Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog

Shop my look:

What You Need to Know Before Starting Your Blog

Since I’ve been on my new blogging routine, I am fielding DM’s daily for how to start a blog, or how to stay motivated and disciplined when it comes to blogging. First off it is no easy task, I work pretty much every waking hour. What you put into it really determines what you get out of it, especially if you are running your blog as a business (or planning to)!

You Must Know Your Niche

What kind of content are you going to want to create daily for the foreseeable future? Do you already have content ideas for this topic? Will you be able to easily come up with more? It is so important to hone in on a niche that you can really be happy with and create content confidently that you are proud to share with your audience.

You’ll Have to Stick to a Posting Schedule

Pick a goal and stick with it! I’ve challenged myself to post 3 times a week on my blog and at least once a day on Instagram for a whole year. The Instagram part is easy as long as I am creating for my blog, I have an abundance of photos to share on social media. Consistency is key and success doesn’t come overnight. It takes hard work and long hours before you’ll see big results but the work will pay off if you stick with it!

You Are Your Own Boss

When you are your own boss, holding yourself accountable for efficiently getting things done is a huge reality. As a blogger you are your own boss and it is up to you how you spend your time! I have taught myself to really maximize the free time that I have to get as much done as possible in order to set myself up for success. You also have to be comfortable working alone. Blogging tends to be a one man show much of the time. I put in hard hours on my laptop every single day working on content, contracts, emails, etc. Be prepared for lots of solo work time!

You’ll Work for no Pay (At first)

Ok so I am still kind of in this category. I’ve recently been taking on more paid contracts and work but up until now (for a few years) I have worked for free. I don’t mean work for brands for free (value your time and energy), but put in the hours creating original content on the subject you are passionate about and eventually you will get rewarded for your effort. There is no magic button for getting rich from blogging, it may take a very long time to get your first sponsored post or make an affiliate check. I don’t take my time for granted since I am fortunate enough to not have to work a second full time job to make ends meet (thanks hubby) but it is not uncommon for most bloggers to work in conjunction with blogging full time before they’re able enough money to quit their job and pursue the blog full time! You really have to be passionate about blogging as a hobby before it will become your full time job.

You Have to be Obsessed With Blogging

Are you excited at the thought of researching SEO, social media and creating contracts? Having the energy for blogging where you are still excited to pull out your laptop after a full day’s work at your 9-5 and bust out another 5 hours researching and creating content is a must! My pasGoogle was (and still is) my best friend whenever I have a questions I can’t seem to solve from the standard trial and error. Staying hungry throughout the process will really help propel you into the success you seek! The energy and passion you start with is so important in creating success as a blogger but even more important as you become a more established blogger!

My passion for blogging really started when I began to research the unique career 5 years ago and my curiosity has only grown since then! People ask me all the time how to start a blog, it’s easy, just do it! Jump in head first! You’ll make mistakes and you’ll learn from trial and error, but ultimately you’ll become an expert because you’ve done it all from the ground up. I hope my tips help you in deciding if blogging is right for you and choosing the right time to jump into this exciting territory!

Thanks for reading!
xo

4 Tips to Increase Your Instagram Engagement!

I am by no means an Instagram expert. I too struggle with engagement, the algorithm stifling my reach and losing followers frequently. I get countless DM’s every week from bloggers just starting out asking how I grew my Instagram or how to improve engagement. I wouldn’t say my own engagement is great, but it is something I am constantly working on and, man, is it a lot of work! There is no easy trick to getting good engagement on your posts, there really seems to be no rhyme or reason why engagement will be great one day and completely tank the next, but I’m about to go over some simple tips for you to spend your time on that will generally yield more organic reach on your Instagram posts than you’ll achieve from using Instagram “pods” or other fake engagement groups. First off, let me explain more about Instagram engagement (scroll to the end for my tips if you already know this stuff)!

What is “Instagram Engagement?”

Instagram engagement is the percentage of users who act on (or engage with) the content that you post. This includes when someone likes, comments, saves, and sends/shares your posts. Basically any time an action is take on your post counts as engagement for you.

Why is Your Instagram Engagement Rate Important?

A few years ago a bloggers influence was determined by the amount of followers they had on any given platform. As the Instagram algorithm was introduced, there were many changes to the way that a blogger or influencer’s content was (and currently is) now seen, therefore making it harder to grow follower count and in turn making organic Instagram engagement that much more weighted when it comes to a bloggers level of influence. Instagram engagement is one of the most important metrics to measure the authenticity or relevance of a blogger.

Let me break it down even further. As brands are looking for bloggers to partner with on campaigns, they want to make sure they choose someone who has an active, engaged audience and a high reach (a high organic reach % should also yield high engagement on a post). Generally the higher the engagement, the higher the conversion rate. Growing your follower count is very challenging these days and as brands are working with more and more micro-influencers, engagement rate continues to become more and more important.

