Blogging & Business

15 Ways to Improve Your Blog

May 31, 2017

* Affiliate Links may be used at no additional costs to you

I’ve been in the blog slumps over the last couple weeks, but really, it’s mainly due to Instagram. I know I shouldn’t let a social media platform dictate my happiness, but after working hard to build an extension of HTC there and seeing my engagement go down because #algorithims, I’ve been feeling pretty woe-is-me. But, I decided that I needed to stop throwing a pity party and focus back in on where everything started: my actual blog!

I had to remind myself that one: Instagram does not make the world go round. While it is important to my brand and story-telling, I don’t own Instagram and I could wake up tomorrow and find that my account was gone. I will ALWAYS own my blog and that is something that can never be taken from me.

And two: I didn’t start blogging to be on Instagram. I started blogging to write and share what was on my heart and to encourage others to live a vibrant life. So, instead of moping about Instagram, I decided to put myself back into my blog and work on improving it over the long weekend. Since I love sharing blogging advice to anyone out there thinking about blogging themselves, I decided I would share all my tips and tricks here (and hopefully they are new to you and not the typical ones!)

15 Ways to Improve Your Blog

3 Ways to Monetize your Blog on your Own Terms

May 22, 2017

*Affiliate links are used in this post at no additional cost to you.

Before jumping into this post, I first want to say that it’s no secret that I make a bit of money off of HTC. It’s been an absolute joy and pleasure to see something that I love and am so passionate about actually put a little bit of fun money into my pocket and help me grow my space here. That being said, I hope you all know that ANY time I get paid, it’s for the right reasons (as in, it’s in collaboration with a company I love and trust and would recommend to you regardless.) Your trust and my relationships here are far more important to me than making money off of my blog. However, I want to thank you for supporting me and allowing me to monetize HTC and for supporting the brands that support me; it’s what helps keep the lights on my site and helps me get my eyelash extensions filled every few weeks. 🙂

I remember when I was accepted to my first shopportunity on Social Fabric like it was yesterday. (For those new to blogging, Social Fabric is a blogging network that connects bloggers and brands for sponsored posts.) I had been blogging seriously for about 6 months and had finally hit the minimum requirements to join the blogging network. I had told Dustin that my goal was to start making money to support my blog within 6-8 months of starting so that I could start paying for my hosting by myself and was anxious to show him that I was going to hit that goal.

That first sponsored post (which included a tutorial for making popsicles for dogs) was the first time I made real money off of my blog. I was so excited that my passion project was bringing in a small income and couldn’t wait to continue to grow my blog. However, after about 6 months later, I realized that I wasn’t a fan of how I was monetizing my blog. I was relying too much on Social Fabric to give me sponsored opportunities and on months when there weren’t many, I was trying to figure out how to make certain sponsored posts fit within my brand so I could pay my blog bills. Not ideal. But, I felt cornered and like I had no other options because I wasn’t a big blogger.

Now, SoFab is an awesome platform and I still love working with them. In fact, I have a whole eBook on how to get sponsored posts with them! I just didn’t want to rely on them solely for monetizing my blog.

This is one of the many reasons why I decided to go back to work part-time at the end of last year. I needed to take the pressure off of myself to monetize my blog and to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I was going to do to next. I sat down and came up with a plan to make sure that I would no longer have to rely on anyone else for monetization opportunities. I was going to monetize my blog on my own terms and have been using the following techniques to grow my income to higher than ever before.

Before I jump into this, let me just say: I am NOT a huge blogger. Compared to some, my pageviews are tiny and my follower count is minuscule. However, micro-influencers are becoming more relevant and important to the world today and it is possible to successfully monetize, no matter how established or small you are.

How to Monetize Your Blog on your Own Terms:

Diversify your Income

Like I mentioned above, the main way that bloggers monetize their blogs is through sponsored posts. This is still one of my favorite ways to monetize, but, this doesn’t mean it’s the only way, It also doesn’t mean that bloggers should just rely on sponsored posts to keep their blogs afloat. Sponsored content ebbs and flows – I have some months when I have five projects execute and I have other months where I have none. I currently have two collaborations in the works that won’t be paid out for a few months – most of these projects don’t just happen overnight and may not get paid out while you work out the kinks.

