Career

Blogging Career

Blogging 101: How to Monetize your Blog

how-to-monetize-your-blog

Blogging 101 is a 10 part series where I share my tips and tricks for creating and growing a blog from scratch. This is the tenth installment in the series, and you can find more information on the topics of this series here.

Wow! I cannot believe this is the final installment of my Blogging 101 series. It’s been over two months since I posted my first piece and I know I have picked up a few new followers along the way specifically because of this series! I sincerely hope this series has helped you think about starting a blog or has given you new ideas or information to help make your blog the best it can be! When I started this series, I truly wanted to demystify blogging for those who may have been interested in the subject but thought the task too big or too complicated to pursue. I am by no means a professional on the subject, but I often think there is too much secrecy among bloggers about what they do, what works and what doesn’t, and I really wanted to give some real practical advice on the subject. So, thanks for reading and letting me impart my knowledge to all of you!

I have chosen the subject of monetization as the final installment of my series for a very specific purpose. First of all, I believe that blogging as we know it today was rooted in a true passion for writing and sharing as a means of creative outlet and that the monetization of blogs was something that came after. Because of this, I believe that you should first and foremost wish to run a blog for the love of it! If you don’t love what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be doing it, and people will be able to tell if your heart isn’t in it. That leads me to my second reason for publishing this topic last, because it is hard work to make money from blogging and if your heart isn’t in it, you won’t ever make it long enough to earn a decent income. So, start your blog for you, as a hobby and/or creative outlet. Put your heart into your content and feel a true passion for what you post, and then monetize strategically!

It may surprise you to hear that there are many ways for you to monetize your blog. When you think about it, however, it makes a lot of sense that there would be more than one way to earn an income from blogging, because the business of blogging is all about entrepreneurship, and any good entrepreneur will tell you that if you want to make money from a business venture, you need to diversify your income streams! I am going to break down those possible income streams into categories. Those categories are affiliate networks, sponsorships, advertising, and direct sales.

Affiliate networks are merchant revenue sharing programs where bloggers can sign up to promote products through their blogs and earn a percentage of any sales that result from their direct links. There are many different affiliate networks out there, some that promote a wide variety of products (Amazon) and some that represent merchants from specific fields like fashion (Reward Style). These networks also vary in the selectivity of their membership. Some programs are pretty lax in the requirements of their members, and some are highly selective. Since there are such a wide variety of networks, with so many different options, I highly suggest that you do some research on your own for which networks you may want to target. One of the best things about affiliate networks is that you can be a member of multiple networks in most cases and promote multiple different products within your blog if you so choose.

Sponsorships are a more targeted and labor intensive form of monetization in which bloggers work directly with companies or marketers to create content centered around specific products. I say that these opportunities are more labor intensive because usually a blogger would need to do a good amount of work in order to secure a sponsorship. This may mean the blogger would have to research companies, find contacts and then pitch a blog post idea to the company, making the case for how the sponsorship would benefit the company, its products and negotiate an appropriate amount of payment. If you have ever seen a sponsored post in a blog, you may have wondered how the blogger came to that opportunity. More prominent bloggers are often directly approached by companies to promote their products, others use agents or are members of marketing related networks where companies can pick bloggers from a pool of possible candidates to promote products, but often, bloggers need to directly contact companies or their marketing firms in order to start on the road to sponsored posts. As you may be thinking, this process can be an uphill battle, but normally once a blogger has established a reputation for working well with companies, the process can become easier as you add companies to your sponsorship resume.

The next form of monetization is selling advertising space on your blog. This one is pretty straight forward, but for some, the idea of selling ad space can be a daunting task, which is why there are platforms out there like Passionfruit Ads* that will help make the process easier. Sites like Passionfruit help bloggers manage advertisements by placing ad images, tracking and rotating ads, and automating payments. Of course, sites like these take a portion of your ad revenue for the service they provide, but if you want to leave your ad management up to a more precise platform, this could be an easy way for you to sell ad space without spending your own precious time.

