that don't involve discrimination?
Mara shared 5 cliche scenarios she's sick of seeing in fiction
Lola shared why she hates obligatory break-ups in fiction
Kristen asked: what age protagonists do you prefer to read about?
Eva asked: how do you define a happy ever after at a books end?

Book Blogging, Ratings and Reviews

Jeann shared legal issues all bloggers should know about
Lyn talked about suffering from the book blogging blues
Brittany shared all on her book and blogging spring clean
Alexandra talked about the complexity of rating systems
Nordie talked about self-publishing and damning stories
Alexandra shared why it's okay to give high ratings
Nordie shared her 12 book blogging tools in her tool kit
Jessica shared ways to save time as a book blogger
Michelle shared why she sometimes rates books 3 stars for no reason
Gillian shared what happens when book bloggers go to bookstores
Emily shared how to get more pageviews on your book reviews
Marie shared some of her biggest book blogging pressures
Kristen asked: should we revamp and repost old book reviews?
Cait shared why you should most definitely start a book blog
Alyssa shared how and why you should monetize your book blog
Becky wonders: does she rates books too highly, and does that exist?
Becky shared the problem of coming up with book blogger topics
Happy Indulgence shared their pros and cons of co-blogging

Reading and Reader Habits

Paige shared struggles only bookworms will ever understand
Bec talked rereading and asked: are you a rereader or not?
Ava shared how you can always find time to read (no matter what!)
Ruby talked about getting over her reading slumps (or not..)
Alyssa sarcastically shared 11 mistakes all book readers make
Mara asked: have you ever hesitated to read a book, and why?
Lili talked about getting distracted by silly character names
Nicole talked about series and when to start reading them
Crini talked about why monthly TBR's work for her
Bee shared why she loves reading Middle Grade books
Lucy shared her personal story on the magic of reading
Angel asked: do you like reading wattpad stories?
Michelle shared one trick every kindle owner must know
Mara asked: do you prefer long or short chapters?
Josephine shared her opinion on the new Kindle Oasis
Bec shared some pros and cons of being a mood reader
Nick shared how she gets herself out of reading slumps
Aila shared how she knows when to stop reading a book
Shannon shared why she thinks more than enjoying reading
Liza talked about audiobooks and shared some of her favourites
Brittany talked about her suffering with book slumps
Kristen asked: is 15 too young to be reading 50 shades of grey?

Marketing, Recommendations & Loving Books

Emz shared how she organises her books and bookshelves
Aentee talked about realising your favourite books are problematic
Emily asked: has J.K. Rowling lost some of her magic spark?
Gillian shared her problem with high fantasy and new releases
Jorelene talked about book spoilers and plot points in synopsis'
Nemo asked: are we getting savvy about book release hype?
Lola asked: what do you love most about books in series?
Emz talked about book signing courtesy for multiple authors
Jorlene shared tearjerker books she's avoided and loved
Jamie shared why she loves listening to audiobooks
Jess shared her favourite books on mental health issues
Emz asked: should you age with series you love?
Emily shared her thoughts on youtubers getting book deals
Maryam asked: are fantasy the 'in' genre for publisher?
Jorelene talked about loving series more than standalones
Nitzan talked about the structure of a fantasy trilogy/series
Shannon shared her pickiness of book endings and finales
Nicole asked: do author bios ever encourage reading their books?

Blogging, Design and Lots of Advice!

January's Hot Blogging Topic Was: Commenting

Jess shared some tips on leaving comments
Ava shared why you should definitely be commenting
Jess further shared the importance of leaving comments
Harvey shared why he doesn't comment back on blogs

Blogging Advice and Guidance

Jessica shared the biggest blogging mistake your probably making
holly shared the worst pieces of blogging advice you should ignore
Molly shared how to make your media library your bitch
Ava shared how to know if you have the time to blog
Amy shared how to spring clean your blog and business
Krista shared why you need to regularly update your blog or website
Holly shared traits that separate the best bloggers from the rest
Jasmin shared 10 handy websites every blogger should be using
Tiffany shared 20 busy bloggers top productivity tips
Sophie shared what bloggers wish you knew about blogging
Fran shared how to start a blog in a technically aspect
Jess shared 4 of the best website hosts, and how to choose one
Fran shared why you need to use no-follow links in your blog
Cat shared why 'fake it until you make it' doesn't work
Lauren shared how to stand apart in an oversaturated industry
Amy shared how to monetize your blog with freelance writing
Holly shared 15 of the best 10 minute tasks to improve your blog
Tiffany shared 4 reasons why bloggers quit blogging

