EDITOR’S NOTES
Kate McKibbin I have a real love/hate relationship with Social Media. On the one hand I hate how you can lose whole hours, afternoons even weekends to the black hole that is cats-riding-roomba videos and Donald Trump memes. And I’m also not a massive fan of how it seems like just when you figure something out on your favourite social, they pull the old switcheroo and change everything, and you have to start all over again (damn you Zuckerberg… damn you!). But it’s not all bad, obviously. And Social Media is still one of the most powerful weapons in a blogger’s arsenal. Which is what this issue is all about. So whether it’s learning how to grow an epic community via Facebook groups, how to travel the world IRL thanks to Instagram, or how to happily waste an afternoon ROFL-ing over some seriously funny shit. We’ve got you covered (just don’t blame me if you suddenly get a crazy urge to start binge-listening to James Blunt… you’ll see why!)
kate xx
Carly Jacobs Every time I have to write an editor’s letter I’m always shocked about two things. 1. That it’s time to write another editor’s letter. I still haven’t quite grasped the concept that time still passes even though I’m not actively noticing it. 2. That I get to write an editor’s letter. Look at my stupid little face there. It looks so official… and now I’ve ruined it by writing this. Damn. We’re just putting this edition to ‘bed’ (that’s a magazine-editor style thing to say isn’t it?) and it’s full of social media super stars, geek and nerd tech things, a guide for Snapchat (because everyone needs a Snapchat guide!) and some tips and tricks on how to be awesome at social media. There’s also some stuff on how to not be awesome at social media because we believe in balance around these parts. This is the last edition of 2016! It sure has been ace having you here. See you in the New Year - have a champers for me.
carly xx
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CONTENTS
FITNESS EMPIRE
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We chat to the amazing Kim Beach about how she turned her fitness blog into a bonafide business with a shit load of paying (and loyal!) customers.
3 GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER A few things to think about this November/December.
4 BLOG SNIPPET How to use Facebook Live to grow your Blog (& love it!) - by Kate McKibbin.
CRUSHIN ON Did you know Kate’s favourite colour is blue? Our nerdy and tech shopping page is dedicated to her this month. She better buy me a coffee for doing that. Geez.
MERRY WANDERER Jaharn Giles has totally nailed travel porn on Instagram. Follow her immediately.
8 SURE WHY NOT?
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14 7 SOCIAL MEDIA COMMANDMENTS You must stop breaking these now!
16 JAMES BLUNT’S TWITTER IS THE BEST - FOR REAL That’s why we included him in our 5 of The Funniest Celebrity Twitter Accounts.
18 WHAT A DISASTER 5 Famous social media fuckups…
20 MAKING BANK FROM STYLE We are so lucky to have the insanely smart and savvy Nikki Parkinson from Styling You to tell us how she went from being a fashion journo to online business legend.
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This is our new favourite blog because Kat’s done something totally different with her home page. Read more on 32 to find out.
25 TOOL BOX We put together a comprehensive list of all the props you need to make your social media profiles totally boss. You’re welcome.
35 YOU TELL US! Are you on Snapchat? Who’s your favourite? We took to Facebook to find out.
36 I DON’T KNOW SNAPCHAT! If you’ve ever said this, I wrote this for you - How To Get Started Using Snapchat.
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WHAT’S HAPPENING?
november & december
NOVEMBER 1 ALL SAINTS DAY, Worldwide MELBOURNE CUP, Australia NOVEMBER 6 END OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS Los Angeles, United States NOVEMBER 8 ELECTION DAY, United States NOVEMBER 11 REMEMBERANCE DAY Australia NOVEMBER 12 TECHMUNCH CONFERENCE Los Angeles, United States NOVEMBER 24 THANKSGIVING DAY
NOVEMBER MOVEMBER au.movember.com DECEMBER 25 CHRISTMAS DAY DECEMBER 26 BOXINGDAY
United States
DECEMBER 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE
DECEMBER 24 START OF HANNUKAH
JANUARY 1 NEW YEAR’S DAY
United States
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HOW TO USE FACEBOOK LIVE TO GROW YOUR BLOG (& LOVE IT!) Kate McKibbin
If you have been living under a rock these last few months (or maybe you've been enjoying your IRL-life instead), you might not have noticed that Facebook Live (that is live stream video from your Facebook page) is really blowing up right now. As in it is everywhere, and all the cool kids are doing it (and if you are a blogger you probably should be doing it too!)
So what this means is (right now) Facebook live posts get seen way more than regular posts, AND your other posts around that post will also get a nice flow on effect with extra views too.
Why you ask?
The other main reason is that Facebook Live, and in fact any Live Streaming, is a really great way to connect with your readers, and increase engagement and traffic too.
Well lots of reasons (which I will go into below), including the fact that Facebook is trying to compete with (aka annihilate) Periscope, Snapchat and Youtube right now.
Because as we all know, the more of you (and I mean the real, warts and all you), you put into your posts and social media, the higher your engagement and connection with your readers will be.
So to help their cause (and pretty much bribe everyone to come on over and use their live streaming options instead) they have set their algorithm to reward accounts and posts featuring Facebook Live videos.