The final form of monetization I am going to cover is direct sales, and by this, I mean by using your blog to promote and sell your goods and/or services. It is very common to find blogs that support a business, either a real brick and mortar company or an e-business. You can sell anything from digital products (ebooks, podcasts, learning series tutorials etc) to physical goods (products you create yourself or resell) to services (event planning, consulting, photography etc). Even if you don’t run a business, you can still find ways to use direct sales on your blog. Perhaps you write about recipes on your blog, you could put together a digital ebook and sell it through your site. Maybe you love photography and take beautiful images, you could sell digital copies of your photo’s. The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to directly selling to your blog readers and if you are truly serious about monetizing your blog, I think this is something that everyone should be thinking seriously about.

So, that’s it! Those are the four major categories of blog monetization. They are probably not the only ways you can make money through your blog, but I think they are the most common and tried and true approaches. The best part is, you can employ one or more of these methods on your own blog right now and with some ground work and planning, there is no reason why you couldn’t take advantage of all the methods I suggested. Like I said earlier, diversifying your income streams is important if you are trying to make money as an internet entrepreneur, so give each method some thought, figure out how you could apply each to your own blog and get to making some money! I am by no means an expert on this subject, so if you have any questions, which I am sure you have many if you are serious about this enterprise, I have some suggested reading for you!

Must-Read Business Books for anyone looking to monetize their blog in a smart and strategic way!

And yes! Those are affiliate links to Amazon where you can purchase the books! If my advice has been helpful and you would like to thank me for it, using my affiliate links to purchase products I recommend is an easy way to support me and my blog and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. I don’t always use affiliate links and I don’t always make product recommendations, but when I do, you can be sure that it’s for products I do recommend and honestly believe in. That’s my commitment to you as my reader and it is one I hope you bring to your own blogs with a true sense of responsibility to your readers as your pursue the path of monetization!

*This site was recommended to me by my blogging buddy Kristin from My Life as a Teacup!

Blogging Career tech

10 Ways to use Video on Your Blog

10-Ways-to-Use-Video-on-your-Blog

Let me tell you a little story to kick off this post! Back in early 2009, I had just started a new blog with a tech focus that some of you may remember if you have been following me for a while. It was called “The Pink Mac” and it was all about my love for technology and Apple products; a total fan girl homage to my computer! One day, I was contacted by a company to review some of their gadget cases and I accepted. At that time, I had only been a traditional blogger, and didn’t even have a YouTube channel, but I loved watching tech reviews and unboxings so much that I decided that I would make the unboxing and review of these cases into a video. I’ll be honest, when I filmed that first video on the kitchen table at my dad’s house, I wasn’t even sure if I would post it. I remember feeling like a total weirdo for talking to myself about some iPod cases while my dad and step mom were watching TV on mute in the room next to me until I finished. Once I got home and reviewed the footage, I decided that although it wasn’t the best tech video, it certainly wasn’t the worst (although if you go back now and watch it, it was such poor quality, but for the time that was the norm). So, I bit the bullet, signed up for a YouTube channel and uploaded the video! Although I wasn’t as serious about my YouTube channel in those early days, it’s one of those, if I had known then what I know now, who knows how different things could have been for me, my brand and my blog! So, hopefully you learn a thing or two about video in this post and avoid my mistake!

Video has been a major trend among websites for years now, but with the major rise of YouTube, even famous video bloggers have started integrating their content to personal blogs and websites, and major bloggers have been taking a cue from the YouTube generation and adding video content to their sites as well. Video, whether you like it or not, is the future of blogging. As a blogger today, you need to treat your blog like your own little media empire. Think Martha Stewart, Oprah, Rachel Ray, and the like. Each of these women have an empire around their brand which includes written work via magazine’s and blogs, and video work via television and YouTube channels. Now, I get it, you may not want to be the next Martha Stewart, but in order to have a successful slice of the internet, we should be looking at brands like these and producing as much as we can like them. Why? Because they have whole teams dedicated to their media, studying the market trends and telling the brand where it needs to be. If you are like me, you can’t afford such a team, so the best you and I can do is just follow their lead!

