// 5 Blogging Tips v.2

In the second installment of 5 Blogging Tips I wanted to break up my typical format and go slightly more in-depth on individual bullet points in hopes of giving you the most information I can. While I won't be listing out 5 exact tips, I'll be sharing many on one topic. Today that topic is Purchasing Advertising Space! Spending your hard earned dollars on a little graphic in someone's sidebar might seem scary (and it sort of is at first!), but I'm hoping to help make the whole process easier to understand. When you break it down into easy to tackle tasks, it becomes a lot more transparent.

If you're a blog or shop and you want to get more eyes on your brand, advertising is often the way to go. There are many forms of advertising in the blog world: sidebar banners, sponsored content (features and giveaways), product reviews, interviews and guest post opportunities, and product integration. If you're a blogger (without a product to sell), those options get smaller. Even still, there's a wealth of opportunities out there, but you have to be sure that the exposure you're paying for is worth it.

I haven't advertised my blog in years, but I find news blogs I love the same way I'd recommend many of you find new blogs to sponsor: Use the Passionfruit Marketplace. Not all bloggers use Passionfruit, but it's a great place to get your toes wet if advertising is a new venture for you. I love the Marketplace because it allows me to see a screenshot of the blog and a range of ad prices right there on the first page. Not to mention it allows sponsors to purchase ad space right then and there! (The only con: You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, and you might miss out on a highly trafficked blog with really great content because you overlooked it as "too bland" or "too expensive" or vice versa). If you're going to advertise on blogs, I suggest making a running list of blogs you really enjoy that have a similar demographic to what you're aiming for. You can hock a product on a huge blog all day long, but if those readers don't overlap with your demographic, it's a lost cause. Money down the drain! When you have a list of blogs you love, start comparing their monthly page views, price of their ads, and the perks they give you. I've even gone ahead and made a (very) simple worksheet to help you do this. Feel free to click the image below and save it to your desktop to print!

One very important thing to remember: You should always set a budget! Set a number and stick to it. Sometimes that budget will allow you to advertise on 3 smaller blogs at once, and sometimes it means you'll have to risk it all on one ad on a much larger blog. It's really all trial and error at first. Find what works for you and your brand. But don't be afraid to go big... Sometimes that pays off more than 3 small blogs with similar readership will. (Remember, a lot of blogs share the same readership, so if you sponsor 3 blogs that are too much alike, you're basically paying to advertise to the same reader 3 times! Try not to overlap these too much!)

Be wary of blogs who have a ton of ads in their sidebar, or are constantly posting giveaways or reviews one after the other. Not to be snooty, but it's likely that they're in it for the wrong reasons, or their sponsors aren't getting a lot of dedicated attention. I've seen blogs whose content is buried beneath a million product reviews a week... I bet their readers are sick of those reviews. At least to a certain point, don't you think? Try to get the best bang for your buck. Make sure your product or ad will have the most eyes on it as possible. Ideally a blogger will open an advertising program because she wants to actually help the sponsoring brand. Not because she thinks she'll get some free swag from it. 

When you buy a sidebar ad, put a lot of thought and time into your ad graphic. This will hands down make or break your sponsorship. People don't usually click on pixelated, "ugly" ads. If you're not skilled in Photoshop, find someone who is! A lot of bloggers offer to make the ad for you (After all, it is their sidebar it'll be going in! They want it to look nice!). Some bloggers will allow you to put a discount code right on the ad, too. This is great if you're looking to gain new clients or customers. Plus everyone who looks at it will be aware of your deal!

Don't forget to calculate in the "perks" of certain sponsorship options. This is something I learned pretty quickly when I advertised for my blog back in the day. I'd throw down loads of cash on a huge blog, but they never did anything for me. Sure, my graphic sat in the sidebar for 1 month, but they never did anything to call attention to it. Then I opted to purchase ad space on a slightly smaller blog (but still pretty big), and she made it a priority to highlight me at least 2 or 3 times a month. Not only was the ad space cheaper, but it was more beneficial to me as a paying sponsor! This inspired me to ensure every ad space on my blog has a perk with it. I always over deliver, too, because that blogger showed me the value of a mention. Also keep in mind there are many readers out there with AdBlock installed and/or they read strictly from an RSS feed! In this case, sidebar ads won't show up for them. If the blogger you're sponsoring doesn't offer "in-post" mentions or social media shout outs, that should weigh on your decision, too!