How to Grow Your Instagram: My Tips and Tricks

You may have heard about a popular trend called Instagram “pods” or engagement groups, where bloggers in a particular niche get together and engage with each others posts in order to boost each other’s content in the algorithm. There are many reasons why this can be detrimental to your overall reach and how you are displayed within the algorithm but the underlying fact is that this kind of engagement is not completely honest and generally speaking these bloggers are not going to be converting customers for you.

I’ll do a more in depth blog post on Instagram pods and how they are damaging to engagement in the very near future.

How to Figure Out Your Instagram Engagement Rate

Instagram engagement takes is calculated by the ratio of followers you have the the number of comments and likes you receive. You could go through and figure out the math yourself, or you can use a free tool like Phlanx (you don’t need to sign up) to determine the percentage of engagement you receive. I don’t know that actual facts behind this statistic but I have heard that anything over 2% is considered good engagement in a brands eyes. The less followers you have the higher your engagement should be since you tend to have less bots and inactive accounts following you (this is common and just happens over time, so don’t worry about these kinds followers). Below is a screenshot of my engagement as calculated by Phlanx.

How to Increase Your Instagram Engagement

There really is no magic to building an engaged audience on Instagram. Beyond using hashtags, posting high quality content and finding the right time to post, I’m going to share with you some of the additional tactics I have procured to gain engagement and a continued rapport with my followers (friends!) on my posts.

1. Use Instagram Correctly

   The first and easiest way to boost engagement is to ENGAGE WITH OTHER USERS. So basically, use Instagram for what it was created to be, a social platform. This tip is so simple it’s stupid, but honestly I just leave genuine comments on photos that I love and make sure to double tap the photos that I like. People love to reciprocate comments and likes and this is tried and true method.

2. Involve Your Followers

   The second tip that I have is to engage with the followers you have by involving them in your content. Whether this means asking questions in your captions, putting polls in your stories, or just reaching out via DM and thanking someone for a follow, all of this goes a long way and can really help boost the confidence in people to leave more love on your page more frequently. A couple years ago I got an invaluable piece of advice from a fellow blogger which was to work to build relationships (and retain) the current followers I have instead of going out and seeking new ones. This has stuck with me, and it is such a valuable nugget of gold. Copy and paste that one and keep it in your pocket, pull it out ever few weeks as a reminder.

3. Reply To Every Comment

   This tip is very dependent on your follower count. It would be unrealistic for a blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers to reply to the crazy amount of comments they’re most likely receiving on each post. But a smaller blogger like myself, I think this is totally realistic. I don’t usually get more than 100 comments per post (some I can’t easily reply to ie. emoji comments or one word comments), but I do my best to reply to every single comment, especially in the first 30 minutes of posting. I try to reply with a genuine comment and often try to engage further by asking a question or involving the commenter in another way. The more comments, the higher the engagement, and your comments count too!

4. Paid Sponsorships

   I’ve just recently started paying Instagram to sponsor my posts, just a teeny tiny amount because I’m on a budget but even throwing $12 on a post, I’ve seen HUGE response. Not only do I get a ton of engagement on my sponsored posts, my conversion usually goes up for the items that I’m sharing, as well as blog traffic. All of it is positive and I’ll continue to use it as a tool to help grow my business. I’m still learning how to use Instagram ads so I don’t have much to say on the subject, but I just choose the option to target followers like mine and the response has been fantastic. I’m hoping to learn more about this to continue to improve the return from this tactic!

I love sharing the things that I have learned five years into blogging. Instagram is really fun, but it is important to remember that this social media platform is not the be all end all of your business. In fact, Instagram should just be a monetary supplement and additional marketing tool for your blog and the content that you actually own. Keep this in mind while you play the Instagram game, one day, like Myspace, it will all be gone. Poof.

Thanks for reading!

xo

Easy Ways to Support Your Blogger Friend!

5 Ways To Support Your Blogger Friend

Blogging has become so mainstream these days, chances are you have a friend or two who has a blog. It can be so easy to overlook their career as it usually looks fun and effortless from the outside, but there is SO much going on behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly.

I’ve realized after having my blog for almost four years, that I have some pretty awesome friends who know how to help me succeed and love to throw me a like or a share every once and a while. I’ve also realized that so many people don’t know how to support me and my business and that’s why I thought to make this post! There are many quick and easy ways you can support your friend who blogs (or even just your favorite bloggers you follow).

Keep reading for ways you can support your favorite blogger!

Read Their Blog

This small action makes a huge impact as blog traffic plays a major factor in earning brand collaborations as well as insight into what posts are most popular amongst readers. Leave comments on your friend’s blog posts and share them on social media! Hours and hours of hard work go into each blog post, the 2 seconds it takes for you to share a blog post on Facebook or Pinterest will not go unnoticed! While you’re checking out your friend’s blog, make sure to click around and spend some time on the different pages. This kind of traffic tells Google that their website is important and has relevant and interesting information, which in turn will help your friend’s site rank higher and lead to more organic discovery and traffic via search engine!

