Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! (I am trying to get better at posting more often) Today I want to talk to my blogger friends a little bit about the tips and tricks that I have found throughout my first few months of blogging! I totally understand that I have not been blogging all of my life and that I haven’t been paid $100,000 a year from blogging but I have learned quite a bit from these first months and I really wanted to share my tips with you! P.S This is a really really really long post, so I suggest you grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and settle in! *affiliate links are used – for more information, see my disclosure policy I have received a lot of questions lately regarding a number of things, so I figured I would go ahead and put together a list of my favorite tips and tricks as well as explain some of those confusing words and phrases that are out and about in the blogging world! You and I both have seen that for brands, a good engagement rate and a good following is what is needed to land those great collabs. Well with that, you don’t need to have 100k followers to get collaborations, good collaborations are what I’m talking about. If you have a good engagement rate, you have the option and the ability to put yourself out there among the people that do have such a large following because your engagement rate might be better than theirs. This means in a brand’s eyes that you might end up reaching more people than the big guys! So, for this first favorite tip: 1. Work on Good Engagement You may be wondering how you can control your engagement, what your engagement rate is and so on and so forth. Let me explain- So first, your engagement rate is just how well your audience is interacting with your posts. A good engagement rate nowadays on Instagram is anywhere between 10-15%. I like to shoot for 30% myself because I personally believe that it’s a good goal and if I can achieve that, then I am doing something right! If you are trying to find your engagement rate, you can use this equation- For the last 12 posts (just for your sanity) Number of likes (on every post) + Number of comments (on every post) / Number of followers X 100 Now, this can take a really long time, and in this day in age, if it’s not making you money, then you’re wasting that time. You can check out this website and put in your Instagram handle. The percentage may not be exact, but it will be close enough. I will tell you around point 5 how you can work on getting better engagement! 2. Once you have good engagement – reach out! Once you have that good engagement that you have been working so hard on, reach out to brands! If you are in any influencer and brand Facebook groups, don’t be afraid to comment saying that you’re interested. Make sure to let them know that you have a small following, but your engagement rate is so and so percent. They will appreciate you explaining that you understand and that you read their post, but you still are really interested and feel like you would be a good fit! 3. Struggling to create original content? It might be easier than you think! I started taking my own photos about three months ago and it was the best decision I ever made. I was sick of not having any Instagram content, I was sick of having to bug every one of my friends to come take pictures with me and I was sick of feeling like I wasn’t going to do well if I didn’t have photos of me on my Instagram! I am someone who really likes to just get stuff done herself. Don’t get me wrong, I love a collaboration but when it comes to relying on other people to help me, I am better off just getting it done myself. Especially because in my case, my boyfriend is *not* an Instagram boyfriend. Wondering how to take your own photos? First, you need confidence. I really struggled with this because I am someone that would rather be designing a logo or taking photos than be in front of a camera. But its something that I really wanted to do, and I really wanted to make that great content for my Instagram. Some of my favorite pictures have come from my own photography and I couldn’t be happier about it. After you get past the fact that people are going to look at you funny, point, stare, make stupid faces and probably be rude to you, you learn to just enjoy yourself and have fun. That is where the good pictures come from! The one that I posted at the top of this tip was one I took at my house. I ended up taking so many great pictures that day and I can't wait to do it again! Its always so much fun to take your own pictures. AND you don't have to pay anyone to do it! Here are some that I am really happy with: This picture came from the first time I ever took my own photos. When I was walking back to my dorm I was saying to myself, “I know none of these turned out good but at least I tried.” I ended up falling in love with this photo. When I was taking it I was honestly laughing at myself because I could only imagine what other people were thinking of me but also at the same time, I was having so much fun! I love creating content for my followers and my readers because I love to hear their feedback! This next picture came from me thinking “I am going to look like an idiot but let’s see if I can time this right and have my camera catch me spinning.” Well, first try it happened. I was lucky! I honestly loved it and hated it. I hated it so much I loved it? Loved it so much I hated it? Either way I never liked “liking” pictures of myself but I have learned to grow with it and love myself! 