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October 1, 2018 by gina@theshabbycreekcottage.com

How to Grow Your Instagram Engagement Authentically

Ahhhh…. Instagram engagement. It’s the one metric people don’t talk about very much – however it means EVERYTHING. It literally means how much your audience values what you have to say, and it’s the only way to tell if they’re really listening.

Whether you have a huge audience or a tiny one… Instagram Engagement is a far better predictor of the number of people you’re actually influencing versus how many people have clicked on the “follow” button. So let’s chat about what it is – why you need it – and how to get more Instagram engagement.

Before we get started, I’m going to be 100% honest with you and tell you that you need to have a BUSINESS account on Instagram to see any of the information you’ll need to accurately figure out and improve your Instagram engagement. It’s free, only takes a couple of seconds in the settings of your account and then you’re good to go. Now… let’s get to the good stuff…

Great post on why Instagram engagement is SO important - and how to make yours better with simple, actionable tips that work every time.

What is “Instagram Engagement” – and how does Instagram engagement work?

Instagram engagement is the combination of how many people take action on a post you share on the platform. So likes, comments, saves and views all count as Instagram engagement. Some actions carry more weight than others. Since there are multiple ways you can post on your feed (not stories, IGTV or lives – we’ll get there in a second), let’s take a peek into the Instagram engagement actions:

On single photographs: saves are the strongest, followed by comments and and lastly likes.
When uploading multiple photos (to activate the “swipe across feature”): saves are strongest, followed by comments, swipes, and lastly likes.
For video content: saves are strongest, then comments, and finally views.

All of these actions add up to create your Instagram engagement. Any of them count, just as long as your followers are ENGAGING with your content.

Instagram engagement vs. likes

We all love it when we get that double tapped feeling, right? When someone gives you a like, it’s like your account gets a little hug. But beyond giving your photo a quick heart – if your people are highly engaged, then they’re leaving comments, interacting with you in the stories feature, even watching you when you go Live. There’s a lot of layers on how engaged they are.

But if you see the same people popping onto every photo with a quick comment or replying to your IG stories, those are the people who are truly the most invested in you and your feed. Those are your loyal “Super Fans” that will stick with you through any algorithm changes that might come your way. These are the people you want to cultivate and love on – and they’ll become fans for life.

How to grow your Instagram engagement - no matter what size your account is!

What is good Instagram Engagement?

This is such a commonly asked question – and with good reason. We all want to know what metrics we can use to see what’s “successful” on Instagram. And if you’re going to freak out over some number on the platform, please for the love of all things pretty, focus on your engagement ratio.

Simply put, it’s the amount of engagement you get on your account versus the amount of followers you have. So if you take the average follower amount for any given week, then divide it by the amount of engagement you received, then you can get a quick glance at how your performance was.

At the bare basic, you can look at the amount of followers you have, then the amount of interaction a post in your feed got, then do the quick math. If you have 1,000 followers and you got 100 likes on a photo, then that’s roughly 10% of your audience. If you got 65 likes, then you have 6.5% engagement on that photo.

Now… a lot of factors can go into that engagement ratio (and more on diving into analytics in a second), but it’s a super easy way to kind of do the math in your head to see if the photo performed well.

Most experts agree that 10% is the bench mark for a highly engaged account. Have higher than that? Then SWEET – you’re right on target! Have less than that? Don’t worry… I’ve got a few tips to help you out later in this post.

Instagram Engagement vs. followers

If you get nothing else out of this post, please take this away: The number of followers you have is just for vanity’s sake. The number of ENGAGERS you have is everything. If you’ve ever hosted a giveaway, I can guarantee you that you have followers who aren’t true fans. And even if you haven’t, then you have a crap ton of people who followed you in hopes that they would follow you back (please don’t play that game…. it doesn’t build a legit fanbase at ALL!)

A lower number of followers is actually a GOOD thing. It means you’re slowly building a steady stream of people who get you and love what you do. No crazy tactics involved. Just authentic growing at the right pace to keep your Instagram Engagement up and keeping the ratio high is soooooo much more important than trying to get numbers just to have a fancy “K” after your number.

Instagram Engagement vs. Facebook

So… now’s the time where we play the comparison game against it’s sister app, Facebook. Instagram is community driven, far more than Facebook ever has been. Where as Facebook makes it easy to leave the app with linking to other sites, Instagram wasn’t built that way. There’s a rumor that it’s coming, but honestly it’s always been about engagement from the get-go.