It's simple maths people! Still not convinced? Well I've put together some of my favourite ways that blogger's can use and grow their blogs through Live Streaming right now. 4
NOT SURE HOW TO USE FACEBOOK LIVE TO GROW YOUR BLOG? HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS; 1 - Demonstrate something - so if you've done a how-to post or other instructional content, you can do a live demo of it on Facebook and then get people to head back to your blog to see the full instructions. 2 - Discuss your latest blog post topic When you hit publish, why not jump onto Facebook live and tell people about the post you just published. Share a few of the good "nuggets" of info, and again get them to check out the post for more. 3 - Run challenges - I've been doing this in my free Facebook group (Secret Blogger's Society), where each Monday I pop up a quick 5 minute video with a blogging challenge in it, and then check back in on Friday to see how people went. This is really great for increasing engagement too (in fact all the Facebook live stuff is!) 4 - Interviews, panels & discussion topics It can be tricky to just babble all by yourself for any length of time while you wait for people to jump on to your video, so a lot of of people have started to do multi-person broadcasts, where they either just discuss a certain topic together, or they live stream an interview with a relevant person. I've even seen panel discussions work really well too.
5 - Live stream events / Behind the scenes - Off to some glamorous event, or something else that you think your readers might love a sneak peek into? Live stream is a brilliant way to almost bring your readers with you and let them experience a bit of what you do, well, live (it went banana's at Fashion Week recently!)
Really want to give Live Streaming a go? Here's a few tips & tools to make sure you look pro from the start: THE LONGER THE BETTER: One thing to note is that at the moment, the longer the Facebook Live video runs, the more it will get seen (you want to aim for 20 minutes or more for the best results). The time of day can also make a huge difference to how many people are able to watch it live. GIVE PEOPLE NOTICE: If you are planning on doing a broadcast, they recommend that you do a post about 20-30 mins before the broadcast to tell people to expect it, you can also share these posts on your other social media. CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIME OF DAY: The time of day that you do your broad cast can have a big impact on how many people see your video live. Because people need to be A- On their phones, and B- Able and willing to sit and watch a video (so when they are at work is probably not the best time!).
USE THE RIGHT TOOLS: If you're going to make Live Streaming a regular part of your schedule, you'll want to get the right gear. So things like a basic iPhone / Smart phone tripod (you can get these on eBay for under $10), or even a selfie stick are great. And if you ever need to live stream at night, or in poor lighting, investing in a phone case with built in beauty lights like theLuvo case can make your broadcasts look super pro! TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL! If you really want your Live Streaming to look super professional you can invest in a special Live Streaming, editing and broadcasting camera like the Mevo (although seriously, just your iPhone should be fine to get you started!) Got multiple pages, groups and accounts you want to Live Stream across? Check out Live Leap. Or just want to be able to
Live Stream from your laptop (not your phone), try out this free software called OBS Studio (and follow the directions in this post to get it set up!) KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR NEW FEATURES: Did I mention that Zuckerberg is making it his personal mission to destroy Snapchat and Periscope right now? Well he is, and because of this you can expect to see lots more awesome features and functionalities being added to the Live Streaming system. So far this includes the addition of video filters (this is live now, yippee!), multiperson streams (so you can do live interviews or chats with other people around the world, and it will broadcast to both of your accounts... so many cool applications for this!) and also viewer "Waiting rooms" (which will really help you get as many people onto your broadcasts from the start too). You can read all about the upcoming features here.
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BUT WAIT... HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY DO A FACEBOOK LIVE BROADCAST? Well it's super easy. 1 - Firstly open up the Facebook app on your phone. 2 - Go to the page or group you want to broadcast from (you can do a test one from your personal page if you like first to get the hang of it!) 3 - Click in the Update Status box like you are going to post a normal post / image onto your wall. 4 - Look for the Facebook Live icon (see pic below). 5 - Click it (well... duh) 6 - Write a quick headline or intro for your broadcast (so people will know what it's about). You can always update / edit these later.
7 - Prop your phone somewhere, fix your hair, check you have nothing in your teeth and then press "Go Live". 8 - That's it. Don't forget to ask people to say hello or ask questions in the comments, or to give you a Like if they are watching live (this all helps your video to get seen more too btw). 9 - When you're done click Finish and it will save automatically to your wall, so anyone who missed it live can still see the replay. That's it... pretty much everything you need to know about how to use Facebook Live on your blog (and a few ideas to get you started too). So, are you convinced? What about if I double-dared you to give it a go? 7
Urgh! How cute is this? It should be the law that if you carry an adorable satchel, you must also have your hair in pigtails. Let it be so. TAYLOR BAG By Typo $39.95 cottonon.com
If you’ve ever felt the need to whisper to yourself ‘Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean.’ when YouTube is taking its sweet ass time uploading a video, this blue marble laptop cover from Urban Outfitters might be just the thing you need.
BLUE MARBLE 15" LAPTOP COVER By Urban Outfitters $30.00 urbanoutfitters.com PORTABLE SPEAKER By Ampoids $40.20 etsy.com
For those of you who like to plug in with some classic tunes while they work, this MP3 player/amp is a must have. It’s pocket sized and it’s made from an Altoids tin. Gosh some Etsy people are clever aren’t they?
Have you ever had someone ask you if they can borrow a pen and they say ‘Any pen!’ and you’re like ‘Seriously?’. For pen enthusiasts, Typo’s gels are the bomb. Never lend it to someone who won’t appreciate its beauty.
