Congratulations! We made it to 2019, guys! Chances are you're feeling both inspired and overwhelmed by all the online classes and programs out there telling you how to set goals for the new year, "live your best life"...blah, blah, blah. Don't get me wrong, I've DONE those programs. Sometimes they're even helpful! But for me, it always feels more attainable to focus on ONE thing I can improve and go from there. And in 2018, that one thing was: learn to use social media to get paying clients.

Last summer I launched my copywriting business (yay!) because I wanted more freedom with my time and energy while still using my creative skills to support myself financially. The biggest lesson I learned was how HUGELY important it was to define and refine  my social media presence  in order to bring in more paying clients. I definitely took some stumbles along the way and it took at LEAST a couple months for me to find my groove, but making a few very small-but-meaningful changes made all the difference.

The biggest game changer for me was investing in some professional recording equipment for my social media. Now, when I say "invested" I don't mean dropped a bunch of cash; I mean I researched the crap outta a bunch of stuff to find the highest quality products for the most affordable price- because when you're starting a business, every penny *literally* counts. Also I didn't want to buy a bunch of crap that was going to break in a month and/or that I didn't really need.

SO, lovely ones, below is a list of 5 affordable things (6 items but I gave 2 options for one type of product) that I PERSONALLY OWN and stand by as truly helping me build my social media presence and get more paying customers. See if any of them sound like they can help you, too!

First of all: YOU'RE DOING GREAT. How do I know? Because you're here reading this blog looking for answers on how to do right by yourself AND your business. Showing up is no small potatoes and I applaud you!

​BUT you're also here because, well...you don't FEEL like you're doing great. In fact, sometimes you feel like a fraud and like you have no idea what you're doing. Honestly, SO DO I! (Why do you think I decided to write this post?!). But we are NOT alone- not by a long shot.

In fact, we're so not alone that there's even a psychological phenomenon named after what we're feeling. It's called "IMPOSTER SYNDROME".

But the GREAT NEWS is that there are so many (super easy, non-intimidating, non-"therapy"-feeling) tools you can use to get over your imposter syndrome and starting owning your worth. Keep reading to find out what MY TOP 5 WAYS OF DEALING WITH IMPOSTER SYNDROME  are so you can start implementing them into your work and life: Because the world deserves to hear what you have to say!

It's about that time! Holiday season is fast approaching and it's all too easy to leave your gift buying till the last minute, especially during the last end-of-year business push! 

Coming up with fantastic, fun, useful-yet-unique gifts for all the creative people in your life who have loved and supported you as you learn and grow can be overwhelming (not to mention, expensive).
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Here's a handy dandy list of a 10 affordable gift ideas to get you started when shopping for the creatives in your life! I made sure to include multiple options at every price point. It's a GREAT place to search for your bestie, your classmate, or your office Secret Santa (Or, you know, scope out some stocking stuffers for yourself- you've earned it!).

I personally own or have gifted every single item on this list and stand by them as great buys. Click the photos to go directly to their amazon item page and read full product descriptions, reviews, or to buy!

In my last post I shared with you guys WHAT the mysterious Instagram "Algorithm" is. In short:

The Algorithm gathers information behind the scenes as you use Instagram, keeping track of what you like, and boosting posts that are the most likely to generate engagement. Basically, it's constantly curating your feed so you see the posts you are most likely to "like", comment on, or click through to a person's profile- all based on your past behavior.

The algorithm only has one purpose: to KEEP PEOPLE ON THE APP LONGER.

What you may not realize as you're scrolling through your beautiful, customized feed is that you are only seeing 30% of posts from the people you follow. And whose fault is that? Yup. the algorithm. That's because Instagram is putting ONLY the BEST 30% of content in front of you at any given time. Which means if you want your posts to be seen, you have to work with the algorithm as best you can to make sure your posts are in that top 30%.

So basically, when it comes to the alrogithm, we can use all the help we can get!

Here's a few stats on why Instagram stories really DO matter and how you can use them to boost your engagement, hack the algorithm, and put yourself in that top 30%...

