Who is Rutu Desai?
Listen, in her own words…
“Hi, I am Rutu, a freelance content writer and the face behind the Demure Beauty Blog. I live in Mumbai and started aspired to be a full-time content creator after finishing college. But I decided to offer my services to brands and publications instead and became a full-time content writer.”
Can you tell our readers about yourself and your blog?
I started Demure Beauty in 2018 to share honest reviews and beauty tips that I learnt over the years. I cover a wide range of skincare and haircare topics on the blog to help women take better care of their beauty needs in a safe manner.
Describe how you first get into blogging?
I had been an avid blog reader during my teenage years as I wanted to take care of my skin and hair. So it was always a dream to start my own blog one day and share my journey with others going through similar problems. So instead of doing a typcial 9-5 job, I decided to pursue my passion and started The Demure Beauty website and social media pages.
How would you describe your blogging style?
I never had a content strategy or plan in place. The blog is a reflection of my own beauty philosophy. So I try to share as much information as I can in simple manner to help solve my readers queries.
What type of networking do you think is better to enhance your traffic to the blog?
As an introvert, I haven't done a lot of networking. But I have established a good rapport with some fellow bloggers and influencers which has helped increase my social media reach.
What do you think is the best service a blogger can provide to their readers?
Instead of simply pushing products, understand the biggest problems you readers are facing and help them solve it by educating them on the topic.
How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently?
I usually try to dedicate 1-2 hours everyday to my blog and social media pages. Sometimes, I even spend my Sundays working on the blog.
How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
I want to be more consistent with content posting and show up more on my Instagram stories.
What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from that?
I failed to drive Instagram traffic to my blog and vice versa. But I learnt to treat them both as individual platforms and repurpose content to better suit the particular audience.
Tell me about your proudest achievement?
Every time a blog post from Demure Beauty beats popular publications like Vogue at search engine rankings is a moment of pride for me.
Who has impacted you most in blogging and how?
I have learnt a lot from OG beauty bloggers like Rati Tehri, Mehak Sagar, Ankita Shrivastava etc. whose blogs I read during my teenage years and who inspired my to start my own page one day.
What is your greatest achievement outside of blogging?
I never though I would be professional writer but here I am writing content for some leading brands in India and abroad. All thanks to Demure Beauty!
What do you do in your spare time?
If I am not scrolling through Instagram to see what's new and trending in beauty space, I am usually watching an OTT series or reading a book.
Where would you like to be in blogging five years from now?
I haven't though about it but hopefully I would have increased my blog audience and revenue.
What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?
Learning SEO and figuring out what type of content works best for a beauty blog in age of Influencers was a slow learning curve.
Can you name some of your favorite bloggers and explain why they are your favorites?
I love Sonali from Skincarevilla.com for her honest, no nonsense approach. I also love influencers like @skincues and @skinslayerblog for their simple but informational content.
How do you motivate yourself to keep the blog up and running?
Every time a blog post ends up on Page 1 of Google search or a Instagram post gets lot of engagement is like a pat on the back.
Can you tell me about a few sources from where you get products for review on your site?
I buy most of the products that I review but sometimes I get PR sample from brand I am affiliated to.
What do you find the most frustrating aspect of blogging?
The attention span of people is decrasing and most people prefer watching a entertaining reel over reading a informative post these days which is really a frustrating for a blogger.
What is the biggest difference in your life post-blogging?
I have found many like-minded people online who are interested in skincare. Also my writing skills have imrpoved a lot.
Did you have any professional help or did you create the blog yourself?
I Googled everything and built the website myself.
How active are you on a weekly basis? How often do you communicate with your followers?
I try to post atleast twice in a month on the Demure Beauty website. But I am active on Instagram on most days.
How much time do you spend blogging?
It depends on my work schedule but its approximately one day/week.
What do you think is the best social media strategy for getting more visitors to a blog?
Treat your social media platforms as separate entity and create content that works well for that platform. For. eg short form videos are really popular these days on IG.
Would you encourage other people to make their blog?
Do it only if you are passionate about the topic and have patience to build your audience organically overtime. Its not a easy moneymaking scheme as some online coaches may potray.
Is blogging your profession or just a hobby?
Both. Its my hobby but I also make earn some money from it.
A lot of people think that blogging is an easy way to make money online. Do you have some tips for those people who are interested in making money from the blog?
It is definitely not easy but it is possible to make a decent side income or even a full-time income through it. But only when you have the skills, time, patience and most importantly a passion for it.