Diversifying your blogging income is one way to monetize your blog on your own terms. You can place ads on your blog (where you get paid per click) and/or you can use affiliate links (where you get paid when someone else clicks on it and buys something through that link.) You can also sell a product or service to your audience. I know a lot of bloggers think: “Only bloggers who create products about blogging are successful with that” because that’s what I used to think, too.

But then I bought a pack of beautiful Lightroom Presets from a photography blogger last week. I paid a monthly subscription fee for a workout program from a fitness blogger. And, I paid for some budget printables from a finance blogger to help me keep track of my blogging expenses. So, lesson learned – it is possible for any kind of blogger to create and sell a product or service!

How am I using this technique to monetize my blog on my own terms?

I just enrolled in the highly acclaimed affiliate marketing course called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things and am excited to learn how I can incorporate more affiliate links into my monetization scheme.

And, I’m in the process of getting ready to launch my own service/product at the end of the summer! I mean, hopefully, people will want to buy it, but it’s fun to feel like I’m in complete control of my next steps.

Know your Worth – Don’t feel Pressured to Say Yes

Once upon a time a REALLY expensive watch company (that shall rename nameless – but no, it wasn’t JORD) reached out to me and asked if I was interested in collaborating with them. They sent me a list of requirements that they expected from me in exchange for a free watch. Let me tell you, the amount of work that they were asking of me was about twice the amount that I normally put into a sponsored post (and I put a LOT of work into sponsored posts.) When I emailed them back and asked them about real compensation in the form of money, I got a response saying that they would love to pay me in the future, but wanted to start our relationship with this collaboration first.

At first, I felt like I was being ridiculous for even asking for them to pay me. But, the more I looked at the requirements they were expecting of me, the more infuriated I got. NO WAY WAS I GOING TO WORK THAT MUCH FOR A FREE WATCH. Free watches do not pay my hosting bills, free watches do not pay for my internet and free watches sure as heck do not pay my photographer. I decided that I was worth more than that and I wasn’t going to be bullied by this big brand to do their marketing for free.

It’s so important to know your worth as a blogger and an influencer – YOU are marketing their product for them. These companies and brands already pay other people to come up with marketing strategies, but the truth of the matter is that YOU as a real life person are far more influential than an ad on the sidebar of Facebook. So, know your worth and don’t let big brands bully you into doing free work.

***I do want to say that this isn’t the case with all brands. I have partnerships with several brands (some a bit smaller) who truly can only offer a free product. If I really love that product, I am more than happy to come to an agreement to make sure we can help each other out, even if that doesn’t involve actual payment. However, when a big box brand wants free marketing, don’t be afraid to put your foot down and say NO WAY, I AM WORTH MORE!

Pitch to Brands Yourself

I had always heard of bigger bloggers doing this, but I never thought I was a big enough blogger (as in getting enough pageviews or had enough followers) to this myself. I mean, who was I, to approach big companies that I already loved like itCosmetics and Nike and tell them that they should pay me for sponsored work? I had convinced myself that I wasn’t going to

And then, BossPitch entered into my life and everything changed. What is BossPitch? It’s an online eCourse designed by my good friend Erica of Coming Up Roses that teaches you the step by step process how to pitch yourself to brands and get paid your worth. When Erica first launched this course last year, I had never reached out to a brand before on my own, never mind ask them to pay me money when they approached me. This course is more than just pitching; Erica applies her knowledge of branding and marketing and teaches you why branding is important to pitching and how you can make sure you are branding correctly. AND! Not only does this course talk about WHO to pitch and HOW to find contact info so you can pitch; it also includes exact email templates so you can ACTUALLY pitch without feeling like a ninny. It’s basically the bee’s knees.

I have paid over 1,000 dollars in blogging courses and I can say hands down that BossPitch has been the best investment I’ve ever made into my blog. It has completely changed the way I approach sponsored content and has given me the confidence and power to monetize my blog on my own terms. Instead of relying on sponsored post opportunities to pop up in blogging networks, I reach out to my dream brands on my own. I cut out the middle man, convince the brand that I am worth what I charge, and have tripled my rates in the process. In fact, I made back the amount I spent on BossPitch within the second month of taking the course.

BossPitch just opened for enrollment again and will only be open for a short time! If you are serious about monetizing your blog on your own terms and learning how to pitch brands yourself, I would suggest that you jump on this course quickly (especially because it’s on Early Bird pricing right now until Wednesday.)