NERDY THINGS A few nerdy things we are loving this month! Dr. Who Device Pillow By BeeSewHappyBoutique $24.12 etsy.com
Let your Dr Who freak flag fly with this tablet stand. You can use it to watch episodes of Dr Who! It’s the most meta tech accessory ever.
SMOOTH OPERATOR GEL PEN By Typo $2.99 cottonon.com
You can get these Blue Deer bookends from Down That Little Lane and they’ll keep your books all lovely and tidy. BLUE DEER BOOKENDS By DesignAtelierArticle $80.00 downthatlittlelane.com.au
I think I saw Alan Rickman on the street once and I couldn’t take a photo to post on Facebook because my phone was flat. Now I’ll never know if it was him. Avoid this happening to you with this cute sunny side up slim portable power charger from UO.
SUNNY SIDE UP PORTABLE CHARGER By Urban Outfitters $24.00 urbanoutfitters.com
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JAHARN GILES Jaharn Giles is the gal behind This Wkndr - a travel blog and brand that makes us want to buy an Akubra, swim in tranquil blue oceans and ride off into the pinkest of sunsets.
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So, first up. Your instagram account is out of control. It’s full of these incredible adventure shots and rustic landscapes - do you carefully plan your instagramming? Or does it happen in a more organic way?
What are your predictions for instagram trends in the coming months? Any tips for what our readers should be concentrating on? Also what do you think of instagram stories? Are you into it?
Thank you! I definitely plan my posts to a certain extent but I don’t make it a rule. I just like to make sure similar photos aren’t placed too close to each other, such as a sunset next to a sunset, and that there is consistency with editing and lighting.
As Instagram is owned by Facebook, you can expect it to be somewhat similar, and it’s already started – algorithms, advertising. With regards to Instagram Stories, I think it’s a smart move on their behalf because people have worked hard over the years to grow their communities. Your social media growth has been So it means they don’t have to work hard incredible - with over 70k followers on to create another engaged audience on instagram, we can safely say you’re Snapchat. However, Snapchat is widely dominating it over there. Can you give us used by millennials, so if your product or your 3 top tips for growth and engagement service is geared towards this customer, on Instagram? And 1 tip for something that you need to get on it now. absolutely does not work? If you were going to give advice to 1. Consistent lighting and editing is king. someone starting on Instagram or Facebook right now, what advice would 2. Show your community how grateful you are by replying to all of their questions and you give them? comments. Knowing what days and what time to post is really important. 3. Don’t do what everyone else is doing. How do you cope with social media over load? You must be on social media quite consistently through out the day - what systems do you have in place to take breaks? Or do you not ever take breaks? Surprisingly, I’m not. Over time I have learned to be really relaxed about it all; I used to post two sometimes three photos a day but I now share about three photos a week. Scheduling tools such as Schedugram are great for switching off and being present. There is nothing worse than interrupting a family dinner because you have to post a photo on Instagram.
Don’t start a Facebook Page, you have to pay to get noticed. Start a Facebook Group and make it private. It seems to have escaped Facebook’s algorithm and rules, for now. Instagram isn’t going anywhere but you need to have beautiful images, create a consistent content plan, communicate with your tribe and know when to post.
“ Consistent lighting and editing is king ” 10
If there was one social media platform you could ditch without it affecting your business, which one would you choose? I have already jumped off Twitter, and that felt amazing. I used to have a Facebook Page with 16,000 followers but due to Facebook’s tough algorithms, no one was seeing my content. So I created a private Facebook Group and whilst it only has about 800 people in it, it gets higher engagement and people take part in the group on a much higher level. I enjoy Instagram so I think I would have to say Snapchat, purely because my audience is aged between 25 to 35 years, and they are on Instagram more.
decided to switch it over to support my blog. I lost a few followers when I made the switch but then slowly my audience began growing based on the content I was producing. It was like finding my own global tribe! Also those dreamy shots of you looking over cliffs and at the sky like some kind of nomadic nymph creature - do you take those yourself? And dear lord how do you do it?
Any photo of me in it, is taken by someone else or a camera with a tripod and a remote. I’ll always have a shot in mind and will give my friends or photographers direction. Getting my friends to help is fun, Did you start with instagram and then build because they’re so relaxed and as I set the your blog? Or was it the other way around? shot up for them, it’s easy. Working with other photographers is amazing because Do you think this was an advantage to I’ll give them my ideas for the shot, they’ll you? take the photo but then take a few extra My Instagram was firstly my personal themselves, which is really nice and brings account, then I started my blog and the collaboration spirit to the adventure. 11
QUICKIES When I go to the supermarket I always buy…Coyo. I’m currently watching…Stranger Things, again. The one thing I will never wear is…a corporate suit. If I could live for one year in any country I would pick…Canada. No wait, Sweden. Oh but, Norway. If I was down to my last $5 I would buy…cheese.
