Hello hello! How are you all doing? I have been busy painting my kitchen during babies naps and staying on top of work! Balance is truly an art…am I right? I have to admit, I like the chaos (for the most part)! Anywho, I’m rambling per usual. Let’s dive in to this Thursdays TYAT blog!
1.) You have been doing so many giveaways lately and your business seems to be booming. I have a blog myself which I guess is why I am wondering- spill! I have to ask has your blog/instagram got more engagement since becoming a momma? Or coincidence of timing? What are you doing differently to work with various companies?
This is pretty simple. I just stopped putting myself in a box which would be fitness. I lovvve everything fitness but you know it’s not my entire life and I was sick of only promoting that. There is a lot more to me (and things that I like)! That is what led to my name change on Instagram but due to signing a few contracts with companies (you will find out more about that later) I had to change it back for awhile- awkwarrrrrd! hahaha. I started to just have FUN. I did a lot less brainstorming and planning out my posts and started to just post what I actually wanted to (and when the timing worked for me). There is no strategy for my business right now. The past three years there was SO much of that going into every post, when I would post, down to what time/what day and that just got plain annoying. Honestly, I had a lot more time to be strategic and right now I do not. Suprisingly, it has been working for me and I feel blessed for that.
I do believe that my engagment has increased because I have stopped focusing on a big following and have made genuine friendships on the gram and blogging scene. It went from being stressful to incredibly fun and that is why it has thrived. As far as giveaways go, I am such a fun of these for so many reasons! It hit me one day that all of these influencers/bloggers (myself included) were only promoting products we loved but not giving our following the chance to experience them as well! It is way more fun to work with companies when you make an agreement to give away a free product to someone who follows your journey! I have 5 giveaways in the works right now, so stay tuned for all of those!
2.) I find it difficult to do collaborations with an array of companies because they want a specific person for their brand. Like a fitness company will not want to collab with someone promoting just fashion clothing? Or a home decor company will not want to promote someone super into fitness? How do you get the variety? I feel like I have to pick what my page focuses on.
I’ve run into this situation before and completely get what you are saying! That is why if I am the one reaching out to them, I always explain why I would be a good fit for them! That is also a big reason I stopped putting myself into one category! Think of your page as a portfolio of what you love and promote. That’s how I view it. If you want to promote a variety of things that you love you have to post a variety…simple as that! If companies are not open to collaborating with you, focus on building your page and PROVING you can make it work and coexist. The first step is to start posting what you love – and no it does not have to fall under one category. Remember, when you reach out to companies to collab they are going to head to your page to see if you are a good fit or not. Thats how your prove yourself. Show up, post awesome content, reach out on your own and the business will come.
If you need a little help on how to send a company a message, I talk more about that here!
3.) I’ve always wondered why you do not post more on your babies nutrition and what you feed them! Care to share?
For starters, I just did not think that would be something people would be interested in reading! “Today was a great day, Oliver and Olivia had pureed carrots! Their poop was a slight tinge of orange!” Okay okay I’m obviously exaggerating haha but you get the idea. I’ve seen content from other pages where sometimes it shares too much information on things I do not want to know about so I try to not do that to you guys!
However, the BIGGEST reason I do not share what I feed them or their nutrition is because mom shaming is real and I don’t have time for that! It’s kind of crazy all these different opinions on what your baby should eat and when. As a new mom, especially the first six months, I probably would have cried if some random person on the internet told me I was stupid for feeding them this or that. My fragile momma heart would not have been able to take it and that’s the truth! Lastly, I do not want to share how I do things and be liable if someone did the same thing and it did not work or went wrong. Yes, I have my nutrition degree but I am not a peditrician. As they get a little older I will start sharing some snack/meal recipes! For now though, I like keeping it to myself!
4.) How do you decide what to share and what to keep private?
I try to only speak for myself when I am posting on any of my social medias or blog. If my husband is involved in a post I always run it by him first because he is very private! I think people think everyone who has a blog or social media business they must have to share everything and that’s actually super false. We share what we want to – simple as that! There are many parts of my life I continue to keep very private because that’s just how I want it to be! Some rules I have made for myself are these:
1.) Keep my posting positive & uplifting. I want people to feel inspired and happy when they see my content!
2.) Get people to start thinking about very particular topics, such as this blog I posted the other day.
3.) I only post about a hardship or something I have struggled with if I think it could help someone viewing that post know they are not alone. Pretty much, I ride the line of being transparent while maintaing positivity.
5.) I am looking into the BOB jogging stroller and wondered if there is an add on such as a drink carrier/key holder/ etc. Did yours come with your stroller?
Mine did not! I actually waited until a month ago to purchase one off Amazon and I regret not purchasing it sooner
Here is the exact one that I have (: It fits the single BOB stroller as well as the double BOB stroller! I love it because it has two drink holders and overall a ton of storage! One of the pouches I use specifically for dog treats for Stella. It keeps me organized on my walk/runs!
I hope everyone has a productive & lively Thursday!!