Hi beautiful people! I'm Tiffany, and I blog over at Endless Bliss, which is a happy lifestyle blog where I share inspiration and happiness along with my love of books and my lust for travel. I'm subbing in for Olivia today to share some of my favorite tips to give to newbie bloggers. I've never considered myself an expert on anything, and blogging is no exception, but after two years, I feel like I've picked up a few tricks here and there. While in some aspects, I still consider myself a newbie (don't ask me any HTML questions - yikes!), I have done enough trial and error to know a few things that can make your blog go from being unnoticed to having frequent visitors. 
1 // SET UP YOUR BLOG IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS There aren't enough words for me to tell you how using Google Analytics has completely changed my blogging game. I was using the Blogger Stats page to tell me how well my blog and individual posts were doing, only to find out several months later that all of that data is pretty much inaccurate and irrelevant. Not only does Google Analytics show you more accurate data for pageviews, it also shows you where your traffic is coming from (social media, Google searches, etc.), which of your posts are getting the most impressions and visits, a live feed of people that are viewing your blog right this instant, what keywords are bringing people to your blog, and so, so, so much more. 
2 // ORGANIZE YOUR BLOG POSTS USING LABELS Back when I first started blogging, I thought that using Blogger labels was going to help bring my SEO up (not that I knew what SEO was back then, but since I do now, I can put a words - or words - to what I thought it was doing. For those that don't know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization). In other words, I thought that the labels I used on my blog posts were going to help people find my blog posts in Google searches and such. Boy, was I naive. I used about 10-15 labels on each post, and they were obnoxious. Now that I know that labels are for internal use only, I limit my labels to 1-2 per blog post, and I make them pretty general, such as "books," "travel," "inspiration," etc. For more info on using labels properly, you can check out this handy tutorial-ish post. 
3 // MAKE SOME BLOGGING FRIENDS When I think about how my blog got started, I'm embarrassed to even talk about it, but since we're friends... My blog started off as a rant blog, essentially. It was pretty much my passive aggressive way to let the world know about the little nuisances that I dealt with in my every day life, whether it be about friends or my job, or my dissatisfaction with life in general. There's really no wonder why I didn't have any readers back then.  So what changed that for me? Making friends in the blog community! How did I make friends in the blog community? I joined blog networks and communities! There are so many different ones out there. Some are just general groups, some are for social media engagement, some are by niche or age group or location. Every blog community operates differently, but for the most part, it helps you discover new bloggers and make connections with people you may not have been able to otherwise. The blogging world is huge, and you can make it a little smaller by focusing on the blogs in a certain community or group. If you're looking for an awesome blog community to join, check out The Blogging Elite!
4 // PICK A NICHE I'm still struggling with this one, but I've narrowed it down a lot since the beginning. My rant blog became a lifestyle blog, and within my lifestyle blog, the main things I blog about are books, traveling, and inspiration. While other topics may come up, for the most part, those are the main things that people come to my blog for.  Picking a niche will not only help you stay organized, but it'll also help people find your blog and keep coming to it. If someone finds an awesome recipe on your blog, they're likely to come back to find more recipes, but if you only talked about recipes and food that one time, and you never talk about food or cooking or anything of the sort again, then that person will probably never come back to your blog again.  A handy way to pick a niche is to look at the labels that we talked about two tips ago. Which labels are you using the most? Use that as a factor, because apparently, you're writing about that a lot. 