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When people ask, !What do you do?" I tell them,
!WHATEVER IT TAKES." secretbloggersbusiness.com 13
7 SOCIAL MEDIA COMMANDANTS YOU MUST STOP BREAKING Carly Jacobs
1. SENDING SNAPS TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK INSTEAD OF ADDING IT TO YOUR STORY. Snapchat is a very confusing place but here’s how it works. If you want everyone to see everything you do, add your Snap to your story. If you only want one person to see what you do, send your snap to just that one person. If you select ‘send to everyone’ it appears in Snapchat as if you’ve sent a personal message to all those recipients. It’s like private messaging every one of your Facebook friends when you meant to just post a status. Super annoying. 2. BRAGGING ABOUT A SECRET PROJECT AND THEN NEVER ACTUALLY DOING IT. Don’t you just hate the whole ‘OMG! Just had the BEST DAY EVER working on a super secret project - all will be revealed soon!’ thing people do on Facebook? And then you never ever find out what the project is because it fizzles out? And you never really cared what the thing was in the first place, you only cared because
you didn’t know and you felt like you should know? If you can’t say anything about it on Facebook, don’t say anything about it on Facebook. Don’t even hint about it. Have some self control damn it! 3. FORGETTING THE BASIC RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA EVERY TIME A NEW PLATFORM GETS RELEASED The crew at Secret Bloggers Business really care about giving you excellent blogging advice. Which is why we’re constantly telling you guys to share interesting, uplifting things on your social media platforms and blogs, bar a few ‘real’ updates just so your readers know you’re human. Instagram Stories has sent everyone back ten years with people sharing terrible selfies, hours upon hours of their children existing and gross looking pictures of food. Obviously stories are 14
supposed to be spontaneous and raw but don’t share unless you actually have something to share. No one needs to see your feet sticking out of grubby looking bath water because you’re bored in the bathroom. Am I right? 4. POSTING BAD/NOT ON BRAND PHOTOS. I recently had an odd person have a go at me for unfollowing her on instragram. Which is weird because unless she manually checked or has a bot following her own account, that’s difficult information to get. The reason why I followed her is because she’s a really talented crocheter and I love her work. The reason why I unfollowed her is because she posted ten terrible photos of her son’s formal. It sounds mean but I’m not interested in that. When she goes back to posting the photos I like that are on brand, I’ll probably start following her again. 5. POSTING INFORMATION THAT IDENTIFIES YOU OR LETS PEOPLE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. Even if you aren’t a mega celebrity blogger, it’s still super important to protect yourself. For example if you’re at a restaurant and you want to post a photo to instagram and tag the restaurant, it might be a good idea to do it after you’ve
left. I know it sounds really alarmist but you can’t be too careful. You never know if someone with not-so-great intentions is following you and can figure out where you are. Just be aware if you constantly take photos in front of your highly recognisable front door or if your kid’s school uniform is visible in a photo you took. 6. SENDING BULK INVITES. It’s never a great idea to send a generic invite to everyone you know on Facebook to promote your pyramid scheme business. If you know the person, send them a proper invite with their name. I got three invites from the same person on Facebook that started with ‘Hi there!’, offering me a deal on whatever weird cosmetics they sell. Not cool. If you know the person, use their name and send them an individual invite. If you haven’t spoken to the person in years and they just happen to be in your Facebook friends list, just leave them be. 7. SELLING SOMETHING IN EVERY POST OR SOCIAL MEDIA SHARE. If you have a business, it’s important to sell your stuff but always stick to a 60/40 rule. 60% of your content should be ad free but the remaining 40% can have a link to whatever you’re selling. If you only ever post on social media to get people to buy stuff from you, your audience won’t stick around.
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5 OF THE BEST
CELEBRITY TWITTER ACCOUNTS You know what’s totally rad about the internet these days? You kind of get to hang out with celebrities. Before the advent of the internet you only ever got to see celebrities in interviews that were highly curated and monitored by their representatives. These days celebrities can cut lose on the web and do whatever they like and I love it. Here are 5 of the funniest celebrity twitter accounts. James Blunt - @jamesblunt If you ever want to laugh until you snort, check out James Blunt’s account. It’s mainly him totally roasting his haters. Internet time wastage at its most brilliant. Mindy Kaling @mindykaling It’s basically like an extension of the show. ‘It’s so weird being my own role model!’ Ryan Reynolds - @vancityreynolds Most of his tweets are about his daughter and they’re freaking hilarious.
Then sit on something else. RT @PhoebeChristaki: James Blunt’s face fully aggravates me.
Love means never having to say “hey, are we dating?”
Teaching my daughter that the sun goes down each night because it’s mad at her. Probably gonna write a book on parenting at some point.
Chris Pratt - @prattprattpratt He’s adorable and I want to eat him. Anna Kendrick - @AnnaKendrick47 Where has she been all our lives? Follow her account. She’s like a super intelligent yet deeply insecure hedgehog. It’s delightful.
Come in. RT @ughlabrats: knock knock.
My hands are covered in goo in today’s scene so @LisaKudrow has been brushing my hair out of my eyes & it’s everything I dreamed it could be.