Blogging Tools & Resources

Holly shared how she uses Evernote for blog post inspiration
Addi shared online organising tools to help manage everyday life
Tiffany shared her best recommended Wordpress plugins
Lauren shared her favourite tool for onboarding clients or employees
Jess shared one simple tool that will improve your work flow
Rachel shared how she uses Evernote in her creative business
Alyssa shared 5 things to do after installing Wordpress

Content and Statistics

Ava asked: how long should you blog posts be?
Hayli shared how to create content your readers love
Ava shared the pros and cons of blogging memes
Kaitlyn shared 5 steps she takes to write and publish blog posts
Cait asked: how do you know if your post is inspired or copied?
Lauren asked: does the length of your blog post matter?

Blog Design and Branding

Alyssa shared 3 reasons landing pages are so important
Jamie talked breaking myths behind DIY branding your business
Krista shared how to optimise your blogs 404 page
Kory shared the number one mistakes your making with your brand
Alyssa shared how to make a menu link unclickable in Wordpress
Think Creative shared the secret sauce to building brand loyalty
Lauren shared the ultimate icon dictionary for all bloggers
Kaitlyn shared 6 ways words can built a consistent brand
Maru shared how to choose the perfect fonts for your brand
Amanda shared 10 simple tweak to get people on your sales page
Nesha shared her step-by-step design process
Rebecca shared how to brand your blog easily and quickly
Think Creative asked does your brand need to up it's game?
Melyssa shared why she rebranded using her own name
Sarah shared 6 quick design changes that will improve your website
Nesha shared how to make a community around your brand
Think Creative shared how to digitise your own handlettering
Chelsea shared 25 graphic designs tips and tricks for bloggers
Miranda shared why branding is so important for your biz
Marianne shared how to edit CSS in your blog or website
Krista asked: should I have a static homepage or blog posts?

Photography and Blog Images

Fran shared her tips for taking product photography
Jess shared the value photography has on your blog
Chelsea shared how she create stock photos as an email opt-in
Maru shared 10 cheap tools to create beautiful blog graphics
Rebecca shared how to create blog graphics in 5 easy steps
Holly shared 5 steps to improving blog and social media images
Chiara shared 8 reasons you should use your Iphone to snap images
Chelsea shared how to create blog graphics that represent your blog

Followers, Social Media & Marketing

Sophie shared a beginners guide using snapchat
Rachel shared how to grow your business by using youtube
Jess shared the biggest mistake you're making on social media
Krista shared the missing piece in your marketing funnel
Molly asked what methods do you use to follow blogs?
Jasmin shared how to use StumbleUpon to improve blog traffic
Amy shared how she skyrocketed her Twitter in 24 hours
Lory asked: how do you use Twitter, professional or personal?
Amy shared how to schedule social media in just one hour
Elle shared how to improve social media scheduling with Pocket
Addi shared an affiliate marketing basics beginners guide
Amy shared 5 things every blogger should be doing on Twitter
Sophie shared 9 pro snapchat tips you might not know about
Pauline shared 100+ catchy headlines to gain more subscribers
Sarah shared the simple way to create more social media content
Hayli shared 3 ways you can use your email newsletter
Dee shared how to turn readers into valuable subscribers
Molly talked about social media and how it affects your blog

Specific Social Media Tips and Tricks

Facebook

Cat shared 7 mistakes people make in Facebooks groups
Cat shared 5 simple steps to creating a Facebook group from scratch
Krista shared how Facebook groups are a solopreneur goldmine

Goodreads

Lola shared how she uses Goodreads and offers a tutorial
Shannon asked: should Goodreads be dominated by high rated reads?
Kate shared a book bloggers guide to using Goodreads

Instagram

Josephine shared 28 #bookstagram post ideas for your feed
Kate shared an epic beginners blogger guide to using Instagram
Alexandra shared how to make and maintain a #bookstagram account
Maru shared the best and easiest Instagram tips for entrepreneurs
Josephine shared the ins and outs of hashtags for #bookstagram
Zoe shared how to find the best Instagram hashtags for you
Evie shared a #bookstagram 101 guide to a successful feed
Emily shared her top 5 tips for newbie #bookstagrammers
Rebecca shared how to create a beautiful #bookstagram feed

