<h1>Brown-Eyed Girl's 3rd Birthday!</h1>

I can't quite believe it myself....

 It's Brown-Eyed Girl's 3rd birthday! 

The relationship with my blog has been a long and fascinating experience full of meltdowns, mind blanks and mishaps but has also been very rewarding and inspiring, and funnily enough has probably actually lasted longer than some of my actual relationships....
In today's post, I'll be ranting on about some of the things I have learnt from the past three years of owning a blog and  I'll also be sharing some of my favourite tips to help for those who are considering starting up a successful blog.

Choose your collaborations wisely 

It's not rare that bloggers get to work on incredible and wonderful projects with fantastic brands but it's also not rare to find yourself in odd situations, probably the weirdest  project I had ever been offered was by a swimwear brand (I won't mention names) to try out a range of their swimsuits and style them in a holiday lookbook..... the only problem was that I had to return every single one of the bikini's and swimsuits back for another blogger to wear.

 To everyone's surprise.... I politely declined the offer.

 Same thing goes for working with companies that really don't appeal to your reader's interests or your brand. If you are solely a beauty blogger, you may not be doing yourself favours by writing about dishwasher tablets or meat hampers. 

Hustle, Hustle, Hustle

The only way to build your own community really is by putting in the work....or if you don't fancy it, buy your own followers and fake your way to the top.... oh the shade of it all, but that's a rant for a rainy day....
Be in it for the long run and if you keep grafting you will start to see improvements, I can assure you.....No matter how small those achievements may be.

Be Yourself

This sounds so incredibly cliche, but it really is true. There is room for anyone and everyone. Stick to being you and try not to get yourself caught up in trying to become someone else. Chances are....if you continue to stay true to yourself, people are more likely to engage. with you and then you can start to build real genuine relationships with your readers.

You may have crap grammar, but don't worry about it too much!

This is quite a biggie to me. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to grammar and find myself having to sort out all of those nasty spelling mistakes. It's okay, no one is perfect and It all takes practice.... but I really do apologise if you are reading this or ever read any of my posts and want to scream blue murder at the screen.

A little tip for fellow grammar strugglers like me, download the app Grammarly....

Total lifesaver.

It's okay to express your thoughts and feelings

If you have been reading my blog for quite some time now then you would know that the past couple of years have not been the best for me emotionally.  The main thing that I have learned is that it really is impossible to suffer in silence and it's really important that you do share how your feeling. Okay you may not want to share those feeling online, but 

Support your local girl gang

Thanks to the wonderful world Instagram, I have met and discovered so many amazing and inspiring women in the blogging/social community. The blogging world can be full of negativity and it's super important to always be kind and support other bloggers. We are all on the same journey!

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Sometimes it can get a little overwhelming, when you feel like your behind on blog posts and social media and feel like your in a bit of a rut, but try not to get too worked up about it, It will only cause unnecessary stress. Take your time, work at your own pace and most importantly enjoy what you're doing! 

I just want to say a massive Thankyou to all you lovely people and to brands who have supported my blog over the past few years, I can't wait to see what's in store next!
Sending you virtual love to you all! Here's to the next three years!

Muchos Love
Paige
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