Blogging Archives | Jenna Danielle

Best Gadgets for Bloggers

October 18, 2019

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I’ve been asked a lot about what kinds of gadgets I use when traveling and also for blogging. I’m all about full disclosure, I don’t believe in keeping cool secrets to myself! I decided to list all my cool stuff here and keep it updated so that you, too, can get the tools to make life/travel/blogging easier.

So far, I only have photography equipment because that’s what I get asked about most, but I’lll be adding to this list!

Interested in what I use to make my life easier?

UBeesize Phone Tripod

I SWEAR by this thing! The bendable legs have a textured rubber that makes them stick to whatever you desire. It also has a bluetooth remote so you can take pictures or videos ANYWHERE you can imagine! I rave about this thing to all my friends! And it’s UNDER $20! I would easily pay twice that for the amazing quality of this tripod.

Abithid Travel Tripod

This full size camera tripod is super lightweight (2lbs!). We carried this thing all over Italy and Santorini, Greece in September. It’s sturdy enough to trust with my Canon and it even has a little hook at the bottom to weight it down if you’re experiencing windy conditions (because it’s so light). My only gripe about it is that it’s not as tall as my home tripod. It reaches 49″ so it’s not tiny, but it’s difficult to shoot close ups at eye level. This is trifling, really. There are other travel tripods that may be better, but at under $40, this is definitely the best bang for your buck.

Pixel 2.4GHz Digital Wireless Shutter Release

This, my loves, is how I shoot 80% of the pictures of myself. This wireless shutter release plugs into my camera and I hold the bluetooth remote while I’m snapping pictures of myself. If you’re still setting your camera on a 10 second delay and rushing to pose in front of it, purchase this right now. You won’t believe how much easier this makes your life. It’s only $25.
Please note: this particular shutter release is only compatible with Canon, Pentax, Samsung, Contax, Sigma and Hassleblad Cameras.

Canon Rebel DSLR

The Canon Rebel is an amazing beginner DSLR. It’s very different from a normal point and shoot camera, but if you’re serious about blogging or photography, this is the place to start. This bundle comes with an 18-55mm lens, battery and charger, and memory card so you can begin shooting right out of the box.

50mm & 24mm Canon Lenses

I use these two lenses all the time. They’re prime lenses, which means that they do not zoom in or out. Because of this, they shoot some incredibly sharp images. These are both amazing for travel because they’re small, lightweight and give you a large background. They’re both under $150, which is a REALLY great price for any lens.

What other kinds of gadgets would you like to see listed here?? Leave me a comment or get with me on Instagram!

Blogging Isn’t A Real Job

October 17, 2019

…and other stupid statements.

How many times have you told someone you’re a blogger and been met with a blank stare, or–even worse–snickering?

We recently came back from Italy and the U.S. customs agent asked both of us what we did for a living as he scanned our passports.

“I’m a blogger,” I said.
The man (probably in his early 60s) stared at me for a moment. “I don’t understand what that means.”

“Well, I have a website where I write about living a healthy lifestyle. I work with brands that I believe in to bring my readers products and services that could help them do that.” I said, or, something along those lines. At that point, I had been up for nearly 24 hours.

The man studied me for a moment with a look on his face I could only describe as condescending. Finally, he turned to my husband and laughed “Don’t ever quit your job!”

I’ve yet to perfect my elevator pitch when it comes to being asked what I do. I have a influencer/blogger friend who just tells people she does online marketing. She says it cuts back on the questions and eyebrow raises. What do you think about her response?

Sadly, most bloggers I talk to have a similar story. I gave him an eyebrow raise as I took my passport back, but it got me thinking how little some people know about blogging as a profession. I could fill a book with stories about weekends typing away while my family played board games and watched movies on the couch, or wee morning hours barely able to keep my eyes open as I Googled “how to place google ads on your home page” for the 20th time. Or even learning to get over my fear of being photographed in public because, dammit, I AM my brand.

