Starting Your Blog

Since I started blogging, I have received more questions about "How to start a blog" than any other. Blogging is now the big "thing" to do. With so many blogs out there, it is really impossible to accurately determine the number of blogs in the UK or rest of the world. If this was possible, we would also need to look at how many blogs are active or dead and, how many have meaningful establishment. Not all blogs are good blogs and not all good blogs are reachable due to SEO functionality and many other computing jargon. 

Starting your own blog is not an easy task because you have to keep update of it and make it interesting to keep your followers and attract new ones. There are five critical questions you MUST ask yourself before creating your blog. Rather than giving you some steps, I have questions for you. They are as follows:

1. Why do I want to create a blog?

Like I've mentioned before, creating a blog is not as easy as it seems. It requires a tremendous level of determination and persistence. Don't create a blog for the sake of it or because your friend has a blog. You should create a blog because you have an alluring content to share with many. This content could be anything, from fashion, music, poetry, design to literally anything at all. Once you've decide why you want to create a blog, this leads to the next question.

2. How do I create a blog?

You can create a blog using blogger. This is the same domain as this blog or you can use Wordpress. From experience, blogger is more easier to use and can take between 10-30minutes to create depending on your computing skills. Blogger is straightforward and with Google+, your content can reach more audience. Downside to creating using a public space is that you don't own the domain name, for example- my blog appear as eighteenf.blogspot.com. Blogspot.com is a public domain owned by blogger. If you wish to buy your domain you might lose your followers as your blog will not be visible to those using blogspot.com/co.uk. As always, we are concerned about the cost of blogging. So you ask....

3. How much will it cost to start a blog?

It is FREE to start a blog. Beware of so called "web designers" who ask for payments before creating a blog. The only cost you might incur is for creating your own domain. For example, if you do not wish to have www.myblog.blogspot.com instead www.myblog.co.uk 

4. What is my blog name?

A very good question that you might struggle to answer. Give your blog a creative but memorable name. Don't use codes only understandable to you. Use names or words that people will remember. When promoting your blog, make sure you use this always (in your emails, messages and so on). To prevent copyright issues, check online to make sure no one is currently using the name. Avoid unnecessary stress and humiliation!

5. How do I promote my blog?

This is the most difficult part of owning a blog. Promoting and marketing your blog is the fundamental tool to keeping your blog alive, otherwise it will soon be a dead blog wasting space on www. You can promote your blog through social media sites. I will suggest you create a Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest page specifically for your blog (use blog name!). Keep personal information to a minimum and focus on your contents. Also, join communities of bloggers such as IFB (Independent Fashion Bloggers). Once you join communities of bloggers, you can network and build on your niche. Your niche will determine your following. There is no such thing as "narrowing your content will reduce your following". Total rubbish! There is something for everyone. If you want to be a food blogger, you might want to consider what areas of food you want to blog about. For example, you might want to focus on pastries/baking rather than meals. Therefore, pastry will be your niche in your description as a food blogger. 

Copyright: This article is owned by Eighteen Forever. Please ask for permission before using. 

BET Awards Best Moments

#BETAwards took place on Sunday 29th June in US but, for many of us, it was aired on Tuesday 2nd July. Judging by the performances, this was the best BET Awards ever! Lots of performances on the night, great host (Chris Tucker) and a very fashionable crowd too. What was interesting was the collaborations between different genres and artists. Erykah Badu and Kendrick Lamar were great and so was Chris Brown's opening performance. Despite the negative press that surrounds him, he is a great artist!

Was completely moved by Dwayne Wade's life story and how he has made a success of his life through hard-work and sheer determination. A young man from South Chicago faced with ruthless life experiences in his neighbourhood but chose a positive life for himself and of course, his family. He now gives back to his community who gave him nothing. A true hero! More people should pay attention to such individuals and make a better example in their communities.

You can't ignore how in-love they are. Gabrielle Union is a smart, classy young woman. Perfect match! Watch on next project- #BeingMaryJane on #BET

Another great moment was watching the legendary Charles Wilson rocking like he was 25 yrs old again. He was joined on stage by Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion and Pharrell Williams to perform some of his timeless hits. Missed it? Catch it on #BET

The queen of sliding, breaking, humping and everything "dance", yep you know it- Ciara. She dances like anybody's business and makes it look so damn easy. Always great watching her performances.

