Blogging Tips #1.

Shauna Mantos
Sep 25, 2018
7 min read

Ok, so I want to start this off by saying by NO means do I think that I have it all figured out because I 110% don't. However, I have learned a few things from trial an error, reading books/articles, listening to podcasts, and talking to other bloggers. I have always been the type of person to want to help people that have a question (legit feel free to send me a DM with any questions at any point). However, I know not all bloggers feel this way...

Just from personal experience I have reached out to bloggers (with 15k+) and have gotten no response, seen my messages read (got no response), or once in a blue moon finally got a response that is very vague and not very helpful. I get that in a weird way all bloggers, vlogggers, youtube stars, insta models, etc. are almost in a competition where we are competing for views, shares, likes, sponsorships, comments and so forth. So maybe it's just me being naive thinking that the norm is wanting to help people out?

Bottom line... I don't know EVERYTHING (sometimes I pretend I do), but I can promise to all my followers, fellow bloggers, friends, and family that if I have the knowledge on something and you are looking for the answer, I am only a DM (email, text, phone call) away! I have learned first hand that there is no EXACT guidebook for blogging, and we all are on a constant rollercoaster ride of trying to"figure it out as we go," so if some of my highs, lows, fails, or successes can help someone else out I am all for that (GRL PWR)!

Enough of me ranting, lets get into it!

1. Presets

I have gotten a few questions now on the "preset" I use (I am referring to the filter I use for all of my photos). It is not something I bought I just created it myself on Lightroom. I am going to be straight up and admit that I stupidly jumped on board with buying a bloggers preset to quickly realize presets are not in fact the jeans from The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants and one preset does NOT and will NOT fit everyones skin tone, completion, hair color, eye color, fashion style, etc.

My Advise: Buying presets is pretty much a scam, learn how to use the Lightroom App (I don't think it cost anything, but don't quote me) and adjust your personal "preset" so you can figure out what features, lighting, toning, shadows, color, saturation work best for you!

2. Giveaways

I have ran one giveaway and I think it was absolutely useless. The people that are signing up or engaging with giveaways are the type of people that sign up and engage with giveaways. It is very rare that these people are going to subscribe to your blog, open your blog emails, comment on your posts any other day, or watch your stories (I would say pretty good chance they unfollow you in a few days). Your power on social media comes from your engagement and if you have a bunch of people following you that are ONLY engaging when you posts giveaway, you are actually hurting you engagement analytics in the long run.

My Advise: I would say under no circumstances should anyone ever opt into giveaways that make you follow 10+ people (that is an absolute headache and those people are going to unfollow you immediately). IF you are going to run a giveaway make sure it is done properly (note that Instagram is not affiliated, put the age requirements, add in the run dates of the giveaway, and the directions to enter), and do it once in awhile as an extra bonus post (there is no need for it to be a focus, almost use it as a special occasion - for EX. your birthday month do a giveaway for your followers, or close to holidays).

3. Purchasing Followers

I have been asked this question A LOT. My personal thoughts... you are INSANE to do so. I mean if you are just looking for a blue check mark, the swipe up feature in your instagram stories, or just want to have a "following" (I put quotations because your following is mostly robots) then purchasing followers in not the worst thing for you. However, if you are trying to make blogging a long term career, want to land well known sponsorships, and are trying to make a living off of blogging, I suggest to not do so. Few reasons being:

Facebook (Facebook owns Instagram if you didn't know) is actually removing fake accounts (bot accounts) and people that have fake accounts following them are getting penalized (posts are not priority in newsfeeds & your account can be suspend)
There are are tools where companies can put your social media handle in and it will distinguish what percent of your followers are bots and what are real (this can obviously impact you by not landing advertising deals)
You look SO silly to have 57k followers but only have 200-350 likes on all of your images (I quickly just did the math and that means that ONLY .6% of your followers are engaging in your posts, and we know the most important statistic with social media is what your engagement is)

My Advise: I get that buying followers is a quick turnaround and its the easy way to get a following, but I am going to stand firmly and say that the ONLY real way to get a following is being authentic, posting quality content, and interacting with your following & future following.