I could also add that one Friday morning when my entire website crashed and I spent an hour crying and then another 4 on the phone with customer support. Or every time I logged in to see that my page views had dropped and sadly wondering why I was even trying to blog in the first place.

Whoever said blogging is easy was out of their damn mind.

Blogging is a business and as bloggers, we are small business owners. Even though we don’t have a brick and mortar building, we are the sole proprietors in charge of (and certainly not limited to):

•marketing–most of us take our marketing into our own hands through platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. We work to get our brand out in front of the audience we want to connect with. This means tons of copywriting, editing, picture taking/selecting, scheduling and advertising.

•marketing collaborations–a good blogger will not represent a product or service they do not believe in. When we partner with a brand, it is to bring our readers a product/service that will help them. We may or may not earn a small commission off of it. Some partnerships only pay us in product, some in a flat fee.

•sales–see those banners and links on our website? No, we are not ‘sell-outs.’ We have a business that people seek out for whatever we offer (fashion inspo, blogging help, recipes, etc). Because we have a steady stream of readers coming to our site, placing the right ads generates income for us and helps our readers find/purchase the things they are interested in. This happens at no extra cost to our readers. When you purchase something through a link on our sites, you are supporting us and what we do and helping us continue to do it.

•hiring–many of us may not have actual employees, but we do hire services such as graphics designers, virtual assistants, newsletter services, photographers/videographers and more.

•taxes–yep. We pay taxes just like any other business owner.

•content creation–the reason our audience comes to us in the first place. Most bloggers do not have any help in this area. We are constantly brainstorming & writing posts and articles. We are researching which keywords are being searched most and figuring out a way we can get in front of (and help) more readers by using them in our articles. We are Pinning like madwomen and men, because Pinterest is an image-based search engine that drives a huge amount of traffic to our blogs. We are meeting with partners and negotiating collaborations and contracts.

This is a rare picture of my desk looking remarkably clean. It never looks like this…

Sure, it’s hard, but it can be rewarding.

There is no clocking in or out when you’re a blogger. You must learn to juggle this role with that of being a friend, wife, mom, etc. Sometimes that means making hard decisions like saying no to a huge partnership because spending time with the family is more important.

Along with all the aforementioned requirements, as a blogger, you also get to meet some amazing, creative people and sometimes you get to travel to really cool places and eat incredible food. The blogging community I’ve found myself in has become a source of inspiration and admiration for me. I would never have had the opportunity to meet so many badass business women and creative geniuses, if not for diving into this profession head first.

Without the blogging community, I never would have met my blogger bestie, Ashley of Smashingly Ashley She is an inspiration and a HUGE support when blogging gets hard.

My heart goes out to each and every one of y’all that decided blogging was your profession of choice. You are brave and creative and a downright badass. The sacrifices you make on the daily do not go unnoticed.

I want to hear from you:

What are some hardships you’ve faced that you never dreamed you’d encounter when first getting into this business?

What are some of the dumbest misconceptions you’ve heard about blogging in general?

Tell me the worst response you’ve gotten from telling people, “I’m a blogger.”

My Every Day Routine as a Blogger

August 10, 2019

I’ve gotten some requests for a schedule of my typical work day.

Being a blogger (or any work from home job, really) can be hard in the sense of creating your own schedule to stay productive and get everything done that you need to… because there’s really no one to answer to but yourself.

As you read through this, please keep in mind that this isn’t a structured schedule. My days tend to change depending on if we are traveling, if I have an event or meeting to go to, etc.

One crazy important thing I’ve learned in this blogging business, is that I need to schedule ‘work time’ and stick to it. If I don’t, I tend to find myself without a purpose for the day and trying to fit in some time to write or work on social media gets hard. Don’t ask me why. I’m just a planner, through and through.

I don’t always go to the gym to work out. Somedays I enjoy getting my exercise on at home.