For the uninitiated, video can seem like a whole new world of content, and it really is, but the good thing is, you can start slow and work your way into using it more and more as time progresses and you get used to the medium. The important thing to remember is that, in today’s world, you need to put out a pretty decent quality video to be taken seriously, which means HD video and good lighting, but I already talked about how that doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Most decent point and shoot cameras nowadays take HD video as well. I happen to use this video camera which is reasonably priced and this studio lighting kit which is pretty affordable! So, what are some ways that you can start using video on your blog right now? I have compiled a list of 10 videos that nearly any blogger can film no matter what you blog about!

  1. An introduction to your blog
  2. An “About Me” video that you can leave in your bio page
  3. Your favorite things
  4. 20 random facts about you
  5. A desk tour (aka a tour of your workspace, the place where you sit and blog, etc)
  6. A video show and tell to accompany a written product review
  7. What’s in your bag video (this is super popular!)
  8. An outfit of the day video (you don’t need to be a fashion blogger to do this!)
  9. A “Get Ready with Me” video (aka morning routine; people also love these)
  10. A “How To “ video related to the content of your blog (these can be super useful!)

Okay, so now you have some ideas for video content brewing in your mind! You don’t have to do all of these videos at one time, like I said, start with one and then gradually work into the others. Take your time and produce the best video you can. That’s more important than rushing to make a ton of mediocre videos! Good luck!!

Blogging Career

Blogging 101: Networking!

networking

Blogging 101 is a 10 part series where I share my tips and tricks for creating and growing a blog from scratch. This is the ninth installment in the series, and you can find more information on the topics of this series here.

If you have been following this series since the beginning, you now know how to start a blog, how to create great content and how to use social media to get your message out to your audience! Now, its time to discuss networking! Networking with your peers as well as networking with possible sponsors, customers or clients. You may have started a blog as a means to promote a business, or just to express yourself and have fun. You may have some specific financial goals you are looking to hit or perhaps just want the validation of knowing your content is reaching a certain of number of people. The best tool you have to make these things happen, is networking!

When it comes to networking with your peers (perhaps other bloggers or business owners) the sky is the limit to the amount of networking you can do. It never hurts to have friends within your field and you can’t have too many. However, when networking with your peers, I think it’s also important to have a general idea or plan for what you would like to get out of specific relationships. Let’s say you know you want to grow your audience and you think Blogger X may have a similar audience to yours and you want to do a linkup or a guest post involving that blogger and their site. You may be able to simply send them an email or engage them on social media and see if they would be interested, or if they aren’t quite as receptive as you would hope, you may need to network your way into their sphere. Now, this sort of thing is a challenge for me, as it may be for you, but we all know or have heard about people who start from the ground up and eventually work their way into the circles of those they admire or would like to work with. I know for women, this can be a difficult skill to develop because we tend to question ourselves too much, but just use that image in your mind of that person you who or storied you have heard about others and start making connections with people one at a time. Maybe you need to make a list, like a 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon style chart of who you are trying to reach and different people you may be able to talk to that could introduce you to another person or put in a good word until one day you are in direct contact with Blogger X. Remember, networking isn’t about making friends (although you certainly can along the way) it’s about making contacts and connections with people who can help you get to where you want to go.

Now, on the alternate of this, when it comes to networking with potential sponsors or clients, you may want to tread a little lighter. In this situation, you need to know who you want to work with and why. Why, not only for yourself, but why would you working with Brand X or Company X would be beneficial to them just as much as it would you. I suggest making a list and really refining down to the companies you want to work with so that when you are networking you are building a direct bridge to the brand or company you would like to make contact with. Again, some companies may be more receptive and open to such interactions, and sometimes you need to dig to find out who can help you get in front of (or get an email to) the right person to make a connection and relationship with that company or brand. Another reason you don’t want to be networking all over the place when it comes to potential clients or sponsors, is because people within industries talk, and you don’t want to be seen as the blogger or business owner who will approach anyone with an idea. When you approach brands or companies with opportunities to create relationships, they want to feel like they are the only one or at least one of the select few you want to work with because what you have to offer is perfect for them alone, not 100 other companies.

As much as possible, no matter if you are looking for connections with peers or potential sponsors, give yourself real concrete expectations that you can execute against. Be as deliberate as possible with your choices, which means you need to put a lot of thought behind even the smallest actions. And above all, never stop networking! You never know the opportunities you may find through networking, so don’t stop just because you hit a goal, always have another goal in mind!