5 // IF YOU DON'T THINK IT'S INTERESTING, NEITHER WILL ANYONE ELSE You know what totally sucked about my first few blog posts? I showed absolutely zero personality. I was half-anonymous, just ranting about whatever I wanted, and it could have been anyone on the other side of my blog posts. I didn't see a spike in engagement on my blog until after I started showing my personality. I realized people wanted to get to know me, the person behind the blog, and it's the same for you!  If you're blogging about something and not showing your personality, then it's likely that no one will come back to your blog. You didn't make an impression on them. Showing your personality is what makes your blog interesting; it's what makes it unique. Don't write about something that you don't want to write about. Don't write about something that you think you should write about just because everyone else is writing about it. Write about what you're interested in and let that interest and passion flow through your fingertips onto your blog post. That's what's going to keep people coming back. 
6 // BE RELATABLE You know when you read a blog post, and you keep thinking "me too!" after every single sentence. Create content like that. Create blog posts that make people think "me too," because if someone can relate to you, then you've pretty much made a new best friend. 
7 // BE ON ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA One of my biggest blog regrets - not starting a Facebook page for my blog from the very beginning. I feel like I missed out on so many opportunities for sharing posts and creating loyal readers by not having a Facebook page from the very beginning. All of my other social media pages (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) started as personal profiles and kind of morphed into a personal profile/blog profile. Facebook was the exception.  I know other bloggers who have separate social media accounts for their blog, which is fine, but if you want to do that, you should definitely start the social media accounts ASAP! The more social media, the better. Why? Because people love choices! Some may prefer to only view blogs on Twitter. Some may prefer just looking at bloggers' Instagram accounts. Some people may like to have their Facebook news feeds filled with nothing blog updates (not me, but each his own). Whatever the case may be, have social media accounts along all avenues so people can view your content on their website/app of choice.  Social media accounts to have:  -- Bloglovin: essential for all bloggers! -- Facebook: fan page - not a group or a friend account -- Twitter -- Pinterest: most of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest! -- Instagram: I don't use it for my blog much, but I still have it listed on my blog and have my blog site listed on Instagram. If you're a fashion blogger, Insta is essential!
8 // DON'T STEAL PHOTOS Okay. This was a hard lesson learned for me. Not hard in the sense that I got sued or anything. More like hard in the sense that I had to get rid of a lot of photos on my blog. Apparently you can't just take any photo you want off of Google. Nope. Those are all copyrighted, guys. My advice would be to take your own photos or use stock photos. (Check out this awesome round-up of stock photo sites here!) Alternatively, you can go through the avenues of asking for permission to use the photos and listing image sources on your site. But the moral of the story is: Don't take random photos off the internet to use on your blog. 
9 // MAKE YOUR BLOG PRETTY When people started saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" and "It's what's on the inside that counts," they weren't talking about blogs. As artificial as it sounds, blog aesthetics do matter. If I visit a blog that isn't aesthetically appealing to me, I'm unlikely to visit again, especially if something's hard to read or find.  You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on a blog design. If you know HTML, you could design a few things yourself using free sites like PicMonkey or Pixlr. If you don't know anything at all about HTML or design, you could find a relatively cheap blog template on Etsy for $20 or less. There are also some blog designers out there who are either trying to build their porfolio or don't charge an arm and a leg to build someone a simple blog design.  Just like you take the time to do your hair and make-up and get dressed in the morning for work or school or to run errands, you should take the time to do the same for your blog. Dress your blog up, and make it look nice. A pretty blog design will go a long way.  I hope you found these blog tips helpful! You can find more tips and tutorials on my blog by visiting my Blog Tips page. If you want to see more from me (or become my new BFF, because you can never have too many), you can visit my Facebook page or follow me on the Twitter. 