The main way to interact with people in the beginning was the ability to like or comment on another person’s posts. Then they added private messages, then stories, then IGTV, and I’m sure they’ll add more features as time goes on… but every one of them are built to keep you directly on IG. And the engagement rate has ALWAYS been better on IG.

Take for instance my Gina Luker Facebook page. It currently has 825 fans. It took me 3 years to get it to that point. Whenever I share a post, the most interaction it ever gets is 8-10 likes (unless I share it elsewhere.)

Then take a look at my Gina Luker Instagram. The account is less than a month old (at the time of writing this post), it has 650 fans – and averages 80+ likes on any given post. Some posts have well over 100 likes. Without even looking at the comments and saves, you can see that even with about 75% of the amount of FB followers I have, the Instagram engagement vs Facebook engagement ratios are MASSIVELY different. about 1% versus 10%. Even on my larger accounts (The Shabby Creek Cottage) the ratios are still about the same.

How to find Instagram Engagement rate on individual posts

Now that we’ve discussed what it is and why it’s important, let’s look at how to find Instagram Engagement rate for your account. First, let’s take a peek at posts. Remember you HAVE TO HAVE A BUSINESS ACCOUNT to be able to see insights. So at the bottom of each post you’ll see “VIEW INSIGHTS” – if you click on that you’ll get a popup with basic insights, then if you click on that you’ll see more in depth insights on that individual post.

For instance, with my 650 follower account, you’ll see that 419 people saw that post. It didn’t get me any new followers, but it did get 126 likes, 13 comments and 4 saves. So overall, if you add that up, it got 143 engagements, which basically works out to about 30% engagement rate. That’s HUGE! If my goal is 10% on each post, then I’ve tripled my goal.

How to grow your Instagram engagement - no matter what size your account is!

How to find Instagram Engagement Rate on account as a whole

Now, to see it on the full account, go into your account, up at the top you’ll see “### profile visits in the last 7 days,” and if you click on it, then it will take you to your account’s insights. Inside there, you’ll have info on in three separate tabs:

ACTIVITY: Which shows you profile visits, website clicks, emails, how many people saw your account (discovery), your reach and your impressions.
CONTENT: Your best posts from the last 7 days will be on the first page of it, then you can click to see all your posts in order of highest engagement from the last year. It also tells you the same on your stories that have been shown in the last 7 days.
AUDIENCE: On this tab, you can learn where people follow you in cities and countries, what their age range is, the gender, as well as what hours are the best for you on which days of the week (pretty cool, huh?) In another post we’ll cover what to do with all that info – but it’s good to keep track of.

So now let’s tackle the big question “Why is my Instagram engagement so low?”

Ok, my friend. This is the part where we get to have a little heart to heart. Instagram is possibly the most social platform of any social media. And there’s three big reasons why your Instagram Engagement is suffering.

You’re posting too much. I know… Experts say post 2-3 times a day. I call baloney. To me, once every 2-3 days works so much better. Because of the way the algorithm works, no one sees all your stuff. And if you’re posting too much, they’re definitely not seeing it all. You’ve gotta give your stuff room to breathe and grow and thrive. Time to get seen. Now stories… that’s a whole other discussion. And we’ll cover that in a separate post soon – but for this we’re focusing on your main home feed. So please don’t post too much.
You need to work on your quality. And it’s more than just the perfect photo. You need to bring value to your reader’s lives – and the best way to do this is with captions. Instagram is primarily a STORY TELLING PLATFORM. So tell your stories. Give depth. It’s not just all about memes and quick, witty captions. Go in depth. Not every time, but at least half the time. Have meaningful conversations with them. And they’ll engage with them so much more, because they’re getting to know you <3.
You aren’t engaging. Throughout this whole post we’ve been talking about INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT…. however are you engaging with your Insta-peeps? You need to like and reply to their comments, follow them and comment on their posts. Send them sweet little love notes in the direct messages. Give them a little story love when they leave sweet comments on your page. Engage with them. Show them you’re a real human with real interaction.

What are the best Instagram posts for engagement?

There’s a few of them, actually. But honestly, you’re going to have to test and tweak and see what works best for your audience.

