Social Media

Call Me Old Fashioned

April 10, 2017

Top: Similar | Pants: AG | Shoes: Johnston & Murphy (under $100) | Purse: Similar | Sunglasses: Similar

Photography by: Banavenue

From a young age, girls read about their prince charming and we are taught to be hopeless romantics from day one. Well nowhere in any of the fairytale books that mom was reading to me did it say anything about finding my prince charming in a bar or on a dating app but as we grow up and start to enter into the real world, we realize this whole dating and relationship thing is a little (ok, a LOT) more complex than Cinderella made it seem.

We now have so many more variables to deal with in the dating world than our parents ever did and don’t they just love to remind us of the “good ol days” every chance that they get? I can just hear mom saying now “why can’t you just pick up the phone and call one another?”. O Mom, don’t you know that there are a million and one other ways to try to contact someone before actually making direct contact?!

We now live in the age of social media, texting, and other superficial ways of flirting. Before you can even think about going on a date, you have to go through all of these hoops just to get there. First it’s the exchanging of numbers, then it’s some superficial small talk over text, and then maybe you even add one another on one or five million forms of social media. You can’t just come right out and ask to go out for drinks because that would make you seem crazy!! Believe me, I feel just as ridiculous typing this as you probably do reading it, but that my friends is what our world has come to!

I am not shaming anyone who has met their significant other in a bar or on a dating app because I have most certainly met guys in both scenarios. I am more so upset with the fact that since we do have all of these variables to deal with, it’s like nobody knows how to be direct and forth coming! All of these variables allow us to hide behind our little smart phones and play games. Whether we want to admit it or not, that’s what it is, it’s mind games! Why are we making dating so much harder than it has to be? Why can’t we just come out and say “hey, I like you?” without sounding too needy or too clingy?

So yea, call me old fashioned but I am still holding out for one of the good ones. A guy that has no issues with picking up the phone and having a conversation until 2 in the morning. Not someone that purposely waits 5 hours to respond to a text message (because that’s playing the game right?) or would rather send filtered snapchats back and forth than hang out with me in person. I’m tired of the mind games, I’m tired of the lack of self confidence that social media has built, and I’m tired of a dating world that is built on forms of communication that aren’t organic.

If you are riding the single bus and feel my struggle, all that I can say is that our prince charming is out there and when you find him, he is not going to play games. If there is one thing that I am certain of, it is that if a guy genuinely likes you, he will do anything in his power to talk to you and get to know you. Not text you every other day, not Snapchat you at 2 am, not Instagram direct message you because he saw you post a picture in a swimsuit, not Facebook message you because he sees you are online. No ladies, don’t stand for any of that. He will want to hang out with you and if he can’t do that, he will still make it known the best way that he knows how that he likes you. Now, I can’t tell you how that will look because here I am still single, but believe me, if a guy is into you, you should know without a doubt and if you don’t, well then he isn’t worth your time. *Tell him boy bye*

So hold out for your prince charming. The one that mom read you fairytales about. The dating world might look a whole lot different than it did in those children books and even now with all of the perfect ending chick flicks, but I promise you, he is out there. Maybe in a bar, maybe on a dating app, or maybe someone in passing, but make sure to hold out for the one that doesn’t make you question if he likes you, one day you will just know. And that’s the one worth holding out for!

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Blog Tips, Outfits

How to Grow Your Instagram

January 30, 2017

Vest: Similar | Leggings: Nordstrom | Boots: Nordstrom Rack (size down a full size) | Purse: Similar (less than $40) | Sunglasses: Karen Walker

Photography by: Banavenue

The question that I get asked the most since I started blogging is “How did you grow your Instagram so fast?”. When I started out, I think I probably googled the same thing and tried to look to other bloggers for some magic formula that would shoot me to the top. Unfortunately there is no magic formula and while there are certainly tips that I am going to share with you today, remember that what works for one person may not work for another. I am by no means an expert on the subject, but since so many of you have asked over the past year, I thought it was finally time to share how I gained 18,000 followers in one year.