All you need
is WIFI and a kickass
DREAM secretbloggersbusiness.com 17
5 FAMOUS SOCIAL MEDIA
fuck ups... Carly Jacobs We generally like to keep things positive around these parts but sometimes we like to engage in a little schadenfreude when you delight in the misfortune of others. We don’t knock people who are genuinely down on their luck but if you get paid several million dollars to say you use a Blackberry and then you get caught with an iPhone… that’s a bit hilarious. Here are 5 of the most famous social media fuck ups. When Alicia Keys was announced as the global ambassador of Blackberry and then tweeted her love of Drake’s new single from an iPhone… Whoops! That pesky little side note at the bottom of your tweet that says ‘sent from
iPhone’. So awkward. If you happened to be the global ambassador of a high profile electronics brand, best not use their competitors. Or maybe don’t get caught using their competitors. Oprah Winfrey was caught doing the same thing when she tweeted how much she loved the new Microsoft tablet… from her iPad. When Justine Sacco thoughtlessly tweeted ‘I’m off to Africa - hope I don’t get aids! Just kidding, I’m white!’ Yeah it’s pretty bad. The PR rep quickly tweeted this before she got on her plane and 11 hours later when she touched down in Cape Town, she was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter with her own hashtag #hasjustinelandedyet. She lost 18
her job immediately, all of her clients refused to work with her ever again and she was forced to leave Africa early because ‘no one could guarantee her safety’. Sacco is now living in New York, having re-built her life and exists as a warning for everyone to think before you tweet. When Ellen photoshopped herself riding on Usain Bolt’s back and Tweeted it with the caption ‘This is how I’m running my errands now.’ She was aiming to compliment him on his speed but it really wasn't Ellen’s finest moment. In her defense, she rarely gets it wrong and is a champion of gay rights and equality but it’s never a good idea to photoshop a white person riding on the back of an African American person. The intern who tweeted that is surely fired by now.
complaint is that apps are now designed for bigger screens, and the battery is getting tired. Never had a case for it, since it was the most beautiful on its own. Great achievement in design. Great product. #apple #iPhone #tech.’ Spooky right? This is a perfect warning about the dangers of setting and forgetting social media posts. Every person ever who says they love the smell of their boyfriend’s colon… Yep. You read that correctly. There are many, many people who don’t know the difference between ‘colon’ and ‘cologne’ and here are some hilarious examples… ht
Joan Rivers promoting the iPhone 6 on her Facebook page after she died… This is one of the biggest PR fuck ups I’ve ever seen. Just a few days after Joan Rivers died she wrote this on her Facebook page: ‘This badass is being replaced by an iPhone 6 (not the fat one). I got this one in 2010, and after 4 years, my only
tp://www.smosh.com/smoshpit/photos/people-who-dont-knowdifference-between-cologne-andcolon Sigh! I just love the smell of my boyfriend’s large intestine.
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Keeping ahead of The Curve Meet Nikki Parkinson
After ditching her journalism career several years ago, she started an online personal styling business and accidentally became one of the most successful (and accessible) style bloggers in Australia. She also really knows her shit when it comes to dominating the internet. 20
You run one of the most successful and business savvy style blogs in Australia Styling You. Can you tell us how you got started on your blogging venture? I tell everyone I’m the accidental blogger because that’s how it all started – by accident. I left a 20-year career in journalism to start a personal styling business and the website I had built for that business was built on a Wordpress platform. I didn’t know I was blogging when I started in 2008 but by 2009, I did. Twitter was very much in its infancy in Australia and was this super fun place to hang out and meet people. I connected with so many people working online, I discovered these people called bloggers, went to visit their blogs and realised that I liked what I saw. I like the conversations. I like that they wrote posts and that there were comments from people engaged in a conversation around those posts. So I gradually changed the way I wrote posts on my blog to be less journalistic and more conversational, transitioning myself to a blogger. Your social media growth has been extraordinary - with 60k followers on Facebook and 43k followers on Instagram you are dominating these platforms. Can you give us your 3 top tips for growth and engagement on these platforms? And 1 tip for something that absolutely does not work?
“ Create follower habits with the times that you post.”
1. My number one tip for both Facebook and Instagram is that good content (almost) always beat the algorithm. Organic reach is still possible. You won’t get it on all posts but on the posts that fly, you’ll be able to see why they flew as that content had a real connection with your audience. 2. Create follower habits with the times that you post. For my audience, it’s all about the early morning and the evening, so I keep to those times and I generally will only post a maximum of twice daily. I also hop online and answer comments at this time too. 3. Don’t get hung up too much on the numbers. Keep thinking about the conversation. My Facebook page started with the first business pages on Facebook in 2008 so 60K is great but it’s been a slow, steady and organic growth. This kind of growth means that you build a lot of engagement and connection with your audience with each 1000 likes. #1 TIP FOR SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T WORK … don’t flood either your Instagram or Facebook feed with posts. You’ll not only be competing with other pages for spots in the newsfeed, your biggest competitor will be yourself. In any given day, only post what you really want your followers to find, otherwise Facebook will take all of what you’ve posted and decide for you.
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If there were 3 social media related activities you could choose to never have to do again, which 3 would you choose? That’s an interesting question. I enjoy what social media brings to my blogging experience. I see it as very much integrated with what I do, so can’t imagine never doing it again. From the get go, I’ve always allocated time and energy to connecting with my audience and each social media platform offers me a different way to make those connections and conversations. How do you cope with social media over load? You must be on social media quite consistently through out the day - what systems do you have in place to take breaks? Or do you not ever take breaks? I try to mostly stick to morning and evening hangs on social media – being present when I’ve posted so I can respond to comments and question. I step away more on weekends because there aren’t any fresh blog posts from me so I don’t feel the need to be around as much.