Relatable memes (aka quote graphics)
Breathtaking photos – and yes, photos are important… but not as important as the caption.
Ask for their help. Maybe you need help choosing flooring… or need advice on where to eat in a new city… or maybe you need help figuring out which book to read next. Whatever it is, people love to give opinions and they love helping others. So it’s a win/win.

Remember: Engaged followers will share your stuff around the web if they love you – really love you. So you’ll grow organically with fans who love you as much as you love them. And at the end of the day, that’s the magic of Instagram engagement.

September 28, 2018 by Gina Luker

How to Start a Blog in 15 Minutes

About ten years ago I googled How to Start a Blog and it became the turning point in my life. Sound dramatic? Well the change it made in my life is nothing short of a blessing. Learning to start a blog was just the beginning, but once I learned how to make money blogging, our lives were changed. Our family went from barely being able to make ends meet to being able to support my entire family from blogging. Because we can run the blog from anywhere in the world, we can travel when we want, and have a flexible schedule that allows us to live the life of our dreams.

Why am I telling you this? Because anyone can do it. You can do it. Yes, YOU.

Although it took me over two years to make a good, full time income – today it’s easier than ever. With ad networks, affiliate programs, companies who want to sponsor blog posts…. the potential for earning six figures is completely realistic. Literally the only thing you need is a laptop and a wifi connection. Once your blog is set up, you’re off and running bravely into the direction of your dreams.

When I started my blog we could barely keep the lights on. We were so far in debt that we couldn’t breathe and were just barely scraping by. Today I’m a full time blogger, my husband no longer goes to a job he hates every day, we travel all over the country as much as we want, whenever we want, and have a life I could never have dreamed of. I’m not telling you this to brag about my “awesome life” – but to tell you that if you’re struggling, then I understand. Because I’ve been there. I’ve sooooo been there. But today our lives (and our children’s lives) have been changed forever because of the power of blogging.

No matter what you’re into – there are millions of others who are looking for the knowledge you have, right now! People who want to learn from someone who’s been through what they have – someone they can relate to – someone that can entertain them – someone they connect with.

And as a blogger…. that’s what you’re doing. You’re not a robot typing lines to just feed knowledge. As a blogger, we want to build communities of people who are passionate about the same things we are. We want to make an impact on someone’s life…. even in the tiniest of ways!

Before we get into how to start a blog on WordPress, let’s go through a few commonly asked questions first to see if blogging is right for you.

WHO SHOULD START A BLOG

This is a question a lot of people ask themselves. I started my lifestyle blog (The Shabby Creek Cottage) on a whim as a scrapbook of sorts to keep up with the changes of remodeling our childhood home. I had no idea that it would turn into a business – one that would change the course of our lives.

As humans, we typically have a lot to say about life. And also, you have unique knowledge & experiences & you’ve figured something out, somewhere that will help people on some level. So, in my opinion, anyone that wants to share their gifts with the world should have a blog. Maybe you’re an amazing singer… maybe you can rock a hoola hoop like nobody’s business. No matter what your gift is in life, you should be sharing it with the world.

Besides just sharing your gifts, you can monetize your blog in a million different ways that will help you to grow your income while growing your influence. Imagine you were doing what you LOVE doing every day anyway, but then getting paid for it?!? Wouldn’t that be a dream? Well that’s exactly how blogging works.

WHY YOU NEED TO START A BLOG

No matter what social media outlet you look at, you’ll always find people who have massive followings. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube…. the list could go on and on and on. And, unfortunately, many of them just don’t see the value in building their own blog because their audience is right there in front of them.

But what if that social media goes away? They stand to lose their entire audience in one fail swoop – and if they’ve built that following into a money-making platform, their goes their entire business. Don’t think it can happen? Then think again. It happened to MySpace several years ago, and even just a couple of years ago it happened to the highly-active Vine app. Periscope isn’t even as popular as it once was. While, yes, you do need social media, it shouldn’t be the core of your business. And yes, a blog that makes money IS a business.

Additionally, if you have any sort of social media following now…. you need somewhere to direct them so you’re not depending on an algorithm that may — or may not — show your posts to your audience. If you’re depending on another site to make you money, you have to realize that those sites are in it for themselves. So they have very little interest in your success. Your job is to position yourself in an area where YOU have all the control. And you can’t do that on any site you don’t own.