Liebster Award

Hey everyone! I've been nominated for a second time for a Liebster Award by Farrah from Fairyburger! Thank you Farrah for nominating me! If you want to read my post on my first nomination for a Liebster Award click here!

Farrah's 10 Questions

1. What's your favorite comfort food?
My favorite comfort food is definitely chocolate. I will eat just about any type of chocolate except white chocolate. For some reason I feel as if it's fake chocolate and just doesn't taste as good to me as dark chocolate does which is my all time favorite! If I'm at the store and going to by chocolate, I always end up going with the Dark chocolate raspberry filled chocolate made by either Ghirardelli or Lindt!
2. What's a recipe you've come across recently that you'd love to try/make?
So I've been on Pinterest for like the past 20 minutes deciding which recipe to choose for this one. I'm obsessed with anything flavored pumpkin and am obsessed with chocolate. So I decided to go with pumpkin brownies! They look incredible and I'd love to make them! However, I'll have to change up some of the ingredients to accommodate the fact that I have to eat gluten-free.
3. What's a super irrational fear that you have?
Hmm this is a tough one. I think I'll go with seeing birds. I have absolutely no reason to be afraid of birds. I've never been attacked by one and I've never seen one attack someone. I'm not afraid of like one or two birds though; just big flocks of them. Every day when I walk home from class at 5pm there is this huge flock of birds (about 100) that flies over my head. I literally hyperventilate when I see them and can't look up.
4. If you could win an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?
The place that I would go to would be Fiji. This past summer I volunteered at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I love everything under the sea and would kill to go scuba diving in their coral reefs. I would also love to go to Nadi in Fiji to see all of the handcrafted objects at their markets. Touring Nukubaluvu Village would also be amazing because I would be able to participate in a sevu-sevu (gift) ceremony and dance with grass-skirts. As you could tell, I've done a good amount of research in the past haha.
5. What accomplishment from 2014 are you most proud of so far?
My biggest accomplishment that I did this past year would probably be asked to be a mentor for freshman at University of Indiana. It is such a great honor to be considered for this and to be able to help others in whatever they need help in. Freshman year could be a stressful situation especially if you're not used to being away from your friends or family. The transition from high school to college is intense and being able to help lessen that is a great thing to be asked to do.
6. What's your favorite way to treat/pamper yourself?
My favorite way to treat or pamper myself would probably be getting a massage. I know that's so cliché but it's true. I don't get one often but after each semester is over, I treat myself with a massage. Finals week and the semester as a whole is so incredibly stressful and being able to finally relax without having to worry about homework or exams is a great feeling!
7. What was your favorite childhood book?
When I was younger my favorite books were The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I loved the adventures that they had and what they overcame. I literally was obsessed but I haven't read them since I was a lot younger.
8. Favorite movie that you've seen this year?
I definitely have to go with Mockingjay. I'm OBSESSED with The Hunger Games and have read the trilogy like a hundred times. I loved how the plot of this movie wasn't about the games like the first two movies. I won't say anymore about the plot in case no one has seen it yet! I also have to say that Liam Hemsworth is beautiful in this movie! However, I'm super pissed that I have to wait another whole year for the second part to come out.
9. What are 3 of your favorite posts from your archives?
I have only been blogging since August and am soo grateful on how well my blog is doing! My 3 favorite posts would have to be my Helpful Study Tips, my 25 Before 25, and my Reverse Bucket List posts! Be sure to check them out if you have tim!
10. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
I'm for sure most looking forward to my birthday this year! On February 26th I, finally, turn 21! Most of my best friends are already 21 and I can't wait to finally be able to go out with them! Also my boyfriend is going to be 24 in April and I'm excited to be able to go out with him and his friends!

My Questions For My Nominees

1. What would you think your spirit animal is?

2. If you could pick a decade to live in, what would it be and why?

3. What is the best trip you've ever been on?

4. What is your favorite quote that inspires you?

5. If you could meet anyone famous, who would it be and why?

6. What super power would you want to have?

7. What is the meaning behind your blog name?

8. What do you like to do besides blogging?

9. Are you a morning or night person?

10. What piece of advice would you give to other bloggers?

I'm nominating my fellow Lifestyle 1 tribe members!

Madison from The Wetherills Say I Do

Rebecca from Rebecca Chapman

Daniela from Lifestyle with Danny

Samantha from Second Chance Mom

Corinne from The Feminist Feline (but you were also nominated by Farrah as well!)
Jen from Escape & Inspire

Can't wait to read your responses ladies!!

xo

Olivia

November Blog Challenge- Day 16-22

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you all had a great week! I've had a pretty stressful week finishing up homework assignments before I left for Chicago for Thanksgiving break! Soo excited to see all of my friends, family, and Ky!

Day 16- Proudest Moment
Hmm this is a tough one. I think my proudest moment was being nominated to become captain on my dance team my senior year of high school. Dancing has been a huge part of my life and I was lucky enough to become a leader for my team! On top of that, we also won state that year!!