IN CONCLUSION:

STOP LETTING OTHER PEOPLE DICTATE HOW YOU CAN MONETIZE YOUR BLOG AND TAKE IT INTO YOUR OWN HANDS.

This is your vibrant life, your blog, your biz – don’t let your fear turn into regret. Fear is temporary. Regret is forever. Go PITCH YO’SELF!

P.S. Because I believe in the value of this course so much, I’m going to add on my own little deal. Anyone who signs up for BossPitch will get free editing/proofing on your pitch emails and blog posts BY ME for a month after you complete your course. There is nothing worse than realizing minutes after you sent an email that you spelled a word wrong or wrote a run-on sentence. Actually, there is something worse. It’s writing a whole sponsored blog post and sending the link to the company and having them ask you to edit the post to spell the brand name correctly.

I have a bachelor’s degree in English education and used to teach high school English before transitioning into my role in HR. Editing and proofing are one of my favorite hobbies (gross, I know) but I guarantee that I will have your back and support you in your pitching efforts! It’s always good to have a pal in these kinds of things, ya know?

Blog Hosting 101: Why I Left Bluehost for Siteground

February 7, 2017

When I decided to take blogging seriously, I decided I wanted to switch from the Blogger.com platform to WordPress. I had no idea what I was getting myself into – I just knew that I wanted plugins! So, I jumped into the process head first, made a lot of mistakes (like signing up for wordpress.com instead of wordpress.org – YES! There is a difference) and spent a lot of extra money that I didn’t need to if I had just done more research.

So, today, I’m putting together as much information as I can about self-hosting your blog, along with why I left Bluehost for Siteground in hopes that I’ll be able to help both new and seasoned bloggers!

What is Self-Hosting?

I’m going to try to make this as simple as possible because it was beyond me for a really long time on what the difference was between self-hosting and hosting on a site like blogger or wordpress.com.

Self-hosting is when you pay a company to put your site live on their servers, but you have access to ALL the files and where those files are stored. You have complete control over the backend and frontend of your site and can completely customize it the way you want. You can also monetize self-hosted sites completely (with affiliate links, and selling your own products) while you cannot do most of those things on a site that is hosted with through a free service (blogger.com and wordpress.com.)

What’s the difference between self-hosting & domains?

A domain is what someone types into the URL box to bring them to your site (so, for me, it’s www.heytherechelsie.com.) However, it is super important to note that you can have a domain and not have a self-hosted site! Places like wordress.com and blogger.com allow you to buy a domain and have it point to your free site, but it does not mean you are self-hosted.

I made this mistake when I moved to wordpress.com. I bought a domain through them and thought that I had finally figured it all out. Then, I spent hours searching for how to add plug-ins, only to find out that wordpress.com sites do not allow plug-ins and that I had signed up for the wrong WordPress platform!

The 2016 Blog Report: How I Grew My Blog Following by 224%

January 2, 2017

Last year I did my first comprehensive yearly blog report for my blog and it was really eye-opening and motivating to see how far I had come. I knew after putting together and sharing the 2015 Blog Report, it would become an annual post to put together and share. Although it’s a little terrifying to dig into my stats and to be this transparent with my success (and failures) with my audience, it’s also really rewarding and refreshing to see how far I’ve come. I belittle myself and my success because I forget to look at the big picture! Taking the time to look back on my blog for the whole year gives me a bit of a reality check – and shows me that I am successful and making progress with my space here!

So, without further ado, I give you the 2016 HTC Blog Report!

2016 Blog Stats (January 1st – December 31st)

Total Pageviews: 140, 182 ( 33% increase from 2015)

Average Time on Site: 4:18

Bounce Rate: 45%

New Visitor: 79.7%

Returning Visitor: 20.3%

Facebook was my number one traffic referrer, mainly because one of the companies I work with paid to boost/run ads for several of my posts throughout the year, capping in at over 47,000 page views. This was closely followed by Pinterest, sending me over 30,000 page views through several pins that went viral.

Social Media Stats & Growth

Facebook Fans: 1315 (+370 from 2015)

Pinterest Followers: 3200 (+1800 from 2015)

Instagram Followers: 15000 (+12,300 from 2015)

Twitter Followers: 1800 (+350 from 2015)

Email Subscribers: 400 (+203 from 2015)

Total Growth in Social Media Followers: 15,023 followers (or 224%)

What I can Learn from my Stats:

The Best of Hey There, Chelsie 2016

December 29, 2016

Although this year was crazy, I definitely don’t feel like it flew by as fast as others. Between all the crazy moves and huge life changes we made, this year definitely had times where time went by a little slowly, and other times where it sped right up. All in all, though, I am really grateful for this year and all the lessons I learned from it. But, I’m also really looking forward to 2017 (hopefully the year of NO major moves) and to continuing to grow HTC in new and exciting ways.

