Assalamu alaikum, I am Khadija, a beauty, makeup and lifestyle blogger at Khadija Beauty. I am an engineer by education and a blogger by passion. I am from Ranchi but I was born and brought up in Salem, Tamil Nadu. I love my family more than anything else in this world but after my family, it's my blog that holds a special place in my life.
After finishing my engineering I was on a break for almost two months because you need that (engineers will agree with me :-P). I come from a business family and I never had a solid plan for a job and didn't want to work under someone. I started learning my father’s business and as days passed by, I sort of felt like something is missing. And at the back of my mind, I had this blogging idea for a really long time but I didn’t know how and from where to start this.
I wanted to do something on my own and I also wanted to blog. So I combined both to create a small space on the internet called ‘Khadija Beauty’, where I could write, interact and help people. To be honest, nothing really inspired or triggered me to become a blogger. I was not a blog reader at all. I used to see videos on YouTube but it ended there. Choosing a niche seems to be the biggest decision and the most important one in a blogging career. Little did I know, what I started was a beauty niche. Only later I came to realise that it is always good to have a specifically targeted niche!
So things were just falling in the right place and that is how I became a beauty blogger.
Firstly, to be very frank, it was not at all easy to start blogging. Secondly, I call myself as a full-time blogger but I would like to break the bubble that a full-time blogger only blogs all the time. There is a lot of backend work which needs to be taken care of. Even today, I sometimes find it difficult to cope up with everything but it’s alright because I love blogging.
‘How to start blogging’ was the biggest challenge I faced. I started writing on the free version of Blogger, shifted to a free version of Wordpress and then finally moved to a self-hosted site. But I didn’t know any technical stuff. I had no idea about how and from where to buy a domain or what is hosting - I knew nothing.
But that never stopped me. I saw zillions of tutorials on YouTube day and night and then finally bought the domain ‘Khadija Beauty’. But there were tons of other technical setups which I needed to do, about which I had no idea. I Googled everything and did 95% of the things on my own. Then my brother-in-law and a few bloggers helped me with the rest of the coding related stuff.
I used to break my head to learn everything technical and I’m still learning. Now when I look back, everything seems to be worthy enough.
By God’s Grace Alhamdulillah, after a month of establishing my blog, brands started contacting me for collaborations which boosted my confidence and motivated me to be consistent in publishing blog posts.
One more challenge which I face very often is when someone asks me, “What are you doing?” I don’t know what to tell them because here in Salem, a majority of the people don’t know what exactly blogging is yet and those who do, don’t consider it as a career. That’s why I feel it is important to create awareness about blogging and the fact that it can be a source of earning these days.
Though my main motive was not making money back then but now it is! If you are good at it then why not? Right? I started blogging in late 2016 and now it’s going good, Alhamdulillah. Time flies! It’s like I started everything just a week back but in reality, it’s been almost two years.
I always believe that no matter how old or how long you have been in a field, there’s always something new to see and learn. And for me, the journey has just begun, there’s a lot to learn.
I have over 13.9K followers on Instagram where I receive a lot of feedback about my blog posts but the most common thing people tell me is, “Love your reviews. It’s so detailed and very helpful.”
I feel grateful and happy every single time someone says that and buys products based on my reviews. Because that’s the whole point why I write reviews. This keeps me going and also gives me a sense of responsibility. So I make sure I am very straight and upfront when reviewing.
If you want to start blogging just start, start NOW. Because if I can do this with zero knowledge in this field, anyone in this world can do it. Make sure you produce good and original content. Always be true to your audience no matter what. As blogging is picking up the pace, there are a few downsides to it. I would humbly request all the budding bloggers to please not start it just for the sake of free products. Blog if you’re really passionate about something. Else you will end up being bored of this.
Blogging needs a lot of patience and consistency, so no matter what, be consistent in publishing and promoting your posts. You will see the results in 6 months. Patience is the key and if you love this then publishing every single post is going to give you a different kind of happiness. That moment when you write, edit, proofread your post and then hit the ‘publish’ button, has another level of peace and sense of satisfaction. You will relate to it when you start blogging out of your own interest and when you do, don’t forget to come back here and share your experience. I would love to know. And all the other bloggers who get a kick out of blogging, give me a high five!
What attracted me the most about SHEROES was their active communities and the fact that it is helping and empowering women in many ways - right from giving personal advice to career guidance. This is what I loved about it and many of my readers came to know about this platform. Kudos to the founder for such an initiative.
This story is written by Khadija who owns a Beauty Blog by the name Khadija Beauty. You can follow her here for more updates. Join our Beauty & Make Up community for updates and conversations.