Blog Anniversary: FashStyleLiv is 1

Hi My Lovelies,

I cannot believe it has been one full year today since I started blogging. It's amazing and a huge milestone for me. I am sure you may have heard me talk about the whole blogging beginning in a few posts here and there but as it is the anniversary; I think it's perfect time for a story.

Blogging Background/Foray
Many of you may not know but I started blogging at first in 2008 or so when I first heard about blogging (although, I think blogging may have been in the radar way before I even got wind of it). I started a blog and only uploaded one post (the shame!!). I didn't even understand what blogging meant so I never continued. Fast forward to 2010, I started blogging again although I was not very serious with it. I just posted every very few moons and I really wonder how on earth my readers still stayed put. But they did-the amazing lot they were. These other blogs are still alive (sorta) but they are all private blogs now.

Starting Afresh

I would say a series of events are linked to my blogging and moving to London played a big part in it. In 2013, I moved to London from Manchester to start a new job and I was really excited. You see, 2013 was a special year to me because it was the start of many new beginnings for me. Moving and living in London was amazing  and a new experience for me although I had been there (or is it here as I am writing this from London) so many times I can't even count but visiting is not the same as actually living here and soaking in everything that makes London tick. I also got my iPhone and I discovered how much I loved taking pictures on it. I was so pleased I could download many photo editing apps and bloglovin which kept me in sync with all my favorite blogs. I was intrigued to see that blogging had changed immensely and it was a whole new world which I was even more interested in. It slowly started replacing my love for buying magazines and now I just buy the odd one if it has freebies or download straight to my iPad. Although there is still something special about reading a hard copy magazine I just don’t buy them as often as I used to.

Fashstyleliv was borne

I had been seriously thinking about starting my own blog but I really wanted to get it right or at least make fewer mistakes so I could be consistent and regular. I thought of so many things I liked about blogging and topics to blog about and I settled for beauty and skin care with random lifestyle, photography and hair care posts. I thought of a name and settled with Fash Style Liv because I wanted to incorporate my name with Fashion and Style although I don't really have many fashion posts (hehehe). I got my domain name because I didn't want to have a blogpost.com or .co.uk and I felt a domain was more professional. I bought a template, took a few pictures and I wrote my first blog post and hit publish. It was a beautiful feeling which I wanted to get over and over again hence why I have been posting ever since then.....

Keeping on

For a long time, I didn't have many views and I won't say that did not bother me but I was not obsessive about it. I loved to blog so I kept on blogging because I actually just enjoyed reading my blog posts after a few days and it just seemed like a little accomplishment. Slowly but surely, I started getting more views and even subscribers, it was incredible to me. I got some social media links like Twitter for my blog, Instagram (personal and for my blog all rolled into one), Facebook,  Pinterest, Glipho, Reddit all to share my blog posts and I started getting more views, readers and even comments. Fashstyleliv also has its own bloglovin link here (notice how I am shamelessly promoting all my links!!)

A little recognition

Then, one day I went to ITSU restaurant in London (post here), I took some photos and blogged about it. They loved it; shared it on their social media pages, left me comments and thanked me on twitter. I was so pleased and my views even doubled and that post is still one of my favourite posts. One day, I stumbled upon Gamila Secret Cleansing Bar (post here) and tried it. I loved it and reviewed it. Gamila Secret got in touch with me about my post saying how much they loved it and offered to sponsor a Giveaway for my readers. It was amazing to feel appreciated for what you do even if you love doing it. More brands started getting in touch for reviews of their products; some I have said Yes to and I have loved working with them e.g Nanshy Brushes, Leonie Skincare, iPromise, The Photography Show UK, RavPower, etc. Many I have turned down because I felt it didn't fit the scope of my blog but always with a polite email. During this time, I have hosted a few giveaways in conjunction with other brands and two other ones by myself and I have been very pleased with the response. Thank you so much to everyone who participated and the brands who sponsored it. I am planning a big giveaway to celebrate my blog's one year anniversary so watch this space for more on that.

What I have learnt

I wish I could write all I have learnt but it is impossible. I have learned so much from you my readers, from Google (my best friend), other blogs and tutorials. I have a few posts here, here and here if you would like some blogging tips. Personally, I feel like I have grown within myself and become more confident in many areas because of my blog. Believe it or not, my blog has influenced my working ethics because I write many work reports better now and many publications that I have been involved with at work have benefited from all the knowledge gained from blogging. I have become more confident especially during interviews , presentations and meetings with people at work. I have improved my photography skills and editing skills as well. I have learned so many technicalities that happen at the back office of blogging that it's incredible to think of all I can do now because of my tiny blog. I am grateful and feel very blessed to have accomplished a few things in my personal life, education and career but this blog is one of my favourite accomplishment...I feel it’s that needed topping on ice cream-the salted caramel on the ice-cream of life.

Future

Who knows what the future holds but I can say for sure that it's very bright, promising and hopeful. I will continue to blog and take many crazy pictures as much as I can because this blog is like my baby whom I nurture to achieve above and beyond consistently. I got my blog a birthday present- A Canon 600D Camera and it was a huge spend for me (and the blog) but I have wanted it for almost 2 years now and I think this is the right time to get it especially after blogging for a year so expect better pictures moving forward. Photography is a constant love for me and all the pictures on this blog were taken with either my trusty iPhone or my Nikon Cool Pix. Others were taken with my FujiFilm Bridge Camera. At the moment, I have had almost 100,000 page views within this first year and it's amazing!!! Thank you so much for all your support, comments, likes, shares, sweet words. You can never understand how much you mean to me and how helpful everyone has been in one way or the other. Times when I have felt low, I just receive this lovely comment, tweet, message or repost from one of you and it's so beautiful. Thank you once again and this is to many more years to come..xx