Pinterest

Tiffany shared why you shouldn't rely on Pinterest for blog traffic
Addi shared her free viral blueprint and how to make it happen
Helene shared the one Pinterest Strategy that changed the game
Jasmin shared a bloggers guide to Pinterest promoted pins
Amy shared how to see exactly what's being pinned from your blog

Business, Courses and Products

Nesha shared lessons she's learnt from 3 years of freelancing
Rachel shared 5 things you can do for your business this month
Krista shared her journey from 9-5 job to full-time solopreneur
Mallie talked tips on being aware of people abusing your business
Think Creative shared 6 steps to opening your own creative business
Erin shared how to tell if a project is a good fit for your business
Amanda shared 5 proven ways to get people your sales page
Melyssa shared how to create time-saving systems for your business
Miranda shared the snazzy secret behind her virtual assistant
Hayli shared 4 components that help make your blog a business
Mallie shared why you shouldn't sell at every opportunity
Dee shares how to master fear as a entrepreneur
Jess shared why you should go the extra mile for your clients
Jamie shared the ultimate guide to launching a course or product
Chiara shared 51 tools to build, organise and grow your business
Melyssa shared 6 things you need to know about a profitable e-course
Elle shared how to keep your business on track when you're busy
Alisha shared how she creates passive income with physical products
Hayli shared 3 sustainable ways to make money online
Mariah shared 30 profitable ecourse ideas that aren't 'making money'
Erin shared how to map your internal client process
Kaitlyn shared what sales funnels are and the value of authenticity
Maya shared how to stop playing it safe and elevate your business

Personal Growth and Success

Ash said: maybe it's worth dropping the drama and doing you
Holly shared how she organises her desk to stay productive
Holly shared her top 10 ways to deal with stress effectively
Think Creative shared how to make working from home less lonely
Holly shared how to schedule your work week to get more done
Think Creative shared how to find out what you really want to do

What you may have missed on Nellie and Co.

Did You Find Any Fabulous Posts, Let Me Know!

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My Must Have Apps for Books, Blogging and Social Media

2016-05-01T23:32:00.001+01:00

As somebody that spends an awful lot of time dealing with a variety of blogging tasks, you can only begin to imagine just important having my phone handy is, especially when I'm in a pickle, out and about, or just not close to a computer of any kind. Being able to make tweaks to posts, or schedule social media on the go is always something I appreciate, and there are certain apps that I cannot live without on my phone, both book and all-round blogging related, and I wanted to share with you what those are, why I have them, and what makes them so worth having. Oh, and did I mention they're all free? Can I get a woop woop?

Books/Book Blogging

1 | Kindle/Adobe Digital Editions - I don't actually spend an awful lot of time reading on my phone, only merely because phone battery lives these days suck more than anything, but if I'm on a particularly long bus journey alone (which is rare) and I've forgotten some music or a physical book, I will tend to turn to my digital collection for something to get started with or continue. For people who spend A LOT of time away from home and can't take physical books with them, these apps, both on phones and on other pieces of tech like tablets, these apps are a GODSEND.

2 | Overdrive - For those who don't know, Overdrive is a digital library within the actual libraries that a certain area of the country has access to or can share books through. For example, I live in a small county and in that county we have around 8 libraries varying in size, but the overdrive puts all those libraries together into a county, and all the digital books those libraries have are available through that one combined library. It's pretty awesome, and is super helpful for having more book on the go. I can check out books, reserve them, and download them to my phone, audio and digital, and even do so on the desktop too.

3 | Goodreads - I do find myself in bookstores and libraries quite often, and sometimes I'll need to have a quick nosey on Goodreads to check a books details such as if it's part of a series, and if so, what number, or what some of my trusted friends have thought of the book in question. Sometimes I'll use it's scanning feature to add it to my shelves right away, and sometimes I'll do more of the mellifluous things such as friend requests and updating my reading status on books on the go or right before bed rather than logging online. They're not my most used apps by a long shot, but I always appreciate having them there when I need them most.

Blogging

1 | Evernote - I talked quite recently about Evernote and how I manage and organise my blog with it, almost to a point where I don't actually need the Blogger app on my phone, pretty ironic when it's my host. Evernote just works for me, when bookmarking other peoples posts, to setting up some social media scheduling on the go, to taking post ideas, to actually working on some of the posts. I avoided using it for SO long, and I regret it hugely, so I really recommend trying it out and getting it to work for you.