I wanted to round up some of my best posts this year (a combination of those that did well on social media and some of my favorites that I wrote.) It’s a really good way to look back at the work I did and to see the fun partnerships I had, along with the growth I’ve been able to accomplish. So, if you’re new around here or if you want to take a peek at some of the posts you might have missed, here are the best 25 posts from HTC during 2016!

The Best of Style:

10 Affordable Fall Outfits to Wear – This was one of the most intensive fashion/style posts I put together, but it was so much fun! I loved being able to rebuild my fall wardrobe on a budget and sharing several style ideas for fall!

Thoughts on Leggings and 2 Ways to Style Them – Sharing my opinion on the great “are leggings pants” debate and two ways to style them!

3 Ways to Style Your Inner Harry Potter Nerd – Not even sorry that I deck myself out in HP graphic tees and jewelry! If you are a Potter head, this post is for you!

Edgy Valentine’s Day #ootd & Loving Myself – I love dressing up for Valentine’s Day for my husband, but this year, I wanted to get dressed up for me, as well. This may not be a typical Valentine’s Day outfit, (it’s definitely on the edgy side) but I love that I am learning to embrace my flaws and rock clothes that I most definitely would have shied away from before.

December Weekend Outfit & Simple Addiction Coupon Code – Sharing my most favorite shoot from the year, a cozy jacket, and a 15% off coupon code to use on Simple Addiction’s site! You know you want to treat yourself to some super soft leggings!

7 Time-Saving Hacks for Bloggers

December 19, 2016

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CentrumFunFlavors #CollectiveBias

I know I might sound like a broken record, but ever since we moved to Utah back in September, life has become busier and more hectic than ever. Between our new jobs, only being 20 minutes away from some of our best friends and family, and projects for my blog, we have just been going non-stop. I won’t lie, it’s been downright exhausting at times and my health and blog have suffered from my lack of energy and endless to-do list. Thankfully, I’ve been able to implement several time-saving hacks into my life recently that not only help me stay on top of my blog but also my health!

7 Time-Saving Hacks for Bloggers

The #myvibrantholiday Challenge + 30 Holiday Photo Ideas for Instagram

December 6, 2016

Looking to step up your Instagram this holiday season? Here's a fun Instagram challenge AND 30 holiday photo ideas for Instagram! Spread some holiday cheer and grow your instagram with these holiday photo ideas! // Hey There, Chelsie

Instagram and I have a pretty complicated relationship. I mean, I started my Instagram years before I started blogging seriously and used it like any normal person would: to share 10 overly-filtered photos a day of Rosie and the food I was eating. No pressure to have a perfect picture or feed and no stress on how many people were unfollowing me. Just photos of my life.

When I started blogging seriously, I started a long journey on redefining my Instagram account. I knew I had to treat it more like a business and put a bit more effort and thought into the photos I was posting, but it was a struggle to find the balance between gaining followers, sharing “perfect” pictures and remaining authentic to who I am. I think I finally have figured it out (for the most part) because in the last four months, I’ve grown my account from 5,000 followers to 13,000 followers and have a healthy engagement rate to boot. My growth on Instagram has opened MANY doors for my little business and the community I have found there is by far one of the most supportive ones out there.

FURTHER READING: 6 Reasons Why I Follow you on Instagram

One of the biggest challenges I faced when starting my Instagram was trying to figure out what to post and how to build a community around that. It took me a while to figure out that hashtags were the key to Instagram community…the right hashtags, that is. Obviously, there are a lot of them out there, but finding the right ones was a challenge. So, I decided to start my own.

I started the #myvibrantlife hashtag a couple of months ago and today I realized that there are over 1,000 photos using it! THANK YOU! I never though I would have 100 photos using the hashtag and it has been SO inspiring and wonderful to see so many people using that hashtag to connect through Instagram. I am constantly in awe of the beautiful and vibrant lives you all lead and the time you take to share that with me.