TIPS FOR STARTING A BLOG

There’s really only a couple of things you need to really consider: “Who are you trying to help with your blog?” and “How can you bring value to your readers?” While things like your URL are important, first you should deeply consider who you want to help in the world. If you want to help women who want to learn how to dress better and stress less, then you need to come up with 10-15 ideas for blog posts that will help them in their quest to do so.

Once you’ve figured out who you want to help and how, then you can start to build your brand around that information. So if you’re aiming for a 32 year old mom with two kids, think about what colors she’d like and would be drawn to. This will help you figure out things like branding and creating a logo. Also when you choose your URL, make sure you choose one that people will understand what the site is about with a glance. If your blog is called “The Classy Closet” then you know that the blog is about fashion, etc.

Even before you get started, know that overwhelm is a real struggle with a LOT of bloggers. There’s a million things to learn – and no one knows it all. But you need to figure out chunks at a time, starting where you can have the most control while making the most impact.

Start by learning to properly write a blog post (I’ve covered that in THIS POST). After you have that figured out, then you need to learn how to start an email list and use it for your blog. It’s the most consistent place to promote yourself, and other than your blog it is the only thing you have 100% control over.

And third, I highly suggest you learn how to make money blogging. Because blogging can be a reallllly lucrative career – and the faster you learn how to turn it into a business, the better off you’ll be.

*this post contains affiliate links*

NOW THAT YOU’VE DECIDED THAT YOU’RE READY… you have a big choice to make…

So when you start learning how to start a blog, you have to choose one of two paths…..

Blogspot OR WordPress

If you want to learn how to start a blog that will make money, then I always go with WordPress – hands down. Why?

There’s a lot more flexibility in WordPress, along with tons of options just not available on Blogspot.
Every highly successful blogger I know uses WordPress – and if you start on Blogspot (and want to actually grow your business) you’ll want to move eventually. – PS – even NASA uses a WordPress platform for their site. So if it’s good enough for NASA, it works for me.
Most brands who work with bloggers prefer WordPress blogs because they are so much more professional and it means you’re taking blogging seriously. Why not start off on the right path from the beginning?

How much will it cost to start a blog?

The investment is pretty minimal – you can run a blog with BlueHost for about $50 a year, complete with a domain name. So for less that it costs for two people to go out to dinner, you can start your own blogging business in less than 15 minutes. There are things you’ll need to purchase as you grow, but you can totally start they whole shebang for under $50.

Almost any business will cost money to get started – but a blog is one of the cheapest businesses you can start. Once upon a time you needed a fancy camera and all sorts of things to use to create content. These days, however, people have amazing cameras right in their pockets! Even though I have tons of great equipment, I take the vast majority of my photos these days with my iPhone – so there’s really no reason to buy a big, fancy camera until you just can’t work from your phone any more.

On top of that, all you really need is a laptop & wifi. Seriously, that’s it. And you probably already have the phone, laptop and Wifi. So you’re literally only $50 and 15 minutes from starting a business that you can run anywhere in the world and make six figures in less than a year of work if you do the right things to make it happen.

Ready to learn how to start a blog on WordPress?

Then let’s get started! We’re going to walk through it on BlueHost.

STEP ONE: Find a host. If you’re just starting out I recommend BlueHost. It’s easy to use and will walk you through the process step by step. And if you make a mistake, it’s ok. They offer 24/7 support that helps you out (I got in a jam myself, so I had to call and found them incredibly helpful!)

STEP TWO: Choose a plan. Bluehost starts at $3.95 a month, which is perfect for a beginner. It will set you up on a shared server, you get a free domain name and you get a free domain-served email address. (PS – that alone can be over $300 a year on other services.)

STEP THREE: Pick your domain name. You get a free domain name when you sign up with Bluehost, or if you’ve already purchased you can use a domain you already own. TIP – when choosing a name, think things through. If you’re doing a craft blog, try to have craft in the URL – same for recipes, DIY, sewing, etc. Your domain name is pretty important, so think it through. I wanted a landing page for my own name, which is why I went that direction.

STEP FOUR: Create an account on Bluehost. Not only will this create an account so you can purchase, but it will also be your info for your dashboard. Next, follow through with all the payment info (after you’ve read the fine print, of course!)

STEP FIVE: Submit your payment information (make sure you read the terms & policies!)

STEP SIX: Set up your account password. Be sure to jot it down where you can remember it!