Here’s what a typical day looks like for me:

5:45—6:25 AM During the week, I try to get up just before 6. I make my Green Drank smoothie and get ready for the gym. I love working out in the mornings because I feel energized for the rest of the day. During this time, I might post to Instagram. I do not check emails yet.

6:30—7:30 AM Workout. If I don’t go to the gym, I work on schoolwork, read interesting articles, clean up the kitchen and/or help the kiddo get ready for school. Somedays I’ll sleep in till 7. Those days are nice.

7:40—9:00 AM Home, rinse off, make breakfast, get the munchkin on the bus. If I didn’t earlier, I’ll post to Instagram (I like posting in the mornings). I also give myself some time to veg out on the dang app, scroll, comment on posts I like and answer any DMs or comments on my posts.

9:00 AM—time for work. I grab a huge glass of water and head to my office. I always spend the first 15 minutes or so going over what needs to be done and making a list for the day. I’m a list maker, 100%. I like having a reference to glance at when I’ve hit writers block on an article, or I need to switch gears. I have two lists on my desk at all times: one for tasks that need to be done that week, and the one I wrote for the day.

I usually start by answering emails, then checking out analytics for my site and for Pinterest (HUGE traffic driver) to see what’s performing and what’s not. Then I schedule Pinterest pins, create new graphics, write blog posts, research for articles, communicate with brands about current and future partnerships, check IG again, bounce ideas off my blog bestie (if you don’t have one, you need to find one!) plan and schedule shoots, meet ups, etc and anything else that needs to get done!

11AM or 12—take a break for lunch, if I’m not on a roll with something. If I am I’ll just eat at my desk. If Brian’s available, sometimes we’ll go grab lunch together. If I’m not hungry around this time, I’ll still pause for a bit to have a protein shake or a snack.

12—4-ish—run to the store for anything I might need. Shoot pictures for blog posts and social media. I may edit a few and slap them onto a waiting post so I can schedule it. I try to shoot in batches so I only have to mess the kitchen or house up once a week or so. This requires keeping a content calendar so I can look ahead and see what needs to be ready and when. I’ll usually eat again in this span, typically a snack or something small.

4-ish—6-ish PM — If I find a good stopping point for the day I’ll switch to working on school work (grad school).

If Brian’s in town, we may start dinner around 6. If he’s not, I may make something at this point, or I may not. I may just eat a protein bar and open a bottle of wine. When Brian’s in town, I try not to do any work from dinner, on. It’s important to us to get real face time and connect on a partnership level. When we have his daughter (50/50 custody) many times we’ll watch a movie after dinner, or play a board game, always something together.

Towards the end of my week (Friday/Saturday) I like to sit down and work on a posting schedule for Instagram and my blog for the next week. I have a calendar with important dates highlighted. Any sponsored posts are scheduled for the timeline the brand requests.

I like to plan my normal content a week ahead. I’ll show you how I do it. This process fits perfectly with my personality and my level of organization, but I know some (amazing) bloggers that simply wing it every day. They snap a picture, pull up IG and/or a new blog post and lay out what’s on their heart. Y’all, I’d freak out.

Here’s my process for planning content the week ahead:

Preparing for success

I have an “idea bank” in a binder I keep with me. If I’m feeling stuck I’ll take a peek in there. The idea bank is wonderful. I add to it all the time when an idea hits me or when someone else’s post inspires me. I keep the binder with me just about everywhere I go, but you can also open a new note or google doc on your phone. I just prefer writing things down physically. I’m a verbal/physical processor. I need to write things down or talk out loud to work them out. (Sometimes that means I’m talking to the dogs. They pretend not to hear me.) My idea bank has everything from ideas for a series of posts, to things I’d like to share on Instagram posts and stories.

I have a calendar in my binder for any special dates coming up, such as random silly holidays (National Avocado Day, anyone?) events, blogger meet ups, trips, etc . When I first write a special date in there, I figure out what it will take to create content for that post. Sometimes I need to schedule a shoot or a get together way ahead of time, so I will do it right then and there. Sometimes I just need an idea of what to shoot or write about, I’ll notate the date and decide when it needs to be completed by.