So, because it’s my FAVORITE time of the year and because I am loving the #myvibrantlife hashtag community, I wanted to extend a little hashtag challenge to you all for the rest of the month!

Introducing…the #myvibrantholiday hashtag challenge

The December Report (Personal & Blogging Goals & Stats)

December 2, 2016

blogging-goals-stats-income-december-1

It’s my favorite time of the year (and the most wonderful time of the year, too, in my opinion.) I really can’t believe it’s the last month of the year, but at the same time, I’m excited it’s here! I wish time would slow down just a tiny bit so that I can enjoy my Christmas tree for as long as possible.

November was an exceptionally crazy month with the holidays and the people who live below me (if you get the Hey There, Monday newsletter, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.) It started off a little rough but it ended with family, food, golden snuggles, and some exciting future projects in the works, so I’m stoked about what’s to come!

I’m going to change the format up for these kinds of posts for the next couple months, so let me know if you like them or not!

November Goals Recap –

Work through Materials from the Ultimate Bundles Genius Blogger’s Toolkit – I purchased this huge toolkit of materials that only goes on sale once a year and have been slowly (but surely) working my way through the courses and eBooks. I have about 1/2 of the eBooks read and 2 courses done and have been learning a TON about things I can change or improve to continue to find success here. I’m really excited to slowly implement those things here and for the changes to come.

Conduct Reader Survey – Done! I launched a reader survey a few weeks ago and got some amazing feedback. It was really encouraging and refreshing to get some opinions from the people who frequent this space and helped me brainstorm new ideas and content to bring here for the new year. So, THANK YOU for taking the time to take it!

Plan out Editorial Calendar for the Rest of the Year – Done and done! I’ve got all my content planned out for the rest of the year and into the first week of the New Year! I’m really excited about the projects and ideas that I came up with and hope that you all find them helpful and enjoyable, too!

Consistently post 3X a week – I did pretty well on this for the first half of the month and then it was Thanksgiving and I decided to unplug from pretty much everything to enjoy my time with my family. I’m actually really proud of myself for doing that and feel more inspired and motivated to end this year strong!

Send out weekly email newsletter – I started doing this two weeks ago and am going on 2 weeks straight, so I’d consider that a minor success! It’s been really awesome to be able to open up about some more personal things through that email and I SO appreciate those of you who actually email me back! If you want to be on the Hey There, Sunday (sometimes Monday) newsletter, you can sign up here:

Personal – Get into a morning routine – While I definitely got better about getting up every morning and getting to work faster, I still don’t have a set routine down.

Personal – Continue to eat healthy and lose 5 pounds – Well I don’t know what I was thinking giving myself this goal during the month of Thanksgiving! Let’s just leave it at the fact that I ate a lot of pie. A lot. And I’m not sorry.

December Blogging Goals & Stats (and Income) Report:

5 Ways to Get Re-Inspired to Blog

November 22, 2016

It’s been no secret that I hit a bit of a rough patch with my blog this summer. I was in limbo, I lost my motivation and inspiration and couldn’t see the bigger picture for a long time. I didn’t have a clear focus on what my whole point was, I kept getting overwhelmed by what everyone else was telling me to do and I was frustrated with my lack of growth on social media channels. It was #badnewbears. And I pretty much just did the bare minimum to keep my blog running.

But that was this summer. And now it’s basically the end of November and I can say (very happily) that this is no longer the case. I’m feeling REALLY motivated and inspired again and wake up every morning excited to get to work on my blog. But, there was definitely a bit of a journey that got me back to a good place with this space, and I wanted to share the five things I did to find inspiration to blog again! So, if you’re stuck or in a rut (or limbo) with your blog, know you are not alone and that it IS possible to get out!

Examine & Realign your Mission Statement

As a human being, I am constantly changing, growing and evolving. When I first started blogging at Life with Rosie, it was simply to give me a creative outlet and something to fill my spare time in. Since it was named after my dog, I briefly thought about being niching down and being a dog blogger, but as much as I love Roo, I couldn’t find the passion to write about how much she loved dog treats.