I also now have two community managers working part-time and supporting me. I now have a thriving closed Facebook group (SY Everyday Style) that is almost 3K strong after launching in July. This group is free and open to all email subscribers and I have a newly launched closed Facebook group as part of my paid online styling program (Ultimate Capsule Wardrobe). In setting up these, I knew that I could not be available 24/7 to manage and oversee them. I’m in there every day but have back up by my managers. What are your predictions for social media trends in the coming months? Any tips for what our readers should be concentrating on? Facebook groups can be so powerful. People feel more comfortable to comment in a group than a public page, so I’m seeing the conversations that previously happened on the blog or my page, happening in the group. The members are sharing and helping each other so that sense of community has been incredibly heightened in a way that I haven’t seen in my eight years of blogging. Video will continue to be huge – live video and curated video. Embrace it in a way that you feel comfortable embracing it. 22
In regards to live video, I feel that Insta Stories will dominate over Snapchat for those influencers whose followers or target demographic of followers are not on Snapchat. If you don’t have to drag followers to a new platform but speak to them on a platform they’re already familiar with, it will be easier to maintain engagement with them. If you were going to give advice to someone starting on Instagram or Facebook right now, what advice would you give them? Just do it. Rally your family and friends to give your accounts love on a regular basis. For Instagram, think of awesome images but be original. There is so much samesame in style on Instagram. Own your style. Get around and comment on other profiles in similar niches. On Instagram, find hashtags that are popular in your niche and add those to the second comment in your posts. Spend time “networking” and joining in on certain hashtags to get noticed by others following the hashtags. I see this happening a lot with my #everydaystyle community. Don’t spam though … be yourself and be authentic in your commenting and networking.
QUICKIES When I go to a bar I order……. champagne at lunch; an espresso martini at 5pm I’m currently listen to………… The Chainsmokers’ Closer – love this track! The one thing I will never order at restaurant is………. Bread (sadly I’m gluten intolerant) If I could ditch one social media profile and have it not affect my business I would choose……… .Google + If I were down to my last $5 I would buy………. a lipstick, never underestimate the power of a pop of lippie to lift your spirits.
If there were one social media platform you could ditch without it affecting your business, which one would you choose? Google+ - I don’t really use it any way but seem strangely compelled to post my blog post there.
“ In regards to live video, I feel that Insta Stories will dominate over Snapchat for those influencers whose followers or target demographic of followers are not on Snapchat.” instagram.com/stylingyou
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LO O KIN G FO R RE AL H E LP WITH Y O U R BLO G?
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TOOL BOX BEST EVER SOCIAL MEDIA PROPS
SILK FLOWER BOUQUET By blueorchidcreations $73.70 etsy.com
Carly Jacobs Gone are the days when your smart phone was enough to have you dominating social media. Don’t you know you need a prop box too? We’ve put together a comprehensive list of all the props you need to make yourself total social media royalty. Note paper and a permanent marker. You can use this to make a ‘Turn up the volume!’ sign for Facebook live, scrawl out an inspiring and sappy quote for Instagram or add captions the old fashioned way. Clip on wind machine/mini fan.
and you’ll be good to go. Clip on ring light. A genius little contraption that clips onto your phone and gives you professional light for Facebook live recordings or Instagram selfies. You can get them super cheap on eBay. Kate bought one and it makes her face look HEAPS less offensive. Just kidding, but seriously it’s awesome. Like a portable air brusher. Phone lenses.
Look on eBay or Amazon for clip on phone fans so you’ll always look like you’re on a boat, even if you’re just sitting on your couch.
There are so many companies making these, you’re totally spoiled for choice. I’m partial to the Ollo clips (because they come with a keyring) but they make macro and depth of field photography possible on your phone.
Selfie stick.
Soft box lighting kit.
Everyone laughs at selfie sticks but they’re actually really useful for group shots, travel upshots and for fitting anything more than one face in the frame. You just need to get over your selfie stick shame
You can get these very cheaply on eBay but they make flat lay photography a breeze. You literally put your flat lay stuff in the box and it gives you awesome lighting. Bonza. 25
Wrapping paper as backgrounds.
Baking paper diffuser.
Stock up on some cute wrapping paper to use as back grounds for food styling or makeup product shots.
Window light too bright? Just stick a thin white sheet or some baking paper over it to diffuse it.
Table tops.
Flat lay tripod.
Ikea sell very affordable and conveniently sized table tops - you can keep them stacked in a corner ready for quick photoshoots.
You can get flat lay tripods that sit at a right angle so you can always get the perfect shot. You can even just grab a cheap one for your phone.
Fake flowers.
Fake realistic food.
Etsy has some gorgeous realistic looking silk flowers that are perfect for making it look like you have a florist on speed dial.
Sometimes I just want a cute biscuit to put on the side of my Insta-cup of tea but I can’t keep biscuits in the house because I’ll eat them all. Fake biscuits are the perfect solution. Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!
Oil spray. Salad looking a little tired? Just spray it with a fine mist of olive oil and it will look totally photo ready. Think of it as airbrushing but for food. Heated tampons. Have you heard of this before? If you want to make your food ‘steam’ simply microwave a (clean) wet tampon and tuck it behind your plate to make your food look super tasty.