Creating content

Next, I think of Instagram post topics I’d like to address to fill in the blank days that I don’t have a sponsored post/special date for. Once I’ve written down the topics I want to talk about for the week, I will check to see which pictures I have in my library that I can use to go with them. If I need to shoot pictures specifically for some of the topics, I make sure to schedule those posts a little further in the week so I can fit the shoot in.

Next, I save each picture as a draft on IG, by getting it ready to post with the topic idea in the caption area, but instead of hitting that SHARE button, I back out and opt to ‘save draft.’ I do this with each picture so I have them all neat and ready in my drafts for the week. Over the next few days, I will go in and write out the captions when I’m feeling inspired.

For blog posts, I try to post 1x/week. If I need to shoot pictures, I’ll do them a day or two before I need to schedule the post, so I have time to edit them and a buffer in case I get distracted by something higher priority… or something shiny. I don’t have a very set schedule for blog posts. I let them come to me however inspiration hits me and I don’t force it. I’ve learned that if I force it, and freak out about publishing a blog post every several days, I turn into a stressed bundle of nerves and it doesn’t happen smoothly. This is the one area I don’t try to be scheduled and precise.

Actual picture of my war zone–I mean, my desk.
Note the plethora of notebooks…. I’ll admit, I have a problem.

If I have a sponsored post to work on, I give myself as much time as possible to really write from my heart and give my readers the best opinions I can about the product or service. The day it’s scheduled to post, I’ll go in and re-read it, tweak a word here or there etc. After it’s posted, I post to all the required social medias about it.

If the sponsored post is for IG only, my process is similar. Brands usually have a set timeframe they would like you to post in that coincides with their marketing campaign. This is why scheduling sponsored posts is a top priority for me, and then I fill in the blank dates with my everyday content.

Whew! What do you think? Does your schedule look anything like mine? I do what works for me, but I’ve had to learn it through trial and error. If I don’t schedule and organize, I tend to get overwhelmed and I’m not productive when I’m in that state.

Are you a planner like myself or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants? Tell me what works for you in the comments!

Are you a planner like me? Check out my free habit tracker for the ultimate daily organization tool!

Track Your Habits w/ Me!

August 1, 2019

Have you ever used a habit tracker? Honestly, I had heard of them before, but I had never used one until recently. A friend of mine showed me his and told me how much it had helped him stay on track and it really got me thinking.

So I tried it out. I’m a very visual person and I found that being able to see all my goals and habits laid out, with dates and affirmations gave me a really great view of which areas I’m doing well in and which areas I thought I was doing well in! It’s really neat to have a visual of your habits.

So I decided to create my own. I’ve been using it for the past month and yesterday I filled out a new one for August. Since getting back into the gym, its been a game changer to see how often I’ve thought I’ve gone versus how often I’ve actually been able to. How many times did I go last week? Three? Four? Uhhhh. Bingo.

Today I’m here to share my habit tracker with you! I’ve created several colors, so you have a bit of a variety if you like.

Click here to get the free habit tracker from my online store!

Aaaaaaaaaand if you need a little inspiration for what to track with your handy dandy new habit tracker, here’s a big ol’ list for you!

Cardio
Gym
Yoga
Track calories
Hit step goal
Meditated
Went for a walk
Ate your veggies
Drank 60oz of water
No soda
No alcohol
No junk food
Wake up at X AM
Go to sleep by X PM
Get X hours of sleep
No smoking

Read bible
Write in journal
List gratitudes
Post to Instagram
Write blog post
Go live on social media
Reach out to someone new

Sweep/mop
Laundry
Cook at home
Meal prep
Grocery shopping
Dust
Clean out fridge
Make bed
Clean bathrooms
Water plants
Do dishes
Load/Unload dishwasher
Organize

Pay bills
No spending
No eating out
No shopping

Do you have any additional habits you like to track that I should add to the list? Comment below and I’ll add ‘em!

