Month: August 2015
MAKING THE MOST OF INSTAGRAM
july 5, 2015
5 WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF INSTAGRAM
I know this is crazy but I’ve recently started using Facebook & Google+ Groups & communities. I thought this would have a small impact on my blog growth but it took me by surprise how fast and how much it grew!
Another social media I like is Instagram, it is also a great way to grow your blog. It shows the person reading your blog that your actually a real person. Some blog owners have separate accounts & that’s fun too. To each is there own. I’m lazy so I just have one account. I think it’s fun to scroll through friends & blogger friends (a like) photo’s. Instagram is an awesome tool that can be used especially if your a food, fashion, or beauty blogger.
- Add your website URL to your profile page.
- Make use of hashtags. You can also add a few from your niche. This will help other folks find you & your blog if it be on accident or on purpose.
- Like & comment on photos you like. To others it’s not weird if you don’t know the person. They’ve added their photo to share with the world, they wouldn’t if they didn’t want communication too.
- As a blogger there are a bunch of Instagram challenges you can participate in. It’s so much fun to see what other people present their idea of that days word or prompt.
- Have fun! Instagram is all about your life in photo’s. Each individual has a different perspective and it takes all kinds of kinds to make the world go around.
CONCLUSION
It’s all in fun! Here are 5 things I make sure I do when putting up a photo, I hope you find these useful as well.
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YOU FINISH THIS
FUTURE EARTH
PART 2
WRITTEN BY
CHARMA HAGANS
2 YEARS EARLIER
The Spaceships arrived in July 2016; with thses “city-sized” ships hovering over all the major cities in the U.S.; LA, Atlanta, Miami, New York, Houston and Washinton D.C.
They said they were here to rescue the poor, disenfranchised, unjustly incarcerated, victims of domestic violence, the homeless, the drug and alcohol addicted, sexually confused, affected by racisim and punish the rich.
They populated this planet billions of years ago. When God said “let there be light” they hit the switch so to speak. The Bible was createdback then as rule book to live by for this planet’s inhabitantsto live by.
As time passed the original text of the Bible, was deleted and edited so one person or Government to use as a control device over a group of people or even a whole city or town.
So the Bible that is now; is not accurate. The true God of this planet is not named Jesus but Isis-the Mother of the Universe.
The Present Day
Stasis units envelopes three rooms; full of individuals who are undergoing “Psychological Remapping”, performed by “healers” from thier planet. The process removes all negative influences and urges, that they claim is the work of Demoinc Possession and have not revealed how this process works.
At the most, 90% of all individuals who receives these treatments; are fully cured and live renewd lives here on Earth and the other 10% who are resistant to or the process doesnot work for are housed permenantly in one of thier medical facilities, to keep from harming others who have had a successful session; or others who didnot need treatment.
A healer walks in the roomto monitor the patients and inspect tlemetry readouts on the computer; when a young woman walks in has just finished her treatment and is now ready for “enlightment lessons”
“Come in my dear all are welcome here. How did you find your treatments?”
“Fine, I have a slight headache”.
“I’ll get you something for that. One moment I’ll be back”.
The healer leaves the room to get the woman something for her headache.
The Healer returs carrying a small black box.
Now you finish the story yourself. I’m waiting to see what you guys come up with. The complete story will be made available on my Worpress site shortly.
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HOW TO AN EFFICIENT BLOGGER
It’s kind of funny to me that I up and decided to write a post on how to blog efficiently, especially since I didn’t post but once last week. Ha! While I do get a lot of things done, other things usually are simultaneously slipping through the cracks. But, I have found some tools that are very helpful for me and I thought I’d share them with you!
1. Have a designated office space
For the first year of blogging, I mostly blogged from my couch. At one point I made my LIVING ROOM OFFICE, but it was too out in the middle of the house. I needed a room where I could close the door if needed. And I could walk away and keep my work in the room.
It’s hard to work from home, but this set-up helps a ton. I find that I am so much more productive when I am in my designated space and not sitting in front of the TV.
The set-up works perfectly for my needs and I love having my desk look out the window. I’m hoping to makeover this room this year. The inspiration board is in the works! But until then, be sure to check out my Pinterest board for more office inspiration.
2. Use a great planner
I don’t plan out each and every single hourly increment in my Daily Designer, I still use it to plan out my day. I’ve found that I get less overwhelmed by the to-do list in my head when I write it down. And I tend to remember to do the things I need to do when I’ve emptied out the extra contents and have allowed myself to think again. LOVE it!