Blogging Career Solutions

What do my Blog Colors Mean?

what-do-blog-colors-mean

Since this week’s installment of my Blogging 101 series was all about Choosing a Platform and Identity for your blog, I decided that I should probably talk to you today about my blog color scheme and what it means and conveys for my blog and its “brand.” Look, I am by no means a branding expert, but one thing I do know about branding is that you can do all you can to produce a certain image to your audience, but ultimately your brand is decided by them! It’s sort of a funny thing, trying to control other people’s opinions, but that is where consistency comes into play. Having a consistent look and feel to your blog and social media posts really helps to establish the vision of your brand that you want to convey to your audience. As you can tell by looking around, I have a pretty specific color scheme for my blog and the colors I have chosen are significant for a reason.

So, take a look around. What colors do you see as being most prevalent in my blog? If you said teal & grey, than hooray for me, because those are the colors I want to stand out to you on my blog! I have chosen the colors teal & grey for a reason. Not only are they some of my favorite colors, but they also mean specific things that I hope transfer to your minds when you visit or think about my blog. But, how do these colors affect the way you feel about my blog?

It all has to do with, wait for it… Color Theory! Now, don’t be afraid, I am not going to go all Art and Design 101 on you, but basically in society certain colors convey certain meanings and for me, teal & grey convey a specific message to you (hopefully!) whether you realize it or not. Teal or turquoise, as the case may be, supposedly conveys an image of femininity and sophistication. Grey, on the other hand, conveys a sense of security, reliability and intelligence.  Since I write about lifestyle, career advice and issues that are geared towards women, I want my readers to feel a sense of reliability and intelligence in my writing. I also want them (you) to feel like this is a safe place as a sophisticated woman to share opinions with other like-minded women. These colors don’t just convey a message that I want to portray to the internet, but they also help me to attract the right reader to my site. After all, if I am writing for women but attracting only men, my message is lost!

Okay, so I have gone and explained to you what my blog color scheme means, but what good does that do you if your blog is blue and peach? Well, I can’t go into each and every color and what they all mean here, but I have a very handy one pager with the basic meanings behind colors pinned for you to review here. If you are still deciding on your color scheme for your blog, use this resource to help you design a blog that conveys a message that reflects your blog and your ideal reader! If you already have a blog, use this resource to see if your current color scheme is saying what you need it to say and attracting who you need it to attract! You may find that you need to make some adjustments to your color scheme if you aren’t projecting exactly what you desire to the internet!

So, did the colors work? You tell me? Are you a woman, either in college or with an advanced education who considers themselves to be sophisticated, intelligent and career minded? If you don’t fit that demographic specifically, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you are in the wrong place! Although I write for a specific ideal of a reader, that doesn’t mean that someone outside that sphere wouldn’t also find my blog useful. Remember, none of this is an exact science. So, let me know in the comments below if you fit my mold or if you’re outside the box a little! Either way I’m glad you’re here adding value to this community!

Blogging Career

Blogging 101: Choosing a Platform & Identity

Blogging-101-Platform-and-ID

Blogging 101 is a 10 part series where I share my tips and tricks for creating and growing a blog from scratch. This is the second installment in the series, and you can find more information on the topics of this series here.

Choosing a Platform & Identity

There are many platforms available on the internet for bloggers to choose from when setting up a blog. To be completely honest though, most blogging professionals would tell you that there is really only one solid choice to go with for setting up your site and that is self-hosted WordPress. Self-hosted means that you buy your domain name (for example, my domain is http://www.StrangeCharmed.com) and you purchase a hosting package from a hosting service (Blue Host, Host Gator, etc) and you set your site up via the WordPress.org framework, giving you nearly unlimited control over your site and the way it looks and works. Now, going the self-hosted route is going to cost you money, perhaps about $50-$100 a year depending on the services you choose but it is the only way to have total control over your website. Obviously, for someone starting out, making a decision to spend this sort of money on a site that isn’t making you any money yet may seem a little frivolous but it is the most highly recommended route if you are serious about your blog, growing your audience and earning any sort of income based from your website.