Take advantage of any and all deals bloggers are offering! Does it make sense to buy 2 or 3 months at a time? If you're saving a hefty chunk of change, totally! (Just be mindful of your budget and make sure you can move the money from the following months!) Not only will this save you money, but you'll also become a staple on that blog! I have a few sponsors on my sidebar that have been there for a year or more... over a year! Without a break! Okay so I don't mean to brag, but thinking of that just makes my day. They feel like it's a worthwhile investment to be here, month after month. And my readers have grown to know them. Exposure doesn't necessarily happen overnight. Sometimes you just have to show up, time after time, in order to gain that brand recognition. Personally I'd rather have a steady stream of daily hits over one or two days of "WHOA!" that fizzles out. But that's a personal preference and before you advertise with anyone you should think about what you would consider to be a "successful" sponsorship! That means something different to almost everyone. One thing I always like to make my sponsors aware of is: I can bring you to my readers/my readers to you, but I can't make them stay. It's like the old saying "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." When you advertise on someone's blog, it's THEIR responsibility to make your presence known, but it's YOUR responsibility to deliver the goods (whether it's quality content, great products, and/or friendly service). A blogger can't make someone buy into a brand. They can only make them aware of it!

If you're still nervous about throwing a bunch of money down at the prospect of a wider audience, start small! There's nothing wrong with starting off with the smallest ad or a smaller blogger. Don't feel like you have to go "balls to the wall" in order to get great results. At the end of the day (err, month?) it's all about how you feel your money was spent. If it was less than stellar, make note of that on your worksheet and move on to a different blogger. There's no magical equation for success in the blog world. Most of it boils down to being willing and dedicated!

That's it for today! A few more blogging tips to help you get your blog in tip-top shape! If you missed the first installment of 5 Blogging Tips, click HERE! I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks, but as always, if you have any specific questions you'd like addressed, feel free to give me a shout! You can leave them in the comments, @reply me on Twitter (@kaelahbee) or get in touch via email! I'm happy to try and help shed some light on anything you might want to know!

// 5 Blogging Tips v.1

I receive a lot of emails enquiring about blogging tips and advice, so I thought I'd compile another post around some of the most frequently asked questions and topics. Blogging is super relative and it means different things to different people. The approach and execution of two blogs are rarely ever the same (at least they shouldn't be since it's an endeavor unique to each person).

1. Unique, original content. This one is hard to do because the internet is so big! Regardless of what idea or topic you come up with, chances are it's been discussed 500 times before. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't write about it! Every person has a unique perspective. Even if there's a DIY out there you've dreamt up but then realize so-and-so did it six months ago, don't let that dissuade you from doing your version! No single person owns every piece of content on the internet, so put your spin on an article or project and share it with your readers. If you're directly influenced by someone then be sure to give credit where credit is due! But otherwise, don't cloud your creativity with everyone else's version. Of course if you want to ensure that you're not subconsciously recalling another blogger's idea/words then give it a Google or try using Grammarly. (Not only can you check the grammar in your blog posts, but you can also use their plagiarism checker because no one wants to be a second-rate version of someone else!) If you want to check out the other versions of your idea, wait to look them up until after you've written your own! That way your content won't be influenced by someone else's. You could always link to your favorites at the end of your post.