Engagement VS. Following

To be honest I still struggle with this sometimes, but not as much as much as I use to. I think the most important thing to say here is to be aware if you are taking the right steps to improve your engagement on a daily basis. My first suggestion would be to make sure that you are using a business instagram so that you have the insights to see what your weekly profile visits, website clicks, emails, reach, or impressions are (you can also see the insights per post: if people saved the image, what the reach was, the amount of people who went to your profile after seeing that post, etc.).

On a weekly/ biweekly basis I usually look at my posts from that time period and try to evaluate which posts had the most engagement and which had the least (if you posted two pics of just your sneakers and the posts had close to no engagement it is probably the best decison to regroup and think of a new idea to share your fitness #OOTD).

Overall your social media posts are crucial when it comes to blogging (think of your posts as a resume when you are applying for a job, if your resume (your posts) is not buttoned up and looking pretty, you are not going to get the interview (aka you are not going to drive people to your blog).

Ways to Increase your Engagement:

Comment back when people comment on your pictures
Don't just like peoples pictures, make sure to comment on them
Comment/ Like peoples photos that you don't necessarily follow you or that you follow (branch out)
I can't express how important Stories, IGTV & Insta Live are (I have personally noticed I get the most followers when I post a lot on insta story and after posting an IGTV)
Answer your DM's (regarding your blogs, pictures, or something you posted)
Find Social Media Groups to join to get meet new friends (share ideas, what works/ what doesn't work, or collaborate together)
Quality pictures
Using the same preset helps followers distinguish your "brand"
Post quality content

My advise: Bottom line if you are taking the right steps with engagement, you will steadily increase your following because the more people that interact with your posts the higher potential you have to reach a brand new audience (which ultimately will land you with some brand new followers). So fellow bloggers stop stressing over what your number is, and work on posting some top-notch content!

Gain A Following

I know I keep saying I get asked this question a lot, but I saved this for last because this is probably the most asked with all bloggers and it's actually super simple. I remember when I first start blogging I thought that there was some secret to gaining a following (sometimes I wish that was true, because figuring out a secret is probably easier), however, its not a secret it's just pure AUTHENTICITY. People want to follow people that they trust, relate to, make them laugh, inspire to be, worship, want to be friends with, etc. I know from personal experience the people I tend to love following are people that make me laugh, spread positivity, inspire me to better, or put be into my place (telling me we all had bad days, so suck it up and get over it).

TIPS:

Be authentic (share your personality, you don't have to be like me and share all aspects of your life, BUT be you and be real)
Posting at the same time (personally I noticed that between 6pm - 8pm posts work best for me so typically all my posts are between those times)
Post often (you should be posting once a day, if not twice - this is not including stories or IGTV)
Comment back & follow back (this is crucial if you are still trying to gain a following - people want to follow people that interact with them and follow them back)
Quality content & quality photos (use presets, no blurry images, images with people in them perform best, keep reposting the same image to a minimum, ask your audience what they want to see, etc.)
Hashtags (this allows a new audience to reach you, use as many hashtags as possible, and no posts should have the same hashtags you should always be trying to test out new ones so you are reaching new people)
Include a location with all your posts (this also allows you to reach new people in that location)
Tag your clothes, make up brands, restaurants, etc. (this gives you the opportunity for companies to see your posts and possibly repost it - allowing you to reach a new audience)

My Advise: Overall authenticity trumps everything because you can always be working on your photography skills, writing, marketing, and content ideas (a lot of these skills come with time of trial & error), however you can't fake a personality (so be real)! As long as you continue to be yourself, your brand will continue to grow (people will ALWAYS appreciate the real you)!

I know this is a lot, but hopefully it's helpful! AND PLEASE, If you have a specific question please reach out (I am ALWAYS here to help)!