Use Their Links to Shop

The great thing about monetizing a blog with affiliate links is that there is no cost to the reader when they shop via these links! In fact, the only difference it makes is that the company you are shopping from gives a very small commission to the blogger as a reward for sharing the item. Why wouldn’t you want to kick a few cents to your friend for items you’d already be shopping for? This goes for anything too, a blogger gets commission from a reader using their affiliate links even if they aren’t buying the item being reviewed.

Blogging is so expensive, I put every cent I make from my blog back into paying to host my site, camera equipment, clothing, photographers, travel expenses, and all kinds of other expenses. Although I only earn a few cents when I sell something, those cents add up over time and help me continue to do what I love and share it with you all!

Subscribe to Their Newsletter

A bloggers email list is their pride and joy and also the key to much of their initial blog traffic following a new post! Subscribing to their newsletter not only shows that you care, but also allows you to keep up on recent posts and often times get additional information or freebies that your friend may not share anywhere else.

Be Supportive of their Spontaneous Photoshoots

Blogging is a 24/7 non-stop job for those of us who have decided to make it a career. This means you may have experienced your blogger friends pull out their camera to capture their outfit, or pop open Instagram stories to share parts of their day. This can be annoying or awkward in public but remember, your friend is “on the clock” 24/7 which means they have to share to keep their audience engaged and continue to make a living. Try to be understanding of your friends who do this, and maybe even offer to snap a photo of their outfit if you feel comfortable!

Offer Suggestions for Posts

There are no shortage of topics for blog posts or photo ideas for Instagram posts, but often times it can be tough to come up with an idea that readers want to hear about. There’s only so many OOTD’s one can read about before getting bored or going crazy. When you have a topic you’d like to learn more about or a question for your blogger friend, let them know! Odds are there are at least a handful of their followers who have the same question, and it can be hard to continuously come up with fresh ideas to blog about, especially for those of us who blog full time.

In conclusion, it is so easy to help your blogger friends and there are many ways you can contribute to their success. If you are unsure of how you can help, it never hurts to ask! There is no better feeling than when your friends show that they care by asking what they can do to support your ventures.

How do you support the bloggers in your life?

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to subscribe below, and share with your friends.

xo

Habits of Highly Successful People

I’ve been taking notes in my phone for years. I have a note for advice from each mentor in my life, I have an on going note of inspirational quotes, I have one for books, music, movies, I have a note for EVERYTHING. Over the past year I’ve started a new, ongoing note of motivation and the tips that I try to live by to set myself up not only to achieve success and the goals I’ve set for myself, but to be the best possible version of myself that I can possibly be. I’ve gathered these notes from various books I’ve read, motivational talks, youtube videos, and just random chats with my husband (also an entrepreneur). All of the notes I’ve taken are things that I believe in and that have helped me to quickly accomplish some goals that I’ve previously thought to be impossible. As I’ve evaluated my life over the past year I’ve decided that I ultimately hope for my family to have financial freedom, to not have to answer to anyone (such as employer), and to be in charge of my own time. Everything that I have written in this post has helped to propel down the path to achieve these things.

I have hesitated to hit the post button on this one because a lot of my tips may be slightly controversial or “extreme” to some people, but I wanted to share for the percentage of people who may need a push in the right direction to propel themselves toward their best life.

Outfit: Sweater // Top // Jeans // Belt // Shoes

TRIAL, Error and Succeed

This is one that I’ve heard from many successful entrepreneurs. You have to try and fail more than a handful of times. If you aren’t at least making an effort to start your business, or work on that idea you had, you’ll never know if you could have actually DONE it. Failing is also one of the best ways to learn. Not only are you learning what not to do, you area learning how to do it better the next time. If you try, fail and then give up you are accomplishing nothing. Try, fail, and then implement your new knowledge when you try again. Chances are you’ll learn something new. Odds are you’ll fail again, but how do you know if you don’t even try?

Example: scroll back to the beginning of my Instagram feed you’ll see my change my theme and style many times over the course of one year. I used trial and error to come up with what works best for me to grow quickly and efficiently on social media. I don’t stick with a theme for long if it is not proving results which is why every month or so you see a new theme on my feed!

Focus On One Task A Day

I always try my best to not fill my day with menial tasks. I prefer to give myself one, big, reachable goal each day whether it’s edit all of my photos from my photoshoot that day or create a blog post from start to finish. I try to prioritize my tasks from most important to least important. The dishes and laundry will be there tomorrow but if you put off that blog post one more day, you’ll put it off forever. I put my mind to one main task and GRIND. IT. OUT. Once it’s done I can focus on my smaller to-do’s. I’m always asking myself how each of my actions will bring me to my ultimate goal, (this is a method of reverse engineering your success) chase after those things with every ounce of your being.