Vintage cutlery. Variety is the spice of life and your social media followers are going to get pretty bored if you use the same cutlery in every food photo. Mix it up with some bits and pieces from op-shops. Old phones. Perfect for if you want to take a photo of a phone but you’re using your phone to take the photo. Sheepskin carpet. These are all the rage right now - get to Ikea and grab one to make your flatlays and leg shots totally on trend. Cute socks and leggings. For leg shots - socks and comfy pants are awesome Instagram fodder so make sure you have a decent collection of both. A dog. You want a really cute OR really ugly dog. Generic dogs simply won’t do. 26
Weightloss & Wellness Warrior Kim Beach
She used to be a personal trainer but after she had kids, Kim wanted a more flexible work schedule. So she created two online weightless and fitness programs and now helps thousands of people around the world lose weight and achieve their fitness goals - all from the comfort of her own home. 27
You run two of the most successful and effective fitness programs around - Kim Beach Fit No Excuses and Kim Beach Fit No Limits. Can you tell us how you got started on this amazing venture and how your blog fits into it?
My blog today is filled with superstar stories from ladies who have completed my programs and also features lots of information on an array of subjects relating to health and fitness, all designed for busy women.
I became a qualified personal trainer in 2002. In 2009 after having my second baby I decided I needed a break so I took some time off to be with my kids full time. Once my daughter turned 3 and started pre-school I wanted to get back into the world of Health and Fitness, but I need something that would give me flexibility and I needed to be really passionate about it.
Most businesses tend to build their following through social media but you’ve found success in a mostly untapped resource - Facebook Groups. Can you tell us how Facebook Groups work for your business and a few things you do to create a good community in your groups?
It was at that point I decided to start my own Facebook page where I started to share my passion for health and fitness. I spent 18 months posting content every day, building my audience and writing out free eating and training plans for ladies who followed my page and who wanted to live fitter, healthier lives. It was around this time I knew I had to write a weight loss program that would be achievable and practical for busy women so #noexcuses was born. Once this program was established I started working on #nolimits which is a more intense program with a heavy focus on weight training to really transform your body.
I currently run four private Facebook groups, one for each of my programs, to provide support and then I have a free group called #BeachFit which is full of likeminded women who share a passion for health and fitness. Each week I run a weekly #BeachFit challenge (usually around training or food) and I award a prize at the end of the week, it’s a lot of fun. I have four highly qualified Personal Trainers plus myself monitoring all 4 groups 24/7. Two ladies are based in the UK and two are here in Australia and they do an amazing job of answering all the questions that come through in the groups on a daily basis. These groups are key to the success of my programs and are full of positivity and support.
“ Building an online business is not easy, you have to love what you do and be prepared to put every waking hour into your business.” 28
If there were 3 social media related activities you could choose to never have to do again, which 3 would you choose? Honestly, this is tough as I enjoy all aspects of social media and engaging with my audience on a daily basis! How do you cope with social media over load? You must be on social media quite consistently throughout the day - what systems do you have in place to take breaks? Or do you not ever take breaks? The nature of my business is that it is 24/7, I am always on Facebook or Instagram but I love what I do and to be honest it doesn’t feel like work. I also have a great team behind me taking some of the load too. What are your predictions for social media trends in the coming months? Any tips for what our readers should be concentrating on? For those that are running their businesses through social media like myself it is all about embracing the latest
things that are on offer, e.g. Facebook LIVE broadcasts or Instagram Stories. I think readers are going to get a lot more exposure and insight into the people/brands they are following and really get to know and understand them which is amazing! If you were going to give advice to someone starting to use Facebook groups to build a customer base, what advice would you give them? Building an online business is not easy, you have to love what you do and be prepared to put every waking hour into your business. In saying that once you have an audience or customer base private Facebook groups are incredible, to be able to communicate with your customers as often as you like and know they are going to see every post you do (unlike a normal Facebook post) so it’s pretty powerful. If there was one social media platform you could ditch without it affecting your business, which one would you choose? Twitter 29
QUICKIES When I go out for breakfast I order…My local café does the most amazing Acai bowl with homemade granola. I’m currently obsessed with… I am about to write a vegetarian/vegan program so I am being the guinea pig for this and I’m really excited that I am going to be able to offer this to the many ladies who request this type of program regularly. The one thing I will never eat is…Steak, I don’t like the texture or the taste I would cry tears of happiness if I ever met…Stella McCartney If I was down to my last $5 I would buy…A raw funky walnut brownie from Mrs Watsons – my organic grocer
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surewhynot.com.au
5 THINGS
we love
ABOUT
SURE WHY NOT? This month we’re turning the spotlight onto one of our own - the lovely Kat from Sure Why Not. Kat started her blog because she was sick of Hollywood style fashion blogs. There were already enough long legged, wippet thin bloggers on the internet with rich girl hair, so she based her blog around real style, adventure, wellbeing and making life count. Here’s why we love her. 1) Her message is spot on It’s not anti-anything, it’s just positivity. It’s about saying ‘Sure why not?’, saying yes to new experiences, flipping the bird to safe roads and jumping off cliffs instead. 2) The fact that every single one of her blog categories has an introductory video
This is one of the most genius things I’ve ever seen. When we were planning this edition of the magazine Kate was like ‘Carly! Look at this blog! All the categories have a video introduction!’. We read a lot of blogs and have been in the industry for 10 years so when we see something we haven’t seen before, it’s a pretty momentous occasion. All her videos are hosted on YouTube and they’re embedded on her home page. It’s pretty simple to do but it makes the blog look super professional and it really makes you want to stick around and hang out with Kat. 3) Her videos are awesome I’m a bit in love with Kat now. She’s friendly, personable, but not at all intimidating.
