Anushree Reddy collection at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive

I have a thing for florals and all things bling and Anushree Reddy weaves them beautifully into traditional Indian wear, the reason why I always look forward to her show at Fashion weeks.

The 2016 edition of Lakme Fashion week Winter/Festive is currently on Anushree Reddy unveiled her all new collection titled 'The Wedding Chronicle'. Bridal couture from Reddy is always feminine with abundance of florals and this time again she does the same but with more vibrant colours. Tangy red, fuchsia pinks and summery yellows in raw silk with intricate zardosi and a wee bit of geometric patterns is what Anushree reddy offers in her latest collection which she says is aimed at the contemporary confident bride.

Bollywood actresses as show stoppers is a norm with Anushree Reddy and many actresses like Ileana, Shruti Hasan and Nargis Fakhre have walked ramp for her and this time around it was the gorgeous Shilpa Shetty setting ramp on fire in a pink and gold lehenga.

Lets have a look into my favourites from the 'The Wedding Chronicle' collection:

Floral lehenga with golden trim lace and one shouldered blouse is an absolute beauty and brings in vintage vibes. This Lehenga is ideal for a mehendi or sangeet and you can go dupatta less with this look.

This lehenga jacket with full sleeves is perfect for winter weddings. The hi low detail on floral jacket, tie up on bust and embellished lehenga is a perfect choice for sangeets and sister of bride or groom. 

Long Floral Kurta paired with pink net lehenga is an absolute elegant beauty. The light pink net dupatta completes the look nicely. 

Pastel blue silk lehenga with pink net dupatta, a hint of cheery yellow and lots of gold sequins. Dreamy wedding guest look.

Floral one shoulder blouse with silk lehenga perfect for sister of bride. 

Fiery red lehenga choli on show stopper Shilpa Shetty beautifully flaunts her curves. Adding a pink dupatta is nice balance but this look isnt my favourite. You need a good body to wear this outfit or go for a different blouse.  The vibrant red means this is more for brides , wear it for your engagement or even your wedding with a heavier second gold dupatta if you want to keep things minimal.

Off shouldered floral jacket blouse with floral lehenga. That much print bcan be over whelming but here it works nicely. 

Cheery raw silk yellow lehenga for wedding guests

Love the mix of colours in this lehenga, something different. This is a good one for mehendi, haldi or sangeet. The dupatta drape is different but I wouldnt try it on weddings.

The collection has a lot of ensembles for both winter and summer weddings and I love how most of these outfits dont require a dupatta. If you want a fuss free sangeet look dont look elsewhere.

Did this collection impress you ?

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Turn your blog into a commercial success in 5 Steps

Majority of bloggers blog to share their passion. It was the same for me, my blog was a hobby post my addiction to twitter as I wanted a platform to express my opinions and my style gyaan in more than 140 characters.  Today blogging is like a dream part time job for me. I get to write about topics I deeply love and I decide when I write and when I take off. The money isnt big but when you love doing it this much it doesnt really matter.

Today blogging is a full fledged career and you can easily earn a living from it but ofcourse like every other commercial business you need to invest money and time on your blog for it to become a commercial success . In addition to that you also need a strong network and build trust and authenticity with your readers.

I have been working on blingsparkle blog where we focus mainly on creating content we are passionate about and today in this post what it takes to start earning from a blog.

5 steps to turn your blog into a commercial success

#1 Create High quality Content

Content is the king and it will always remain the king. Original and creative content is the main ingredient of a successful blog so concentrate on creating unique content which will bring in organic readers.

#2 Build a strong network

Writing good content is not enough, you need to find an audience for it. Numbers do matter and it matters even more when you are aiming for commercial success. Start off by interacting with other bloggers in your niche, commenting on their posts and building your facebook fan base.

Ways to build strong and valuable network

~If you are new to the blogging world you can start off by signing up with blogger networks like indiblogger 

~Host a contest to bring in readers . If your blog is new you will need to sponsor the giveaway yourself or you can ask a brand to sponsor it for you.

~Leave meaningful comments on blogs with a similar niche

~Use the social media to build relationships with fellow bloggers. 

#3 SEO matters

I wasted 2 years of my blogging life by not paying proper attention to search engine optimization. I thought with good high quality content traffic will follow but it never happened. Knowing the basics of SEO is very important if you want to start earning from your blog because search engines bring in the majority of traffic and making content easy for them to find and read is the best business strategy you can have

How to optimize your blog for search engines
~Write unique quality content and google will definitely notice. Dont compromise on content ever
~ Do simple keyword research before writing a post. Use free tools like Google Adwords’ Keyword Tool to find out how many people are searching about the topic you are going to write on and what combination of words are they searching for.
~ Write a catchy title
~ Optimize your post URL using the custom url tab in blogger side bar

#4 Invest in a blog template

The template of your blog is important to make a good first impression on both readers and brands. If you dont take the design of your blog seriously then PRs or brands may also not take you seriously! You dont need to hire a professional to design the look of your blog just buy a clean and a simple theme with readable font .

What to look for in a blog template
~Readable font size
~Space to add  personal touch with a customized header
~ Make sure the template is mobile and tablet friendly
~ Ease of navigation

#5 Experiment with different earning methods

If you want commercial success you need to keep exploring different stream of revenue. Do not stick to tried and tested basics like adsense , keep trying out new methids because you never which revenue model may work better for you. So try affiliates, youtube video ads, banner ads and even selling your own service or product .

Turning your blog into a commercial success means you need to treat it like a business and have clear goals and proper strategy. In addition to this dont be afraid to invest a little and with hard work results will follow.

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