In the beginning…

The “follow to unfollow” method: If you don’t know what I am talking about, I am referring to where someone will follow hundreds of Instagram accounts and then after a few days they will go unfollow every single account. Why would someone do this? Because it get’s their name in front of Instagram accounts that might not have seen them otherwise. It is pretty frowned upon by people who have been in the business for awhile because it is “spammy”. It might be “spammy” but it certainly works and in the beginning, you do what you have to do. So I would go follow about 100 accounts a night, and then go unfollow them 3 days later if they didn’t follow me back. This got me a couple thousand followers. You can download the app InsTrack to easily track who is and is not following you back. At the point that I am at, I do not do this anymore but I felt like it is one that I should still disclose.
Loop Giveaways: If you have been around Instagram for awhile you most likely have participated in one. These are where in order for an Instagram user to enter into the giveaway, they must follow every single account that is hosting the giveaway. It is called a “loop” because it will take you to each host’s Instagram and will bring you back to whoever you started with. If you are looking to get involved in one of these giveaways, they are usually around $20-$30 to be a part of and you can find out how to get in on one by simply asking someone else that has already done one. They should be able to point you in the right direction. Again, these are a little “spammy” because contestants hate having to follow so many accounts. While giveaways are great to help gain followers fast, you will usually see that right after the giveaway is over, you will lose a substantial amount of the following that you just created due to the fact that they only followed you so that they could win a contest, not because they actually wanted to. I still participate in these from time to time but I try to keep it to a minimum. This has probably boosted my following by at least 5,000 followers.
Call on your friends: Sometimes all it takes is asking! Have your friends give you a quick shout out on their social media pages telling their followers to give you a follow. This could be something along the lines of, “Everyone go follow my best friend’s new blog, you can find her on social media with the handle @itsallchictome”.
“Follow Fridays”: I’d say that these are more for bloggers and small business owners. Essentially what you do is get together a group of 4 people that would want to promote each other to their own followers. As you probably guessed, this happens on Fridays. I typically will try to pair up with 3 other fashion bloggers that I genuinely like to follow so I know that they would be people that my followers would like to follow as well. I would suggest trying to stick to promoting other accounts that are in your same realm of business. Whenever you promote a “follow Friday”, you are essentially getting all of the other participants’ followers. The higher the amount of followers that each of the other 3 participants have, the more followers you will get. These do not gain a ton of followers, but they certainly help. Most people will delete the Instagram post after 24 hours.

The must do’s…

Engagement is everything: You must engage with your current followers but you must also engage with potential followers. Both parts to this equation are crucial. Your followers want to hear from you and know that you are a person that is interested in them and what they have to say. On the other hand, it is important to constantly be getting your name out there. So while you might not think that commenting on some random girl’s photo is doing you any good, you are wrong. Each time you comment on someone’s photo, there are new people that are going to see your name. Exposure is everything and it all starts with engaging. When I say engage, I specifically mean liking and commenting on other people’s photos. You should be doing this daily. I would say that I like and comment on about 100 people’s Instagram accounts per day. Make sure that you are constantly following new people and commenting on different people’s accounts so that you are getting a broader reach.
Use ALL 30 hashtags: This is imperative. Instagram only allows you to use 30 hashtags and you should be using all of them. It doesn’t matter if you think that they make your caption look dumb, I promise that everyone else is doing it and you just have to realize that it’s part of the business game. It is important to think of Instagram like a search engine and hashtags are the only way to search for something. Hashtags get users to your page that might not have found you any other way. There are popular hashtags that you can and should use (and I will most likely do another post on that). I would suggest doing half and half when it comes to popular hashtags versus explanatory hashtags. Explanatory hashtags are anything to explain what is going on in the picture. Whether it is an article of clothing, a brand, or an action that is taking place. Think about what someone might search for in hopes to land on your picture. The best way to input hashtags into your photo is by hiding them into a comment right after you post. This way once people start commenting on your post, the hashtags will get hidden unless someone takes the time to go back through your comments.
Getting featured: Tag every brand or company possible in every single photo that you post. Regrams (when a company or account reposts your photo) help grow your following so much and also put your name out there to brands that you might really want to work with. If you know that a company is going to be posting about you on their Instagram account, make sure you ask them to not only tag you in the photo, but to also give you credit in the caption. The bigger the following of the account that reposts you, the more followers that they are sending your way. Getting featured on Liketoknow.it’s Instagram is just about the best thing that can happen. They have over 2 million followers and if you get reposted on here, not only will it send hundreds if not thousands of new followers your way, it also will give you a nice paycheck to boot.