Blogging planners helps me keep my social media management under control. Well, as under control as it can possibly be. As a blogger, social media can just be plain crazy. So, I love the “daily blog maintenance” page. It’s better than just trying to keep track of it all in my head.
3. Create office hours.
It was hard for me to set office hours when I blogged from the couch or the dining room. The lines were too blurred between home and work life. And for a while when this was just a hobby, that was OK, I guess. But now I must schedule my time behind the computer screen. Otherwise it has the potential to take over every hour of my day.
My normal weekly work schedule looks like this:
During preschool: 9:30-12:45 {two days a week}
Nap times: 2-5 {Don’t be jealous because I have a three-year-old who is the greatest napper ever!}
Night: 9-midnight {In the past I would frequently work until 3 in the morning, but I’ve decided that sleep and my health is more important than almost any blog post.}
4. Have pretty organization.
I know pretty may seem trivial to some, but to me it is a necessity! If I’m going to stay organized, it’s going to need to be cute. Can I get an amen??
Decorative file folders are one of my favorite products. I keep a handful on my desk for every-day filing. In The Turquoise Home file, I’ll toss bank statements, receipts or contracts, just to keep them in one place. And about once a month I’ll go through and actually log them into the computer, scan them or even file in my larger file folder. It’s a great way to keep the piles off my desk or kitchen counter. I also have folders labeled “to pay,” “to file,” and “to do.”
Conclusion
I by no means have it all figured out. Like I said above, there’s always something falling through the cracks at any given moment, but these four tips are what helps me attempt to keep it all straight. There are days and weeks when I take a nap during Miss A’s nap time. Or I go meet a friend for coffee during preschool. That’s one thing I love about this job {that is so much fun and doesn’t feel like work}! I am my own boss and I make my own schedule.
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7 TIPS FOR BLOGGING SUCCESS
7 TIPS FOR BLOGGING SUCCESS
It’s kind of funny to me that I up and decided to write a post on how to blog efficiently, especially since I didn’t post but once last week. Ha! While I do get a lot of things done, other things usually are simultaneously slipping through the cracks. But, I have found some tools that are very helpful for me and I thought I’d share them with you!
1. DEFINE YOUR NICHE
Most blogging tips and guides will tell you to blog about something you’re passionate about. This is totally true. Every topic is fun for the first 20 blog posts, but if you want to be writing about a subject matter in years to come, you need to genuinely be interested in it.
But I’m here to say today, passion is not enough on its own. You need to hone in on what your speciality is. Say you love baking, honestly another blog about generic baking is really not what the world needs. But the world may need a blog about baking where each recipe teaches a specific cooking technique. Or a blog that’s all about gluten free baking. Focus where your expertise is, look for what the world needs and go for it.
Remember – you can’t be everything to everyone. By defining a niche you are able to give the right people exactly what they need.
2. KNOW YOUR READER
After blogging for a year or so, I discovered having an ‘ideal reader’ in my head when creating and writing blog posts makes things so much easier!
Go beyond your basic customer profiles of age, location etc. Get to KNOW them in your imagination. Who are they? What movies do they like? Where do they shop? Where do they vacation? What other blogs do they read?
As a blog evolves, and we ourselves evolve and grow, it can become easy to lose yourself in a world of PR pitches, trends and what other bloggers are doing.
By always going back to that ‘ideal reader’ you can ask…Would they enjoy this blog post? Would it make their life happier, easier, or fuller? Am I adding something worthwhile to their day?
This means, while your blog may grow, your logo may change and you may begin to work with bigger brands, you will always have the heart and soul of the reader at the forefront.
3. TAKE A BLOGGING COURSE
In my first six months of blogging, I took the Blogging Your Way e-course by Holly Becker and it was perfect for me during those very early days. During that course I also met some amazing blogger friends that formed a supportive community during those early, lonely days of blogging.
Most recently I joined Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily’s Bloggers MBA eCourse (formerly known as Secret Bloggers Business) and I can’t rave about it enough. It’s 100% dedicated to taking your blog from a middle of the road side project to a full time powerhouse – so you can actually earn an income doing what you love.
While it does have a lot of tips, ticks and worksheets that get everything from your SEO to your media kit sorted, the resource I used the most was the real life examples from Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily’s founder, Kate.
In a move I’ve never seen before Kate literally spills everything – stats, income, failures, successes – from her 7 years of blogging that saw her grow her blog from 0 to 180 000 monthly readers, which now takes in a multiple six figure revenue. I could literally compare her journey with my own, and see with a few more tweaks, I could reach that level as well. Talk about inspiring!
