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Fairy Tale Social

Social Media Made Simple

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Need a Social Media Strategy for 2022? Let’s Plan it Together!

December 2, 2021 By Mindy Leave a Comment

Need a Social Media Strategy for 2018? Let's Plan it Together!

Let’s cut straight to the chase …

Are you feeling frustrated with your social media results (or lack thereof)?
Are you tired of staring at a blank screen while you figure out what to post?
Are you spinning your wheels trying to keep up with every social media platform?

If you answered yes to any of these, then you probably are missing one thing – A STRATEGY!

Marketing your business on social media without a strategy is only going to lead to failure, and I don’t want any of you to fail on social media!

Because it really is SO EASY to set up a strategy, and stick to it!

It just takes a little time and effort, and a little bit of guidance.

Setting up social media strategies for business owners like you is what I do in my consulting sessions. I love doing it, but I know there’s no way I can reach all of you due to budget and location restraints.

Which is why I created my goal setting course, Step Up Your Social Media!

Through Step Up Your Social Media, we will deep-dive into your business goals, review your ideal client profile, discuss the different social media platforms, and tie it all together so you can start seeing results from social media!

Step Up Your Social Media will launch in January 2022 and consist of the following:

  • 10 Days of Emails with Actionable Items
  • Social Media Goal Setting Workbook
  • Access to Me Via Email for Two Weeks

This is a self-guided email course taking place in January, which means you will be expected to put in the work at your own pace. But don’t worry, my emails will break it down into small, bite size pieces and help you along!

Best of all, this course is available for only $20. That’s a small fraction of my hourly rate! For the value and time I’m providing, I could potentially charge a lot more. But my only concern for now is to reach as many people as possible and get you on your way with a social media plan for 2022!

 

Note: This course will start January 3, 2022. The cart will open on Dec 20, 2021 and close on January 2, 2022.

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Your Follower Count Does Not Define You

November 17, 2020 By Mindy Leave a Comment

Instagram logo created with flower pedals on a pink background

The social media struggle is real.

As a coach, I hear from business owners and content creators who want to know how to grow their following. And to be honest, when I hear this, I cringe.

But, I get it …. We’ve spent our whole lives being trained that more is better. 100 points on a school test is better than 90. 1000s of dollars in the bank is better than 100s. If you ask a child if they would rather have 5 dimes or 4 quarters, they will take the 5 dimes.

Even Instagram and Twitter put follower counts right at the top. Front and center. For everyone to see, and judge. We’ve been trained that follower count is the most important stat when it comes to social media.

So it makes total sense that our society is transfixed on getting as many social media followers as possible. Because tens of thousands of Instagram followers is better than hundreds, right?

Well, it depends … Are those tens of thousands of followers your perfect client? Are they going to buy from you? Or are they just there because of giveaways, or follow-for-follow threads, or other Insta-tricks?

The truth is, if you only care about followers, you can buy followers. It’s relatively easy to buy followers or even likes! What’s difficult is actually building relationships with people, which is what we really want.

What sounds better – 10,000 followers who don’t care about you and your service or product? Or 1000 followers who are eager to hire you or buy from you? Give me the 1000 any day.

It takes a lot of brain re-wiring, but we all need to stop focusing on follower count as a metric of social media success, and instead focus on the following:

1. Posting good content. I know, sounds simple, doesn’t it? And if were that simple we would all have millions of followers. But, I want everyone to remember that Instagram is a content-first platform. The image you post will be a user’s first impression of you. If you can’t grab their attention with those images, then no amount of weird algorithm tricks are going to help you.

2. Your engagement percentage. Some brands are always going to be number focused, but more and more brands are catching on to the fact that engagement should matter more than numbers. Padding your numbers is easy. Faking real genuine engagement is a lot tougher.

3. Website click-throughs. Congrats, you have followers on Instagram. But are they visiting your website? Are they clicking on your products? Are they sending you inquiry emails? These are the numbers you should be watching. Work on getting these numbers higher by sharing content that entices your followers to click.

