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I am happy to announce that I’m the new editor-in-chief at 29Secrets.com. 29Secrets is an online magazine dedicated to beauty, relationships and style… all things I love! The site has over 150,000 hits a month and is one of the fastest growing women’s sites in Canada. If you are looking for the latest beauty scoop or need some love advice we have it all. So, what are you waiting for? Visit www.29Secrets.com!
I had already been e-journaling for years before I first heard the word “blog”. It was in my first year of university and I came across the term in my journalism textbook. The author was criticizing this new blogging trend and the scary potential for a regular citizen to report the news, lessening the need for real journalists. If this blog fad were to explode, journalism as a whole could be kaput for good. Who would read a newspaper if they could find information instantly on the Internet? Well, it happened. Blogs became a main source for news and many publications have died since. But, that doesn’t mean that we journalists should blame blogs, instead it means we need to embrace them and slowly weed out the bad by creating more good. That is what I did when I started my first entertainment news blog back in 2004 and since then I haven’t stopped. It was a good decision because now it is crucial to be web savvy. Want to start your own blog? Here are a few tips that will get you off on the right foot. Good luck!
1. Choose a Niche
Before starting a blog ask yourself these questions: What are your passions? What is the main pain? Choose a niche that you have a good background of knowledge in. Is there something you are an expert at? Find out what that is and make sure it is something you generally enjoy, this will help tremendously when building your blog. The main pain is identifying what problem is most common in relation to your passion. For example, if your passions are small dogs and fashion, the main pain may be where to find fashionable clothing for your pet. Is that something that you generally search or look for when browsing the Internet for topics related to small dogs and fashion? If your answer is yes, you have your niche: clothing for small dogs.
2. Research Your Niche
Once you have narrowed down the focus of your blog, a quick keyword analysis will allow you to focus your niche even more. I use Google Adwords’s Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Search your niche using the tool and take a look at the results. You’ll be able to see how many monthly local searches each keyword gets. Write down the keywords that you think best fits your desired niche with a good amount of searches and the least competition.
3. The Domain Name
From your keyword analysis you may have found the perfect domain for your website. As an example I looked up “dog clothes” on the Keyword Tool and found “dog outfits” had a significant amount of Google searches. I GoDaddy.com to see if the domain DogOutfits.com was available and found that MyDogOutfits.com was for sale. This would be the ideal domain for my blog as it includes my keywords, which is great for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and makes it easy for people to find me.
4. Be Unique
Plagiarism sucks and Google will punish you if you partake in duplicate content of any kind. Making sure that all the posts on your blog are 100% unique is the most important tip I can give you. Google, or any search engine for that matter, will not index your blog if it doesn’t have completely original content.
5. Share
Promoting your blog is the last and maybe the more crucial step to your blog’s success. Social networks are a way to advertise your site for free. Start pinning photos from your blog on Pinterest, Tweet your posts on Twitter, post a link on Reddit and share your site with your friends on Facebook.
Tip: I use WordPress as a publishing platform for all of my blogs.
Go pick up Issue no. 258 of Hello! Magazine Canada on stands now and read my article “Green Routine” on page 74! This is my first 2-page spread in a national magazine and I am darn proud of it.
I got pretty close to O! Only 10 ft away 
I grew up watching The Oprah Winfrey Show every day after school until just last year when the last season aired, so when I heard she was bringing her popular Lifeclass to Toronto I had to be there. With my mother in tow (you know she wasn’t going to let me go alone) we lined up with 8,400 other fans to see her live in person.
Miss Winfrey brought her “Spirit Squad” which includes motivational speaker Tony Robbins, spiritual advisers Deepak Chopra and Bishop T.D. Jakes, and self-help author Iyanla Vanzant. The topic of the class was Gratitude. We learned so much from each of the guests and Oprah as they taught us some key lessons that I’ll never forget. Bishop T.D. Jakes had us all cheering when he told us to soar like an eagle and to stay away from chickens (why chickens? well, they eat rocks and poop and can’t fly!). ““We are like chickens if we eat stuff from the past, if we take in what we should excrete,” says Jakes. Deepak Chopra taught us how to heal ourselves by overcoming problems with a pure outlook. Iyanla Vanzant showed us how to tell the truth and most importantly HEAR the truth without taking it as criticism. And Tony Robbins gave us three key words to remember: Strategy, Story and State.