Ignore Useless Information

When Dustin, Stella and I moved in November, we chose to get rid of our TV. We decided we didn’t want to be distracted in the evenings by mindlessly watching The Real Housewives of whatever, and wasting valuable time that we could be spending on our individual projects and working toward reaching our goals. TV is an example of “useless information.” It is important to constantly be filling your mind with information that will help you perfect your craft. There are nights where I take breaks here and there but I still try to read books or listen to podcasts during my down-time that are feeding me important information.

Don’t Re-invent The Wheel

I’ve learned to mimic my mentors and other people who have achieved successes that are similar to my goals. You don’t need to re-create the wheel to achieve success. Teaching yourself all of the minutiae from the ground up takes so much time. Learn from other’s failures and achievements and propel yourself to the top faster using that information.

Mental and Personal Health Is Key

I am constantly working on my personal health and mental state. School pushes you to go to college and get that Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 job but when you switch your mindset to think differently you can LIVE your goals. Don’t give in to the standard, constantly pursue what you want and fight for it. Follow your own path, constantly nourish your mind and throw yourself into your goals. This goes hand in hand with living a healthy lifestyle. I’ve found that when I work out daily, eat healthy meals at home, and am super conscious about what I am putting into my body, that my mind is so much more clear, I am efficient and can work much harder. I am still working on perfecting my routine and I sure love a frozen Twix bar every once and a while, I am by no means perfect, but working toward being more aware of these little things has helped me be much healthier in the long-run.

Don’t Waste Time

One piece of knowledge that I gained from one of my most important mentors is that there is never a “good time” for anything. Successful people waste no time in getting started, there is no such think as the right time and there are no good excuses. Timing will never be perfect and you will end up waiting forever and never get anything done! Start now, and don’t look back. You won’t regret it!

Do Not Associate With People You Don’t Emulate

Only surround yourself with people you strive to be like. Make it your goal to gather friends and mentors who are better than you, achieving higher goals and can teach you something new. A lot of my goals may seem crazy or unattainable to most people. Constantly think about your goals, live your goals, surround yourself with people who embrace your goals and support you achieving them.

If you have a tip to share that has worked for you, I want to hear about it! Leave me a comment below. Ultimately what I’ve decided is that if I can’t believe in myself I will never achieve anything. I have learned that I must believe I can achieve my goal, no matter how huge or outlandish… if I don’t I will wholeheartedly fail, and I have many times in my past! Once I changed my mindset and started to live by these tips, I have been creating success for myself that I never thought possible! I still constantly reference the note in my phone with all of these tidbits to keep myself on track. It is absolutely not an easy process, but it is necessary to stay on the path to achieve what I want in life.

xo

Curating Confidence + my Favorite Denim!

It can be a challenge to feel good about yourself when you work in a field that heavily utilizes social media for marketing. Scrolling through an endless feed of other people’s perfectly curated images is a recipe made for confidence disaster.

I’m speaking from personal experience of feeling like I’m never “doing it right” when it comes to blogging. I (used to) spend all day wishing I could make my life as beautiful as the bloggers whom I looked up to as creative mentor’s “highlight reels” on Instagram. I wasted so much time feeling bad about my content and trying so hard to create a similar look or feel to my Instagram that I was spinning in circles, wasting a ton of valuable time, and not growing or learning anything of importance. It took me months of feeling this way before I realized what was happening. If I wanted to have any success with my blog and my business I needed to change my mindset ASAP, and re-organize my priorities in a big way.

I’m sitting on my couch as I type this up eating some left over Teddy Grahams from my toddlers’ afternoon snack, and reminiscing of a time where I felt like an impostor in the blogging world. At that particular time in my life I really felt like I was not supposed to be blogging, everything felt wrong and weird. It was confusing because I had one time loved blogging and creating, and now I hated feeling like it was a job. The best part of blogging full time is that it is already one of my favorite things to do, why was I feeling like I didn’t want to do it anymore?! The answer is because I was doing it all WRONG.

Let’s go back to the beginning, I know I talk about this a lot but it was only 2 short years ago that I started my blog as a creative hobby to give myself something to do outside of my life-consuming work as a manager at Nordstrom. When my blog and Instagram started to grow, I started to get offers and make money from my efforts which is such an amazing feeling! I didn’t even know this could be a job at the time, so it felt so wonderful that I was being rewarded for my creative efforts and hobby! As I started to do more research and dig deeper into this industry I started to make friends with other bloggers, gain inspiration from amazing creatives who have huge followings and beautiful Instagram feeds and seem to do it all so effortlessly. I didn’t see myself slowly declining into a hole of self-doubt and comparison.