4. Focus on your current followers before chasing new ones. It drives me crazy that some biz owners only use Instagram to reach new clients, when you likely have hundreds or thousands of potential clients already following you. Obviously if you’re growing your business you want to reach new people, and it’s fine to use social media for that! Just put your current followers first. They already made the decision to press the “follow” button and add your content to their daily lives. Show them lots of love in return by engaging in conversation and supporting them.

5. Consistency is key. You don’t have to post every single day, but keep showing up. A big part of creating relationships on Instagram goes beyond your posts. Respond to every comment and every message, and go to your follower’s posts and engage with them there, too. Scroll through the hashtag your ideal client is using and chat with folks. Set aside a few minutes every day, if possible, just to be present and active and engaging on Instagram.

6. Your idea of success is different from everyone else’s. If you reach 10,000 followers on Instagram but none of them are paying clients, will you feel successful? Maybe you will … that’s not for me to decide. But I encourage everyone to really think about your definition of success, write it down, and then think, “Okay, how will I get there?” If your goal is to make money, then go to your current following (you know, the people who already like and trust you) and ask them what their current problems are. Then solve those problems.

Breaking the follower count habit is hard. Trust me, I struggle with it, too! But when you release yourself from the struggle of feeling like you don’t have enough, you’ll have more time and energy to be happy with what you already have.

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4 Tips for Getting More Traffic from Pinterest

September 16, 2020 By Mindy Leave a Comment

4 Tips for Getting More Traffic from Pinterest

Pinterest – My best performing social media channel, and also the one I spend the least amount of time nurturing.

Wait … what?

Yep, you heard that right. Pinterest is the #2 traffic referrer to my blog (right behind Google) and yet I hardly do anything with it. I spend hours a week interacting on Instagram, and don’t even get me started with how much time I spend on Facebook.

This just goes to show you how significant Pinterest should be to your social media marketing efforts.

In today’s article, I’m going to share 4 easy (super easy, I promise) tips for getting more website traffic from Pinterest.

4 Tips for Getting More Traffic from Pinterest

1) Make sure your profile is pretty and boards are organized – Truth be told, most of your website hits from Pinterest will be “one-offs.” But once in a while, someone may love your pins so much they might click through to your profile. So it’s helpful to have an organized profile. Be sure your board titles make sense and you don’t have any empty boards. Put your most popular boards at the top and your group/collab boards at the bottom.

2) Pin from your own website – Yes, you can do this. For some reason people think they shouldn’t pin their own website images. It feels kind of like “liking” your own Facebook post, right? Well, don’t worry about this. A Pinterest user can’t tell who pinned the image in the first place.

One thing you SHOULDN’T do is pin the same image to a board multiple times. Pinterest views this as spammy, so don’t do it.

One other thing to keep in mind … make sure ALL the images on your website are “Pinterest worthy.” That means they are high quality, bright, clear, and attractive. You only want to share the best of the best to represent your business.

3) Make sure your captions are stellar – Pinterest is generally used as a search engine. Someone comes to Pinterest, types in “easy slow cooker recipes” and boom – they are served thousands of pins. That’s why your captions are important. Pinterest uses not only image recognition software, but keywords in your captions to fill search results. Go ahead and throw a couple relevant hashtags in there, too.

4) Follow 5-10 people per day – The social proof of a large Pinterest following is less important than it is on Instagram, but following Pinterest users is still a great way to get your profile seen by new people. It takes only a couple minutes to search for accounts in your niche and give them a follow.

There’s no reason Pinterest can’t be a top traffic referrer to your business website. It just takes a few minutes a day to make sure your Pinterest presence is picture perfect.

Want more Pinterest tips? Visit this article – Grow Your Pinterest in 10 Minutes a Day – for more.

This article was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated.

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How to Use Instagram Reels

August 8, 2020 By Mindy Leave a Comment

Three screenshots featuring various stages of creating an Instagram Reels videoImage credit: Instagram

Instagram has finally launched it’s much-anticipated answer to the growing popularity of the TikTok platform. Reels, a feature now available within the Instagram app for users in the United States and handful of other countries, allows creators to make a multi-clip 15 second video set to music.