So, you've taken the plunge and started your small business! You feel good about your web and social media presence. You feel good about your inventory/product/service. You want to start booking clients...and then that moment inevitably comes SOMEWHERE along the line where you think any one of the following thoughts:

​- I'm new at this... I feel guilty for charging money.
​- Other people know more than about this than I do.
- Who am I to charge for this service?
- Why should anyone listen to me?
- This was a stupid idea.
- I HATE having to chase down clients to pay me! 
- I feel guilty charging my friends.
- I feel guilty charging my family.
- I hate money.



Any of those sound familiar? Read on... 

Mary Poppins was right, y'all...it's way easier to get a person to invest in something they need ("medicine"- AKA your product or service), by first giving them something they want ("sugar", baby).

Picture this: It's lunchtime at work and like every other office-bound-human taking a break, you're scrollin' through the 'gram. You come across a picture that catches your eye, so you click on the profile. You dig the photos and you start looking through their feed, but as you do, you notice that EVERY CAPTION IS TRYING TO SELL YOU SOMETHING. 

Gross, right?
You promptly exit out of that feed- no like or follow for them, and especially no website click! 
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So stop trying to make *everyone* happy.

At my previous "day job" I worked for an awesome Women's Lifestyle site, and a big part of our job was posting videos to YouTube. While I was there, we were given the opportunity to become YouTube Certified (it's a real thing) and I took online classes, studied like a college kid, took a long-ass test, and became YouTube Certified in Audience Growth.
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To be honest, the YT "Modules" were boring AF and I kinda wanted to tear my eyelashes out one by one. But lucky for YOU guys, I kept all my educational materials and distilled the most helpful information from the course into easy-to-digest nuggets of wisdom.

My main takeaway was that all the Audience Growth classes boiled down to the same basic principle:
CREATE *AUTHENTIC* COMMUNITY. Before you roll your eyes and throw up a little bit (I know I did), consider the following: 

​                             Question: Who do you actually WANT to connect with your "brand"? 
                          Short Answer: People you'd want to hang out with anyway.

...You can only be who you are.

A couple weeks ago I was asked a  question that sounds like the answer should be super complicated, but in reality is quite simple:

         Question: "I'm overwhelmed...Where do I even *start* when creating my 'brand'?!" 
         Short Answer: "Post about stuff you like anyway."


Long(er) answer: ​One of the most important elements to creating a successful online presence (and one of the biggest challenges for literally everyone) is to STAY CONSISTENT. And the easiest way to stay consistent is to create content that vibes with *who we are in the first place*.

 Being exactly who you are means your content is going to be one, super important word: SUSTAINABLE
                                                                                 

Think about it this way... if you're a vegan and you're cooking vegan meals every night, how likely are you to start a business that posts about hamburgers? Not very. Because it would take a LOT of research and work for you to constantly try to come up with new stuff to say about hamburgers. Because you don't eat hamburgers. Because you're a vegan. It would, however, be very easy for you to talk about different salad recipes. And plant-based proteins. And dairy substitutes. Because you're a vegan. Get it?

It sounds cheesy (sorry, vegans), but it's true. You have to figure out who you are, before you can attract the *right* people/clients/customers to your site. And then you have to KEEP COMMUNICATING who you are in a clear, sustainable, effective way. If that sounds daunting, don't worry! It did to me too!... 

Which is EXACTLY why I came up with TEA TIME:
To give you the shortcuts I wish I'd had when figuring out how to fit all the different sides of me (Actress! Writer! Feminine Feminist!) into one, consistent package while still staying true to myself.

So where do you start when you're trying to hone in on who you are? Well, there are a lot of questions you can ask that'll help you figure it out. Kinda like those Buzzfeed quizzes that tell you which 90's movie character you are. (Don't lie, you know you've played more than one. And if you're curious, I'm Winifred Sanderson from 'Hocus Pocus'.)

Subscribe to this blog and stay tuned for what some of those questions are!

Or, of course, you can hire me to help you figure it out: HERE.