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12 Steps To Starting a Blog (the Right Way) with Bluehost

May 11, 2019

How to Start a Blog Using Bluehost

Before I get to the good stuff (allll the juicy tips), there are a few things every person who is serious about starting a blog should know. There will be a lot of money, time, sweat, and hustle involved, but trust me when I say it is all worth it.

The main takeaway I have learned thus far from Sweating Champagne is that you get what you put into it, and this does include doing it right from the very first step. I wish I had a list of the below steps when I first started out! It would have saved me A LOT of trial and error before I ended up hosting on Bluehost.I do use affiliate links for Bluehost in this post, however I would never promote something that I do not believe in. Afterall, it is what my own blog (my baby) is on! I hope the below steps give you a clear view of how to get started!

1. Decide What Your Niche Is

The most important step, and also the first step, of how to start a blog the right way is deciding what your niche is. Do you love to post about recipes and food from local restaurants? Your niche might be a food blogger. Does creating a new outfit of the day give you motivation to get up in the morning? Fashion blogging might be your calling. Whatever your niche is, it is crucial that you stick with it once you choose. Your brand depends on it! Consistency is a key factor of being successful. People want to know what to expect from you!

2. Choose Your Blog’s Name

Another crucial element of starting a blog is your blog’s name! Like your niche, this should not change once you pick it. Your SEO depends on it. It took me four months of brainstorming and research to decide on the name Sweating Champagne. I suggest writing down inspiration as it strikes – make sure it relates to the image and niche you want to portray – and confirming that the name you like is not already taken by someone else!

3. Find a Website Host

A website host is a platform that, literally, hosts your blog. Website hots are great because they keep your site safe and up to date. I use Bluehost to host Sweating Champagne. I like Bluehost the best because the have an easy integration with WordPress (the best content management platform for SEO ranking), they include a free SSL certificate on your site (HTTPS), have an easy-to-manage dashboard for viewing payments and current services, and are on par price-wise with other website hosting sites. Their basic plan starts at just under $10 a month. I started with the Basic plan, and have since updated to Pro just based on the extra features you get within the WP backend!

4. Decide on a Domain Name

A custom domain name ensures that you have a brand URL all to your own. For example, my domain name is www.sweatingchampagne.com. Sure, you can start with a free URL given by your website host or content management system and let it ride as is, however it is better to buy a domain name from the gecko to cleanly advertise your blog URL. Use the Bluehost Domain Name Checker below to make sure your desired domain name is not already taken!

GET STARTED

5. Purchase Your Domain Name

My domain name was bought through my website host, Bluehost. It was $11.99 per year for a .com URL. I recommend buying a domain name through the website host you choose to work with – instead of a third party like Go Daddy – because it makes it easier to manage all payments and services in one place. So, how do you buy a domain name through Bluehost?

Log in to your Bluehost dashboard and go to Domains → New Domain Search → enter desired URL into the Find Your Domain box → Get Started → Click the cart icon next to your desired domain name → Purchase. Wha-la! You now have a shiny new URL that is customized to your blog!

There’s one more part, however, to ensure you are doing it right! Once your domain name is purchased, go to Domains → choose your domain by clicking on the box → Renewal Options to the right → Auto-renew → Save. Trust me. You want your domain name on auto renewal to avoid the chance of someone snatching it the minute it expires!

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How to Throw a Galentine’s Day Party

March 3, 2019

Anyone that knows me knows I love themed parties, and I love even more to throw them! I get the hosting gene from my Mom, who always made every party so aesthetically pleasing and well thought through. Galentine’s Day has been, in my opinion, an underrated holiday to celebrate. This year I wanted to create a fun girls night to celebrate Galentine’s with my friends. There, of course, was a theme (Pajama Chic), food, and lots & lots of wine. Planning took about a month – this way I was able to slowly check off my list on things I needed to do and get. Below I have outlined what was included in the Galentine’s Day party and what elements will help your gathering stand apart from the rest!

Pick a Theme

Picking a theme is what will help shape the decorations, attire, etc. Since the party was going to occur at night, rather than during brunch time, I went with a pajama chic theme. Pink, red, and neutral colors were highly encouraged with the promise of lots of photo ops! I found really cute heart pajama set from Forever 21 for less than $30.

Decorate, Decorate, Decorate

Searching for decorations towards a theme is one of my favorite things to do. Like, ever. There are so many fun decorations to choose from on the Internet alone, especially on Etsy. My decorations were majority from Etsy and Amazon. I’ve linked my table decoration check list and the items used below!

Set the Table

It’s the little things that make a difference. For a dinner party, setting the table with style is so important! I felt like this was one of the main pieces to hosting a Galentine’s girls night. Find the items I used below!

Add Something Special

valentine's day flowers for dreams chicago

One decoration item that I was really excited to include at the Galentine’s Girls Night was a flower bouquet centerpiece from local Chicago business, Flowers for Dreams. Every bouquet sold from Flowers for Dreams benefits a local charity! The charities vary depending on month and bouquet. 25% of all of this year’s Valentine’s bouquets, including the Rose bouquet I used, went towards funding for those affected by domestic violence.

Create a Photo Booth Backdrop

Valentine Galentine Photo Booth Backdrop

Every good event in my book, big or small, has an awesome photo booth backdrop for taking event pictures. This really makes or breaks it for me! Setting up a cute, themed photo area was easier (and cheaper) than I thought it would be. For my set up I used my tripod and remote for easy group photo taking, a mix of Valentine’s Day balloons, two metallic tinsel foil curtains put together, and a conversation heart banner. Find the exact items linked below!