If you have any other specific questions on this topic, please visit my contact page and shoot me an email. I am always happy to help where I can! If you enjoy my blog tip posts like this one, please let me know so that I can keep them coming for you guys!

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Outfits, WWW

Social Media Time

August 17, 2016

Skirt: Similar | Shoes: Target | Purse: Charming Charlie | Watch: Christian Paul

If you have been around my little space of the internet for some time, you may or may not know that on top of keeping up with the blog, there are other platforms that I create content for and post to regularly as well. All of these platforms would fall under the umbrella of social media. Today I thought I’d give you a breakdown of what I use each of them for so that you can pick and choose which to follow based on your interests and what works best for you!

Facebook

I actually have two Facebooks, one personal and one for my blog. I use Facebook to promote new blog posts, post photos that I take throughout the day, and share articles that I find inspiring. I like to think that Facebook is the all encompassing of blog posts, Instagram and personal photos, motivating or inspirational articles, as well as a place to find out about local events. If you are going to pick just one platform to follow, I suggest Facebook!

Instagram

I try not to pick favorites but I have to admit that Instagram usually wins out above everything else! If you are a visual person and like looking at photos rather than reading an entire blog post, then Instagram is for you. I share photos from recent blog posts, daily outfits that I think are worth sharing (aka when I actually look like I didn’t just roll out of bed), sale alerts, event coverage, vacation tidbits and really just lots and lots of clothes that you won’t find in a blog post! The best part about Instagram, is LikeToKnowIt. If you are not signed up for it your bank account is probably thanking you, but your closet certainly is not! Read all about how you can get outfit details of what I am wearing in my Instagram photos sent straight to your inbox after liking an Instagram picture here.

Pinterest has been around for awhile and you probably know it as your go-to site when you want to make some new fancy recipe, get crafty, or plan your next home renovation. Yes, all of that is true but did you know that it is also a great source for fashion inspiration as well? If you visit my Pinterest, I have boards that cover everything from blog photos to fashion inspiration and vacation hot spots to recipes that I am dying to try. For the most part, Pinterest is going to be everything that inspires me, not just all fashion. If you think we have similar taste in style then I bet you might find that we might also like the same recipes, work wear, vacation spots, beauty tips, crafts and so much more!

Snapchat

Snapchat qualifies as my second favorite social media tool. It’s where things get interesting and a little weird 🙂 Want to see what I do throughout the day? Snapchat is where it’s at. You will see everything from my outfit every morning to probably every single meal that I eat. Because where else can you take pictures of your daily Chick-fil-a meals and not be judged? Out of all of the other social media platforms, Snapchat is by far the most personal and gives you a look at what I do in my normal day life. It’s not staged and it’s not planned out unlike almost every other platform. It’s where I can be goofy and share tidbits of my day. I also love that I can interact with all of you via selfies and instant messaging. If we aren’t Snapchat friends-, go add me right now- my handle is shelbiadams!

Twitter

Last but certainly not least is Twitter, and to be honest it is my least favorite and I secretly wish it would die out. Harsh? Sorry Twitter, no hard feelings I hope. I do not keep up with Twitter as much as I should but it is a way to get blog updates, photos and random thoughts from people. If you are more about news and facts, Twitter is for you! Otherwise to me it seems like a dying breed.

So there you have it, a break down of all of the different social media platforms and how I use them! I hope that if we aren’t already following each other that we are now! I love getting to connect with each one of you outside of blogging and hopefully on a more personal level. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with all of the craziness that comes along with social media but the one good thing that it does is let me get to know all of you!

*Thank you Christian Paul Watches for making this post possible.*

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