This year has been an interesting time of self-discovery. I was forging a new path of my life as a mom, I had quit my long time career to stay at home with my new baby, and I had decided to take on blogging full time. I did a lot of thinking, meditation of sorts. I wanted to spend time with myself since I now was giving a lot of my physical body, brain power, and mental state, not to mention every waking hour (and much of the sleeping hours) to this new baby. I reflected on many parts of my life but I really wanted to re-focus my blog, take it back to basics and amp up the content and photography I was creating so I could not only feel proud of my work, but also really provide valuable information for others, or even just a place to stop and casually hang out for a bit. I also wanted to be sure I was fulfilled by the creative efforts I was putting out. This is something that I lost when I got off track temporarily. I began creating posts that were superficial, un-informative, un-important and I was never super proud to share them with people because I wasn’t impressed with my own work. I was trying too hard and it was having a negative effect all around. It’s weird to look back on that time because I truly feel like I’m in such a great space now. My mindset is positive, growth has been steady, and I am feeling great about the content I’ve been putting out!

I really didn’t intend for this post to get so in depth, but it feels great to get this all out, so thank you to you lovelies who have stuck around to read the whole thing!

To sum it all up, I’ve created some new goals for my blog which you can read about in this post HERE , and I have changed my mindset to focus more on my own content and care less about what other people’s content looks like. I don’t like to whole “un-follow people who make you feel bad” thing because I still love to support people’s beautiful content. I think it is more important to understand where your feelings are coming from and teaching yourself to re-direct the energy for a positive outcome that will benefit YOU. If you’ve never meditated about your life before, take some time in the morning and just lay in bed, or sit outside with a cup of coffee, no phone, no music, nothing but your mind, and think about your life! Think about the things you want to change, and the steps you need to take to achieve your goals. If you do this every day for a few minutes, I promise you will feel so much better about yourself and you will also have a better understanding of what you need to do to get to where you want to be.

Now I want to share the most confidence inducing jeans I’ve ever worn! If you love premium denim but don’t love dropping $200+ on a pair of jeans, Madewell is where it’s at for a quality pair of denim that looks and feels premium but without the insane price tag! These ones are super high waisted but they have so many types for all different shapes and sizes!

Cardigan // Jeans // Shoes // Shoes (similar, better quality) // Necklace

Thank you to those of you that have supported me on this journey, through my trials and tribulations I see you and hear you and appreciate you SO much! I hope you all are loving this new leaf as much as I am, thank you for sticking it through with me.

xo

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

5 Investments to Make for a Successful Blog

There is a lot of information about “how to start a blog” online. It is daunting to sift through pages of information as you search for the answers to your blogging questions. I’m speaking with complete transparency and from raw experience as I have put in the hours to teach myself everything that I know about blogging. I will admit I have learned a lot by trial and error, what works vs what is a waste of time and money. I decided to put this list together of the investments I’ve tried that have worked, for those of you that may be skeptical about what to invest your money into as you transition your blog into a business. Each one of these tips has made a difference in the successes I’ve had as a full time blogger and I hope that you are able to take at least one small nugget of information to apply to your own business to prove results!

5 Investments You Must Make for a Successful Blog

1. Self Hosting

Self hosting means paying a web host such as Squarespace or Wordpress to host your blog. When I first created my blog it was as a personal portfolio and I used a free website (blogspot) to host my blog. I didn’t intend for anyone to read it except me and a few friends and I didn’t understand why it was important to spend any money to host my blog at the time. For me, it wasn’t! For my original blogging intentions it was just fine to use a free hosting platform and have a website name with an unprofessional looking “.blogspot.com” at the end, with a messy and poorly laid out template that I chose from their free options on the site. Until I decided it was something I wanted to take on and to make money from, I realized that just like any other business venture, there are important things to invest in when blogging that will help to take your blog to the next level and are essentials in my eyes. Not all of these are monetary investments. I am frugal and don’t make a ton of money, but the small amount I do make right now, 100% goes back into my business and these are the top 5 investments that I make with that money in order to support my blog!

When you pay to self host, you fully own your blog and are able to make customizations to your website that you otherwise would not be able to do. Running your blog on a free platform is the same as having an Instagram blog, ultimately you don’t own your website or content and you have much less flexibility with the layout and look of your website.

Self hosting is the only way to monetize your blog, you are in control of what ads are placed on your blog, you can remove or add them at will. Free platforms, from my experience, are unprofessional looking and companies will not pay you to create content for them on a free blogging platform. If your goal is to make money from your blog these types of sites will ultimately damage your earning potential. Self hosting is one of the bigger investments I make each year, but I chose to use Squarespace to automatically renew my domain and hosting every year, so it’s really easy and I don’t even have to think about it!