2. Promoting your posts. There are a million different ways to go about promoting your own posts in order to get more eyes and ears on your content. There are so many social media platforms today that it's a bit overwhelming when you try to think of them all. Don't feel like you need to flood the internet with your "New post!" announcements. Rather than half-heartedly hit every social media platform, choose your favorites (based on your personal preference or the ones that perform the best) and really push them there. No one likes to 15 tweets in one day letting them know about your new post, so keep it simple. One at the time of publishing, and then one maybe 12 hours later. I think 2 pushes on Twitter are acceptable due to time zones and work schedules, but I wouldn't push a post more than once on Facebook, Tumblr, or Instagram honestly. But that's just my personal opinion! Some people like to utilize hashtags on Instagram, but they're not my favorite. I use them on our Him + Honey work just to connect with similar photographers, but otherwise I usually steer clear of them. Tumblr can be a great place to build a second following especially if you're a fashion/style related blog. Facebook has always been the trusty go-to but due to their change in algorithms, now only 10-15% of your "fans" are seeing your posts. I still utilize Facebook but I don't have a whole lot of personality over there (I reserve that for IG, Twitter and Tumblr!)

The best way to handle your promotions is to test the waters and different times of the day, and use different wordings to see what sticks. I only promote original content on Instagram and Tumblr, but all posts get published to Twitter and Facebook. This works for me since IG and Tumblr rely heavily on visual aides. There's no promotional plan that is "one size fits all." It takes effort to find what works for you and your blog. Ninety percent of the time I like to post at 7am CST. That way people can catch up on my blog while they drink their morning coffee or when they settle into work. On days that I don't pre-schedule my posts, I try to have them up by 9 or 10am CST. Then there are days like today where I let life's other responsibilities get in the way and I don't publish until mid-day. Usually I don't post anything if I can't post it by 10am, but sometimes I make exceptions. Find what time(s) work best for you and your readers.

3. Bringing in new features. Regular features are a great way to grow a loyal audience. I was far from the first person to do Things I Love Thursday posts, but over time and through a lot of "dedicated" to the feature, I've garnered a lovely group of readers who come by every Thursday just for that feature. If you want to start a feature, even if it's not super innovative or new, give it your own spin. Try to make it as unique as you can to you. Also try to make sure that your features are relevant to your readers in some way. Chances are if you're reading a blog about "blogging tips" then you want to grow your blog and it's not necessarily a place just for you. This means you need to pay attention to the types of readers you attract. Even though I've only done one installation of Rad Gal, Rad Gig so far, I'm so stoked at the response and I'm so inspired to keep meeting neat girls! That feature really fits with my demographic because I have an almost exclusively female readership, and if I'm being honest, my readers are pretty rad... so, naturally I want to showcase their awesome hobbies and talents. I'm inspired by them and it goes full circle!

You can try to dedicate a specific day each week or month to your feature, or you can do it when the mood strikes. I think it's great to have a set day when you can, that way your readers will learn to expect it and they can always drop in when it's time for that feature.



4. Nixing features that aren't exactly home runs. I've had a few questions about this specifically: What do I do when I'm so excited about a new feature, but no one else is? Man, that's the worst! I hate when you get all hyped up about something and you spend a ton of time on it, thinking "They'll love this!" and then it seems to fall on deaf ears. It can be super heartbreaking and it can bruise your ego a little bit... but you have two choices: Keep it going because you love it, or let it go. It can be tough to say goodbye to something that really inspired you, so if it's worth the time and energy for you to do it personally, keep on keepin' on! You may not get the pageviews and comments you were hoping for that day, but you'll feel awesome for having done it. If you're not a fan of feeling like no one cares, think about why your readers didn't jump on it the way you did. Different strokes for different folks, seriously. You can try to think of ways to tweak it, or you can move on to the next great idea.