When I rebranded to Hey There, Chelsie, I thought I would narrow down again and start writing about blogging and teaching others how to blog as well. I had a lot to say about the topic and, let’s be real, I could talk about blogging and social media strategies for dayzzzz. I launched an eCourse (which is in the process of being revamped into new blog content) and did some mentoring, but after a few months, I realized that I felt very limited and backed into a corner. I was having some serious anxiety because I felt like I couldn’t write about other topics and I started avoiding writing for my blog because of that. Plus, it didn’t help that so many other bloggers were pursuing the same path and I felt like I would have a hard time standing out in the blogging world that was full of others doing the same thing.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love me a good blogging post and I still plan on sharing my tips and tricks when applicable, but writing JUST about blogging wasn’t for me. And that’s okay. Recently, there’s been a big push in the blogging community to get back to the origins of blogging, like writing more personal posts that tell a story and I’ve been loving it. It’s been awesome to feel more connected to my favorite bloggers and to not feel the pressure to write an informative post EVERY time I want to write.

So, over the summer while I took some serious time off from most of my blogging responsibilities, I thought day and night about what I wanted my purpose for my blog to be. I thought about the things I wanted to still inform others on (beauty and fashion) and topics I just wanted to bring back into my blog (like life updates, personal stories, and being open about my continued journey of cancer survivorship) and I realized that if I had a simple focus for my blog, everything else would fall into place.

I wrote about how I redefined my blog’s mission here in depth, but here’s the gist of it all: I want to encourage others to live a vibrant life, despite their scars or past. Whether it’s through fun beauty/fashion posts or the deep and dark emotional posts, I simply want to share my pursuit of a vibrant second chance life. I hope I can remind others that they are worth taking the time and effort to live a life they are proud of. I also hope I can encourage them to spoil themselves and practice some self-love because they deserve it!

Ever since I redefined my blog’s focus and mission, it’s been SO easy to not only write posts and come up with topics but to open up and be more personal and honest here. It’s been life changing.

Revamp your Social Media Strategies

What’s that saying? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results? I think it goes something like that – and that’s how I was feeling about my social media strategies. I was following the same old strategies that I had implemented over a year ago and not getting anywhere. Social media wasn’t fun for me- it became a huge chore and I dreaded it.

I plan on going into more on exactly what I did to change my social media strategies in the 2016 Blog Report, but here’s a brief synopsis of what I stopped and what I started doing instead.

Why it’s SUPER important to OWN your Blog (and not rely on just social media)

November 17, 2016

I haven’t talked about the actual topic of blogging in quite some time, but two different things happened a couple weeks ago that made me want to get on here and chat to all my blog/small business friends because they both scared the crap out of me. I apologize in advance if this get’s rambly, but I had to share these thoughts!

The first thing that happened that scared me? Well, it was a bit creepy, to be honest.

Someone tried to Impersonate my Facebook Page

I was searching for the Hey There, Chelsie Facebook Page and realized I had clicked on a page that wasn’t mine…but my photo was in the profile and header picture. Yeah, that’s right. Someone took photos from my Instagram and blog and created another Hey There, Chelsie FB page and was pretending to be me. They had shared one post from my actual blog and then started sharing a bunch of other random websites as if it was me. The worst part? There were several insensitive websites/posts shared about being a cancer survivor.

So yeah. It was creepy to stare at a page with my photos plastered all over it and know that I wasn’t on the other end, sharing those things. And it freaked me out that someone else would stumble across that page and think that it was the official HTC page and get the wrong impression of me and my brand. It was just all over #badnewsbears. Not a fan.

Thankfully, I got it taken down within 24 hours (although Facebook makes you jump through A MILLION hoops to prove that your being impersonated) and have not seen another imposter account since. But now I check every few days. Because I have no clue who was behind that fake FB page and no idea if they are going to attempt it again.

The second thing that happened?

Vine announced that it was Shutting Down

For those of you who may not know what Vine is, it’s an app that allows you to record 6-second videos and share them. Basically, Vine was like a mini version of Youtube. There are several users on Vine that have become super popular from their video feeds and even got sponsored posts and deals through them.

Now, I’m not on Vine and never used it before, but the fact that this once immensely popular social media platform is getting it’s plugged pulled still scared me. Why?

Because I don’t own my Instagram account or my Facebook Page or my Pinterest profile. I mean, yes, I own the content I share on it, but I have no control over the actual platforms. We could all wake up one day and Instagram could be gone and I will have lost touch with all 12,000 of my followers.

Let that one sink in for a minute. It’d be #badnewsbears x100.