If you’re familiar with TikTok then you’ll get the gist. If not, then there may be a bit of a learning curve if you want to start using Reels for your business (and later I’ll share exactly why you should)!

So how do you use Instagram Reels? Let’s take a look!

Guide to Instagram Reels

As mentioned earlier, Instagram Reels is a feature that’s built into the Instagram app you’re already using. Much like IGTV or Stories, you can create and watch Reels right in the app.

The profile page has been updated to include a tab for Reels (the icon looks like a little movie clapboard).

Want to watch some Reels before you try making your own? You can do that on the Explore page. The Explore page now features a huge preview of a Reels video. Tap on the video and you’ll be able to swipe up through several Reels.

If you’re not familiar with Reels, this is a great way to see how people are using it, and find out what the current trends are. (Trends move fast on TikTok and I expect Reels to be the same!)

*Okay, remember when I said you should start using Reels for your business? The Explore page is the exact reason why! Instagram is making a big push for Reels and they are heavily featuring them on the Explore page, which means it’s a chance for your account to be seen and discovered by more users!

It may take some time, but eventually the Reels algorithm will learn the type of videos you like and serve those to you. My TikTok algorithm trended heavily towards cat and Disney videos, of course.

Here are some basic instructions for creating your own Reel (and thanks to my cat for always being such a good photo model):

Collage of three phone screens showing various stages of creating an Instagram Reels video

1. Swipe right to access the “Stories” page. Now you should notice at the bottom of the screen you have three options: Live, Story, and Reels. Tap the word Reels to access the creation screen.

2. From here you can record your own video, or upload a video. Note – you cannot upload still images at this time!

3. Before you get started, you should have an idea of what kind of music or sound you want to use for your video. The music/sound is a huge part of what makes Reels so fun and entertaining. Tap on the musical note icon on the left in order to access Instagram’s music library. You can also add your own music from your music library on your phone (such as iTunes), you can use an original sound while recording your video (ie, you talking).

Screenshot of music search for keyword "Disney" inside Instagram's music library

4. The second icon looks like a “play” button. This allows you to slow down or speed up your video. If you want to use this, make your selection before you record.

5. The third icon is a happy face – these are filters/effects. Just like with Instagram Stories, you can record your video with a filter.

6. The fourth icon is a timer. You can pre-select how much time you want to record. This comes in handy if you want to time something to music.

7. The final icon shows up once you’ve recorded one clip. It helps you align an object at the end of your last clip with your next clip.

8. Once you’ve finished uploading or recording your video, tap the little arrow on the right. Here is where you can add stickers, GIFs, or text to your Reels. Right now, you can only add text or stickers to the entire length of the video. I suspect more features and functionality will be added over time!

9. When your Reels is completed, you have the option of publishing it to your Reels tab only, or to your Reels tab and your regular feed. Publishing to your regular feed will get you some more views and engagement, but you’ll have to decide if the Reels fits your feed aesthetic.

Once uploaded, you can tap on your Reels tab on your profile to see all of your Reels videos.

Screenshot of Instagram Reels tab on user's profile

Also, don’t forget to use the share icon to share the Reels video in your Stories!

Here’s an example of a Reels video I made using still photos. I used the app InShot to create the slideshow, then uploaded that to Instagram Reels and added the music and text overlay.

View this post on Instagram

Our wedding day is one of my very favorite Disneyland memories ?✨???? #disneywedding #welovedisneyweddings

A post shared by Mindy ? Disney Blogger (@fairytalemindy) on Aug 7, 2020 at 2:43pm PDT

What questions do you have about using Instagram Reels? Head over to my Facebook Group and join the conversation!

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STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

September 6, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

Update – Unfortunately it seems like Facebook does not support this option right now. Hopefully they will add it back because it was very helpful!

If there’s ANYTHING about social media marketing that drives me absolutely insane, it’s seeing people auto-post across their social media platforms.

ARRRRGH! It’s such a bad idea, for many reasons!

When you automate cross-posting between your accounts, you’re not giving your followers any reason to follow you everywhere! Why would someone follow you on Instagram if they are already seeing your posts on Facebook? You want to post fresh content on all your different channels to keep your followers entertained and interested.