Day 17- Meaning Behind My Blog Name
The meaning behind my blog name is fairly simple. I'm in college and I wanted to share my experiences from college and my life with people who can relate either in college, about to be in college, or was in college. Being able to help with writing is really important to me!

Day 18- My Collections
There are a few things that I collect. I'm big on collecting shot glasses. For some reason everywhere I went I would buy a shot glass to remember it! I have soo many now. Since people know that I collect shot glasses, I have gotten some from family, friends, and Ky from places that they've gone as well! I also collect books and hope to have a huge library in my future house!!

Day 19- Difficult Time In My Life
I think one of the hardest times in my life was my freshman year of college. I loved that year too so that's a little confusing. While it was a great year at school, it was hard being away from home. It was my first year away and was such a change for me. It was also the same year that my dad and sister moved to Indiana. It was definitely a big change for me and a very difficult time to go through.

Day 20- Fave Foods
Oh I love this one! My favorite food is for sure sushi. I literally could eat sushi all day every day. Ky and I always get sushi when we're going somewhere for dinner. We always go to a place in Wrigleyville in Chicago called Oh Fusion that is "our place". It's amazing food and such a cute, little restaurant!

Day 21-Best Thing That Happened This Year
This one's easy! One of the best things that has happened this year is that I started blogging! I've always wanted to start blogging and finally created one in August! There were a lot of bumps in the road but now I'm finally getting the hang of everything! Such a great thing to keep steady during my days!

Day 22- Dream Job
My dream job has changed like a million times lol. When I was younger, I would say I wanted to be a teacher. When I got a little older (about high school time), I would say I wanted to be a surgeon. That one was crossed off the list when I realized I can't keep my hands steady. Now, I would say that my dream job would be to work for the government and help keep the public informed on health facts. Keeping people safe has always been important to me. The plus side to this is that I got to kind of combine my two previous dream jobs! Luckily, I'm very grateful to be able to say that I'm on my path to getting my dream job!

xo
Olivia

November Blog Challenge- What's In My Bag

Hey guys! So I'm starting to participate in Farrah's November Blog Challenge! I loved reading about this and wanted to join her in all of the fun!
I know it's November 7th so I'm starting a little late. From now on I'm going to post the challenge for each day! Today is about what's in my bag. I don't usually carry a bag around with me. I typically just have either my black or dark red cross over purse. The only things that I keep with me is my phone, my wallet, a pack of gum, my keys, a pen (just in case I need to write something down), and my favorite Sephora lipstick.

Since I go to college at Indiana University, I usually have my backpack with me. In that I keep whatever binder I need for each class, my little bag of pens and pencils (every color pen because I color code everything), my Lily Pulitzer planner, my amazing camelbak water bottle that has a built in straw filter (I'm literally obsessed with this), and my wallet with my school ID. I know I'm a little boring when it comes to what I keep in my bags. I feel like when I get out of college I'll actually have a bigger bag to keep basically everything in it (like my mom)!

My question to you guys is... What do you keep in your bags?

xo
Olivia

Liebster Award!

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award!! If you don't know what it is, it's an award that goes around the blog community for new bloggers or bloggers under 200 followers. Aka me! It's a great way create a larger traffic to your blogs and officially join the blog community! Once you're nominated you get to nominate other blogs and answer a few questions. How fun!! Thank you Corrine for nominating me for this award! You're the best and I love your blog! Make sure you check it out everyone!

Here are the rules:
1. Post 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer the 11 questions provided by the person that nominated you
3. Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer
4. Choose up to 11 bloggers to nominate and link them in the post
5. Let your nominees know that they've been tagged and no tag-backs
6. Only nominate blogs with under 200 followers