How to Sky-Rocket Your Instagram Growth

May 19, 2019

When did Instagram become such work? If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent a scary amount of hours researching posting times, algorithm secrets, follow/unfollow methods, caption ideas, follower counts, etc etc… Maybe–and you don’t have to admit it if you did–you even entertained the idea of buying followers. *gasp* Where does the madness end??

It’s hard not to let that number besides the word followers affect you. If you’re in this game to make some money or make an impact (or BOTH!), you may believe that all golden opportunities lie on the other side of 5k, or 10k, or 100k. Well friend, I’m here to tell you that just ain’t true.

Sure, a bigger follower count can mean more advertising opportunities but there is one thing that’s more important than that number. That’s your engagement.

Anyone can buy fake followers to get their follower count high. You can even buy likes now. But a potential sponsor can look through your profile and see the red flags, leading them to not work with you. When it comes to a company spending money or resources on advertising with you, it all comes down to one thing: ROI. Return on investment. Is it worth it to them to spend the money or comp your hotel stay? The whole point of advertising is for a business to get in front of more people that are likely to buy their product. That’s why companies are now looking at engagement when deciding whether to work with an influencer.

Engagement refers the amount of shares, likes, comments, and follows an influencer has. If you’ve bought followers (no, no), chances are they’re mostly bot and spam accounts that aren’t likely to interact with you in a genuine way. Those followers probably won’t be running out to buy the products you post about. When you have real, genuine followers who enjoy reading your captions and commenting on your photos, that’s when you have engagement that can make a difference. They may see something you’re talking about and make that purchase for themselves. That’s the kind of engagement companies want to see when deciding to work with influencers.

I have a friend who has less than 400 followers. But she’s consistently getting 50-100 likes on every photo! And every single post has genuine comments. It’s not always the quantity, folks, it’s the quality.

OK, so how do I grow my engagement?

How do you get genuine engagement on your posts? Well, as my mom always said, “to have a friend, you have to be a friend.” It’s important to build a community by liking, following, commenting and just interacting with accounts you enjoy and that are in a similar category as yours. When people feel appreciated, many times they reciprocate the effort. When you’re actively reaching out, you are putting yourself in a position to be seen. This is obviously not the ONLY way to gain more genuine engagement on your Instagram, but to me it is an important one that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Here’s my 10×10 method for guaranteed Instagram growth.

Set aside some time every day. I find it works best if you intentionally schedule it into your day, so you don’t get stuck mindlessly scrolling Instagram (happens to the best of us).
Make a list of 10 hashtags that you believe your ideal follower would be interested in.
Open Instagram and type the first hashtag into the search bar.
Go to the top 10 pictures that come up, like and leave a genuine comment on each one.
Repeat with each hashtag on your list.
Do this every day for 10 days.

I guarantee you’ll see results within a week.

This is how I’ve found some of my favorite accounts to follow. I have made friends with people who’s content I seriously love and all because I took the time to find them and interact. In my article 9 Mistakes You Could Be Making with Your Blog, I talk about building a community. It’s important to have people in your corner. This Instagram game takes involvement, plain and simple. I know you can do it, because I know your content is badass and people need to see it.

Do my 10×10 exercise every day for a week, and let me know how it works for you. I’m excited to for you to share your results! Email me, comment on this post or tag me in a post on IG and I’ll check out your profile. I can’t wait to see your IG sky-rocket!

Bonus strategy: Find a large Instagram account that targets your ideal audience and look through the comments on their posts. Check out the profiles of the people that have commented on the big account’s posts then like and leave a few genuine comments on some of their posts. You’ve just touched base with someone who may not have known your account even existed, but that would probably like your content.

And when I say genuine comment, please don’t leave anything like “Please follow me” or “Check out my account.” That’s a little sleazy. And you, my friend, are not sleazy. Remember, be a friend.