STEP SEVEN: Log into your dashboard. After you get into your Bluehost Dashboard, you’ll be able to go in and add in WordPress. Look under the WEBSITE tab and click on INSTALL WORDPRESS.

STEP EIGHT: Install WordPress. You can let Bluehost do it for you (for a reasonable fee) or you can do it yourself. Let’s go with free.

STEP NINE: Choose the domain to install it to. Usually it pops up the correct one, but be sure to verify that it’s right. If not, select the correct one in the drop down box. You’ll set up your password, etc. Then check your email to check for details. Click CHECK DOMAIN, then it will give you the option to install. After you click that and it is finished, then you’re going to need to go over to your admin panel of your blog.

STEP TEN: Log into your WordPress dashboard. You can find it at YOURBLOGURL.com/wp-admin.

STEP ELEVEN: Choose your theme. You can choose a paid theme when you’re installing through Bluehost (there’s tons of great options!) or you can use a free theme. You can tweak things as much or as little as you’d like.

STEP TWELVE: Start your site! Once you’ve got your theme installed, you’re ready to start putting content onto your site.

STEP THIRTEEN: Start to set up your site. You’ll go through a series of questions to help guide you on where to go.

STEP FOURTEEN: Get ready to launch! This is the exciting part… because this is where your blog will actually become LIVE! So click on “launch”…

STEP FIFTEEN: Give your site a title (this blog would be GINA LUKER) and description (mine is “all about the business of blogging.”)

Then you’re ready to write! See – it’s really easy when you know how to start a blog. This whole process takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish. If you need more help, you can always log into your account on Bluehost & find helpful links + more.

By the way…. congratulations! You now own a piece of the internet and you’ve taken the biggest step towards creating the blogging biz of your dreams! It can be done – and has been done by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of bloggers out there who are crushing it every day and making their dreams a reality.

Now that you know how to start a blog, let me show you how to make money blogging!

If you start a blog I’d love to see it! Just leave a note below in the comments so I can stop and say hello!

June 9, 2018 by Gina Luker

The Ultimate Blueprint for How to Write a Blog Post

Ever wonder how some of the “big bloggers” get all that traffic? At the core of it they know how to write blog posts that are crazy good. The core of a blog is the content – and the better the content the better the blog typically does.

*Before we start – this post contains affiliate links to products I highly recommend for blogging. Many have free versions but if you purchase an upgrade, I will make a tiny portion of the sale price with no additional cost to you*

There are two types of blog posts: Entertaining or Informational

All content either teaches you something or it tells a story to evoke emotion – but if you can do both of these at the same time then you’re really in the zone of how to write a blog post perfectly.

Anyone can write a blog post on how to do basically anything – and if that post teaches you the topic then a reader is in and out in no time. Mission accomplished.

Story telling bloggers have a different agenda – they want you to feel a connection with them. Storytelling is an art – and the main job of any art is to evoke emotion. If the writer brings out an emotion of the reader (whether good or bad) then they have done their job.

But there’s this sweet spot…. one where you can TEACH the reader while you are entertaining them. This is the basis of how I’ve written my blog posts for years and years. I’m not heavy on the emotion, but I do want to at least get a smile out of the reader with a little sassy saying or a quick story that relates to the subject.

Now that you know what kind of content you can write, let’s learn the logistics of how to write a blog post effectively.

First you need an idea. And honestly – the simpler the better.

Think of it as building a house. While it’s amazing to think about what kind of wallpaper you’d like, you probably would like to get the foundation of the house put in place before trying to hang the wallpaper, right?

So you need content that builds one thing upon another. You need the basic layer before you can go into more advanced content. Even if you know the content has been written a million times before – no one will write it quite like you.

Back to the idea… Let’s say you want to write a post on how to hang a curtain rod. Before you actually go off to do that project and take all the photos you’ll need, do a bit of research.

Using a KEYWORD FINDER TOOL, you can see if people actually want to know that information – because this is the most important lesson today:

IF NO ONE WANTS TO READ THE CONTENT YOU ARE PROBABLY WASTING YOUR TIME WRITING IT.

I know… it’s harsh. But the point of creating content is so people who need/want that information can find it. So do your homework before hand to make sure that content is a great match for who you are trying to reach.

Now that you have an idea and a great keyword – now what?

The real work begins. If it is project based, then you need to do the project. Which means taking photographs, editing said photos and then uploading them.