Three years ago as a fresh new blogger who knew nothing about owning a website, I have to say Squarespace is one of the easiest and most user friendly hosting sites to invest in. It is very quick to sign up, create a domain and pay for everything in package form. They have beautifully designed templates that you can use and customize to create the exact look you want for your website. There is also an extremely useful “help” section that has answered any and every question I’ve ever had whenever I get stuck on anything Squarespace related. Click here to get started with Squarespace!

2. Website Design

Website design is one of the most important investments you will make with your website. Ultimately, you NEED to catch the attention of your reader within the first few seconds of them landing on your site. Besides content, the look and feel of your website will determine how long people stay on your website, click through articles, use your affiliate links, and increase your ad revenue (if you use them). This can be an investment that you pay for in terms of an actual web designer who you contract to create a beautiful website for you. Or this can be in terms of investing your own time and energy into designing your own beautiful site. Also it is so important that your website functions correctly, images load quickly, buttons route to the correct pages, links aren’t broken, ads aren’t overwhelming your readers, and the colors are cohesive and your site it overall a beautiful and easy page to function. Make sure your page is also mobile responsive for your readers who like to check your blog from their iPhone!

3. Photography

Whatever subject you choose to blog about, the quality of your images that you upload to your social media pages as well as your blog is paramount! Images need to be clear, composed and eye catching. Invest in your photography make sure you’re either using the correct equipment including camera, tripod, lighting, backdrops, or even a professional photographer if you can’t take your own photos. Investing in high quality stock photos is important if you don’t need to include personal photos on your blog. Your photos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are what will entice your target market to click through to your physical blog. First impressions are everything!

4. Tailwind for Pinterest

I am a new believer in the power of Pinterest! I plan to create an entire post on my Pinterest growth and go into detail on how it has changed the game for my blog, but for now I want to touch on the importance of consistent pinning.

Pinterest is your new best friend. Utilize Pinterest by creating a business account so you can view you analytics, apply for rich pins, claim your blog and social accounts to increase your legitimacy, create some beautiful pins with Canva, and start pinning! Most people say to pin only 20% your own content and 80% other pins, but I do the opposite. I want to increase my blog views so I pin every single image from my website and Instagram and then continue to re-pin the images that get the most saves and clicks.

Tailwind is an amazing tool that automates your pinning, and it’s only $10 a month! Take my word for it, coming from the girl who thought Pinterest was a gimmick only 3 short months ago. INVEST. IN. TAILWIND. This tool allows you to batch pin and schedule out your pins so you can sit back and watch your page views grow with minimal work. Time is money, you’ve heard me say it before! Invest your time wisely, what is your time worth?

5. TIME

Blogging as a hobby is great because if it is something you genuinely enjoy you’ll find time to create and it’s so much fun! As you grow and learn more about the industry you’ll quickly see that creating a successful business from your blog takes a ton of time and energy. Maximizing your time will become a priority and learning to be efficient is a non-negotiable. I still feel like I don’t have enough time in the day to get things done and I think I’m pretty good at managing my time as a full time mom and work from home blogger.

Not only does the actual creating take up a ton of time between emailing with brands and PR companies, planning shoots, shopping for items, pulling outfits/looks, and editing photos, you will also spend a huge chunk of your time researching SEO, and trend reports, customizing your blog and subscription list, replying to emails and comments and engaging with your followers, the list goes on forever! Most days I feel like I’m working from the moment I wake up until the time I go to bed. It’s currently 11pm as I finish this post and I’m not going to bed until it’s completed and scheduled. Time is a huge commitment and hands down the biggest investment you will make in your blog if you want it to be successful.

How To Get Out of the Instagram Comparison Trap

Stick around to the end of the post for a motivational list I compiled from my most influential mentor.

It comes in waves. Every few months I will hit a road block in momentum with my blog and begin to spiral, losing motivation exponentially by the day. This is mostly in part due to my own over-thinking and perfectionistic personality getting the best of me. I always want to be the best at what I do and I am the first to admit that I get stuck in the trap of comparing myself to other bloggers big and small. I find myself feeling dare I say, *jealous* that they are getting to work with some of my favorite companies, or that they’re able to afford a professional photographer, or that they have the means (or connections) to go on amazing vacations, that they have so much more time in the day to dedicate to their business and for whatever reason seem to be thriving in all aspects of their lives.

First off, I can say all day “oh, but Instagram is just a highlight reel,” or “they’ve been doing it for longer.” There are so many ways to justify my feelings when in fact the only thing that is true is the fact that I am comparing myself to someone whose life is COMPLETELY different than mine! How is it even fair to myself to measure my personal success based off of another blogger who looks different than me, has a different style, lives in a different state, lives a completely different life? Comparison is toxic, but it is human nature and impossible to avoid no matter what you tell yourself. Sorry!

