Our editor Catherine Balavage’s new blogging book, The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger, is only £1.99 until the end of today. It has already had a four star review on Good Reads and a five star review on Amazon. Catherine was also interviewed in Best of You Magazine. The print copy of the magazine is out now. You can buy The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger here.
Frost founder and editor Catherine Balavage has been interviewed by Best of You magazine about blogging and her new book, The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger. You can read the interview here or buy the print issue here. It is a great interview with lots of tips on blogging and becoming a successful blogger. Check it out.
The Ultimate Guide To Blogging is Launched.
The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger by Catherine Balavage is now published.
ISBN 978-0-9929639-8-9
It’s all here, just take your time, and let the expert take you by the hand, and save you zillions of hours of stop and start mistakes.
Bravo, a book that needed writing …
Bestselling author Margaret Graham
Catherine Balavage, editor and founder of Frost Magazine, has published a new blogging book based on over ten years worth of blogging experience. Catherine founded Frost Magazine six years ago and in that time has made it into a successful online magazine. She first started blogging eleven years ago when she was a teenager with a LiveJournal blog. She is also one of The Huffington Post’s signature bloggers. Blogging has become huge in recent years and is only becoming more popular. The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger has everything anyone could want to know about being a successful blogger.
From design to advertising, social media and publicity, the book is everything you need to start your blogging career. The book is packed with hundreds of useful tips and invaluable information which will save you hours of time and give you essential information to develop your blog to its full potential. It also covers vlogging and how to market your blog. The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger is an in-depth and thorough book which covers every aspect of being a success in digital publishing. It covers various revenue streams, how to write the best content, how to take the best pictures, social media and SEO. Perfect for beginners or those who already have a blog but are unsure of how to take it to the next level, the book has a chapter on interviews with essential advice from other successful blogger, including beauty blogger Really Ree.
This is Catherine Balavage’s third book. She has also written an Amazon bestseller on Acting, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, and a wedding planning book, The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity.
The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger is available on amazon.co.uk and is included in Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deal. It is only £1.99 for another six days.
Do you take images from Google without checking the copyright and hope for the best? Then stop. Pictures from Google and other search engines are protected by copyright law. It is rare to be sued over an image, or even to get a cease and desist letter, but it only takes one mistake to lose vast amounts of money. If you want proof then here is one example,
Chrystie from Living for Nap Time blogged about green pepper coupons in 2014, she needed an image so did a Google image search for a photo of green peppers, found one she wanted and then uploaded it, months later she received an email from a lawyer stating that the image cost $750. Chrystie pointed out that it was a picture of a green pepper that you can get a lot cheaper, the lawyer responded that the law was on their side and that their client wanted $7,500 in damages.
Chrystie researched the person in question and found out that they owned lots of domains and seemed to be planting clearly-tagged pictures to boost the SEO of the pictures. Chrystie thinks they did this to optimise the pictures so bloggers like her would use the image and would then sue the blogger in question. Chrystie had to hire her own lawyer. Her lawyer advised her to settle the case even though the chances of it going to court were small because if it did go to court she would be liable for the claim and all of the court costs, which could cost $100,000 or more.
The truth is, if you copy a picture from the internet and it is copyrighted it is protected by law and you are liable for the cost of the image or even damages even if you link back to the original source. So don’t do it, it’s not worth it! This case is American and people in the UK may be less likely to sue but it is not worth the risk.
If you need free images you can search Google for copyright-free images by clicking on the options icon in the top right hand corner then going to advanced search. If you then scroll to the bottom you will get to ‘usage’ and can click on ‘free to use or share – even commercially’. There are a few options, including an option to modify images. It helps to take a screenshot of the copyright-free image to further protect yourself. Don’t get caught out. You can also take your own pictures which is the best option as you can then tag them and get hits via Google Image Search. I will do another post on where you can get free images for your blog soon. In the meantime, stay safe.
For more blogging tips like this check out my book The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger. It tells you everything you will ever need to know about blogging.
Frost Magazine is one of the entries in the 2016 UK Blog awards. We are in the lifestyle and food and drink category. If you have enjoyed reading Frost Magazine over the past six years then please vote for us. Thank you.
You can vote for us here until Monday 25th January 2016 at 9pm. Or click on the image above.
Crikey- is it me, or is running a blog harder than it looks? by Margaret Graham
Read the: The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger by Catherine Balavage and cut out the stress.
Catherine is the owner and editor of Frost Magazine, and I am her contributing editor. Working on a blog, or online magazine as I think of Frost, was a new addition for me, because my main thrust is as a bestselling author for Random House Publishers. (Arrow).
As the weeks, months, and soon – years –go by, I have learned a great deal from, and about, this extraordinarily generous and accomplished young woman. Not least is her amazing energy, not to mention her attention to detail. What’s more, she’s so polite, acknowledging and appreciating her writers for their submissions, whilst not taking her eye off the ball for a moment.
For a Luddite like me, The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Successful Blogger has been an eye-opener. It shows just how absolutely crucial it is to keep that eye glued on the ball, and includes numerous tips which would require a great deal of time and research to unearth on one’s own.
It’s a fascinating insight into just how much hard work and dedication, constant attention, and nurturing is needed. It put me in mind of running an enormous allotment, or nurturing a baby, or indeed a puppy – said from the heart as I introduce into the house a pal for Rosie our cockerpoo. None of these can be left for many minutes before things start to fall apart.