If you don’t need any step by step photos, you might consider using stock photos (like I have in this post) so you can still have some visual references to your content.

The internet is VISUALLY DRIVEN content. Which means consumers (aka readers) want to SEE images, not just read words.

And also, 3,000 words of prose with no photo breaks can get pretty exhausting. So sprinkle in a few to give the readers eyes time to catch their “breath.”

Sitting down to actually write.

Once you have the idea, then find the proper keyword (we’ll dive more into that in a future post), and have your photos ready to go, then you need to create structure that will keep the reader…. well, reading.

Let’s look at a list of dos & don’ts.

DON’T….

Write super long paragraphs. Readers will only digest the first 5 or 6 words and the last 3-4 of super long prose. Use short sentences that are easily digestible.
Over explain. Just say what you’ve got to say in as few words as possible.
Under explain. But do make sure you have covered the topic enough that someone with no knowledge of the subject can walk away with adequate understanding.
Assume anything. There are people who don’t know anything at all so break it down appropriately.
Publish without proofreading. Even when I proofread 3 times, I still find mistakes.
Don’t beat yourself up about those mistakes. You can always edit.

DO….

Think about your audience first – your blog is all about them, not you.
Use bullet points or numbered lists to help make information more streamlined (like I’m doing right now!)
Make use of headings to break up subjects in the same post to show a progression.
Take your time to write headlines that get attention while explaining your subject.
Make sure to reference other content within your site so you can help your readers dig deeper into your blog.
Let your personality show throughout the post with adding your own voice.
Close up the post with a question or thought to provoke comments.

Even if you write entertaining content over informational, most of the same rings true.

So let’s recap the basic blueprint of how to write a blog post

Start with an idea.
Check with a keyword tool to ensure the need.
Create the project & visual needs.
Think of what your reader would gain from the subject.
Write a great headline.
Craft a post that explains your subject while keeping your voice true to you.
Break up long posts with appropriate headings.
Use bulleted or numbered lists to keep things neat.
Link to other posts with similar content on your blog.

February 14, 2018 by Gina Luker

The Secret to Beating ANY Algorithm Change

Algorithm changes are a scary thing. Like seriously. I’ve been the victim of one myself (going from 3 million hits a month to 700K in mere weeks!) But here’s the thing: There’s a simple way to never worry about them again.

No seriously, stop wringing your hands and crying every time you hear there’s new algorithm changes.

Regardless of any algorithm changes, if you engage with your people, algorithms don’t matter – the point of social media is to be social! When you are socializing and talking to your people, they are going to love you. This is a reciprocal relationship, so love on your people like crazy, and they will love you back.

Let’s take a quick look at why algorithm changes happen: Social media outlets are kind of tricky to figure out, but with a little work almost anyone can do it. And that includes shady spammers who have zero care about the audience and just want to make the money. So they end up figuring out how to manipulate the system. But social media is supposed to be SOCIAL – not just spammed to make a quick buck. So platforms are constantly working on algorithm changes so that spammers don’t stay in business forever. Businesses like Facebook and Instagram have their users in mind first – so as long as you follow these tips, you’ll create social media profiles that last.

Everyone wants human connection – your job is to engage and interact with them

Dropping a link and running isn’t going to cut it! You need to like and reply to their comments, make them feel like they have a connection to you. Your #1 job as an influencer is to stay in touch with your people. If they want to talk to you, you need to respond. If you have no intentions of talking to your people and being social, what is the point?

You should spend 10 times the amount of time engaging as you do to create content

For every minute you spend creating content for Facebook, you should spend 10 minutes interacting with your audience. The same thing applies for Instagram. I leave roughly 100 comments on Instagram per day replying to comments and commenting on other people’s feeds. This is time-consuming, I’m not going to lie. But here’s what you have to know: time, money, and energy are going to go into your brand if you want to make it successful.

Are you ready to invest those things? You gotta be, or you’re not going to get anywhere.

Your Social Media should be about YOU

If you know me at all, you know that I am a crazy fangirl of Pete Wentz. He is a genius at music, but he is also a genius at business. I follow him because I absolutely love him. When I head to Pete’s pages, I’m there to see what he is up to, not what his friends are doing. People who are following you to see what YOU are doing. Use your page to grow YOUR influence, not somebody else’s. That means this: STOP sharing everyone else’s stuff. Don’t use that space to distract people from your brand – Oh, you DEFINITELY are a brand. If nobody told you, now you know.

