Well friends! Christmas is just a few short days away, isn’t that exciting?? I’m super excited about finally reaching the end of Vlogmas! In case you haven’t been following along, Vlogmas is a December video challenge where you put a video up everyday from December 1st- Christmas! Now, I just have two videos left, and I have to say, it’s been fun, but very exhausting. I have to hand it to daily vloggers, because I don’t know how they do it! Any who, since we are getting so close to Christmas and the end of Vlogmas, I thought it would be fun and festive if we made some hot cocoa together! I love hot cocoa in the winter, especially around Christmas because I love making decorated marshmallow pops to put in my drink (and really, that’s half the fun of making a nice hot cocoa)!
This year, I got super clever and I made my marshmallow pops with a candy striped paper straw instead of a normal stick. This means that once I dunk my pop into my hot cocoa, I also have a nice straw to use in my drink. Fancy, ain’t it?!? The paper straws are great as well because I was able to use those super extra large marshmallows instead of normal sized ones, and who doesn’t love a giant, chocolate and candy covered marshmallow?
Of course, I made a nice little video so you can play along with me and make your own hot cocoa after watching me assemble mine! I’m all about the garnish when it comes to cocoa, and I have to say, my festive cocoa garnish game is strong! I hope you enjoy the video as well as all of my Vlogmas videos! If you missed them, just click here for a playlist of all my Vlogmas videos so far so you can catch up! Have fun and be sure to send me a picture of your hot cocoa too!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 23rd, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
As a blogger, youtuber and online business owner, it’s important for me to stay focused on my online marketing to make sure I get my content and my products out there into the world to the people who need them most. So, of course, I do a lot of reading and research on the subject of marketing, and although I find that, generally, much of the information is very repetitive, every once in a while I find little gems that I believe are very important to remember. Since many of my readers also happen to be bloggers and small business owners, I thought it would be helpful for you if I shared a few key bits of marketing wisdom that you may not be familiar with, so here are the 5 Marketing Tips you Might have Missed!
1. Consistent messaging is most helpful when targeted at a consistent person: No matter what your business is, whether you’re a blogger, an online business owner or a social media guru, you probably already know that consistency in your messaging is key. However, what you may not have known is that your consistent messaging is most effective when you are targeting your ideal customer consistently. We all have our ideal or target customers, members of our communities and those model consumers we are looking to attract, after all, no one business can cater to 100% of the population! Once you understand who your ideal customer is, what their needs and motivations are, you can then better direct you messaging towards them and reap the rewards.
2. Come on strong: Although coming on strong isn’t something you may want to do when it comes to real world marketing, when promoting yourself on the internet, it’s a must! Why? Well, because online communication is hard. It isn’t a traditional form of communication where you are interacting one on one with your target customers, it’s a sea of people who have literally a thousand other things to pay attention to. So if you want to be seen and heard on the internet, it’s important to talk loudly and carry a big microphone! Put your content and messaging out there everywhere it is relevant and as often as possible. Do things in a big way to create more buzz around you and your business, and don’t be afraid to reach out directly to those you believe will benefit from your products and message!
3. Use rhyming phrases, they are more persuasive: Apparently it has been statistically proven that people inherently believe phrases that rhyme are more accurate that non-rhyming phrases. Weird, huh? Well, I think it just proves how persuasive a good turn of phrase can be, especially when it’s lyrical. So, consider how you can use rhyming phrases in your messaging to your benefit!
4. Anticipate objections and overcome them: As someone who spent years working in sales for a fortune 50 company, I know that anticipating objections is an important part of direct selling. However, when it comes to online selling, we don’t have the benefit of talking one on one with our prospective customers to hear out their concerns and then put their mind at ease. Instead, in online business, you need to anticipate the objections your customers will have, address them and then overcome them in your messaging. This is a perfect example of why it’s important to
5. Give people things to share:In this modern online world of ours, you may have noticed that people love to share. This is one of the major reasons social networks like Facebook and Instagram are so popular. People love giving their opinions, sharing things they like, and feeling like the things they share are helping those around them. Deep down inside, people have a need and strong desire to feel important and valuable. This is a need that you can leverage to help you market your content and business, if you make an effort to create items that are sharable online. Give your customers and community items that they would be proud to share in their social feeds. Things like thoughtful articles, beautiful images, helpful tips and tricks. If you sell a product, give away freebies online like digital items that supplement your products, something people can admire and share with friends. You may have to put in some extra work, but those little extras will pay off in the end!