Believe me, if I didn't care who read my blog, my blog would be ALL SHARKS, ALL THE TIME! But I also realize that most people don't care about sharks the way I do. Sure, I'd feel totally inspired by the content, but I don't think everyone else would haha



5. Think about aesthetics! Whew! This one is a big one for me. I've made all of these mistakes, so please don't think I'm on a high horse here! In fact, I still make a huge cardinal sin daily on this blog and I just like the way it looks so I don't care. (I justify all of my blog posts... despite knowing it's not the best way to set text. I know, I know! But I really like it so I do it anyway!) A few things you should keep in mind when you format your blog posts: Centered text is almost impossible to read if it's longer than one line length. Centered text is fine for photo captions or calls to action, but please don't center your entire blog post! Our eyes aren't meant to read type that way. It makes us lose our place and gives us a headache! If I see a blog post in centered type, I never ever read it. It just takes too long and too much effort. Make sure and post your photos to the FULL SIZE of the blog post! I didn't do this one for a long time (go back in my archives... anything without a "//" in the title means that the images are smaller than the body!) You'll be amazed at how much of a difference it makes in the look and quality of your blog. When things are aligned on the sides, it becomes so much easier for the human eye to follow. It gives a nice consistency to your blog! Here's a pretty outdated blog post about making your photos the full width of the body on your blog. Also avoid cluttering up your sidebars or putting them too close to your body content. Don't be afraid to leave some white space so your blog can "breathe". Your readers will thank you!

That's it for today! 5 blogging tips to help you get your blog in tip-top shape! I have loads more to share over the coming weeks, but if you have any specific questions you'd like addressed, feel free to give me a shout! You can leave them in the comments, @reply me on Twitter (@kaelahbee) or get in touch via email! I'm happy to try and help shed some light on anything you might want to know!

This post was in partnership with Grammarly. All opinions are my own 

(and I actually have a Grammarly account!)

// How To Tip Toe Through A Rebrand In 8 Easy Steps

One of the things I knew I wanted to talk about after my relaunch was the how, why, and when. I've received several comments, emails, and inquiries over the past couple of days from eager gals seeking advice on how to push through a reinvention of their own, so hopefully this post will prove useful to some of you! I'm not a business expert, and I'll never claim to be, but I can obviously speak from my own experience. Sometimes that's exactly what we need: the experience of another average human rather than a robotic checklist of things to do. Hopefully I can pare this one down, because the first draft was about fifty paragraphs too long. Brevity isn't my strong suit!

In order to reinvent anything, you first have to determine what exactly isn't functioning at full capacity anymore. Whether you're looking to "rebrand" your blog, your business, your personal style, or your "life," you first have to get very honest with yourself. For me, I wasn't motivated by my blog anymore. I'm not sure when the switch flipped, but it did. I didn't really mind going several days without a post, when before you'd be hard pressed to find two days in a row that I didn't write. It was really really hard to pinpoint exactly what wasn't working for me any longer, and to be totally honest, I'm still not sure I've found it. Still, I knew that the name and the look no longer served me. I wanted to sort of free myself from those constricting elements, but that was a scary thought.

Little Chief Honeybee grew from nothing into something over the past five years. I've had products named after my blog, and countless interviews and features that will forever display the previous name. Walking away from that was like walking away from my childhood, ya know? I knew it had to be done, but I was terrified. My compromise: rebranding this blog on this platform. Rather than starting new (at zero!) on a new platform, I wanted to try and make this work. Will it be the best decision in the long run? Who knows. It's all trial and error anyway

Brainstorming for the new blog launch was exhausting. Some days it was so hard to write on Little Chief Honeybee because I just didn't want to. I wanted something new! Something fresh! But it just wasn't coming to me. I started my rebranding process the way many do - on Pinterest. I had a secret board that I built into a comprehensive moodboard, full of my favorite colors, photos that gave me a sense of what I was hoping to achieve, and type stylings that I really liked. I even pinned loads of great editorial layouts that I thought might serve me well. Ultimately 85% of the moodboard went out the window, but I was only able to get to that point because I spent an exhausting amount of time dreaming it up. Overthinking isn't necessarily a good thing, but you should make sure you invest enough time and energy into the thought process before you start actually building anything.

This rebrand has been in motion for nearly a year. I knew at the beginning of 2013 that I wanted something new and fresh, but I didn't know how to go about getting there. It's easy to know you want change, but it's hard to decide what you'd be willing to risk it all for. It wasn't until the Summer that I came up with the name. (Loads of you simply don't "get" the name, and that's okay! You'd think explaining something that makes total sense to you would be simple, but sometimes I find it hard to put into words.) When I came up with it, that was that. There was little to no discussion in my head... I just knew. The design? That didn't come so easily. In fact, I sat on my hands for months trying to dream up the design, but was left feeling frustrated and let down. One day I just had to sit down at my computer and start laying things out. Before too long, things started taking shape.