She's not overly rehearsed but she’s also not totally winging it either and rambling like a crazy person. Her lighting and make-up is also spot on.
instagram.com/sure_why_not_blog
4) Her fashion shoots don't look like everyone else’s. True to her manifesto, you won’t find photos of Kat pressed up against a wall looking wistful or wandering down a garden path with a floral maxi dress billowing behind her. She’s jumping around in overalls or reclined on the pavement in her business attire. Fab.
She’s friendly, personable, but not at all intimidating.
5) She has amazing engagement. I did a little sleuthing and it appears Kat hasn’t been blogging very long, yet most of her posts have at least 10 comments on them. For 2016, this kind of engagement is outstanding. She also responds to every single comment. She knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s doing it really well. Fabulous inspiration for upcoming bloggers and a great reminder for more established bloggers who might need some fresh ideas.
I love the smell of fresh ideas in the morning secretbloggersbusiness.com 34
WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE
snap chatter? Carly Jacobs Snapchat is a weird little world. You can’t discover people on Snapchat, you have to find them before you go to Sanpchat, which makes it difficult to find awesome people to follow. Have no fear! We took to Facebook to ask everyone who their favourite Snapchatters are so you can follow them too! Sarah - ‘I love Jen Gotch from Ban.do. She’s so funny and I love seeing her random outfits and how obsessed she is with cookies.’ Narida - ‘I love Troian Bellisario (gaia17) but I love her Insta too. Probably only good for PPL fans.’ (That’s Pretty Little Liars by the way!)
Ailish - ‘You! (She means me - carlyjacobs - aw shucks!) But I also love The Lean Lawyer. She’s a lawyer that does fitness comps and she’s really inspiring and friendly.’ Tamra - ‘I like Caroline Vreeland.’ Jayce - ‘I love elsielarson from A Beautiful Mess and Studio DIY. Love looking at behind the scenes stuff for craft bloggers.’ Trina - ‘I mainly follow business people like Pat Flynn. It’s good to get little snippets of their advice live.’ Molly - ‘I like cooking snappers foodintheair, Not Quite Nigella and whatsgabbycookin 35
how to... GET STARTED ON SNAPCHAT
I’m going to be totally honest here and say Snapchat isn’t my favourite. I find the user interface extremely confusing and it’s not very intuitive. Having said that, it’s damn good fun so I thought I’d pop together a beginners guide for those of you that are a bit weary of the old Snapchat.
1) GET THE APP You can download it on either IOS (iphone) or Android and you can log in with an existing account or start a new one. Follow the prompts and you’re good to go! It will ask you to share your mobile number but don’t stress, this is just for security so they know you aren’t a weirdo. 2) ADD SOME PEOPLE Snapchat will then ask if you want to follow your contacts. Do this! It’s quite difficult to find people on Snapchat because you can’t just browse or search - you have to actually enter their full username or scan their Snapcode. You can always unfollow people later if they don't snap cool stuff. 3) SET YOUR PREFERENCES Tap on the red square at the bottom of
your camera screen. This is where you can choose who sees your stories. You can also go under ‘manage’ to enable features like filters, text and emojis. 4) CREATE A SNAP! Snapchat automatically brings up the camera screen so it’s super easy to use. Tap the circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo and hold it down to take a video - videos can be up to 10 seconds long so be quick when you’re talking. It’s a bit of an art at first to fit your message in that amount of time! Draw on your snap Tap on the pencil at the top of the screen to draw on your snap.
Add a caption
Snapchat is a bit hard to wrangle?
Tap anywhere on the screen to add a caption to your photo.
WARNING - if you screen shot a snap, the person who made the snap will see it.
Add a filter
6) CHECK OUT STORIES
Swipe right and hold and press on your face until the face filters appear. Regular filters like black and white and speedy filters can be found by simply swiping right.
The difference between a Snap and a Story is that a story is public - so it’s seen by anyone you give permission to. It’s supposed to be a Snapshot of what you’ve been up to in the last 24 hours.
To send your snap: Tap the arrow in the bottom right corner.
To create a Story, you do everything the same to create a snap you just tap ‘Add To Story’ when you’re done. This will then exist on your feed for 24 hours.
5) LOOK AT OTHER PEOPLE’S SNAPS Tap on the square in the bottom left hand of your camera screen - these are snaps that someone has sent to you. You need to press and hold a snap to view it - are you starting to get why
To view other people’s stories just tap their user names! HAPPY SNAPPING!
ARE YOU READY TO BECOME A FULL-TIME BLOGGER? Almost 8-years ago I started my first blog, Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily from scratch. I was exactly where you are right now. 12-months later I was able to quit my job and blog full time. Today I have two 6figure blogs, 4 staff, and I have earned over $1million from blogging.
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