During the live show Oprah and her team helped different audience members learn gratitude and move on from terrible tragedies that have caused pain in their lives. It was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. I am truly grateful to Oprah for coming to Toronto and giving us these great tools to help us live more fulfilling lives.
To learn more about what all these lessons mean watch Oprah’s Lifeclass season finale on April 30, about mastering the art of gratitude. You can tune in on OWN if you have the channel or and log on to Oprah.com or Facebook.com/OWNTV at 8pm (EST).
Some memorable quotes from Oprah’s Lifeclass:
“The Saint has a past, the Sinner has a future” Deepak Chopra
“Common sense is sometimes not too common.” Tony Robbins
“Holding on to resentment is like holding your breath and you will suffocate yourself.” Deepak Chopra
“Life happens… Not to us, but for us.” Tony Robbins
Stop, smile
Take a deep breath
Observe yourself (and/or the situation)
Proceed with kindness
-Iyanla Vanzant
When I heard today via Jeanne Beker’s Twitter that Fashion Television was canceled I was floored. Six years ago I walked into the CHUM building at Queen and John in Toronto. I was an intern at FT then and there was nothing that gave you more style-street-cred than starting there. My fellow interns and I have kept in touch over the years. The unique experience working in that office binds us. I spent time with Glen Baxter in Milan this year while he was shooting Men’s Fashion Week for FT and I saw instant recognition from people on the street when they saw the logo on his microphone. It is an international show that we Canadians are so proud to call our own. It is very sad to see it go.
“So surreal. This dream is over: After 27 glorious years, FT production ceased today. So sad to see some of my closest colleagues move on.” – Jeanne Beker
Bright colors and fun patterns are what spring fashion is all about, that is why I chose these accessories to add my wardrobe this season.
1. Lanvin Tan Python Cord Heels
3. Miu Miu Stringray-effect leather skinny belt
I came across this gorgeous home while browsing the net. Wishing it were mine
Actress Ashley Madekwe won me over in the pilot episode of Revenge (a drama series that I am absolutely addicted to). I loved her look and style and took to Google to find out more about her. I came across her personal blog, Ring My Bell. Every week she posts images of her in gorgeous outfits and then tells her viewers where they can find all the pieces. Take a look at some of her best style moments:
Striped Top: Top Shop; Pumps: Steve Madden; Sunglasses: ASOS; Watch: Michael Kors
I get asked about my hair a lot. If I dye it, where I get it cut and what keeps it shiny.
I have my dad to thank for passing on his Indian hair genes to me. All the girls in my family have long, black, voluminous hair. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t have to take care of it. In fact, our hair is very particular! It gets frizzy in humidity and limp in the winter.
I don’t dye my hair, although a year ago I got a “toner”, which is a non-permanent rinse. The ends of my hair were much lighter than my roots because of years in the sun. Fortunately for me, light ends and natural highlights are in style now, so I won’t have to do it again!
I get my hair cut at Civello, an Aveda salon in Rosedale. I’d suggest a stylist but every one there is really great that I don’t have one particular person that I go to. Besides my shampoo and conditioner (Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree line), I use Moroccan oil (Argan oil) to add shine. I typically air dry my hair, blow-drying takes the moisture out and leaves me itching my scalp all day. Followed by a run through with my straighter or curling iron to tame my unpredictable tresses. On days when I am rushing out the door and can’t wait for my hair to dry I will pull my hair up into a high ponytail and pin it into a ballerina bun.
I recently bought Alterna’s Bamboo shine spray at Sephora, an organic line of hair products. It smells delicious and is perfect when you are on-the-go and need a quick fixer-upper.
It is important to find products without parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and phthalates, these are chemicals and toxic!
The more natural the better.