I hope this post taught you a new tip or trick for marketing yourself or your business online! Let me know in the comments what resonated most with you, and feel free to share your best marketing tips as well!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 8th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
At the end of August I inadvertently kicked off a series of seasonal lifestyle picks with my Fall Edit post! I received such positive feedback from that post that I decided that I wanted to try it again, this time for winter! As we are now in December and the months are growing colder (at least for me in the Northeast of the U.S.) I have a collection of 10 must haves from Style to Home Goods that will keep you looking chic and warm!
Style
1. Kate Spade Bow Leather Gloves: Leather gloves are such as classic style staple that I think every women should have a pair that they like. I happen to love these Kate Spade gloves because they are adorned with a simple little bow at the base of the wrist and they are tech friendly which means I can text and post to Instagram while keeping my hands warm and toasty!
2. Fuzzy slippers: I’m not usually someone who prefers to wear casual footwear around the house, however, in the winter months it is a must because my feet just get too cold and standard socks just don’t do the trick! This lovely pair is from Gilligan & O’Malley for Target.
3.Ringly: I absolutely love an oversized statement ring during the winter, but this one has a little secret! It’s actually a smart ring and can be paired with your smartphone to light up and vibrate when you receive a notification on your phone. How cool is that?!?
4. Fur Vest:Whether you prefer real or faux fur, a vest is an awesome accessory for winter, especially if you live in a colder climate. They come in all different shapes and sizes and you are certain to find something within your price range!
5. Rebecca Minkoff Love Crossbody Bag: I am obsessed with this bag for the winter and even asked Santa for one for Christmas. It reminds me a lot of the Chanel Boy Bag and is just the right amount of edgy and sophistication for it to be a regular carry for me in the winter when I prefer a smaller bag so I can keep my hands warm and toasty in my pockets!
Home Goods
6. Starbucks Black Heart Travel Mug:Again, this is another item that graced my seasonal wish list, but I am such a warm beverage person that I go through a lot of mugs throughout my week! These Starbucks travel mugs are not only adorable, but also really functional and high quality!
7. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea:This is one of my favorite seasonal tea flavors from Celestial Seasonings (aside from Gingerbread Spice!) and is part of their holiday collection. It is a perfect dessert drink on a cold winter’s night!
Beauty
8. Wet N Wild’s Sugar Plum Fairy: The name alone should tell you why it’s perfect for winter, and I know I featured a Wet N Wild lipstick in my Fall Edit as well, but these lipsticks are great for a reason! Beautiful matte colors for under $2 a tube? Seriously, this is a no-brainer and it has been the dominant color on my lips since a chill hit the air!
9. Givenchy Ange ou Demon Le Secret Elixir Perfume: This is one of my cold weather staple perfumes and has been for years! I love the spicy sweet aroma of this classic scent, plus, it doesn’t hurt that the bottle looks really awesome. Definitely check this out the next time you are at the perfume counter.
10. Essie’s Wicked Nail Polish: Essie’s Wicked is a classic nail color and one I love to wear in the winter months. The deep dark red is perfect for the holidays because it’s a nice dark berry which is festive without being a bright holiday red, which I don’t like to wear! It also works very well with the berry lip from sugar plum fairy.
I hope you enjoyed my Winter picks! Now let me know what your must have’s are for the season!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 11th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
Ever since I showed you guys those cute little bow paper clips I made for my Filofaxes, you have been asking me to do a DIY tutorial on how to make them! Well, ask and you shall receive, right? I Actually put together a video with not one, not two, but three DIYs for making paper clip accessories for your planner so that everyone is able to create exactly what they want for their planner.
This is a low res image, download the full file via the link below!
