1. Created Opportunities
Did i start blogging with the aim of making a fortune out of sponsored posts and quitting my job to write all day from the shores of Barbados sipping cocktails? Absolutely not and if that's why you're thinking of creating a blog then don't..no seriously. Blog simply because you love to write and want to share topics and products you're passionate about with the world.
Getting paid is always a great feeling but at the end of the day brands are in it for their own self-promotion and not for your overall success. A sponsored post here and there and a few gifted products have been a blessing but certainly not a reason to keep on the blog train.. hang on is that a saying? No...no it's definitely not..
2. New Blogger Friends
Before I started my blog a little over a year ago now I had no idea just how great and supportive the blogging community is. I've had nothing but encouragement and amazing feedback since launching The Guy On Trend, and also made some great friends along the way!
3. Better Self Confidence
Creating a blog is great fun but to get people to actually read it is a massive challenge, and one that is only overcome by doing a lot of self-promotion. Joining twitter chats and constantly communicating with brands and bloggers to swap ideas and discuss partnerships is a daily occurrence, and one that involves talking yourself up a lot. Over the past year I feel like i've learnt a lot of skills here and can really promote my brand to others.
4. Passion
Before launching The Guy On Trend I wasn't passionate about a lot of aspects of my life, and didn't have a huge array of hobbies to speak of aside from music. Blogging has given me a whole new sense of worth and motivation to succeed, which I can really feel works its way into other areas of my life. It's often so hard to keep motivated to blog when you're so aware that hardly anybody on Earth actually consumes your content, but if you believe in the quality of your posts that's what matters.
5. Creating Goals
My blogging hobby has really helped me set goals both for life and for The Guy On Trend. I now find myself planning out my weekends according to what content needs writing and it's really helping me make sure i get stuff done. I really want to start creating monthly blog goals like increasing my Bloglovin followers by 25 etc. This new addiction to goal setting has also started to translate into other areas of my life and that feels great.
Here's to another year of blogging and loving it in 2017! What has blogging done for you this year?
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Now these are by no means cheap so let's see what you get for your hard earned £289.99. In the box the first thing you'll find is this neat carry case, which is study enough to survive a flight or camping trip with ease. Inside you'll find your headphones along with a couple of handy accessories including an in-flight adaptor so you're not stuck with the AWFUL quality headphones we're forced to use on long haul flights! Great addition.
Now let's move onto the headphones themselves. In terms of build quality you'll struggle to find anything as luxurious as these for less than £300 on the market. The over-the-ear cups feel great and much more comfortable than the Beats Studio alternative. In just a few clicks you can connect to your iPhone, iPod or any other bluetooth device and start listening in minutes.
Battery life also easily exceeds 20 hours so you won't be charging them more than once a week, which is a huge bonus but they also take less than an hour to charge so even if you're running low it's easy to give them a quick boost on the goo using the USB adaptor for plugging into a laptop.
The only negative I can really come up with is that they don't sound great when you choose to listen with the noise-cancelling function turned off. In fact you're probably better with a pair of Apple's out of the box headphones because these things sound BAD. You can see Bose has put a huge amount of effort into these but if you ever did run out of charge just do without.
The Bose QuietComfort Q35s are £289 and available here.
Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones - Black
Here's my first ever guest post on The Guy On Trend, by Niamh!
This is my first ever guest post and let me tell you I am beyond excited! I should probably start off with who I am and all that good stuff. I’m Niamh, I have been blogging for around 3 years, 2 if you include the countless amounts of times I have fallen out of love with blogging. I mainly post beauty related blog posts and dabble into YouTube-ing but I’m not partial to a good old lifestyle post. Now that’s over and done with let’s get onto the post!
A gift guide for her. Boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, dads and anyone else who needs a good kick up the ass to get the gift buying started listen up!
- Treat yo girl! – Get her an early Christmas Eve gift. Most women are complete and utterly stressed and exhausted by the time Christmas Eve rolls around. Buy her a nice cozy PJ set complete with matching slippers and dressing gown, throw in some Christmassy lush bath bombs and maybe even a face mask for good measure. Run her a bath and give her the few relaxing hours she deserves while you cook a meal. I swear any girl would melt into a big puddle if their significant other was to do this.
- Dads this one is for you! – don’t do the whole “smelly gift set” for yet another year. Think outside the box. Buy her a luxurious candle that she probably wouldn’t dream of buying for herself. At this time of the year us women love candles lit around the house or our bedroom, it creates a cozy and relaxing vibe.
- Got a gym lover on your hands? – I’ve got you sorted! Spoil her rotten and buy her a new full gym get up. Or create a cute gym survival pack, include mini body sprays, face wipes, a new water bottle, some hair ties and some cute trainer socks.
- Sentimental value – Is she all about making memories then documenting them? Go to your local craft sore and pick up a scrap book as well as all different little bits and bobs that she can use (tape, ribbon, stickers, stamps, embellishments). You can just stop here or you can go one step further and get some pictures printed off from one of the best memories you share together, write her a little not in the front of the scrap book and place all the items into a big Christmassy box.
It's been a little while since I've written a post on my latest skincare favourites or gents grooming tips on the blog so I was thrilled when Alpha Grooming asked if I'd like to take a look at a few items from their brand new collection.
Alpha Grooming is a family run skincare brand from the West Midlands that specialises in creating high quality gents grooming products and gifts sets. They pride themselves on quality and only create small batches of their collections, which are infused with premium essentials oils that smell incredible..we'll get to those in a little while!
I started off by trying out the Mandarin, Lime & Basil Clay Facial Cleanser - £9.99*
This nourishing handmade cleanser is enriched with Kaolin to remove and draw out impurities and from the first few uses I can already see and feel the difference. My skin feels so soft for hours after use and insanely moisturised to boot.
As I mentioned earlier, the presence of such unusual scents such as Mandarin and Lime give this cleanser a unique smell that instantly gave me the feeling of being at a luxury spa - when in fact i was just stood in my bathroom! It really oozes quality and feels great on the skin too. Not too oily but
At just £9.99 for the 100ml pump action bottle it's a real steal and now forms part of my daily routine.
This was easily one of the most revitalising and skin calming moisturisers I've ever used. My skin is a mixture of oily and dry so I'm always on the look out for a daily routine that helps my skint absorb moisture quickly, but without leaving a shiny layer behind. The Alpha Grooming gel certainly lives up to those expectations.
Don't forget you save £5 on your next order over £20 from Alpha Grooming using code ALPHA5 at checkout!
*This post was sponsored by Alpha Grooming. All views are my own. For PR enquiries contact me directly here.
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