Hellooo guys!

So today I am publishing a post which I never thought I would write, let alone publish onto my blog. ‘Make It Rayne – A Year in Preview’. Not a review – a preview.

I have seen almost everyone posting their ‘2016 Goals/Blog Goals’ etc etc post and I have never been into these. I would just scroll right on past – even if it was my friends’ blog. However, after randomly reading a few I realized the purpose behind them is just. Everyone has their goals, right? Why not put them out there; nothing will give you the determination to strive towards what you want more than if other people are there to see you succeed and to cheer you on.

I am still a pretty newbie blogger (Make It Rayne will be one years old on the 13th) but so far, in my experience, apart from a few awkward moments, the South African beauty blogging community is one of amazingly friendly and kind-hearted girls (with the odd guy in there). Therefore I shouldn’t have an issue with putting my personal thoughts out there for everyone to see; that’s what blogging is about anyway.

So here we go; I have blogging and personal goals to share with you.

BLOGGING – posting

  • To bring in a blog series which I stick you PROPERLY. My Lip Look series always gained pretty good views but I never quite managed to post exactly once a week like I planned. Whether I carry on with this series or start a new one, I want to be totally consistent.
  • I NEED my blog photography to improve. Sometimes I produce amazing photos and other times I can take 200 pictures with none that are usable. I am going to find a course to go on this year and make sure that I improve!
  • I definitely want to rebrand my blog this year. I have been chatting to some people for the past few months and I have a pretty good idea of what I want..
  • I want to start sending my media kit off to brands to possibly work with in the future. I have always been told that this is a HUGE NO-NO but these last few weeks I have chatted to fellow bloggers who send their media kits off to PR companies constantly, which results in more work for them. I was just always under the impression that you are looked down on if you do this. Internet brain washing, hey!
  • BE HONEST – Okay. This is a double edged sword for me and I am going to try and articulate it as un-confusingly as possible. As a newbie blogger I do not receive press drops frequently. However, when I do receive, and decide to post a positive review, I get the weirdest feelings of guilt. Since 2016 started I have seen SO MANY ‘Be true to yourself’ posts and so many comments of “don’t blog for the PR company – blog for the truth” etc etc. Which of course is true, but then I am wracked with guilt when I post positive reviews on products that just so happened to be freebies. For the record – I ALWAYS state when a product is a press drop. I actually had a bad experience this year when I had a few foundations delivered as a press drop and I posted rave rave Instagram posts and Tweets about the foundation. Someone online slated me as only posting about it because it was a drop and “did you even have the time to properly test it out” when – if she had bothered to do her research – I had bought the actual product myself AND posted a review on it in October – which is THREE whole months before I received the press drop. That kind of thing just irks you out so much!! Anyway, I am letting this entire point run away with me. From now on, I will NOT care if I love a press drop. I won’t nitpick and find negatives just to “balance” the review out. I will be true to myself – and if that means raving about products then thats that.
  • And then FINALLY I am going to try and cut the length of my posts down. I generally tend to ramble on – I can’t help it – I have SO much to say! Ironically this post has gone over 1100 words and I try to stick to about 600. Most blogs I read only do around 350 – 450 words. I much prefer reading lengthy blog posts but I know a LOT of people will just exit a post if there is a lot of content. I am going to have to work super hard at this one…

BLOGGING – stats – This was my most nerve-wracking section to type. I have so many blogging friends and the one thing that is still weird for us to talk about is who gets how many views. So for me to openly put onto the internet what kind of stats I am after, is scary stuff.

  • I want to get to 1000 Twitter followers by April. And to 1500 by the end of 2016. ALL of my followers on every platform are organic, which is why it will go slowly. I am all for “growing with the times” but I still do not believe in buying followers on ANY social media platforms.
  • I want to reach 1000 Instagram followers by the end of 2016. I only joined Instagram in September 2015 so I am way behind in the InstaG game! Do you want to grow your instagram account like me? Check out my tips on how to get free followers!
  • On days that I post, I have amazing blog views. When I don’t post they are almost non-existent. I want to averag 300 daily views, whether I post or not.

PERSONAL

  • My biggest thing I need to change this year is to put down the phone. My poor boyfriend has asked me time and time again to please switch my phone off at the end of the workday. I work a day job, I blog, and I do part time media work so my media work has to wait until home time aka I am immediately onto my cell phone to answer emails and partake in that day’s social media. This freaks both of us out. He needs me to himself and I need to wean myself off the damn phone.
  • Following on from the above point, I need to prioritize and not put so much onto my plate. I shouldn’t be working as soon as I get home. I need to schedule blog posts in advance on the weekends so my weeknights are free from being on my laptop. This will be the hardest point of all of the above. But I have to do it!

SHEW! SO I actually wrote one of these posts.. can you believe it! I almost can’t. Now all thats left is to schedule a time for it to go up and all my personal year goals will be online. EEK!!

What do you think of my preview post? If you have written a similar post please leave the link below – I would LOVE to read it!

Rayne xx

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