Plus, Facebook and Instagram are very different platforms. You may have different types of audiences! Maybe your Instagram following is mostly industry peers, but your clients follow you on Facebook. You’re going to want to show these two different types of content.

And let’s talk about formatting. When you write an Instagram post, the “@” names you tag and all those hashtags are going to look downright silly on Facebook. You might as well shout to your followers, “Look at me! I’m SUPER lazy!”

Finally there’s the issue of the algorithm. Yes, Facebook owns Instagram, BUT, Facebook favors fresh, original content. So those auto-posts you’re sending to your Facebook Page? Facebook is going to limit their reach.

Now, that’s not to say you can’t utilize that amazing Instagram photo for Facebook, because you totally can! Your caption just has to be different. Luckily, Facebook and Instagram have given us a tool to make this VERY easy! I’m going to teach you how to set it up, and also give you an example of how I recently used this to great results.

How to Share Your Instagram Photos to Your Facebook Page without Auto-Posting

First, you’ll need to make sure your Instagram account and your Facebook Page (business page, not personal profile) are connected. If you are already set up for auto-posting, then you can probably skip this step.

If you aren’t, here’s what to do:

(Note – you’ll need to have an Instagram business account for this.)

1) Open the Instagram app and go to your settings (the gear icon on your profile).
2) Scroll down to “Linked Accounts” and tap.

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

3) Click on “Facebook” and follow the instructions to link your Facebook Page. Make sure “Share Your Posts to Facebook” is NOT selected.

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

Once your accounts are linked, you’ll see your Instagram photos will start showing up on your Facebook Page on your desktop. But only YOU can see them!

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

Click one of the photos and it will populate into a new post. All you have to do is add a caption and hit “Publish!”

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

So easy! What I generally do is share an Instagram photo that’s a couple days old … or a couple months old! Chances are my Facebook followers didn’t see the same picture on Instagram, but even if they did, I’ll post it with a different comment so it will be a unique post!

Real quick, I want to share a success story that happened when using this method.

A few days ago I posted this photo taken of me during a very hot summer day at Disneyland to Instagram with the caption: “I’m wishing …. I’m wishing … for less heat and humidity, please and thank you.” It did pretty well on Instagram!

View this post on Instagram

I’m wishing …. I’m wishing … for less heat and humidity, please and thank you. . . . I couldn’t hang very long at Disneyland today because the humidity was dreadful. It made me wonder how I’m going to deal with Orlando summer in a couple weeks ??? . . . . Also, it’s officially my birthday month! ??? . . . Also also, search “Yep I want a castle” to buy my shirt on Amazon ? . . . . . #disneyland #disneylandresort #instadisney #toontown #minnieears #yepiwantacastle #minnieshouse #abmlifeiscolorful #flashesofdelight #pastelprincess #disneygram #disneylife #dressedindisney #disneystyle #disneyclothes #acolorstory #disneybloggersunite #disneyblogger

A post shared by Mindy ? This Fairy Tale Life (@fairytalemindy) on Sep 1, 2018 at 2:19pm PDT

The next day, I used this method to share the same photo on Facebook, but with a much different caption. I like to keep things happy and light on my Instagram because a lot of people follow me for my happy Disneyland photos. But on Facebook, I have a smaller, more intimate following and I can be a little more real. So I posted this photo with a caption expressing I was feeling self-conscious of my tummy and my weight, and spoke a little bit about body image and how hard women are on ourselves.

I wasn’t expecting it but this Facebook post BLEW UP. I had tons of comments from women saying they related to my post. In fact, I had such a good response that I turned the whole conversation into a blog post.

If I had swapped those captions, and posted the “happy” one to Facebook and the more serious caption on Instagram, I would not have had the same engagement. Because I have different types of audiences on each platform.

I highly, highly recommend turning off your auto-posting and using this method instead. It takes just a couple minutes to pull up your Facebook Page and share one of your Instagram photos with a fresh new caption. The results will be worth it!

STOP Auto-Posting Instagram to Facebook (Do This Instead)

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5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

August 9, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

You have probably heard of Chrissy Teigen. Supermodel, actress, author, one half of a celebrity power couple. But you may not know she completely slays the social media game.