Social Media Changes Constantly

And so does blogging in a way, but for the most part, blogging stays the same. You type in a URL and you are brought to a site that is owned and run by the person behind it. On the flip side, social media is constantly changing, new platforms are arising and new algorithms are coming into place. What was once popular one day can be completely irrelevant the next. So, if you put all your eggs in to one basket (like Instagram or Facebook) you are really risking a lot more than you realize.

This isn’t to say that you should ignore social media all together! Social media is a VITAL part of marketing these days and expanding your brand, influence, and connections. Grow those profiles and connect with your audience, but ALWAYS have something solid and safe to direct them back to (like your blog.)

FURTHER READING: 6 Reasons Why I Follow you on Instagram

Blogging is NOT dead

That’s been something that we’ve been hearing a bit more of recently and I think that is so silly for people to think or say. Yes, blogging is changing. Yes, it’s harder to get people to view your blog if they are all on Instagram. But guess what? No one owns Instagram but Instagram! And if you decide to ditch your blog for just a social media presence, you are building your business or blog on a sand foundation instead of a solid rock one. And it’s not just the risk of not owning the platform, but having to rely on someone else to fix your problems.

A couple months ago, the owner of Instagram profile Men & Coffee had her account hacked. The hacker changed all of the security measures so that she couldn’t recover her profile at all. Not only did the hacker start posting pictures asking for money to be donated to a random account. When the owner got in touch with the hacker, he said that he would sell the account back to her for an insane amount of money. And it took her a very long time to get ahold of someone at Instagram who could help her get the account back.

Although the Men & Coffee account is totally different from a blogger’s account, it still shows how tricky it was for her to recover her account and get the people at Instagram to actually respond and help her out. And as vital as Instagram is for businesses and blogs, it’s still important to HAVE A BLOG at the foundation of it all.

Why you need to Own your Blog

Hopefully, you can catch my drift of where I’m going with this all. Whether you are a business owner or a blogger or even work in direct sales, you NEED to own your own blog, as in you need to have your own domain and be hosting your own site. Yes, technically you could still “loose” your site to your host (there are a few horror stories) but as long as you perform weekly backups, you will never LOOSE your work.

There is some information out there that people on the Blogger platform don’t even own their own site (Google does) and they could still lose their content. I’m not sure if this is entirely true, but if you are on Blogger, it’s definitely something to look into.

Owning your blog ensures that your work is copyrighted and protected (so that you can prove that YOU own your content and the people impersonating your on FB do not.) In the United States, the moment your content is published it is immediately protected under copyright laws. That being said, it still will not prevent people from stealing your work, so it’s a good idea to have clear terms and conditions somewhere on your blog AND to formally register your content with the Copyright Office. Having a formal Copyright in place will allow you to sue for Copyright infringement should you ever need to.

(For more info on Copyrights & Trademarks for blogs, check out this post from Jade & Oak)

Further still, this is why it is critical to be building an email list of your readers/followers/customers because that is the ONLY list of people that you will “own.” No one can take your email list away! Even if you don’t have any ideas for a weekly newsletter, you should STILL collect them and have them on file so you can get in touch with them if need be. For example, if Facebook didn’t take down the imposter page right away, I could have emailed all of my followers on my email list (about 300) and let them know about the imposter page and that it wasn’t me to prevent any confusion in case someone stumbled upon it!

And yes, you can start an email list for free! A lot of people use MailChimp, but I just switched to MailerLite and LOVE it (It comes with free automation and landing pages.) If you are interested in learning more about creating an email list, leave me a comment below.

And, I can’t go on and on about the importance of an email list without a shameless plug for my own list. (So, if you aren’t signed up for the HTC Hey There, Sunday weekly email, you can fix that by signing up below!)

So. It’s been a crazy couple weeks between all of this social media nonsense. But through it all, I’ve had this little space on the internet to express myself with, to share with, and to connect with. I am so grateful for HTC and the knowledge that it is MINE!

Leave a comment below on what you’re going to do TODAY to protect yourself and your business!

Hey There, September (Personal + Blogging Goals)

September 6, 2016

Hey There, September: Blogging and Personal goals for September 2016 // Hey There, Chelsie

I think September may be my favorite month of the year. I mean, I love October more than anything, and November and December are awesome because #christmasmusic, but September may just take the cake. For the last couple of years, September has meant new beginnings, fresh starts, and the coming of the holiday season. September means days where the sun is warm on your face, but the breeze is cool on your arms. September means all the pumpkin candles and homemade stews in crockpots and dark berry lipstick. Every year when September rolls around, I feel inspired, refreshed and renewed and this year is no different!