4. Grow your Following People ask me ALL. THE. TIME. “How can I grow my following on Instagram?” well here is the short and simple version: It takes a ton of time, AND it's not going to happen overnight. If you genuinely want people to follow you, you first need good content, but you should already have that so I’m not going to go any deeper into it. Secondly, you really need to engage. Like I'll say it louder for the people in the back… YOU NEED TO ENGAGE. Not just with the people that comment on your posts, but with everyone. Genuinely comment and like on people’s photos that you like. Follow people that you want to see more of. When I first started blogging and I was told this, I didn’t understand how I was supposed to find people and I also didn’t understand how I was supposed to get people to follow me from liking and commenting on their posts. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I finally understood what they meant. Here is what you need to do: Go through hashtags that RELATE to you. Find content that you really enjoy and put a genuine comment on there. If you like their page, give them a follow. If they don’t follow you back who cares. You are finding people that you like so it shouldn’t matter. (don’t even get me started on this follow for follow crap) Also, turn post notifications on for some of your favorite bloggers that have a bigger following and make sure to try and be one of the first people to like and comment on their posts. The more you get your name out there and the more people see you commenting and liking, the more they will be interested in who you are. That will or will not lead to a follow! I love doing this because I honestly love engaging with my favorite bloggers anyway. They create great content and are someone I look up too. They are people that I really want to work with one day, so I don’t mind putting my time into their content. 5. If someone comments on your post, give them a comment back on their recent post! It is always really nice when someone comments on your post. It means they are trying to connect with you! With that, if someone comments on your picture or your post, give them a comment back. Obviously if you get 100 comments that could take a lot of time but pick a few people out to grow your relationship with! Also, with that, make sure you are responding to your comments on your posts! I am sooo bad at this but am getting better! It shows brands and your audience that you are engaged and interested in engaging. Not Related to Instagram Tips and Tricks 6. The. Pinterest. Hack. *******UPDATE: BOARDBOOSTER IS NO LONGER ACTIVE DUE TO ISSUES WITH PINTEREST TOS. IT SADDENS ME AND I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO FIND A NEW HACK TO GIVE YOU GUYS TO MAKE YOUR PINTEREST DAYS QUICKER!!!************* I just recently started a new job and it takes a good 60 hours out of my week…40 hours at work… 20 hours of travel back and forth to NYC… Trust me ya’ll I am trying to get out of this as quick as possible because this is just not my thing. Anyway, with this, I started to lose a lot of valuable time for my blog and for Pinterest. I already was scheduling my pins using Tailwind. (If you are interested in receiving $30 in free Tailwind credit you can sign up through my link here. You can only receive $30 if you sign up before the 17th of June. After that it will only be worth $15 (which is still good!)) Using Tailwind and just pinning my own pins just wasn’t enough. My monthly viewers were still dropping, and it just wasn’t good. So, I started searching for another option. I knew about Board Booster already but wasn’t really sure how I could use it until I started to really do some deep research about their platform. They have this amazing thing called Pin Sourcing! You can use this campaign to assign pins to your boards and they do it automatically for you. So not only am I pinning my own pins with Tailwind but now I am pinning 1000 pins a month of others content as well and I only have to put in about 2 hours of work! Talk about a blessing! The best part is, you only pay one penny a pin! I pay $10 a month for 1000 pins and it is absolutely amazing. I never want to go back! Such a cheap alternative to other options out there! If you're interested in checking out Board Booster you can see it here. P.S Their customer service is absolutely amazing. 7. The Key to Pinterest So, I just told you about my favorite hack that allows me to pin on autopilot and with that, I wanted to share with you the biggest key to Pinterest. That key is…drum roll, please… Pinning. I know it sounds crazy, but you should be pinning 50 times a day if you can. The more you pin, the more people see your content when means more clicks and more saves. Also, you need to stay active. I made this mistake when I started my new job. My stats dropped by 50% and now I am trying to get them back to normal. You should be pinning about 70% of others content and 30% of yours to make Pinterest “trust” you in the sense that you aren’t trying to spam your followers. Being an active user is key. Pinning daily is key. 8. Stick to What You Know This whole influencer/blogger thing can be really hard. You can get caught up in your numbers, you see what other people are doing to make money and think you can do it too. The truth is, you can’t. You have to stick to what you know. For me, that’s writing and