For anyone who is starting a blog in order to supplement an online business, you definitely need to go the self-hosted WordPress route for sure, no questions asked. From a business perspective, a self-hosted WordPress is the ultimate platform and will give your online business that finish and control that you really need!

Now, although I have basically laid out the one single platform that I highly suggest, I know it’s not necessarily the route for everyone.If you are starting your blog purely for fun and just want to test the waters with blogging, there are other free options available. Before I went self-hosted, I used Blogger which gives you the blogspot.com domain you may already be familiar with. I enjoyed my experience with Blogger so I would recommend that platform if you want to go the free route. Also, there is a free platform associated with WordPress, which is WordPress.com where you can set up a free site similar to Blogger. Either of those two platforms will help you get started with your own personal blog and will give you enough choices and customizations to get your blog up and running!

If you are going the self-hosted WordPress route, I highly suggest checking out this book that I have blogged about, which will basically walk you through the process of setting up a site if you don’t feel confident doing it on your own. As for setting up a Blogger or WordPress.com site, both platforms basically walk you through the process so there is no technical know-how that you need to get started!

Okay, now, let’s move on to the second part of this discussion, and that is choosing an identity for your blog. When I say identity, I mean the name, url, and social media account identities you will be using to help support and promote your blog! First and foremost is your blogs title and domain name. Sometimes I think that choosing the right name for a blog is one of the hardest parts to starting one! Your blog’s name needs to be something simple enough for people to understand and clever enough for people to remember. On top of that, it also needs to convey an image about your blog to people so that they understand what your blog is all about, even if they have never read it before. Now, if your blog happens to be about you and your personal style, interests, business or life in general, using your own name for your blog is usually the best way to go! If you are blogging to support an established business, using the business name is the route you should take. However, if your blog isn’t as cut and dry as that, you may need to pull out a dictionary and thesaurus and start playing with words until you come up with something that you feel comfortable with.

There really is no magic formula for coming up with a great blog name, take my site for instance. I wanted my site to be a place where I could share all my quirky lifestyle tips with other women who needed career advice, daily inspiration and a dose of fun! One day, my husband and I were discussing name ideas for my site and we were playing around with the word “quirky” since that was the one word that I always though fit my idea of my perfect blog! Discussions of “quirks” quickly turned into a discussion of “quarks,” (you know those fundamental elements that constitute matter,) and suddenly strange and charm (two of six types of quarks) were a front-runner for my blog name. Strange and Charm, however, seemed to vague and too scientific. So, it was changed to Strange & Charmed, which seemed like a much more logical phrase. For me, it just seemed to work in my mind and in my heart, and so it became the name of my blog. Now, like I said earlier, I wasn’t self-hosted when I started Strange & Charmed so my url of strangeandcharmed.blogspot.com turned into strangecharmed.com out of a lack of options when I moved my blog over to WordPress. StrangeandCharmed.com wasn’t available, so we had to drop the “and” from the name out of necessity.

Luckily for me, I think it works fine without the conjunction, but because of this scenario, I caution others to make sure they secure their domains first before they fall in love with a name for their sites, and that includes Twitter handles, Instagram accounts and all other social media you plan to use for your blog. Secure everything before you start blogging, if you can, so that it makes it easier for you to keep a consistent name and brand everywhere you are online!

 Have you started a blog recently? Which platform did you choose and how did you come up with your blogs name? Feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments below so we can check it out!

Blogging Career Productivity tech

Ladies Work It!

Ladies-work-it

 

So far this year, I have been ridiculously obsessed with productivity and since I have just started my Blogging 101 Series, I though now would be a great time to give you all a little bit of office eye candy! I love functional and feminine stationary and accessories that keep my desk looking cute and my mind focused on the tasks ahead of me. So here is a glimpse of some of my favorite items I like to keep around during my 9-5 hustle!

What are some of your favorite office supplies and desk must haves? Let us know in the comments below!

Blogging Career

Blogging 101: Why Should I Blog?

kate-spade-agenda

So You Want to Be a Blogger?