This book starts with basics, such as design, name and the benefits of blogging, through to the all important revenue streams, and how to determine what readers want, and so on. It’s all here, accessible and essential, and written in Catherine’s unmistakable brisk but friendly style we have come to know so well. Just take your time, and let the expert take you by the hand, and save you zillions of hours of stop and start mistakes.
Bravo, a book that needed writing, a book about to take off into bestsellerdom.
The Ultimate Guide To Becoming a Successful Blogger is available here.
Very exciting news for beauty bloggers; Handpicked Media are doing a series of workshops to help you up your game. The first one is about fragrance and is well worth the money. Buy before the 5th of October and tickets are £10, after that they are only £15. What are you waiting for? Buy now. The event is held at Conde Nast College.
Improve your knowledge and language of fragrance with our brilliant line up of industry experts.
Gain confidence and skill when talking and writing about fragrance through the years of experience our experts have from all aspects of the fragrance industry. With speakers from a leading luxury brand, one of the UK’s most famous beauty journalists and one of the biggest fragrance PR’s in London.
Meet Camille Goutal & Isabelle Doyen and hear about their fascinating story that takes them from Paris to NYC. Take part in a workshop with Jo Fairley, co- founder of The Perfume Society that focuses on finding out more about scent and how you can express fragrance in an engaging way to your audience. Hear from Nicola de Burlet on how to build a good relationship with a PR.
All attendees will receive a year’s subscription to The Perfume Society (worth £25) and a fragrance to take home.
When: 6:30pm – 8:30pm Wednesday 21st October 2015
*Please arrive for 6pm
Where: Condé Nast College, Soho, London
Price: £15 per person
Early Bird discount: book before October 5th for £10 tickets
The Experts:
Jo Fairley, The Perfume Society
A former magazine editor (Honey, Look Now) and journalist for a wide range of publications, Jo has always had a particular passion for writing about fragrance, and is twice winner of a Jasmine Award, the ‘Oscars’ of the perfume-writing world. Jo remains a Contributing Editor to the Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine, The Telegraph online and writes extensively for other monthly and weekly magazines.
Jo is co-founder of The Perfume Society alongside Lorna McKay, and edits The Scented Letter, the beautiful Jasmine award winning subscriber magazine of The Perfume Society.
Camille Goutal & Isabelle Doyen
Pianist, then fashion model, Annick Goutal discovered she had a genuine gift for creating perfumes and in 1981, opened her first shop in Paris. In her workshop, she pursued her love for beautiful raw materials and soon made a name for herself thanks to the originality of her creations such as Eau d’Hadrien and Petite Cherie, which are still best sellers to this day.
Annick Goutal bequeathed her love of perfume to her daughter Camille and her lifelong colleague Isabelle Doyen, who since have become the House’s perfumers.
Nicola de Burlet, Kenneth Green Associates
Nicola is the head of press at KGA, with many years of experience working with perfume. Founded in 1990, by Kenneth Green, KGA is one of the largest distributors of cosmetics and luxury fragrances in the UK, representing over 25 brands and has won many fragrance industry awards.
Krista Madden, Handpicked Media
Beauty industry expert and MD of Handpicked Media, Krista Madden has owned a successful hair and make-up agency, and is the founder of www.beautyandthedirt.com, one of the most successful independent women’s websites of the last 15 years.
On Thursday I headed to Amazon HQ along with other fashion and lifestyle writers and bloggers for an Evening for Fashion & Lifestyle Influencers hosted by Amazon.co.uk. It was an entertaining evening, full of information and amazing, inspirational people. There was informative talks by fashion and blogging industry professionals, and the Amazon Fashion team also gave a great talk.
I checked out the fashionable people and eat far too many biscuits and canapés. Professional Blogger, Ella Gregory (CocosTeaParty.com) was brilliant, giving amazing tips and talking endearingly about how she got started. Cosmopolitan journalist Gemma Royston-Claire was up next. Gemma gave great advice on writing engaging content and giving readers what they want. “People click for inspiration, education or entertainment.” Gemma said. Good advice indeed, and she should know as she started off with her own blog and now writes for Cosmopolitan Magazine. After food and drink we learned about Amazon Fashion. I was left very impressed with what Amazon had to offer and Frost will hopefully be doing a collaboration with them soon. I wanted to start shopping right there and then.
Freelance Fashion Stylist Rachel Story was next. She styles for HELLO! Magazine amongst others. Rachel gave some really great tips on styling. She is obviously at the top of her game and I learned a lot from her.
Lastly, Reena Rai from Fashiondaydreams.com talked about How to use Affiliate Marketing. Reena was definitely the most stylish of the evening. Head to toe in black and lace accessorised with killer shoes. She gave great tips on how to monetise with affiliate marketing.
The evening finished off with a Q&A with the Amazon team. The Q&A was great as I learned a lot of little tips to improve the SEO of Frost. Thank you to Amazon and all of the speakers for an amazing evening.
About the speakers:
Ella Gregory, CocosTeaParty.com
@cocosteaparty
London based, full time fashion blogger. Listed in The Independent’s Twitter 100: Top 10 Fashion.
Gemma Royston-Claire, Journalist
@gemfatale
Currently writes for Cosmopolitan magazine. Previously had an award winning column at Company mag, alongside her blog: www.gemfatale.co.uk
Rachel Story, Fashion Stylist
@Rachelstory29
Works with brands including HELLO! Magazine, Harvey Nichols & Ted Baker.
Reena Rai, Blogger
@Reena_Rai
Reena runs FashionDayDreams.com, alongside her day job in luxury retail. She’s a successful affiliate marketer.