graphic design with a little bit of saving money tips in there too. I love love love DIY and interior design, but I just don’t have enough experience with it to really make a living off of it. So, this month I decided to stick with what I know. Writing quality blog posts, designing logos and having fun while doing it. It’s the best way for you to start making money. Sticking to what you know will allow you to start expressing your talents immediately. I am also in the process of learning code to design custom websites but that isn’t going to be for a while. So rather than trying to focus on learning something new to make money, use what you already know! You are full of information and you are full of talent! USE IT! A quick note about Instagram engagement pods: When I first heard about these weird pods, I was kind of interested but also skeptical because I really didn’t know if it would work. After joining one, from one of my now good Instagram friends, I decided to start my own. I was still really skeptical but at that time I was more of an “I just wanna do it and see what happens” kinda girl! I am going to say this one time for all of you…I have absolutely fallen in love with all of my girls in my Instagram pod and even if they don’t work and they don’t do anything for my Instagram post, I have met some of the most amazing women from all around the world from starting this pod and being in others. We are like one big happy family. We ask questions, we help each other, we have fun and its just really really awesome. These girls are honestly some of the best friends that I have ever had to be 100 with all of you! So, to get to my point, join an Instagram pod or even start one because you will honestly find some really awesome girls! It does take time to weed out the bad and find the good but where there are weeds there are flowers and let me tell you what, I got some pretty awesome and beautiful flowers that I have met in my pods! I hope you enjoyed these tips and tricks to help you grow as a blogger and an influencer. A lot of the times when I read posts like these I felt as if I never really gained any information. Everyone kept saying the same thing. If for some reason you don’t feel like I helped you at all, send me a message and ask me any question you would like answered and I will gladly help you out! Please also feel free to connect with me on social media! You can find me here on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter! If you happen to need a logo or have any graphic design needs, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or reach out to me on social media! I would love to help!
25 Comments
7/2/2018 08:46:50 am
It is tricky at first but you kind of just learn to wing it and the photos come out great!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:47:16 am
Thanks so much for reading!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:47:36 am
Thanks so much for taking the time to read it!
Reply
I love these tips. It is so true and on point. My Pinterest has dropped by more than half (sad face) my following on insta is only 1.4k and I feel like each day it is dropping. Regarding the Pins. Is there a free version of Tailwind and do you recommend ding facebook business pages? And if so how do I juggle all that?
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:52:32 am
Hey Gillian!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:53:25 am
I am in the same boat as you right now! I have so much content I want to write but just not enough time to write them! Its so sad but we will get there! Good luck and keep pushing!
Reply
6/17/2018 07:25:49 pm
These are great tips for bloggers new and veteran bloggers!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:54:00 am
Thank you so much for giving it a read!
Reply
6/20/2018 05:16:48 pm
This is a GREAT post! I love all of the information. Especially with Pinterest which I COMPLETELY suck at lol. Great great post!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:56:06 am
Thanks so much for giving it a read! I am currently working on an e-course that will give a little more insight on how to use all of these social media sites and will walk you through everything you need to know from good to bad!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:56:38 am
Thanks so much for giving it a read! Yes blogging is so much more than just writing and posting!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:59:21 am
Thanks so much for giving it a read! I am currently working on an ecourse that is going to help bloggers from point a to point z and help them understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of blogging!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:57:48 am
Thanks so much for giving it a read! I am pulling together an e-course to help bloggers from point a to point z as well!
Reply
6/20/2018 07:31:14 pm
These are really great tips! I've been blogging for a long time, and I still need to do some of these tips. There's so much to do!
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:58:25 am
I totally agree with you! So much to do and so little time to do it! If blogging paid me more (said everyone) then I would be doing it full time! (Said everyone again!)
Reply
Hannah Johnson
7/2/2018 08:56:58 am
Thanks so much for giving it a read!
Reply
5/3/2019 12:00:19 am
Love this post. Gives us lots of good knowledge & information. Thanks for sharing the tips..
Reply
Leave a Reply. |