To go along with this DIY video, I created a special Bow Maker Pattern Printable to act as a template for creating your own bows. I show you how to use this template in the video, but the file itself also has directions as well. Feel free to download this file and make yourself bows to your heart’s content! But remember, this printable is free for personal use only. Commercial use of this file is prohibited, and please, if you want to share the file with friends and family, link them to this post or my YouTube video instead of directly sharing the file!
Three DIYs, you read that right! So, other than the bows, I also show you how to make page clips with chipboard elements as well as how to make clips from printables and any other images or icons you may find! If you can print it or if it’s made from paper, you can turn it into a decorative page clip for your planner!
In the video I use my new 2014 Favorite Things Sticker Set as a template for some clips I made by printing the PDF on heavy printer paper instead of on sticker paper! I love this new Sticker Set of course because it’s filled with some one my favorite images and icons from the year! Think pink peonies, coffee cups, perfume bottles and of course, stripes! You can purchase this set from my shop and use it as stickers or to make your own page clips as well!
So here is the video linked above! This is definitely one of those tutorials that is better explained visually, so if you would like to see the three methods I used to make some lovely embellished paper clips for my planner, check it out! Of course, if this video helped you in any way or gave you some new planner inspiration, please make sure to share it in your social media and tag me @MissTrenchcoat! It would mean the world to me!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 18th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
One of the hardest parts of being a blogger is coming up with great new content every week. As a blogger, I need a constant stream of inspiration in order to come up with ideas for my posts, images and my blog’s design. Although as they say, inspiration is everywhere, being a constant learner is an important part of locating inspiration in your life. If you are having trouble finding inspiration, here are a few things I like to do to find inspiration when I need it most!
1. Listen to music: I suggest listening to all types of music, even genre’s your not that familiar with or don’t even like. Variety is so important when opening up your mind to inspiration and you need to listen to everything that’s out there if you want to discover something new that will inspire you to think differently.
2. Read about something new: Scientific articles tend to be the most powerful for me, but learning about any new subject can open a door of possibilities and inspiration. It doesn’t really matter what your blog topic is or what you normally write about, just learning a bit about a new discipline or subject can really help open the channels of creativity in your mind!
3. Write stream of consciousness style: Sometimes you never know where your own mind will lead you until you follow it. One great exercise I suggest for writers is to do a bit of stream of consciousness writing. This means you just start typing and listen to that voice inside your head about what to write. Start with things on your mind and your own thoughts and just follow them through and see where they lead you.
4. Go to a new place you have never been: New experiences generate inspiration like none other! I find that just driving or wandering to a new part of town I have never been to really helps open my brain up to possibilities. Seeing new sights, smelling new smells and living through new experiences can be very inspiring and something of an adventure!
5. Get to know someone new: Meeting new people and getting to know them is a very powerful one on one experience. There are so many wonderful people out there in the world with so many interesting points of view that hopefully by getting to know one of them, their views may rub off on you a bit and cause you to look at the world differently!
6. Watch a movie that you don’t think you’re interested in: Often times its important to challenge our perceptions of our own likes and desires. Breaking established patterns like watching movies in genre’s your not used to watching is a really simple way to sample and test out new things without making a major commitment. Hopefully, that movie you weren’t interested actually entertains you and brings you to see that you shouldn’t discount things based on what you think you already like!
7. Do something physically challenging to you: This doesn’t have to mean you should go out and run a marathon if you don’t normally run, it just means to push yourself physically. While I’m at the gym I find so much inspiration just hiding out in my own mind while I’m on a machine. I think that when you’re focusing your physical energy on working out, your mind starts to open up and relax allowing new inspiration and ideas to just hit you. Give it a try and you’ll be killing two birds with one stone!
What sorts of things do you do to find inspiration? Have you ever tried or plan to try any of the items on this list? How did it work for you? Let me know in the comments below!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on March 20th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
With 2016 right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to start giving some deep thought to your business planning for the new year. Yesterday I held a live business planning session over on my YouTube channel where I shared my strategy for wrapping up 2015 and starting 2016 strong. In order to help organize the information, I also put together a helpful study guide for the attendees to help them keep track of their thoughts and plans throughout the event. If you are a business owner or an aspiring business owner who is seriously contemplating starting a business in the new year, I highly encourage you to check out the video. It is about an hour and a half long, but packed with some excellent insight. Definitely time well spent in my opinion for anyone who wants to make sure they have covered all their bases for business planning.