Chrissy has built up a legion of fans and followers – over 10 million on Twitter and nearly 20 million on Instagram – simply by sharing her life and being herself.

Sure, part of that large follower count is the fun of us regular ole folks getting a glimpse into the life of a celebrity. But the reason why people stick is around is because Chrissy is the real deal.

She’s a real person. She doesn’t just share the photoshopped magazine images (although she shares those, too). She makes funny faces, she shares silly videos of her kids, her house is messy sometimes. Her photos aren’t all perfectly lit and styled. She’s relatable. Perhaps not on the “supermodel celebrity” level, but on the human level.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

And, oh man, she is FUNNY. I love watching her Instagram Stories because I know I’m going to laugh.

The truth is, we can’t all be witty model author celebrities (sorry everyone), but we can learn a lot from how Chrissy handles her social media. Here are 5 things I love about her accounts.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

1. She’s authentic. I’ve always thought authenticity is the most important part of social media. People want to make a connection with you and feel like they are friends with you. Chrissy does this so well. She always tells it like it is and that’s why people love her so much. On her Instagram Stories you will often find some no-makeup selfies. After she had her second baby she posted some videos of her “mom bod” to show that supermodels get stretch marks, too. She basically says what we’re all thinking.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

2. She responds to her followers. Your engagement is just as important as your content. Chrissy has authored two cookbooks and loves to chat about food with her followers. She is known to give restaurant recommendations and answer questions about her recipes. She can’t possibly respond to every single person who mentions her, but I love that she personally responds to fan questions.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

On the flip side, she also isn’t shy about talking to her haters. No one can clap back like Chrissy (well, perhaps the Wendy’s Twitter account comes close). If Chrissy RTs a hateful comment from you … you’re about to have a very bad day. Never underestimate the power of a loyal following.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

3. She stands up for her beliefs. Chrissy doesn’t back down when it comes to politics or social injustices. This is something I really admire about her, but it helps we generally agree on these issues. I’ve written before about sharing hot button opinions on your social media, and I believe it’s a personal choice to make. However, it does have consequences. Discussing polarizing issues such as politics or religion may lose you some followers or clients. Some people are okay with this, but others feel they don’t want to risk it. The choice is ultimately up to you.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

4. She discloses! A celebrity disclosing a paid ad? Be still my heart! Yes, it’s the law but many, many, many influencers don’t follow it. Chrissy is doing social promotions right. It’s a beautiful thing.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5. She doesn’t take herself too seriously. Perhaps the most important lesson of all. Recently she posted an Instagram Story with Biore pore strips on her face. What woman can’t relate to that? Social media is supposed to be fun, and I love that Chrissy has fun with it.

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

5 Social Media Lessons from Chrissy Teigen

Chrissy is a great example of how simply being your authentic self on social media will make people fall in love with you.

What other celebrities do you enjoy following on social media for their authenticity?

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What the Heck is IGTV?

June 21, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

What the Heck is IGTV?

Earlier this week, Instagram announced a new platform for long-form video, called IGTV.

But what the heck is it?

What the Heck is IGTV?

Let’s be real – IGTV is “Youtube for Instagram.” While Instagram has triumphed in the micro blog and short story video market, they now want to dabble in long-form polished videos. While it’s unclear how exactly Instagram will compensate creators, it’s clear they are trying to attract some of the popular YouTubers and woo them over to their platform.

I’m hesitant to put a ton of effort into IGTV right off the bat, but I’m always game for trying something new. So I researched IGTV a bit and uploaded my first video today.

What the Heck is IGTV?

One great thing about the IGTV platform is that it seamlessly integrates with your existing Instagram account. No creating a new account and securing your user name, no setting up a new profile, no building a new following, etc. You just connect your existing account with IGTV and start uploading. Plus your IGTV channel will show up on your regular Instagram profile.

What the Heck is IGTV?

And while I’m not sure the world needs yet another social media platform, I’ve enjoyed the majority of the content I’ve seen on IGTV so far. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

If you’re into the idea of IGTV (and it’s pretty intrusive on your regular Instagram app so you’re gonna have to get used to it), here’s what you need to know:

– Make sure your Instagram app is up to date. You can also download the IGTV stand-alone app from the App Store or Google Play.