2 | Google Drive - Anyone with a Google account has access to their own Drive where they can keep documents, share things with people, or even make folders downloadable with PDF's and such, much like I do with my Goal Planner and Blog Planner. It's super handy for me to have access to these things incase anything happens with links through my blog, or somebody is looking for a quick link to a Planner or some documents I have. There's nothing more helpful than having access to your things quickly.

3 | Picasa Web Albums - Blogger users have all their media and photos stored in Picasa Web Albums by default once they've been uploaded, and yes, if you don't think you're ever going to need them for anything other than your blog, then you probably don't need this app, but I like to keep if anyway so I have access to any of my blog graphics on the go or without having to get my laptop. Having them handy when I need to download and share is always a good thing.

4 | Dropbox - I'm still learning quite a bit about Dropbox, and it's definitely my newest edition to my apps, but it's good in that it combines Google Drive and Picasa Web Albums so ALL your content and needs are together. I haven't moved everything, but I'm definitely considering moving more documents and blogging related things over, and I'm liking how it works on my phone too.

Social Media

1 | Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest - Quite a large chunk of my visitors and page views come from social media, so it's only logical that I would want access to my most used at all times. Without a doubt Twitter is the most used, followed by Instagram and then Pinterest, however how I use the three differs vastly. Twitter is most definitely an all day thing, checking, replying, socialising, it's all going on there throughout the day. Instagram is much less, maybe 3 times a day, morning, afternoon and evening, while Pinterest is much more sporadic, which isn't always recommended, but works for me, usually once a day at least.

2 | Buffer - I'm actually super ashamed to say I've only had the Buffer app for a few weeks, but WOW, what a change it's made. I've shared my love for Buffer plenty on Nellie, but I never considered having the app for fear it would be clunky and not easy to use, but it's made scheduling so much easier. Since I stick to the free 10 a day, having them all go out and nothing in reserves is something I worry about A LOT. The app takes that away, enabling me to create new tweets or rebuffer old ones if I'm going to busier for longer than expected. It's SO like to the desktop version is works so well.

3 | Later (nee Latergram.me) - I love Later. It's without a doubt changed how I use Instagram, and I shared 7 awesome reasons you should start using Later not too long ago, but having the mobile app is genuinely awesome. I can schedule everything on my laptop, and then post it through my phone at a later date, and it's so good for me. Getting the notification to say 'hey, you have this post ready to publish' is also super helpful since I get really distracted by A LOT of things when I'm in chill mode. You NEED this app.

Contrary to what you might think looking at this collection, I do actually try to not use my phone all too much for blogging related endeavors, and by dedicating time in the day to writing posts and choosing my empty days to get the bulk of the work done, I can usually resists draining my battery. The only app here that I tend to find slowing and battery draining more than the others is Kindle and Adobe, which is why I use those least. However, all of these apps make blogging and all things surrounding it a million times easier, and I don't know how I do what I do without them.

What are some of your go-to apps for all things blogging?

Embarrassing Habits Behind This Bumbling Bloggers Ways

2016-04-28T21:19:00.001+01:00

No matter how I've been blogging or where it takes me, I think I'll always be surprised when people say I'm an 'inspiration' or 'one of their go-to bloggers' because believe it or not, despite how organised I look, or how clever I seem, I have some extremely WEIRD blogging habits. I love being organised, and creating lists, and I love sharing all my experiences and the tools that make those experiences even better, but I'm not without my strange and alienating twitches. Of course, in normal Amanda fashion, I wanted to share these with you.

1 | I'm very rarely focused on one task

I shared what a typical blog-filled day looks like for me, and within that, I talked about all the tasks I spend my day doing, but in truth, it's very unlikely that they'd be spaced out or set in a particular order. In reality, it's a bit like a traditional cake recipe; the new recipes say to do each step individually, but back in the day, you threw it all together, and that's pretty much what I do with all my tasks.

Some tasks will have more of my focus than others. The perfect example being creating this post; I'm typing up this post with my notes beside me, but every now and again, I'll tweak and update Buffer to keep it full of social media updates, and when inspiration takes hold, I might just jump ship and get flashy with photography. Hell, when lunchtime rolls around, I'll bounce between checking out my feeds and hanging around on Twitter and Instagram, and that's because I don't have a set focus.

Surely that's really not productive? Like, how do you get anything done?

Rewards my friend, they work.

Let's say I started this post at 12 in the afternoon. I have a small plan with the points I wanted to make, but beside that, it's all a bit 'anything goes'. I'll keep writing the post until it's finished, and only when it's finished can I either a) spend some quality time with my games console, b) watch some really rubbish daytime TV or c) help myself to very naughty piece of chocolate cake in the fridge.