If you are considering or have already begun the process of creating a blog, CONGRATULATIONS! I love blogs, bloggers, and blogging personally! Heck, I must love it if I have been doing it since 2008! Blogging isn’t exactly what it used to be back then, today, it’s a much more serious and competitive environment than it was when I began, but that really shouldn’t deter you from following your passion and giving it a try! So, that is where I come in! I have picked up a few tips and tricks along the way that I thought I would share with any of you who are interesting in (a) starting a blog; (b) improving your own blog; or (c) learning more about blogs and how they work! Unfortunately, what I cannot tell you is the magic secret to becoming a professional blogger, because, heck, I am still trying to figure that one out (spoiler, I don’t think there is any quick or sure-fire way to become a full-time pro blogger) but, I can give you some tips that I find work for many of the professional bloggers out there! Sound good? Great! Then let’s get started!

In order to dispense all my blogger knowledge to you in easy to understand and bite sized pieces, I have decided it best to make this a 10 part series that will publish every Monday starting today! In addition to that, I am hoping to post some little extra’s throughout the week that may supplement that week’s post or just be helpful for anyone who wants to blog, so make sure you check back to my blog everyday to see what other goodies I have for you on the subject! Follow me on Bloglovin to make keeping up with my feed easy for you!

Now, since I know many of you will want to keep up with this series, I am also going to list out each of the 10 lessons here in this post so that you can bookmark this post specifically, and each week that I post a new entry I am going to link it in this post so you can use this as a reference to keep track of everything I have published! The 10 lessons are:

  1. Why Should I Blog?
  2. Choosing a Platform & Identity
  3. Content is King
  4. Organization Tips for Bloggers
  5. Software & Hardware Basics
  6. Advanced Software & Hardware
  7. Social Media
  8. Photography 101
  9. Networking
  10. Monetizing your Blog

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Why Should I Blog?

If you are reading this, I can only assume that you are either one of my regular readers or you have been searching online looking for information on blogging! If you identify with the latter, you most likely have been thinking about starting a blog or have done so, and hopefully I can help you find some sort of inspiration or direction if you want it! Blogs are a wonderful form of media that many people enjoy both writing and reading. What you may not know is that the history of blogs is actually rooted in a very simple notion. The word blog itself actually stands for web log, in other words, blogs were initially created to be places where people basically kept or shared information. That’s it! The earliest blogs were really more like online journals, where people would just write diary style entries about whatever they wanted. Today, blogs are usually a little more complex, with the most popular blogs actually diving into specific topics or niches and posts are often filled with pictures and videos to supplement the written content. But let’s go back to the concept of the web log as a place for people to simply chronicle their lives and/or interests. Blogs are a wonderful form of expression. For many they are a creative outlet or hobby that allows them to impart their knowledge, expertise or opinions on the internet. Although many blogs are ran as hobbies, others are ran as or to support businesses, helping people develop skills and network with customers, clients or colleagues.

Now, I understand the hesitation that some people have for starting a blog. I know there are so many blogs out there that it may seem like such a saturated market, and of course, having your thoughts and opinions out there on the internet is something of a daunting thought. You have to remember, though, that your blog can be whatever you want it to be and you can talk about or not talk about anything you want. Don’t let the number of blogs out there in the world discourage you from sharing your unique point of view and interests with others. I for one read many blogs and am always on the lookout for new, interesting ones to read, so the more the merrier in my opinion!

So, should you start a blog? That part’s up to you, but I can give you a few words of advice as someone who has been blogging for nearly six years now. I suggest that if you want to start a blog, you figure out what you want to blog about and how you are going to express yourself, either by written posts alone, or with the support of images and video content to best express your message to the internet. I suggest you keep a regular and consistent schedule for your posts, so if you start, make sure you are committed enough to see your blog through. Finally, I suggest that if you start a blog that you fill it with posts that you love and things you are interested in. Write posts that you would want to read and discuss things that you love with a passion! Above all else, have fun with your blog and it will shine through! Whatever happens with it, whether you develop a small, intimate following or become the next million page view success story, as long as you had fun in the process and stayed true to yourself and your interests, you will regret nothing!

It’s really as simple as that! So start thinking about your interests and passions and if you would want to turn those into a topic for a blog. Next week I am going to dive into some of the more technical aspects of starting a blog so that you can get your ideas up and running in no time!