Although it is impossible to avoid these thoughts of measuring ones success to your own, I have found some methods of making it easier to push through these mental ruts and continue down a productive path instead of spending valuable time frittering away scrolling through social media, and wishing I had what someone else had. I tried to keep this brief, I know by now you can see how much I enjoy rambling. My best blogs tend to be the mind dump blogs, so bear with me! Here we go with the tips in no particular order of significance.

You may also like to read “How To Grow Your Instagram: Tips and Tricks”

1. Write Down Your Goals

   This may sound super obvious, but I have always been one to fly by the seat of my pants. I didn’t start writing my goals down and really thinking about what I was trying to achieve long-term with my blog (now business) until recently and it has been a game changer for keeping myself on track! First, I write down the overarching goal, then I break the goal down into manageable mini-goals and tackle each of the mini goals one at a time. This has helped me realize that my kinda scary, really huge, mountainous goals are in fact attainable, and much less intimidating. Instead of working for months to cross just one item off the list, I can cross off a goal every few weeks which is such a confidence booster and keeps me motivated on the bigger picture instead of stuck on feeling like I never get anywhere. Growth is slow, it’s a marathon not a race.

2. Create a Routine

   Especially since having a baby and becoming a stay-at-home mom, I have realized that nothing gets done unless I stick to a schedule. The more I stick to my personal daily routine, the easier it is to convince myself to sit down and work. I have dedicated a daily time block to work, and if I skip out on it during the scheduled time, I may not ever find more time to get things done for the blog. Of course there is flexibility, and some days don’t go exactly as planned, but that’s life and adjustments are made to the schedule. If you all are keen on me getting into more detail about my daily routine just let me know!

3. Think About Your End Game

   I have to give the hubby credit for this one. I was telling him about my blogging rut and my struggle with feeling not awesome about my content, and he asked me to tell him exactly where I saw myself in 5 years with my business. He wanted me to spell out my day for him from what kind of coffee I ordered to how many people I might have working for me, to where my office would be, to what kind of work I would be doing myself vs delegating to others. Every. Single. Detail. I was caught off guard because I hadn’t ever really thought about the direction I was taking my business since it has been a hobby for so long, I always just got inspired, took pictures, posted them and talked to you all in the comments! That was it!

   The reason why it is important to know exactly where you want to be is not to end up exactly there, but to have something to work toward, reverse engineering your life, essentially. Each task you accomplish should be working toward that “end game” goal. Even the smallest details matter so much, it’s kind of like a dream board but spoken out loud. It’s up to you to become the person you want to be, in that position with those successes. Since I was able to tell him exactly where I wanted to see myself in 5 years I am now able to dedicate each piece of work to this “dream” and work towards something that feels a little more tangible since I can see it in my mind, instead of blindly flailing.

4. Remember Why Your Content is Unique

   Your content is unique because you are unique. There is no other “you” out there and as long as you stay true to your personal style, and values, people will find you. It is much more fun to follow someone who is genuine and honest, not trying to emulate another blogger. I feel so cliche saying this because, well, DUH. But I still have to tell myself this, constantly. Compare yourself to others, because you will… but then move on and dedicate your time and energy to being yourself and sharing who you are instead of trying to be something that you will never be! I like to remind myself how valuable each minute of my day is. What is my worth and how much am I willing to invest into worrying or self doubt? I would much rather invest into learning, bettering myself, creating content that is true to me and working toward my goals.

Last but not least, I wanted to include a list of the tips for success that I learned from my mentor and great friend. We no longer work together but I still look up to her and I reference this list daily to keep myself balanced and motivated. Copy and paste this, put it in the notes of your phone and pull it up when you’re feeling unmotivated and remember that you have the full control to be successful in whatever you desire to do!

J’s Tips For Success:

Network

Utilize your resources

You can do anything you want

Take risks with your business

No risk, no reward

Don’t overthink things

Always portray good body language (no crossed arms or legs)

Delegate: trust but verify

Fake it ‘til you make it

Never apologize unless you are truly at fault

Never say “it’s fine” if it’s not

LEARN from your negative experiences, don’t let them drag you down

Don’t second guess yourself

Take personal feelings out of the equation

The things that make you uncomfortable will make you a stronger leader

If you made it to the end of this post, YOU are the real MVP and I LOVE YOU! Drop me a comment so I know how awesome you are!

I really hope this mess from my mind made sense to you all. I probably should edit my posts before publishing them because sometimes I’ll go back and realize how all over the place I am with my thoughts and remember that not everyone is in my head and able to decipher my ramblings. If you have questions or comments don’t be shy! I love chatting with you lovelies on Instagram or email!

Thanks for stopping by.

xo

How to Grow your Instagram: Tips and Tricks

 EDIT: Since I wrote this post, I have now grown to 10k followers, that’s another 3k in 3 months! I’ve been consistently implementing these tactics, and they are continuing to work well for me!