August was busy for us. You can read about all the traveling, car buying, and flooding adventures we had here. I tried to keep up with my goals for the last month and had some success and some failures, but it could have been worse, seeing as life got really hectic, really fast.

August Goals Check-In (Read Full Post Here🙂

Blog – Consistency // Half Fail. I had a goal to publish 3 posts a week and I started off strong but then had a lot of crazy things happen in my life, like major flooding, so things got a little backed up.

Blog – Instagram Game // Success. I wanted to save up some money and purchase the guides from InstagramRevealed, which I did! Since getting them, reading them, and completely changing up my strategy, along with planning out my feed, I have grown my account over 2500 followers in 6 weeks! WHAT?! And I can say that they are genuine followers who all interact with me and leave me such amazing comments and messages. The guides from InstaRevealed work, (and no, it’s not just about the follow/unfollow method. I’ve completely changed my hashtag strategy, my engagement strategy, and my posting strategy and have seen growth from those things!)

Blog – Engage with Community // Success for the most part. I have been so much better about responding to comments on my blog, staying on top of my email and following through with comments on Instagram. It has been SO inspiring and refreshing to reconnect with so many of my blogging friends and readers!

Casual Fall Jean Jacket Outfit Idea // Hey There Chelsie

Full Outfit Details Here

Personal – Find a Place to Live // Success. Dustin and I put a deposit down and just got approved for our apartment in Utah! I can’t believe we are moving there in just under two weeks!!

Personal – Find Time for Self-Care // Success. For me, self-care is investing time into my body and taking care of it. I did several face masks, got a massage, took the time to do my makeup, and treated myself some new fall clothes! I’m definitely feeling the self-love!

How to Start a Bullet Journal

August 22, 2016

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PilotYourLife #CollectiveBias

I’m not even kidding when I say that I have spent over 100 dollars in planners over the last 6 months, trying to find one that would work for me in this season of life. Each one has been used faithfully for 2-3 days and then ended up in a drawer of my desk or in the trash. It’s been so frustrating for me, not only because I kept spending money on planners, but also because I needed a flexible system to keep my life and my blog organized. Since I’m not in school and work from home, having a pre-printed planner just wasn’t working for me. I’m in control of my own schedule and my schedule looks a little different depending on the day.

Thankfully, though, I found bullet journaling and all of my planner woes have finally been put to rest. I’ve been using this system for 2 months now and it is everything I could have wanted in a planner for my lifestyle: flexible, inspiring, and memorable. Because it literally has been life changing, I wanted to share it with anyone who may be in a similar situation as me!

What is a bullet journal?

A bullet journal is a customizable planner system that works on two ends: it allows you to organize your life and to journal memories. The concept was originally created by Ryder Carroll, who, like me, needed something quick, easy and customizable to organize his life. And, that’s the absolute beauty of bullet journaling! Because is a customizable system, it can be whatever you want or need. It can be to-do lists, calendars, routines, sketchbook or diary. For most, it is a combination of all of those things!

Bullet Journal Terminology:

Spread: the name given to a specific page layout (aka monthly spread or daily gratitude spread)

Index: the table of contents that organizes where different spreads are throughout your journal

Topics & Collections: Different from planning spreads, where you can list or collect different ideas or materials (ie. favorite quotes or books to read)

Main navigation

Main navigation

Blogging & Business

15 Ways to Improve Your Blog

How to Monetize Your Blog on your Own Terms:

Diversify your Income

Know your Worth – Don’t feel Pressured to Say Yes

Pitch to Brands Yourself

IN CONCLUSION:

What is Self-Hosting?

What’s the difference between self-hosting & domains?

2016 Blog Stats (January 1st – December 31st)

Social Media Stats & Growth

What I can Learn from my Stats:

The Best of Style:

7 Time-Saving Hacks for Bloggers

Introducing…the #myvibrantholiday hashtag challenge

November Goals Recap –

December Blogging Goals & Stats (and Income) Report:

Examine & Realign your Mission Statement

Revamp your Social Media Strategies

Someone tried to Impersonate my Facebook Page

Vine announced that it was Shutting Down

Social Media Changes Constantly

Blogging is NOT dead

Why you need to Own your Blog

August Goals Check-In (Read Full Post Here🙂

What is a bullet journal?

Bullet Journal Terminology:

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