What the Heck is IGTV?

– Connect your Instagram account to IGTV (if you have multiple accounts, you will have to select the one you want to use to get started, and you can switch between accounts later).

What the Heck is IGTV?

– In the IGTV app, new videos will show up in the lower portion of the screen, and you can scroll through them. You can select from For You, Following, Popular, or Continue Watching. Tap on a video to watch it, then tap “browse” to go back to browsing. You can like/heart and leave comments on IGTV videos, just like regular Instagram.

What the Heck is IGTV?

– IGTV notifications will start popping up on your regular Instagram app, in the upper right side or on account profiles. Tap to watch within the regular Instagram app.

If you want to create your own IGTV video, here’s how to do it.

– Use your phone to record a vertical video. Instagram is really pushing the idea of vertical videos, probably because A) people are already used to watching vertical videos in Instagram Stories, and B) it sets them apart from YouTube.

– Edit the video on your phone. You can trim, add text, add graphics, add music, etc … or don’t do any edits at all. Note videos have to be between 15 seconds and 5 minutes long (although I’m seeing some “bigger” accounts have videos that are longer than 5 minutes).

What the Heck is IGTV?

– Upload the video to IGTV. You can give your video a title, description, and edit the cover. I like to take a separate photo for the cover, since it’s hard to take a screenshot of a video and have it look good.

What the Heck is IGTV?

– Once your video is live on IGTV, likes and comments will show up in your regular Instagram notification feed. Or you can check likes/comments by swiping up on your video on IGTV.

What the Heck is IGTV?

What types of videos can you upload?

IGTV is intended to be a place to share unique long-form vertical videos. It’s great if you can record a unique video just for IGTV, but obviously you may want to try it out immediately even if you don’t have anything “special” to share. Here are a few things you can do:

– Remember videos can be anywhere between 15 seconds and 5 minutes, so you can easily record a quick video of just about anything. So far I’ve seen videos of babies being adorable, pets being adorable, food being prepared, makeup tutorials, and of course, videos from Disneyland. I’ve seen long unedited videos, and videos of a bunch of short videos and pictures (like a slideshow). Remember to stay on brand but get creative with what you can create!

– I decided to do an introduction video, which I felt was a good idea since this video will live on my IGTV forever. So if the platform takes off and I gain a kajillion followers, my introduction video will always be useful.

– I’ve been seeing a lot of users upload their Instagram Stories saved all together as a video (reference my article on Instagram Stories if you’re not sure how to do that). While this is an easy way to get a video up on IGTV, I hope this doesn’t become common. Ideally IGTV will be a place to share unique videos that aren’t shared elsewhere.

I hope this helps you understand this new platform a little easier! I’d love to check out your IGTV channels so be sure to hit me up on Instagram at @fairytalemindy and tag me.

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My Newest Venture: Rock Your Wedding Biz Podcast!

May 16, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

Big news!

Like, the biggest news ever!

I’ve started a brand new podcast – Rock Your Wedding Biz – with my friend Renee of Moxie Bright Events, dishing about all things important in the wedding industry.

Coming Soon - Rock Your Wedding Biz Podcast!

Renee and I have been friends for years and I’ve always been in awe of her business savvy. She has been a huge factor in me starting and growing my own businesses, and she’s always been there to provide unending support.

One day Renee were having a “business brunch” (aka drinking mimosas) and I thought … we should do a podcast together.

And then, we did!

Well, the path was a little rockier than that. Learning to podcast is like learning a new language! (Shout out to Pat Flynn for the great FREE tutorial!) So with a little research, and trial and error, our first three episodes are done and LIVE!

You can listen to the first three episodes on iTunes and Google Play (more platforms coming soon). Our goal is to have a new episode up every Wednesday morning.

Please follow us on Instagram at @rockyourweddingbiz or join our email list to stay up-to-date with our new business venture.

We really want to hear from you; let us know what wedding industry topics you want us to cover during a future podcast episode!