Look at it this way:

I don’t go to Whole Foods to buy Oreos. I go to Whole Foods to buy high-quality organic vegetables and meat. I go for good quality nutrition. When I get to that store, I’m expecting them to give me what they’re known for. You need to give your audience the same.

Don’t be afraid to lose followers who didn’t come for you

If you start only sharing your stuff and you lose followers, they weren’t beneficial to you anyway. If you want crazy raving fangirls and boys, you’re going to have to give them more. You’re going to have to give them emotions. If you want to create a connection you’re going to have to build some authentic emotions. You can’t connect with emotions if you just drop a link and leave. When you take your time and get vulnerable and real with your audience, you will build a bond and they will know that they can trust you. If you want to create a connection you’re going to have to build some emotion.

Do not overuse emotion.

You’re going to wear people out and push them away eventually. What does that mean? Well, while you want to be open and vulnerable, you don’t need to have a heart to heart confessional every time something doesn’t go well in your life. Some things need to be kept to just you. Make sure that in your vulnerability, you’re still using your experiences to give your audience some takeaway that is going to help them get through their own experiences. Remember, you’re blog is about helping them and what they need, not your personal space to vent ( you have friends for that).

You don’t have to be afraid of an algorithm changes, your audience is going to love you. Take the time to get to know your people, show them the love they deserve and get down to the business of providing them with the content they need. Whenever you stop dropping the link and running, start interacting, and open up to your audience, you are creating a bond with them. They will trust you, and they will come back to you no matter what the algorithm has to say about it.

Your people will look for you wherever you go.

February 6, 2018 by Gina Luker

How To Find The Best Pinterest Group Boards

Looking to find the best Pinterest Group Boards to grow your blog or business? This is the strategy I use to get hundreds of thousands of page views per month!

You already know that one of the keys to getting major traffic onto your blog is getting found in search engines. Otherwise, your wonderful blog posts are never going to be seen, and that is not what you want. One of the places you should be focusing on is Pinterest Group Boards – especially ones that work for your business. You want to create a great strategy for Pinterest in order to see your traffic fly through the roof.

Pinterest group boards should be a part of your Pinterest strategy. When you use Pinterest group boards correctly (good, active boards on topic), you will have your content shared with a whole new audience and they will share with their audience, and so on until you’ve got new readers pouring in.

The challenge with Pinterest group boards is that you want to get into the good ones and stay active in them. If you’re on a slow moving group board where nothing gets repinned, that’s not going to help you. Try this strategy to get into a great group board, get pinning, and see your traffic increase.

How to Find the Best Pinterest Group Boards

Figure out what content you want, and what your content stream would be

Pick five to ten topics that suit your niche. Make them broad enough to cover a few boards, but narrow enough to find quality boards. For instance, if I blog about traveling to Disney and travel in general, I can pin to Disney boards, Disney travel boards, and regular travel boards. This gives me a wide range of boards to locate and pin your content to.

Search for Pinterest group boards that relate to your niche

Each board description will tell you the rules of the board if they’re accepting new members, and how to request membership to that board. When you see a group board you’d like to be in, follow those directions to join the board. The best way to get on a board is to contact the owner via Pinterest if that is not an option you can find the group board owner’s website through Pinterest and contact them that way.
Find a solid Facebook Group

There are Facebook groups designed specifically to allow people to meet up and add each other to Pinterest group boards. Get into those groups, and look to see who is calling for boards related to your niche. Talk to those people, and prepare to start pinning.
Ask your blogger friends

If you see someone kicking Pinterest butt, don’t be afraid to ask them which boards they are using. Ask them which boards they see the most activity from, and see which ones fall into your niche. Ask your friend if you can begin a group board along with them, and commit to repinning their content and having them share yours.
Be patient

Joining and getting traffic from group boards is not an easy process. It takes time and patience to get the right combination of boards and to see the progress from those boards. Take your time and don’t be afraid to modify your strategy to see better results. Remember, you’re in this for the long haul, so don’t get frustrated and give up!

Pinterest group boards are one of the best ways to build your Pinterest following and see the traffic increase that it can bring. Make sure that your boards and your pins are SEO optimized and get yourself on the road to Pinterest success!