Do it Potluck-Style

While it might seem impressive to create a whole spread by yourself, the host is only one person. My recommendation is to have your event potluck-style. I created a shared Google Doc where my friends could sign up for either an appetizer or dessert. The shared doc let everyone see what other people were bringing so there was no overlap. As the host, I procured the main meal: pizza from Giordano’s. This was a super easy – and yummy – option to satisfy both the vegetarians and meat lovers.

Themed Galentine’s Day Treats

My sweet tooth wouldn’t let an event occur without a Galentine’s Day themed treat! I have worked with ECBG Cake Studio here in Chicago before and LOVE their creations. Everything – whether a custom cake or cookie – is always so aesthetically pleasing and tasty. For this event, ECBG Cake Studio created some boss babe cookies for our Galentine’s girls night. Sayings included messages such as Thank U Next, Netflix is Bae, and Be My Galentine. These were a big hit and sooo Instagrammable!

Pick A Main Activity

Eating pizza and yummy brownie cheesecake while drinking wine is fun, but every good event needs a main activity. Since we had a small group of seven, I chose to do Galentine’s White Elephant. The bag I chose had a choker necklace and bath bomb, which I love!

“Favorite Things” White Elephant Rules

Each guest was asked to bring a gift, between $10-$20, that included something that is their favorite.
We then went in order of birthday months (starting with those with a birthday in January) to choose from the pile.
After the first person goes, the following can either choose a gift or steal.
Gifts can only be stolen once.
When someone chooses your gift, you then explain why those items are your “favorites”. For example, my bag had Chips Ahoy cookies because I have a big sweet tooth, a face sheet mask because it’s one of my favorite ways to relax, and two bath bombs because I love to take baths.

By bringing your “Favorite Things”, it is easier to find a thoughtful gift to bring because it is something someone else can use and enjoy! After doing the Galentine’s White Elephant portion, we played a fun get-to-you drinking game using these fun cards from Amazon.

Galentine’s Day Goodie Bag

Everyone likes a little goodie bag swag. While you don’t have to literally give your guests a “bag” to take home, adding a few items for them to keep is always a special takeaway. For this event I found reasonably priced ‘Wine is My Valentine’ XL wine glasses & really cute ‘Be My Galentine’ socks from Target for my guests. These were appropriate for the theme and for a dinner event, however there are many different types of goodie bag items you can find for your own event. I recommend checking out Etsy and Pinterest for inspiration!

Throwing a Galentine’s Day party was a blast. Defiantly one of the more fun events I’ve hosted! I loved having a smaller, intimate group as I felt it allowed everyone to hang out with the whole group at the same time. I hoped my recap helps you plan your next Galentine’s Day event 🙂 Pin the images below to save this for later viewing!

How to Curl Your Hair with a Curling Wand

January 12, 2019

A good head of hair can turn your day from good to great. Or at-least that’s what I believe. My hair is naturally stick straight, so I like to give it a little extra volume each week with some curls. I have been using the 1″ inch (25mm) NuMe curling wand for a while and LOVE IT. I take my hair styling tools very seriously.

If your hair is on the longer end, I recommend using a 1″ inch curling wand. This width is great because it curls it enough to stay in tact through out the day, but creates loose enough curls for a city bombshell look. Win, win. I try out a variety of hairsprays, and most I like a lot. My favorite for the long run, however, has been TRESemmé TRES TWO Hair Spray Extra Hold. I always have a full and travel size can on hand.

Watch my YouTube video (embedded above) for a quick tutorial!

How To Increase Monthly Views On Pinterest From 6k to 20k In 30 Days

August 18, 2018

I still think Pinterest is underrated when it comes to its ability to share information and serve as a search engine. It’s actually my favorite social media platform following Instagram. If you are a blogger, wannabe influencer or Pinterest fanatic who wants help enhancing your profile, I highly recommend setting up an account with Tailwind.

Tailwind is a scheduling platform that allows you to connect your Pinterest (and Instagram) account to plan out and share posts. The tool is great for scheduling Pins as it takes in to account the best times for those posts to be pinned, however the real money maker of Tailwind are its Tailwind Tribes. Tailwind Tribes are essentially engagement groups you can join based on genre (i.e. specific to travel, women’s fashion, or just a general anything-goes group). Members of each Tribe are encourages to not only share their pins to the group feed, but also share others pins who add to them as well. By all helping each other share our pins, we help everyone get more eyes on their content.

Within a month of actively using Tailwind for scheduling and sharing Pins on Pinterest (I was actively engaging in three Tailwind Tribes – you get what you put into it with these) I saw my monthly views on my Pinterest profile grow from 6k, to 12k, to now currently 20k. When I first saw this I couldn’t believe it. I even double checked in incognito mode to make sure my profile was correct. But low and behold, a little engagement goes a long way. The best part of this type of engagement is that it only takes a few seconds to share someone else’s pin from one of your Tailwind Tribes and the content is usually something you would be interested in pinning anyway. Since then I have not only had more monthly views on my Pinterest profile, but an increase in Referral traffic to my blog’s site from Pinterest as well. This was all done using Tailwind’s basic free version (an upgrade option is available for a fee if you want more pin shares and Tailwind Tribe joins per month).

Sign up for Tailwind here! Have more Tailwind questions? Feel free to email me at sweatingchampagne@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram!

*Disclaimer: the Tailwind join link above is a referral link. If you join using it, you’ll get a free month of Tailwind Plus and I get a little credit towards my own. Win, win!