What do you think of this year's BET Awards?

Photo credit: BET Awards

Designer Spotlight: Eighteen Forever On Ciaafrique

Many thanks to Ciaafrique Team for this feature.

Please follow this link to read more: http://www.ciaafrique.com/2013/06/designer-spotlight-eighteen-forever.html

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever

Passion For Motherland

Charities do a great deal of work to support developing communities worldwide. So when Lisette Mibo invited Eighteen Forever to her forthcoming fundraising event for "Save the Congo", it was a definite Yes and, as always an honour to be invited. Lisette Mibo is a BEFFTA Award and Congolese Award winning model based in London. Originally from The Democratic Republic of Congo. Lisette is now using a well earned platform as a model to create positive change in her home country. This is what she had to say- “The whole idea of the event is to bring together an eclectic mix of live music, poetry and fashion showcase for a deserving charitable cause“. 

When: 10th August 2013
Where: 17-25 New Inn Yard London, Greater London EC2A 3EA 
Time: 6pm-10pm 
Tickets: £7 in advance and £10 on the door

Save the Congo is a charity campaigning to tackle the four major problems that give rise to killings, raping, uprooting and abuses in Congo. These are the 4Is – Impunity, Insecurity, illicit trade of minerals and institutional failure. Please visit their website for more information www.savethecongo.org.uk 

Photo credit: Lisette Mibo & Save The Congo

Catwalk4Change

An important event scheduled for Friday 6th September at The Waterlily Mile End Road in London- "Catwalk4Change".

Eighteen Forever has been invited to showcase at this event. I will be walking the runway with designs from the website (www.eighteenforever.co.uk) for positive change and, it would be great to see you all FAB Peeps there!

About time we bloggers take a stand against inequality and injustice in the fashion industry. Fashion plays a very crucial role in today's society. Hence, an influential tool to create positive change globally.

Tickets for this event will go live on 1st July. See you there!!

Photo credit: Catwalk4Change 

Lime va va Ley

Take a bliss at today's outfit. Lemon is the ley-way forward. Indulge!!

Photo credit: Eighteen Forever

Let's Change The Way We Shop

Wednesday 24th April was the worst industrial disaster to hit Bangladesh in its history claiming over 1000 lives. According to reports, this is the worst industrial human catastrophe in Asia since the collapse of Bhopal in India in 1984. The eight-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapsed whilst workers were in the building producing garments. The army general official in Dhaka revealed that, 2500 people were rescued from the site and many were injured. However, there is no accurate record of people on site at the time to determine the number of people still missing. This is still a great concern, as many relatives camp outside the site with the hope of reuniting with their loved ones. Absolutely deplorable!

On Friday 10th May, a young lady by the name Reshma was rescued from the rubble after seventeen days in it. This is an incredible story of survival, hope, persistent and faith. Not many were quite lucky or blessed to be out there alive after so many days. Reshma claimed she survived on dry food and bottle water. There are so many important, yet unanswered questions from both the Bangladeshi authorities and the EU. EU authorities claimed that changes will be administered in agreement with Bangladesh officials to ensure safety of workers. This seems like a logical deal, considering that, garments produced in this factory are made for large retailers in developed countries. At present, there is huge distrust between government officials in Bangladesh, media and the community in regards to the lack of cohesion and consistency in their messages.

At the moment, only one positive move has been made. The arrest of Rana Plaza owner- Mohammed Sohel Rana and seven others. From research, it appears that Mr Rana is allegedly a criminal who made his success by exploiting vulnerable people in his own community. The vice-president of Dhaka district Awami League, Ashrafuddin Khan told the BBC that, "Rana controlled an underworld gang in the area, and used it to run drugs and extortion business. If the authorities were aware of his actions, why was Mr Rana not investigated? 

Unanswered questions:
1. What triggered this incident?
2. Who will be held liable?
3. What was the age range of workers at Rana Plaza?
4. What were their working conditions?
5. How are you affected by this disaster?

I hope that you can find it within you to share your views. I know it is disheartening but, if we talk about, it might change the way we view the world. "Let's change the way we shop". 
Let's talk.

Article credit: Eighteen Forever

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