If you have started a blog recently or are planning to start one in the near future, please leave me a comment below telling me all about your blog and even leave a link if you can! I love discovering new blogs and yours could very well become my next must read!

Career Productivity Solutions

How to Organize your Rolodex like a Savvy Professional

organize-your-rolodex-like-a-savvy-professional

Okay, so I know Rolodex is a really dated term, but I think you still get the idea of the post! Since I interact with a large number of people in my day-to-day work, it is really crucial for me to set up my contacts list on my phone in a way that will help me remember everyone in a professional way! People love it when you truly recognize and remember them, even if you have only met once a month or two ago! It really helps develop strong ties with your customers, colleges and basically any other person in your life that you may run into regularly! So, I thought I would review with you all my process for setting up my contacts list that helps me to be more of a savvy business professional!

1. Confirm the spelling of all names, never assume: You have no idea how many ways a name can be spelt, and after meeting with someone briefly you may not know that their name is spelt with an “i” instead of a “y” and so on! I try to make it a point to have my contacts spell their names out for me (or to give me a business card with their info) so that I can track them properly. It may not mean much to you, but think about how annoying it can be to deal with someone who can’t spell your name right! Bonus points if you can also include a phonetic spelling if the name is a harder one to pronounce!

2. Take a picture or grab one-off Facebook or LinkedIn: Since most of us store contacts in our phones and have the ability to assign a picture to a contact, USE THAT FEATURE! It may feel awkward the first few times you have to ask for a photo, but get over that and get it put into your phone! Most people won’t mind that your taking their pic after you explain that it helps you associate names to faces to have the picture in your contacts. Heck! They might even ask the same of you! If worse comes to worse and you miss the opportunity to snap a pic, do a quick google search and see if you can grab one from Facebook or LinkedIn. You have no idea how helpful it can be to have photos of people you interact with on an infrequent basis. It can save you from an embarrassing moment in the future!

3. Make a personal note: Most contact lists include a section for extra notes. Use it! Store 2-3 personal facts about your contact in this area so that the next time you meet with them, you have something personal you can refer back to. This may be your contacts favorite sports team, the college their kid goes to, or the name of their dog, but remembering these facts can help you look really organized and thoughtful to others!

4. Edit and Update: Contacts change frequently in any business! Make sure you keep the most up to date information and contacts in your Rolodex to ensure you are organized. Remove old contacts that have moved on, update personal facts in your notes section, and edit emails or phone numbers that may have changed on a frequent basis!

5. Use it or lose it: The most important part of having a contacts list or Rolodex is that you actually make use of it! If you aren’t referring back to the information you have stored, there is really no reason to keep the info to begin with. Your contacts list can be a treasure trove of information and a professionals dream or nightmare! Decide how you want to use yours and get to it!

 What other tips and tricks to you use in your contacts list or Rolodex? Do you use a digital list on your phone or do you prefer a paper system of business cards and hand written contacts? Let us know in the comments below!

Career lifestyle

What’s in my Mini Folio?

desk-23As you may remember, a few months ago I bought myself a mini gadget folio for work and travel, so I thought it was about time that I showed you all how I use it most frequently! This folio is great because it can fit an iPad mini as well as multiple other gadgets, chords, and other loose items, however, I have stopped using it to house my iPad mini (because I ended up picking up a new iPad mini folio from Kate Spade) and started using it as a quick grab pouch for my bag. This is what you will usually find inside the folio!

 What’s Inside

1. A Personal Sized Agenda: Since this folio can hold an iPad mini or other small tablet, its actually perfectly suited for a personal sized notebook or planner! I find that keeping my daily planner in here is a great way to keep my paper planner safe from debris in my bag and means that even if I leave my bag behind, I can take my folio along and have my planner handy!

2. A Pen: Yes, it matches my planner, and Yes, I did plan it that way! A pen is practical for obvious reasons so we don’t need to dwell on this too much!

3. My Earbuds: My new favorite Earbuds are these black skulls that I got from 5 Below! I was worried about the quality when I bought these but they ended up be very reliable. I keep them in my folio to keep them safe from tangling in my bag and also so I can listen to music or a book on tape when I am in a waiting room or have downtime!