This whole process has been exciting and nerve-wracking and exhilarating and terrifying, but overall I’m so thrilled with what we are creating. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Photography: Altar Image Photography
Venue: Digiland, Burbank CA

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Is Wedding Blogging Dead?

April 11, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

Is Wedding Blogging Dead?

Yesterday’s announcement regarding the shuttering of popular wedding blog Style Me Pretty sent shock waves through the community. Many wedding pros saw Style Me Pretty as the gold standard of wedding marketing and often made it a career goal to be featured.

The hysteria seems to be even worse the next day. Some of my wedding blogger friends are getting messages from worried vendors on their preferred list – Are you closing too?

And wedding vendors are wondering if it’s worth their time to submit their work to blogs going forward. Or maybe blogs will start charging vendors for features so they can stay afloat. After all, if Style Me Pretty can shut down and disappear, what’s to stop that from happening to other blogs?

I totally understand the frustration, and I hope I can address (and calm) some of those concerns here.

Even the most perfect of weddings must eventually come to a close. The same is true for us here at Style Me Pretty. After an incredible twelve years of sharing your beautiful weddings, we will close Style Me Pretty on April 30th. While we won’t be posting any new stories after today, you’ll be able to view and save anything on the site up until the end of the month. We’re so proud to have played even a small role in sending so many brides and grooms off into their happily-ever-after. Thank you for sharing such special moments with us. | Photography: @elizabethmessina

A post shared by Style Me Pretty (@stylemepretty) on Apr 10, 2018 at 12:19pm PDT

Is Wedding Blogging Dead?

The situation with Style Me Pretty is a complicated and unique one. While we can only speculate as to the exact reason for its closure, it’s important to remember Style Me Pretty started as a small wedding blog created and edited by one person, but most recently was sold and became a tiny part of a much larger corporation (Verizon/AOL). While Style Me Pretty may be “huge” to us, it perhaps wasn’t making enough profit (or any profit) for the parent company to see it as something worth keeping around.

If I had to make an educated guess, Style Me Pretty‘s demise was the result of corporate restructuring.

It’s important to remember most wedding blogs are not like this. Most blogs are run by one person or a small team. Blog owners are often easily approachable and accessible. If you have a question or concern about a blog you love, just send an email and talk to them! Don’t make assumptions and don’t freak out over rumors and gossip.

This is also a chance to step back and take a look at your marketing strategies and your goals. Many wedding pros (and many brides) made it their life’s mission to be featured on Style Me Pretty. It’s fine to have goals, but be sure your business and marketing does not revolve around one singular goal or platform. Any vendor who put all of their eggs in the Style Me Pretty basket is in a world of hurt right now.

As a blogger myself, it frustrates me when I hear people say phrases like, “blogging is dead,” or “nobody is reading blogs anymore.” I can see by my analytics this is simply not true. It’s a shame Style Me Pretty is going away, but blogging is certainly a booming industry and there are plenty of blogs out there just waiting to feature you.

So is wedding blogging dead? No, but it’s certainly evolving and unpredictable, and it’s safe to assume your favorite blog probably won’t last forever. The situation with Style Me Pretty is yet another reminder that we are all responsible for our own marketing and we can’t solely rely on third party platforms to carry our business.

Remember:

Maintain your own social channels.
Maintain your own blog.
Maintain your own email list.

Social media and blogs are wonderful marketing tools, and the closure of Style Me Pretty shouldn’t stop wedding pros from investing in these tools. As long as it’s just a slice of your marketing strategy pie.

Photo by Elisabeth Messina

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How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

April 5, 2018 By Mindy Leave a Comment

This post contains affiliate links.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

How many times have you heard this: You need an email list for your business.

Well, it’s true … you do! Social media followers are great, but hopefully you’re collecting their email addresses as well. That way if something ever happens to your social media accounts, you have a way to reach your fans.

If you’ve been putting off starting an email newsletter because you don’t know where to begin, I’m here to help! Yes, maintaining an email newsletter is yet another thing to add to the to-do list. But the most important step is to get started with a way to capture and collect those emails. And that’s exactly what we are going to cover today!