Make sure to grab my free study guide to follow along with the video. You can download it from my Digital Resource Library. If you are already subscribed to the library, head on over to the library home page and download the file, or else sign yourself up here! And be sure to follow the video to the end to get a special limited time offer that expires on December 12th, 2015!
I hope you have had a successful 2015 in your life and business and together I want to ensure we have an even more productive year in 2016! Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have after you finish the video and I hope that you can I can work together in the future to make your business the best it can be!
I enjoy a beautiful planner just as much as the next girl, but decorating my planner day in and day out just isn’t something that normally excites me. Now that it’s December, however, it’s a completely different story! This season really is the most wonderful time of the year to me, so I was actually excited to go all out decorating my planner. In case you are wondering, I am still using a disc bound planner system. I’m using 1″ black arc discs, and the half letter sized inserts from my shop (A5 equivalent in the U.S.), with a custom front and back cover made from laminated card stock. This has been my setup since August and I’ve never been happier… although in 2016 I plan to get even happier with my system as I’m converting my existing set up into a DIY Spiral Planner (video tutorial here).
Since December is my final hurrah with this planner before I go full spiral, I thought it would be fun to deck out my planner with 10 inexpensive personalizations. Most of the DIYs and items cost no more than $1 from places like the Target Dollar Spot and Dollar Tree, which is fabulous, because this sort of decor is definitely disposable to me and I don’t like spending too much money on temporary planner decor. Don’t get me wrong, I will drop a pretty penny on planner supplies, but only those that are relevant all year long!
So, I made a video showing you the 10 personalizations, here they are listed for you if you’re curious, but I highly suggest checking out the video for more details and some great visuals.
Make sure to check out the full video to see the decorations in action!
I hope you enjoyed the video and the inspiration! Feel free to let me know which personalizations you enjoyed the most and of course, the video description has even more links for DIYs and tutorials to help you recreate these decorations for your own planner! HAPPY HOLIDAYS PLANNER FRIENDS!
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, most folks get at least some time off during the Holiday Season, so make the most of your vacation time and sneak in a few of these productive activities that are sure to keep your work and life manageable in the new year!
Clean Out your Smartphone
Like most people’s homes and desks, smartphones usually accumulate a lot of extra stuff in the form of apps, photos, information and contacts that need to be sorted through and in some cases deleted. Its the end of the year after all and there is no better way to start off the new year than with an organized smartphone. While you’re at it, make sure you have all your emergency contact information and necessary phone numbers stored in your contacts just in case you need them one day!
Listen to a book on tape
Now, this doesn’t have to be a work related book, nor does it need to be a non-fiction or self help book! Reading is a great way to de-stress and I think listening to a book on tape is just as good for your mind and your productivity! So, if you have a bunch of chores or other to-dos, throw on a book on tape while you’re busy and it will help keep you cheerful and motivated! Audible.com has a great smartphone app that makes it easy for you to find any book your looking for, but you can also stop by your local library and borrow a book on tape the old fashioned way!
Spend some time on yourself
If your busy and trying to use your Christmas Vacation time to get some important to-dos checked off, you may not think it a productive use of time focusing on yourself, but trust me, it will have long term benefits. So, carve some time out of your day, take a bubble bath, listen to some music, have a nice workout or just lay in bed and relax because your peace of mind is so important for increasing your productivity and most of us don’t spend enough time working on that!
Learn a new simple and quick recipe
When it comes to meals, I would venture to guess that most of us have a repertoire of a few dishes that we continuously cycle until we get sick of eating them and then order out! So, I think its incredibly valuable for each of us to learn a new recipe that we can add into to our normal routine that may end up saving us time and money in the long run. Spend some time thinking about meals that you enjoy and see if you can find a quick recipe online that you can perfect during your downtime!
Connect with family & friends
Look, with so many of us out of work for a day or two, it really makes sense that you should spend time with loved ones during the holidays. You don’t have to do anything too stressful, just a day together walking outside in the snow or a meal cooked and shared together can be the difference that makes you feel more satisfied and in control of your life.