I'm really happy with the final outcome, and I think part of that is because I took my time doing it. Rebranding and reinventing something is not to be taken lightly. If you're putting forth the effort to do something, you want to do it right. And chances are highly likely that you are passionate about that thing you're redoing. Otherwise why waste your time? If you want to ensure you don't end up in the same space again, build it slowly. Be intentional with each and every piece of the puzzle.

Don't be offended when everyone doesn't "get it" - and don't be surprised. In fact, some people will lack the ability to grasp it so much that they'll be angry at you for the change. They'll chastise you and maybe even go as far to email you and tell you that you owe them something. They want the old you, the old blog, the old looks... whatever. Not everyone is as open to change as you are, and you also have to remember that your audience is on the outside looking in. They may not realize just how debilitating your current brand is to your creativity. They'll pick apart the pieces that don't make sense to them rather than see it as a whole. That's okay. It's natural. Don't let it discourage you. 

Plenty of people have a hard time accepting change. When you take the first steps to drastically change something, folks are going to get restless. They'll get nervous that you're changing everything and they'd rather just abandon ship. Let them go. Just like we grow out of our look/style or "favorites" over time, our readers also grow out of us. I regularly drop blogs from my Bloglovin because I feel like they just don't resonate with me anymore. There's no animosity there... just different strokes. I went one way and they went another.

If it feels right to you, do it. I would never go as far to say we don't owe anything to our readers (obviously y'all are the reason I'm able to do this to a certain degree, so thank you), but sometimes we have to be okay with letting some readers go in order to gain new ones. Some simply won't get the rebrand, and they'll leave (with or without a fight). And you'll have plenty who will stick around but second guess your direction/motive/etc. Make them believers. Show them you're still someone who can be trusted. You're the you they have grown to know. We're all human, we all evolve. Show them the You 2.0. Make them realize they were missing something all along... something they never even knew existed. Be you, but better.

Don't second guess yourself. Move forward with what feels right to YOU. There will be naysayers who think your content is juvenile, or maybe too far out of your realm of expertise. Do you. Write what you know/like/love/want. Wear bows in you're hair if you want to (regardless of your age). Don't be afraid to make a statement, even if others disagree or try to call you on it. 

Negative and neutral (and sometimes even positive) feedback doesn't need to be personal! It's not always about YOU. Especially when you're creating some kind of creative product to share with the public. (And yes, a blog is exactly that.,. A product you CREATE). If you find it particularly hard to digest the less than stellar reviews, ask a friend to moderate those sorts of things, and avoid places where they may be breeding. If at all possible, read your criticisms objectively! We can ALL improve. Some will be constructive, and we should always be eager and willing to learn something. Malicious criticism has no merit in any situation so try to let that roll off of you. Malicious crit is NEVER about you.

It's so easy to be overly protective of our creative work. Making a huge change isn't easy, and sometimes we can let our minds play tricks on us. We can psyche ourselves out and develop anxiety about following through with it. One of the most common things I see folks doing is trying to over-prepare themselves for the upcoming change. It's human nature to want to be ready, but we also have to acknowledge that we'll likely never be as prepared as we'd like. Rather than spend forever trying to psyche yourself up to hit "publish," just go for it. Jump!

Plan as much as you can, sure. But if you find yourself slightly stuck and bummed that your editorial plan didn't come as far as you had hoped, throw caution to the wind and go for it anyway. It's okay for the pieces to fall together later. In fact, bring a little but scrappy about it might actually help motivate you. (But I'm biased because this is me 99.9999% of the time). There's no shame in putting yourself in the position to get stuff done. Sometimes the comfort and security of our "secret" can hinder us from taking that very important step.

