I started looking in 2012
oh my goodness and it's been Wow
it's it's amazing that I started blogging
like seven years ago
Hey lovelies
I hope you do well welcome and welcome
to this channel if you're new here, I hope
you're here to stay and if you are an oldie,
well welcome home thank you so much for
tuning in thank you for coming by
around the 12th of July 2012 was my first blog
on Natural Sisters. I can still remember
at that time I was pregnant and
oh my goodness I was pregnant and had a
difficult pregnancy there was nothing
that I could do besides blogging. I was
so bored and I thought okay let me kind
of make myself busy let me put this on silent
because it's hectic okay so I
couldn't do anything else besides blogging
I couldn't work I was actually
unemployed at that particular time and
so that's all I could do and besides I
had gone naturally in 2011 January of
2011 was my last relaxer. So, a lot of
people, well my hair was thriving and I owe that
the pregnancy growth hormones and also
taking care of my hair like
intentionally taking good care of my hair
and so my friends were asking me
left right and center what are you doing
and like people are Church were asking
me what are you doing different and I
would show them these blogs that I was
following because I read blog upon blog
when I went natural, I was literally like
stalking certain blogs
I would show my friends these blogs
and they would be like,
"girl these are mixed we are not mixed and
our hair can never go past shoulder length
and all that no if you take care of it it
actually does grow. that's why you're asking
me how my hair is thriving and it's
because I am using these same practices
that these brothers are using and that's
why my hair is thriving. It was a hard time
really to try and convince them that
actually African hair, with out any mixture
of some sort, African hair does grow.
So, I took the challenge and said okay
look here, let me bring it back home
let me also document my journey.
And by then when I started blogging
I was still transitioning to natural hair
because I did a two-year transition and
I started documenting my journey growing
natural hair. That was in 2012.
Can you imagine? Like time flies when you're having fun,
right? okay so yeah so
it has been quite a good experience
it has it has always been therapeutic
actually for me writing because I love
writing. I often don't find enough time
to actually write. So the fact that I'm
writing on a blog I'm managing a blog it
encourages me to write even more and
when I write I just feel okay, like I'm in my
space I feel so so good when I write. So
basically that's why I started the blog
to find something to do and to write on
a topic that I love so much which is
natural hair. I start doing here when I was
in grade 6. Like neighbors and neighbors'
kids used to come to our house and I
would do their hair I would plait their hair
I'll advise them on what products to use
you know that kind of thing so I've
always been doing hair besides that I
went and got a college degree in
mechanical engineering that doesn't
affect anything I've always loved hair
and I've always worked around hair so I
was blogging on something that I lost so much.
And with blogging, especially when
you're like trying to put facts out
there, you have to research as well and
you have to keep information up-to-date
and that as well trained me in so many
ways on the new practices the new trends
and the things that I don't know about
hair, because knowing how to style hair and
knowing about a and two different things
and I'm so grateful for this blog
because it got me into like in depth
on working with hair
Natural Sisters has
also allowed me to start a product line,
to start an online shop,
and to start a hair salon
what else can I ask for like really okay.
when I started blogging I wasn't looking
at it as a business opportunity or even
something that could produce a business
opportunity like it did in this case.
I wanted to share my journey with you guys
and in that process it birthed Natural Moisture
which is the online shop and then
Nashe Organics which is the product
brand that I actually founded. It also
allowed me to start Nashe Hair Studio
which was started in 2017 August of 2017
so actually next month is another
anniversary you guys.
so this blog, just writing about hair
just blogging about hair
allowed me to do all those things like
the opportunities that it opened for me
the people that I have met, the new friends,
and you know like I never thought it
would turn into this thing that
it is now no definitely not
this blog also allowed me to have
sponsored posts. I've had my fair share
of sponsored posts and one of them was
Darling and then we are talking of ORS
we are talking of Head & Shoulder I
had a whole one year contract with
Head & Shoulders and then we also talking of
other product manufacturers that have
also got me on board as far as helping
them to formulate for the African Afro hair.
So, I had quite a number of sponsored gigs
and speaking gigs. So, that has been a lot of
fun as well including being on TV
several times and I'm so grateful for
all that opportunity that this blog
and my hard work of course has given me
A lot of people have been asking me
questions about starting a blog and how
they can start a blog and how what they
should blog the path and I'm like okay.
It depends on why you want to start a blog
is it for income then you're gonna
have to do that and lot like really get
into it. There is hard work there's
nothing like it's easy money or it's an
easygoing thing. Even if you're
blogging as a hobby,it is a lot of work.
I have been blogging for a very
long time as a hobby and even up to now
I don't depend financially on the blog
but it has been a labor of love and it
is quite a lot of work.
One of the things that you need to consider
when you want to start a blog
is why you want to blog
for me it was basically the love of writing
and the fact that I wanted to
document and share my natural hair journey.