Ok, this post has been a long time coming, I am constantly getting questions from you all about how to grow your Instagram and while I don't feel like I am an expert on the subject, I do feel that I've tried enough to know what really works and I want to share those successes with you!  All of this has been trial and error, and out of everything that I've tried (much of which hasn't worked) these tips are the practices I have found to work well for growing an engaged and authentic following on Instagram! 

If you're not already following me on Instagram make sure to check out my feed and see my tips in action!

Ok, here we go!

1. Batch shoot and PLAN your feed

Shoot multiple looks in one day so you can plan ahead and have content to post on days you may feel uninspired or don't have time to snap a quality photo. Use a planning app such as UNUM or Preview. Both of these apps let you plan out in advance how your feed will look so you don't have to worry about a photo looking out of place after it's already uploaded. Some of these apps even allow you to schedule posts for automatic upload if you're really busy (although I don't use this feature). 

2. Post Quality Photos 

Quality photos are so important. Arguably the most important item on this list! When someone comes to your page their first impression usually determines whether on not they stay and follow or move on. Sometimes you have to make this impression with just one single photo so make sure each and every pic you post is quality and looks great on its own as well as with your whole feed aesthetic. Make sure to edit each of your photos with a similar style. I use Lightroom for the bulk of my editing and Facetune to whiten, add more detail and sometimes remove a pesky zit. I also make sure to take photos with consistent lighting and similar colored backgrounds (You'll see on my feed that I prefer a neutral background).

Read this article about how to take amazing outfit photos!

3. Be Consistent

Post daily. I've tried it all when it comes to my posting schedule but nothing has worked better for my growth than when I started posting every single day. I honestly don't know why, but I can just assume that people really enjoy getting updates/inspiration that they can expect around the same time every single day. I try not to post more than three times though. Between one and three seems to be the perfect amount. 

4. Engage, Engage, Engage!

I did a whole blog post about my tips for Instagram engagement, but this is really such an important topic. You have to find your target market and give them some love. I usually do this by going to a blogger friend’s page who posts similar content and I engage with their followers by liking a couple photos and leaving genuine comments (make sure to read the captions so you can comment accordingly). I love having a network of blogger friends on my follower list but I also want non-bloggers to be able to find me who are looking to be inspired by my fashion posts, or maybe on the hunt for some product recommendations. With the Instagram algorithm making it extra tricky to be discovered organically these days, it is up to you to put in that elbow grease (such a weird saying) to be seen by your target audience. Another slightly controversial way to be seen by more people is to participate in giveaways. You may only gain a handful of permanent followers as many people will unfollow you after the giveaway has ended, but the great part is those that stay are choosing to stay and they may not have seen your page otherwise! Just DO NOT do fall into the international giveaway trap. You will gain a high volume of followers very fast but it will tank your engagement. 

Also, it is VERY important to engage with your following as well. Always answer comments, be gracious and thankful, answer questions and DMs. I spend a couple hours each day on Instagram engagement. You'll grow MORE by keeping followers (aka not losing them) than you will by gaining new followers, if that makes any sense. Watch this episode of "A Drink With James Fohr" for more info on this. 

4 Tips to Increase Your Instagram Engagement

5. Network and Collaborate

Get to know bloggers local to you and meet up with them! Reach out to photographers and other creatives in your area. Get your name out there and network with local brands and boutiques. You can grow so much these days locally just by word of mouth and a re-post, or an Instagram stories shout out. Also network with other bloggers who aren't local to you. You can gain followers by getting to know other people in your same blogging niche by reaching out via DM or genuinely engaging with their content. Which leads to my next tip...

 6. Tag Your Posts

As a new blogger you may not be working with brands yet. Thats okay! Focus on creating fantastic content and solidifying your reach before you worry on getting those collaborations, they'll come with time, I promise!  Tag the brands you are wearing, using, and showing in all of your photos. Not only does this show them that you are genuine fan of their products/clothing, but it will add you to their tagged photos to be discovered by curious people. I always try to post pictures that fit into a brands feed aesthetic because they are more likely to be re-posted by the brand. This can be HUGE exposure for you if a brand has a large following.

7. Be Authentic

When you're starting out it can be easy to fall into the trap of posting similar content to your favorite bloggers. Being different is easier said than done because there are a lot of very inspiring influencers out there who's job it is to influence you and they're GOOD at it. Fight the urge to post generic content and post your own authentic, creative, different content. You are trying to stand out from the crowd and you definitely won't be able to do that if your feed looks just like the next bloggers feed. This could be how you edit your photos, what style of clothing you wear, or what kind of lifestyle you have. Everyone is different, find your edge! 

I hope you all enjoyed this post and it answered all of the questions about growth that you all have asked me recently. Never hesitate to shoot me an email or DM if you have other questions or just want to chat, I love hearing from you all! It's the best part of my job! 

xo

Before you leave, Pin these images!