4. Business Cards: I like to keep my blog’s business cards in this folio so that they are separate from my work business cards, just in case I meet someone who wants to know the link to my site and social media feeds! You never know when your gonna find a new subscriber!

5. Other Things Not Pictured: At any given moment, this folio can also house my credit cards/cash in case I use it as a wallet (rarely happens but it does happen) and other miscellaneous bits of paper! If I end up carrying just the folio with me, I stick other business cards inside for safe keeping and other papers I may collect fit in fine if I fold them in half!

How do you like my mini folio? Do you happen to use a similar folio in your day-to-day life? What sorts of uses do you get out of yours? Let me know in the comments!

Career lifestyle organization printables Productivity Solutions

How to Set & Achieve Your Goals

desk-6Whether you set resolutions for yourself on January 1st or not, goal setting is an important personal and professional exercise that will help motivate you to achieve your dreams or to discover them! This is an exercise that you can work on as frequently or infrequently as you want throughout the year, but I suggest doing this twice a year, roughly every six months to help you evaluate your progress in your goals or to adjust them as changes occur in your life.

Now, before we begin, I suggest downloading my free set of productivity printables here and printing out the sheet titled “My Goal Tracker” on page 4 of the packet. This sheet contains most of the steps in this goal setting exercise and is a great resource to keep with you to track your goals! If you do not want to use the print out, no problem! You just need a pen/pencil and some paper to proceed and YES, it does need to be paper because this is a very personal activity and the act of writing on paper will help solidify your goals in a visceral way!

Step 1: Select 3 Life Goals

The first step in goal setting is to choose the goals that are most important to you! Some people may have multiple goals that they wish to set in motion now, but I suggest only focusing on 3 at the most at one time. Trying to track too many goals will make things more complicated for you and decrease your chances of success by diverting your attention to often! Now, if you would like to select 3 goals, you may want to choose one personal goal, one professional and one other of your choice. Remember, even if you think everything is going well in your professional life or perhaps in your personal life, that doesn’t mean that you can’t set a goal for that area of your life. I suggest thinking about what is important to you and how you can either a) improve that area of your life or b) continue an already successful or positive trajectory. Maintaining success in an area of your life is often just as difficult or sometimes even more difficult than achieving initial success!

Step 2: Decide on 5-10 steps you can take to set your goal in motion!

A good goal is one where you can see a path of success that can be taken through a series of steps! If you are trying to loose weight you know that these steps may include following a healthy diet plan that can be tracked via a daily caloric intake and an exercise regimen that includes working out a certain number of days a week for a certain amount of time. However, unlike a weight loss goal, many personal and professional goals are not as scientifically precise! Achieving a professional goal to get a specific job may include getting additional training that would make you qualified for that job as well as a discussion about your professional advancement with your supervisor or someone who can help you learn how to position yourself as a desirable candidate. If you do not already have an idea of how to achieve your goal, I suggest researching your specific goal and discussing it with those who may be able to give you insight on the matter!

Step 3: Set parameters for your goal.

It’s all well and good to set a goal, and list out the steps you need to take, but you also need to make sure you have set parameters for when you will start your goal, when you want to have it completed and most importantly, how you will reward yourself for achieving it! The reward is particularly important because this should be something that will highly motivate you and be a constant reminder of the goal you are working towards and why!

Step 4: Take your first step!

As I like to say “once begun, it’s nearly done!” I’m not sure where that comes from, or if I have simply created my own version of another popular saying, but I still consider it truth! Sometimes the hardest part of getting to a destination is starting the journey. Once you take that first step you are invested in your goal and you have made progress! Take your first step as soon as possible, while you are still highly motivated, as this will hopefully propel you to take the next step and the next, until you have reached your goal! Remember, its natural once you have started your journey to tweak your path as needed, don’t be afraid to add steps to your goal or adjust expectations as you go along! Good luck & may this advice help you turn your dreams into a reality!

So, will you be setting goals for yourself this year? Did you find my free printable helpful with helping you track your goals? Let me know any other tips, tweaks or advice you have to help others set and achieve their goals this year but leaving a comment!