Editor’s Note: The Great Reset
I’ve been phoning it in for a while now.
I would write on the blog (inconsistently) and work on Pinterest (also inconsistently).
Somehow everything worked out though.
No one really knew who I was behind the blog, I didn’t have an About Me page with a picture and I wasn’t on social media.
In fact, I’ve avoided social media for quite a long time, because I just felt overwhelmed by it.
I felt like the beauty community and social media space was changing so rapidly that there was NO WAY I could catch up.
Plus, I’m not really a makeup girl.
I wear makeup every day and I change up my techniques, but I’m really not a classic beauty guru girl.
I’m not a skin care girl.
I don’t have glass skin.
I don’t have a really perfected routine that would be something to aspire to.
So, If I can’t teach you about makeup, give you the aesthetic of makeup and beauty and I don’t have commentary to give you or controversy to give you then…do I have anything to offer in the current beauty space?
Even thinking about what I could offer was just so daunting that I held off on social media pretty much all together.
Well, lucky for no one, I don’t have an option anymore.
At the most inconvenient time I received a gift.
If you’re a blogger or in the writing blogging space, you know that Google has changed so much with their helpful content update (September 2023).
Websites, like this one were completely obliterated at the end of 2023.
I hold very few rankings in Google now. Pinterest is my only friend.
So, I’ve had to reset, and not because I want to.
It’s more of a setback than anything else, but I have to think about this in a positive way.
I’ve got to think about this as an opportunity.
If I started my blog today (basically I am), what would I do differently? What do I want to represent? and what’s the goal?
People don’t care about beauty blogs anymore.
Some of the most popular beauty bloggers (with a website) have transitioned to YouTube or TikTok.
No one wants to read 2000 word posts on one mascara.
Actual beauty blogging is kind of a thing of the past (circa 2014).
But I’m still here…writing posts that no one reads for a reason that won’t make sense for at least a few more years.
And because I refuse to give up on my dream of a digital beauty space and online beauty magazine that really feels like a community, I’m going to use this “reset” as a stepping stone to my future.
There’s so much that I’ve learned about blogging and Pinterest, and so much that I WILL learn about social media.
There’s almost no way that this won’t be a good thing for me…if I just stick to it.
Yes, I should have gotten on social media sooner.
I shouldn’t have put all my eggs in one basket either.
As a matter of fact, me being scared about expanding and “putting myself out there” is what killed my blog.
Google demands that you become a brand…everywhere, not just on your blog.
To them, if you’re not a brand off your website, they can’t verify that you’re actually a brand at all, and therefore you could be spam or “not helpful”.
The result? It buries your posts deep within the pages of Google.
The thing that I was avoiding for so long is the EXACT THING that sent me back. Ugh.
So, reset it is!
Here’s my point.
Finally we’ve gotten to the point? How am I going to survive on TikTok?!
Starting over is not zero.
It’s an opportunity to carry this 8 years of knowledge, information, and secrets with me (IYKYK).
Maybe I’ll be able to make progress sooner this time.
Social Media + Blogging is still daunting, but there IS a way to make it work.
I wouldn’t have done this reset if I wasn’t forced to by good ole Google.
But a forced reset may be a sign from above.
A positive sign that there’s more work to be done and greater heights to reach.
So I’ll take this delusion of positivity and keep going…because I have to.
xoHanya.
Editor’s update: I’ve had to restart my restart because Meta didn’t like any of my social profiles. So never try to resume old profiles, they don’t like that. Restart 2.0 has begun with a new Facebook Page, and Instagram Page (w/Threads).