For this tutorial, I will be using an email service called MailChimp. MailChimp offers a free plan up to 2000 followers, so it’s perfect for anyone who is just getting started. If you want a more robust email experience and you are willing to pay, I recommend the paid version of MailChimp or Convertkit. But for this tutorial I will be using MailChimp.

Sign up for a paid account with MailChimp and get a $30 credit on your account!

If you’ve got 30 minutes, you can do this first step for creating an email list and start collecting those email addresses! Follow this guide and it won’t be difficult at all, I promise.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Step 1 – Create and log into your MailChimp account. On the main page, select Lists. Then click on “Create List.”

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Step 2 – You will be asked if you want to create a new list or group. You want to “Create List.”

Step 3
– Fill out the List details. Give your list a name (“Your-business-name Newsletter” works), use your business email address as the Default “From” Email since this is what your readers will see (don’t use your personal email), your business name as the Default “From” name, as this is what your readers will see as the sender in their in-box (don’t use your real name [unless your real name is also your business name] because your readers don’t know YOUR name, they know your business name. Make sense?). For the “Remind people how they got on your list” section, you can copy and paste this:

You are receiving this email because you opted in for the YOUR BUSINESS NAME newsletter.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Make sure your contact information is correct. You need a valid address for the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. It can be a physical address such as where you live or conduct business, or a PO Box. You cannot make up an address. This is very important.

Next you’ll see a section about double opt-in. I recommend turning this on. This means new subscribers will receive an email asking them to click a link to confirm this subscription. It helps eliminate bots and spammers, so I see it as a good thing.

Then select your email list notification options. This is to control the emails YOU get as people subscribe (or sadly unsubscribe) to your email list. I recommend the first option, which is a daily summary.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Click SAVE.

Step 4 – From here you will see your new list! Now we need a way to tell people about your list. Click on “Signup forms.” Then go to “Form Builder” and hit “select.”

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Step 5 – This page is a little busy but don’t worry, we will get through it!

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

The default screen is “signup form” under the “Forms and response emails” dropdown. Leave it like that.

The Signup Form URL is going to be your unique URL you can send to people to join your list. You can post this URL on your social media pages, or hyperlink it on your blog. You can test it right now – open a new browser tab and copy/paste in that URL so you can see what it looks like. Although, I recommend making the following modifications before you share the link:

The default signup form is very robust. It asks for a lot of things, like email, name, address, and phone number. I don’t think you need all that! I recommend only asking for email and first name.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

In order to remove the Last Name, Address, and Phone number section. Simply click on that area on the form. The toolbar to the right of the form will change, and at the very bottom you will see “Delete.” Click on that to remove the field. (It will ask you to confirm by typing DELETE into a field. Go ahead and do that.) Do this for the Last Name, Address, and Phone Number field, until you only have the Email Address and First Name fields left.

You don’t have to “save” anything – it saves by default.

Your signup form page is complete!

Now let’s assume you want to put this form somewhere on your website, like in the sidebar or below your blog posts, or in the footer. I’ll get you started, and if you’re not familiar with how your website works you may have to contact your webmaster for help.

Step 6 – On MailChimp, click on Signup Forms at the top menu, and now click on the Select button for “Embedded forms.”

Step 7 – Under the “Preview” section, you can see the beautiful signup form you just created! Isn’t it so lovely? This is how it will look when embedded into your website. Just copy/paste the code at the bottom and place it into the backend of your website in the desired spot.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

For me, I have a WordPress blog with the Genesis theme, and I used the Simple Hooks plugin to add the code so it shows up at the bottom of every blog post. You can see how it looks below. If this is gobbledy-gook to you, you may have to reach out to your webmaster for some assistance. Or use Google to search how to add this code to your own website setup.

How to Set Up a FREE Email List in Under 30 Minutes

Congratulations! You are now ready to collect emails for your business! How exciting! I hope this tutorial was helpful and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or visit my Facebook Page – Joy Social Media Strategies.

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Hello!

Hi, I'm Mindy! I have been a blogger and content creator for nearly 10 years. I love to teach new bloggers how to grow their business through social media. Take a look around the site and let me know how I can help you!

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