Above all, be genuine. Be authentic. If you feel nervous, talk about it! Just don't let the fear keep you from reaffirming your love for whatever it is you're doing. This goes so far beyond blogs. Maybe you're feeling the need to switch things up with your style of career or whatever. Big or small, the trick remains the same: be true to you.

Make your motives known. One key component to trust is transparency. What fueled your rebrand? Appealing to advertisers? Simply wanting a more honest space? What was it? For me, I felt stuck in a name/space I didn't resonate with. My blog name was my Myspace name when I was 19. While it had certain personal significance at the time, it was simply a poor reflection of me now. I didn't do it to attract sponsors or because I want to write a book. And I didn't do it because I want to be some small biz guru (Please! I have so much to learn.) I simply did it because it felt like it was time. 2014 will be a year of big decisions, I can already feel it. But I also wanted a space where I could share resourceful information. I don't want this space to go dead when I get tired of talking about my life (because I will. And you'll grow tired of reading about it, too). The name doesn't make sense to many of you, and that's okay. If that has to be the reason you stop following, I'll be sad to see you go, and I'll wave you off with a grateful grin (cheesy!). But the name makes sense to me. It feels good, and it felt perfect when I thought of it. I love to "teach" and share information/advice. I love to share what I've learned with others in hopes that it will inspire them to work harder, dream bigger, and be better. While I could certainly use a daily dose of all that myself, I like knowing I'm "helping" in some small way. What's the saying? "A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle?" That's my hope for this blog. Maybe it's lofty and misguided, or maybe I'm putting too much stock in my abilities/reach, but I'm doing it anyway. 

It's so easy to misinterpret things on the internet. I hate feeling like someone has simply missed my point or failed to understand my tone or intention. This blog post serves double duty: sharing my experience and advice for a potentially scary rebrand (of whatever!) and addressing concerns folks have had. Even if one person expresses their concern or confusion about something, there certainly have to be many more out there with the same thoughts, right?

With that, I thank not only those of you who have eagerly followed me into the new realm of this blog, but also those of you who have questioned me (even if indirectly). Those questions help me better understand how I'm delivering all of this information to you... Whether personal or professional. I can always stand to learn a thing or two!

Even if you only give me five minutes of your day... heck, five minutes of your week, it adds up. Just imagine five minutes for each and every reader, combined.., that's a big responsibility. I think it's so easy to miss just how big of a deal that is. That's why it frustrates me so much to see so many bloggers be blatantly lazy and dismissive with their time/instructions/advice. I'm certainly not trying to claim that I'm somehow better (I fail in many ways on many occasions, I'll be the first to admit), but I value you and your time. I don't want to give you shoddy advice or shoddy directions. So many blogs coast solely on their readers' loyalty, and it's not fair. I may not owe you a play by play of my private life, but I at least owe you the common courtesy of honesty. I think several blogs really miss out on that. Authenticity and transparency equal trust. No matter what your "rebrand" is... your life, your business, your blog, your style... be authentic!

LCH was hard to leave because of everything attached to it, but it just wasn't consistent. LCH, Honeybee in the City, KaelahBee, it was all too much. I needed one set name. The name held significance at one point but eventually became a parody if itself. So much so I couldn't even tell people my blog was called Little Chief Honeybee?! What the heck does that even mean?! By the end of it I would just say it was a silly myspace name rather than explain why it had much more significance. Still, even so, I'm glad it's retired. 

This is the Me 2.0. And for the sake of transparency, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have a few features "planned" but nothing set in stone. My hope was to have the full first month finished by the time I launched... I didn't even have the first post. Sometimes things don't work out the way we had hoped, and that's alright. We adapt and move on. I'm hoping things will fall into place as the days pass. I guess we'll see!

If you're hoping to reinvent some area of your life, go for it! Life is far too short to be unhappy with any aspect of our lives. This very thought has spawned many important conversations in our house and I'm excited to see how 2014 pans out. If you'd ever like to chat about how to make your reinvention happen, I'm all ears! Happy Friday, friends. xo