Blogger Conversations: Questions every blogger should ask themselves

During the October Stylish Beehive meetup, Apryl and I had a very stimulating discussion about what it means to develop your niche and the importance of a social media presence in blogging. It was wonderful because this was the whole point, in my mind, of fashion blogger meetups. To meet like-minded people who not only understand what you're talking about when you wax poetic about the optimal lighting and backdrop for an outfit post, but are actually interested in it, too.

Apryl and I hit on several different topics, jumping from one tangent to another, with a small dose of ranting in there, too (hey, venting can be healthy, right?). Here are a couple of the topics/questions that came up that really struck me as important.

One: What's your niche? 

It's been said over and over that niche blogging is the smart way to go. It's what sets you apart from the vast sea of fashion bloggers out there. But I found this question surprisingly hard to answer. What is my niche? What sets my blog apart? What do I have to offer that brings people back?

Apryl made a great suggestion with starting by figuring out what your niche is not. For example, I know I'm not a great shopper that knows the ins and outs of finding great deals. I also know that, while I know how to do my own makeup, I'm not a beauty expert by any stretch of the imagination. Using this process, I already feel like I'm starting to get a better view of what exactly my niche is.

Two: SEO and your social footprint. 

I admit, I had a lot of fun talking social media with Apryl. It's nice to have someone who doesn't roll their eyes when I say "I have to get a post up on Facebook really quick". We talked about how it's important to understand some SEO basics to improve your Google ranking, but that your social footprint is probably more important. It shows how you interact with the internet world and broadens your reach.

While having a full-blown, up-to-the-minute presence on every single social media platform that's out there is probably impossible (in our opinion, at least), it's important to know what's out there so you can find what you like best and use it to your best advantage.

I'm interested to know, what do you consider you niche? Have you clearly defined it? And are you using SEO and social media to expand your blog's reach?

Stay tuned for next month's Stylish Beehive meetup. There might even be a fun beauty activity in store.