You can sign up for the Bloggers MBA eCourse here.
I’m now also a member of Blogger Boss – a tech course designed to make your site look a million bucks (without having to pay a web developer that much to do it!) Run by tech-whiz and all round superstar Madeleine Burke
Blogger Boss is the first course I know dedicated solely to all those annoying tech things that take your site from ok to oh-my-god. Think SEO, wordpress plugins, hosting tips,social media integration, website layout and coding for dummies (and I mean dummies – if born-in-the-age-of-rotary-phones me can do it, you can). Oh how I wish I could jump in my Marty McFly Delorean and go back in time to do this course when I was in my early days of blogging. It would have prevented so many meltdowns and full on tears…and oh yeah, my site would have been kick ass from the get-go!
You can sign up for Blogger Boss here.
4. PREPARATION IS KEY
One of the biggest disappointments I see every month are fabulous new blogs where people post awesome new content for about 3 weeks and then you never hear from them again.
To avoid this, preparation is key.
Very few people have the luxury to blog full time. So you need to set aside time devoted to creating posts for your blog. To keep a good mix of content I’ll plan out my blogging schedule up to 3-6 months in advance. This allows me to prepare for big photo shoots, holidays and special promotions. Then I usually blog at least a fortnight in advance. This way, my blog is never left by the wayside when life gets in the way.
If you’re just starting out, I’d suggest having 2-3 months worth of content written before you launch, and then form a weekly schedule so you are creating new content on a regular basis.
Supporting this, don’t forget to schedule your social media. Facebook allows you to schedule posts now, you can schedule pins using Viraltag, and although you can’t schedule on Instagram – you can prepare any images you want to share and keep them in a DropBox on your phone.
By all means, when creativity strikes and you want to upload a post or social media update not in your schedule – do it! But by being prepared, you’ll never feel stressed about getting content up at the last minute.
5. EDIT, EDIT, EDIT
Starting out, I fell into the trap of feeling I needed to post everyday to be taken seriously.
While I do feel consistency is important, I would warn against putting up posts just for the sake of it. Make each post count. If you’re not proud of a post, if it doesn’t excite you, inspire you or make you smile, why would anyone else want to read it?
Edit your posts. Post only the best photos, the best words, the best ideas…If you’re stuck on how to do this, when you’re about to put up a post ask yourself “If a new reader was coming to my blog for the first time, would I be happy that this post is what they would judge my blog by? Would this post make them stay?”
If the answer is yes, post away. If the answer is no, edit.
6. MAKE IT PRETTY
I’m talking blog design here. Now by pretty, I don’t mean every blog has to be the inside of a Ted Baker store.
By pretty I mean, clean, easy to navigate and in line with your blog’s brand. Less is always more. Don’t fall into the trap from adding every widget, award and blogging badge in your sidebar. They will just compete for your content’s attention.
If you are serious about blogging and want to take it to the next level either take a design course or hire a designer. It needn’t cost you the earth, but your page needs to be on brand and professional to be taken seriously.
Along that same vein, start working on your photography skills. You don’t need to be perfect to start, but great photos make a great blog, so make sure you devote time to improving your photography.
7. CREATE DON’T CURATE
I’m so passionate about this topic, I want to shout it from the rooftops!
When I started blogging, nearly every second blog post around was a wrap up of gorgeous images or fabulous products to buy. People would create inspiration boards of their latest finds and trends. But with the advent of Pinterest, this kind of blogging is becoming archaic.
To stand out as a blogger you need to CREATE your own content. By all means, share products, content or images you find inspiring; but by focusing on what you have to share and create, you’ll stand out from the crowd.
Whether it’s great writing, creative projects, styling your own shoots, personal photography – whatever you have to share, just give people something they haven’t seen before. Your readers will get something new and you’ll enjoy the process.
Conclusion
Blogging takes sacrifice. It means time away from your friends and family, it is hours attached to a computer dealing with IT problems you never knew existed, it means failed projects wasting your time and money (oh I’ve had some major FAILS when it comes to DIYs!), you may spend weeks on a fabulous post only to have no-one comment…
Blogging certainly comes with its fair share of loneliness and disappointment. There can be days when you just feel like giving up.
But know this: We all started somewhere. One of my tips to beat the blogging blues is to go back and read the archives of huge blogs like Style Me Pretty and Decor8 – see where they started, in those early days…and then look at what they are today. Keep faith that with hard work and commitment you’ll get there too.
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4 ABOUT PAGE MISTAKES (and how to fix them)
Charma Hagans Word Press Blog 