That's basically why I started blogging.
So, for you you know what to consider
that question which is very
important and the first question that you
have to get an answer to.
If you answer that question very well,
why you want to start blogging,
that answer is going to
give you the drive to keep on blogging
even when you don't have time or you are
going through a rough patch and whatever
the case may be, it's going to give you
the drive and encouragement in the inspiration
to keep on blogging which
gets us to the next question what are
you going to be blogging about? There are
so many topics that anyone can blog about,
and for me it was something I was
passionate about which is hair. I've been
working with hair for a long time I'm
very passionate about doing hair about
DIY when it comes to my hair about trying
different styles as well. So my what was
basically hair. That's how this whole
thing started that's how my blog started.
It was sharing information on hair care
practices when it comes to Africa Afro hair.
So that's my what
so you find you what.
well there are so many topics that you
can blog about.
There niche and there are general topics
that you can blog about.
Which is what is very common in these days
a lot of people are basically turning into
lifestyle blogs which has got the advantage
that it doesn't limit you.
Whatever interests you is what you can
blog about. But if your blog is about
supporting a particular brand then
you're kind of limited in the kind of
content that you can put out there
because it has to be something that is
relevant to your brand so that you can
represent the brand very well.
So, that's the what are you going
to do blogging about.
And you have to come up with a
plan on how you're going to get financial support
or if you're going to
be getting any financial support from
that blog at all. You have to think out
all these things because if you are
going to be supporting a particular
and then you may not need to monetize
your blog but if you put out content
that is nothing to do with a particular
brand then you may want to monetize your
blog at a particular point.
especially if you aren't spending a lot of time
creating posts, creating content for your
viewers or your readers your followers
then you may need to find a way
of monetizing the blog.
either through advertisements or through
sponsored posts or through sponsored gigs
well these normally come after sometime
after you've accumulated a reasonable
following for these brands to pick you
as a content creator that is going to be
able to work as an influencer for their
brand. So that comes after some time.
You cannot come in after posting two posts
and then expect a brand to actually
sponsor you as an influenza because
they are looking at your sphere of influence
how many people are you actually going
to be able to influence on their brand
or about their brand.
So that's another thing, that you have to take into
consideration that is some hard work
that actually happens before you start
getting sponsored gigs.
The other question that you need to ask yourself
is where you're going to be blogging.
There are so many avenues and so many
platforms that you can actually use for
blogging nowadays.
There are so many content creators and influences,
that are doing micro blogging
on Twitter for example.
You can become a Twitter specialist,
someone who tweets like nobody's business.
You can do your blog on the Instagram on
Facebook on blogspot or on WordPress
or a self-hosted blog which is what I have.
Because Natural Sisters is naturalsisters.co.za
I prepare a self-hosted blog because
it gives me a lot of control as
in what is going to be on my blog
And things like Instagram and Twitter and Facebook,
are there to help me to actually promote
the posts that I have put on my personal blog.
So, that's how I like it.
So, you have to decide on where you want the blog.
I'm also good at this. But, the other thing
that you have to consider,
is how often you're going to be blogging.
When you're a content creator,
consistency is very important
I know life happens and you may not be
able to churn out post after post regularly.
For example, I had to take
quite a number of breaks when it comes
to blogging, I could not post every week
because I had to study. I was studying
Supply Chain Management and that kept me
too busy to the extent that I was not
able to post each and every week as planned.
However it is important to post regularly
Your readers need to know that
when they go to your blog each and every
week they are going to be able to get
something that they can read or even if
you are going to be posting each and
every day for some people they actually
post each and every day and these are
the ones that do blogging or do content
creation full-time.
And so, if you have told yourself
that you're going to be
posting new content every day,
then you make sure that you stick to that,
as much as possible.
I know life happens you may not be
able to do that every time, but if
you try by all means to keep to that
schedule that you're given yourself then
your blog should thrive.
So, that's basically the
why, what, where, how about blogging.
Just to recap,
you need to consider why
you want to start a blog,
what you're going to be blogging about,
where you're going to be blogging,
whether it's gonna be on Twitter, on Instagram,
YouTube or your self hosted blog,
and how frequent you're going to be blogging.
That's very important.
You guys, that's all from me today.
Thank you so much for watching and
please please do subscribe to this channel
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What's your takeaway from this video?
I'd like to know.
So please put it in the comment section below.
I don't want this to be a monologue.
I need as much feedback from you guys.
So let's turn this into conversation.
Have you thought about starting a blog?
Go on. Give birth to that idea.
If we don't give birth to it,
it will remain a dream.
And if it remains a dream,
you are the one to regret why you didn't start it.
So, you don't have to start with sophisticated
equipment, or a lot of time on your hands.
If you've thought about it, it's already conceived.
So give birth to that dream,
and just do it.
Thank you so much for watching,
I will see you in the next one.
God bless you.
Bye.