So, what are your plans for this Christmas Vacation? Let us know in the comments!
xoxo,
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 19th, 2013 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
Hello Friends & Happy December Eve! I’m here to share with you all my latest free Filofax printable insert! As I have been doing in previous months, I created a monthly to do list filled with seasonal and holiday driven items called 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer! Of course, I also have my monthly December Dashboard as well to help you get organized and make the most of this holiday filled month. These inserts are available in both A5 and Personal Filofax equivalents over on my Shop as an instant download! Make sure to pick up yours while you are taking advantage of the BONUS DAY of my CYBER WEEKEND SALE! That’s right! The biggest sale I’ve ever held is still going on for one more day. Use coupon code CYBERWEEKEND15 for 20% off anything and everything in my shop thru the end of November eastern time!!
New in the Shop!
If you haven’t been keeping up to date with my latest releases in the shop, let me give you a quick run down of some new items you won’t want to miss!
Don’t forget, the code CYBERWEEKEND15 will get you 20% off your entire purchase in my shop thru midnight December 1st, so be sure to take advantage of this holiday sale before it is too late!
I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about what goes into making a great blog. I honestly believe that it’s not just great writing alone that makes a blog great. Perhaps a few years ago this would have been the case, but blogs now are so much more of an experience beyond words and because of this, it takes a combination of a lot of different factors like great writing, inspiring pictures and a well-organized layout. In an effort to help improve my own blog, I have been making a study of this topic recently and you may notice new things popping up here and there on my site over the next few days and weeks! So, back to the title of this post, the essential parts of a great blog. I read a lot of blogs and I’m always surprised when I come across one that is lacking some of the most essential elements that make up a great reader experience. What are these essential elements? Let’s discuss them one at a time!
An About Page
No matter what the topic of your blog, I think its very important to have an About Page so that interested readers can learn more about the history of the site, who writes it and why they should bother reading it. In an About Page, it’s always good to have some important pieces of information to share with your readers.
A picture of the blogger(s), so that readers can make that human connection from one computer screen to another.
A description of the types of posts they can expect.
A brief history as to why the blog was created and its point of view that makes it unique.
A FAQ Page
After a blog has been established for some time, it becomes common for the blogger behind the site to receive the occasional question. It’s inevitable, however, that after some time, readers will have the same questions. So, to save yourself time and some effort, its always nice to put together a FAQ page. I think it gives readers a sense that the blogger cares about making sure their questions are answered. So, if you get a lot of questions and specifically a lot of similar questions, you may want to add a FAQ page.
Contacts
Although while you are writing, blogging may sometimes feel like a one way street, the truth is that when your posts will often inspire conversations and connections with your readers in ways you may not ever have expected. While comments are a nice way to connect, they are not always the be all and end all. Make sure to leave some form of contact for your readers to get in touch with you, either by means of a contact form or better yet, an email link.
Social Media Links
If you are a blogger, you will no doubt also use a few forms of social media, and readers that enjoy your posts and read your blog regularly will no doubt want to follow you elsewhere on the internet. Make sure to display your social media links in a prominent spot on your blog so they are easy to spot. You would be surprised how often readers feel compelled to send you a Tweet or check out your Instagram feed when they are enjoying your blog!
A Guided Tour or Best Of for New Readers
Now, I will admit, this one is a little more rare in my opinion, but I still think it’s an awesome feature to have on your blog and one that I am in the process of putting together. What is it exactly? Basically, it’s a post or page on you blog that is filled with some of your best work! It’s like an introduction to your blog through your posts themselves. Arrange posts by topic and pick out some of your favorites to showcase for your readers. It’s a really great way to help new readers get a good footing on your best and most popular work, as well as give them a general overview of what you tend to write about. If you’re stuck on how to put together this type of post, I suggest asking yourself which of your posts best describe you and your blog. Think about which posts have the most comments and don’t forget to link to any series’ you may write on a regular basis so new readers can catch up on the fun!
Are there any other parts of a blog that you think as essentials for a great blog? Let me know what you think makes a great blog by sending me a tweet or leaving me a comment below!
This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on August 14th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!
