I. Show us an activity you enjoy doing. Tell us how you think it contributes to your personal and professional development.

By: Basma Al-Razzuqi

An activity I enjoy doing is blogging

For years I have been

collecting images of brides,

weddings and beautiful

themed parties from

magazines as a hobby.

I have all the images saved

in several books over the

years.

I was never sure what to do

with all the pictures I have

collected.

I decided to start a blog last year. The idea came to

me while I was helping my sister plan her wedding.

She had a difficult time finding a wedding planner,

florist, musician.

I decided to create a blog that would be a directory for

all brides-to-be in the region to help make the

planning process much easier than what we went

through with my sister.

I also wanted the blog to combine all the inspirations

and themes that I have gathered over the years.

I named the blog Bridal Thoughts.

While the blog can be more of a directory, I decided

to open an Instagram account to share daily

inspirations through pictures.

Instagram is a supportive marketing tool that helps

generate footprint to my blog.

Instagram is a great tool to connect directly with my

followers and get immediate feedback on what they

like and don’t like.

Blogging is a powerful form of expression. It can help

educate, inspire and connect people together.

It can bring money, fame, and connect you to people

from around the world.

More importantly blogging helps you develop skills

that are beneficial for both personal and professional

development.

Constant learning process:

◦ By blogging, not only do I learn a lot about bridal

topics, but creating a blog has also helped me

learn about valuable skills such as web design,

social media, copywriting and search engine

optimization.

◦ I created my own website design and logo and

constantly think of ways to develop the website

and rebrand it.

Discipline:

◦ Posting routinely is very difficult. You have to

constantly research the industry you like and find

inspirations.

◦ You have to maintain the quality of the information you

post on the blog in order to gain the trust and credibility

from the readers.

◦ After maintaining that routine for several months, I

realized that I am more confident in my writing.

◦ The time and effort along with maintaining the

consistency of quality has made me much more

disciplined.

Networking:

◦ Having a blog and an Instagram account creates a two way

communication.

◦ Every post is subject to a comment and interaction which

creates a relationship with the readers.

◦ It’s a great way to meet people and form relationships with

creative and motivated people.

◦ Blogging can also broaden your professional network which

can open new career opportunities for you. For example, I

am currently working on making my blog a directory for

wedding planning and hope to include the names of

wedding planners in the region. In the future, this can get

me connected with international event planners and can

maybe start a new career opportunity.

Marketing

◦ In order to have a successful blog, a blogger has to invest

time in marketing.

◦ With the easiness of the use of the internet today, there are

many people who can compete with my blog.

◦ This has made me to consider ways to market my blog and

generate more traffic.

◦ One way I chose to market my blog was opening the

Instagram account. Instagram is very popular in the Middle

East. I could reach out to different people who are users of

Instagram and not necessarily daily blog readers.

◦ Another way to market my blog would be writing a guest

post on a famous blog. This way I would be publishing to a

brand-new audience.

◦ Thinking of ways to market my blog is a helpful tool for my

professional development.

Becoming an expert in your field

◦ Blogging requires continues reading and

research on the chosen niche.

◦ I subscribe to several bridal magazines, read

books and attend events for inspirations and to

stay up to date with the latest bridal couture,

themes, and events.

◦ By continuously reading I am able to get new

ideas and concepts for my readers and

followers and develop traffi c.

Start a new business

◦ Blogging starts as a hobby but can turn into a full-time

business.

◦ I hope that by being committed to my blog through a

lot of research, time, energy and effort, I can turn my

blog into a profession and eventually start earning

income out of it.

◦ Through gaining enough expertise in the field of

wedding planning I would also be able to open my own

event planning or bridal consultation business.

Although I am a newcomer to the blogging world,

blogging has contributed to my personal and

professional development.

My goal is to make my blog successful, inspiring

and connecting people together and turning in it

into a profitable business.