This way, I still have the freedom to do, quite frankly, whatever the hell I want in terms of blogging tasks, but the reward is only available at the end, which makes me more likely to get cracking with content quicker, because cake doesn't stay in the fridge forever.

2 | I'm either creative for blogging, or photography

I'm almost certain I can't be the only creative who struggles balancing different creative avenues. You see, the problem is, when I'm feeling creative for content and I suddenly decide I want to take photography, one of them always ends on the 'not how I'd imagined, but it'll do' box. Most days, I wake up and I just KNOW which creative avenue I'll be taking, if any.

Some days I wake up, like today, and I know I'll be churning out an entire blog post, complete with links and graphics and the whole shebang, and other days, zilch. Some of those other days turn out to be photography days, which usually end with my spending the afternoon viewing, deleting, editing and uploading over 500+ images, and only loving around 15 of them. The other days are just total flops.

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My Quick and Easy 5-Step Process to Editing Photos (With Picmonkey!)

Is there a reason for this crazy habit? You know, I'm not sure, but it certainly brings out the best in me no matter how it works. Writing and photography I find are very different forms of creativity - one involves the power of words to create a variety of emotions or bestow knowledge upon others, or just to rant, while the other is beautiful in an entirely different way. The story is the same, but the method is not, and that's probably why trying to mix to the two usually ends in both tasks being okay, rather than awesome.

3 | Some post ideas stay ideas for weeks, or months

I actually shared this habit a bit with my subscribers a few months ago, and even explored it a little when I shared why you should doubting yourself and write anyway, but some of my post ideas suck. They sound AWESOME when they first come to me, and between all the other content, all the other tutorials and advice and recommendations and tool talk, they end up feeling.. flat, like filler content, and I hate them.

That's why I usually let my post idea stew before exploring them.

Back in the day, I used to create a draft and add to the draft as I went along, adding ideas, taking them away and leaving them in my Blogger collection until the day I either went 'YES, time to write you baby' or I threw it in the trash. As good as that used to be, it was a serious motivation killer seeing it there when I was blogging, reminding me of my failures.

Now though, with Evernote, I can do exactly that but store it somewhere else where I can only access it and see it when I'm looking for it, which means my motivation stays up there while I let the post decide what it's doing. Some post ideas can be there for days until I explore them, expand them and share them, while others can be sitting, maturing, waiting for months before I think they're ready.

How I Organise and Manage My Blog With Evernote

It's a strange habit, and can sometimes result in me completely forgetting the direction of the post, or what I wanted the post to achieve, which usually results in writing a completely different post, but sometimes they turn out absolutely brilliantly, like my post on using Evernote. That post was over 5 months in the making after I mentioned it in another post last year, and in that time it changed a lot along the way, including finding it's way into the trash bin quite a few times. Just goes to show that sometimes you just have to give those posts time, or yourself, it's always one or the other.

4 | I like to write my posts in HTML

I realise this is one of the most crazy of my habits, especially for none-tech people, but it's almost a comfort to me now. It took me a while to get myself around the world of coding and tech-speak, but once I knew the basics and had enough of layout issues in Blogger, I bit the bullet and checked out the HTML aspect. Wow, was I horrified.

There were unclassified divs almost EVERYWHERE, word formatting from when I'd copied and pasted things from elsewhere, alignments absolutely everywhere, and in the end I just had to stop it from ever happening again. Now I write almost all my content in the HTML editor, adding in the alignments, the classes and ids as I go along, and getting the layout of my post how I want it to be has never been easier. It's not a blogging habit for everyone, but it works for me.

5 | I save ALMOST all my images as PNG

There are some general rules when it comes to saving your images, no matter what they're for, and Ashley covers them really well when talked about reducing file sizes, but I just have a habit of saving most of my images as PNG, even when I could save them as JPG.

I save my Instagram images as PNG.
I save my blog graphics as PNG.
I save my blog photography as PNG.
If it can be saved as a PNG, it is.

These are all some pretty bad or unusual habits, but we're not all perfect pineapples in this world, and we should feel like we need to be. Doing what works for you, whether it's a little crazy or not is all in your system. If it works, keep at it, but you don't need to do what everyone else does, or feel ashamed if you don't. Your blogging habits and your blogging journey is your own, and it's based on what you achieve, not the numbers you receive, so shouldn't we embrace our unusual and crazy habits as part of us? I think so.

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