My 11 random facts!!
1. I've been dancing since I was 2 years old. I'm obsessed with dancing and watching dances! I literally could watch a dance competition all day long (and I have many times)! I was captain of my Poms (dance) team my senior year of high school and I dislocated my knee and after state I don't dance as much as before (fear of dislocating it again).
2. I have the biggest obsession with Ellen Degeneres. Like an obnoxious obsession. I literally send about 8 videos of her show a day to Ky while he is at work. He always says how he sometimes thinks I love her more than him haha oops!
3. My family is one of the most important things to me. I have a large amount of cousins and I'm close with basically every single one of them. We're always together and or constantly texting or snap chatting. We even have a Facebook group!
4. One of my favorite foods is curry! I'm LOVE the yellow curry with tofu in it. Theres a little restaurant called Little Tibet here in Bloomington, IN. If you're ever in this area you have to try it!
5. I have a crazy addiction to Starbucks. But like who doesn't these days. I literally drink it twice a day sometimes more and am officially on my way to getting my gold card! Free drinks?? Um of course!
6. Volunteering is a huge part of my life. I dedicate a lot of my time to volunteer work. I love being able to help someone that needs help or just someone to hang out with. I also don't just stick with one charity, I love to give a little to multiple ones. 
7. I'm allergic to roses. This is a super random one but I actually really am allergic! It sucks cause I can never get roses from anyone. I wish it was just like a little rash kind of thing but it actually affects my breathing. 
8. I love hiking and being outdoors. However, I HATE camping in a tent. It's soo gross and just not my thing. Hiking is amazing and a great workout. It's especially great if you get to see a great view while hiking aka my recent trip to Israel.
9. Audrey Hepburn is my favorite female icon. She's beautiful, has a powerful message, and Breakfast at Tiffany's is just all around amazing.
10. If you didn't know before, I'm in a long distance relationship. Ky and I just had our 1 year (YAY!!) and I'm just head over heels. Luckily we're not long distance when I'm home from school (he's out of college).
11. A little less than 5 months till I turn 21!!! 

11 answers to Corinne's questions
1. Why did you decide to start blogging? I wanted to be able to help people. I write a lot about helpful tips in college, health, and just random personal things. I love being able to talk to people and share the things that are going on in my life with others.
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? I hope to accomplish creating many relationships through the blog community. I think it's a great thing that people care about others when they barely know them.
3. If you could only eat only one food prepared the same way for the rest of your life, what would it be? I would definitely eat an avocado sushi roll forever. I love avocados and having that protein plus some carbs from the rice would be semi healthy haha.
4. Cats or dogs? Sorry Corrine but I'm going to have to go with dogs. I have a legit obsession with German Shepards and Shiba Inus!
5. Where do you see yourself in five years? I can see myself being married and having a child or two. I know I'm young but I want to have a big family (4-5 kids). However, I will definitely keep working after maternity leave.
6. What was your dream job when you were a kid? This is actually kind of crazy but I wanted to be a marine biologist. The crazy part is that I'm actually studying to be a dietician for marine animals. Kind of like what I wanted as a kid!!
7. Who is your favorite Disney princess? Ariel from The Little Mermaid! How can you not want to be a mermaid!?
8. What's your favorite band? My favorite band is Fleetwood Mac. I LOVE Stevie Nicks!
9. Do you use Tinder? I actually don't use it. I don't really understand why people like it soo much
10. Who inspires you? It's really hard for me to pick just one person to inspire me. I honestly can't pick one. I get inspired in so many ways through music, books, quotes, movies, and real-life people!
11. What's your favorite DCOM movie? I'd have to go with either Halloweentown or Motocross. I've always wanted to race motorcycles cause my dad used to race them. I also LOVE Halloween so basically any Halloween movies are my favorites.

My nominees!
Payton from Ramblings of a Wild One
Caitlin from The Pearl & The Pilot
Ellie from Eat, Play, Live 
Alyssa from Alyssa J Freitas

11 questions for my nominees
1. What is your favorite vacation place?
2. If you had to save one thing from a fire, what would it be?
3. What do you think is the most important thing in life?
4. Since Halloween is coming up, what's your favorite Halloween costume that you've been in the past?
5. What's your favorite book to read?
6. Candles or incents?
7. What is your favorite type of date night?
8. Who is your idol?
9. Texting or calling?
10. What's your favorite TV show?
11. What made you decide to blog?

This was a lot of fun! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!!
xo
Olivia