TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1 Tell our readers about yourself and your blog
- 2 Tell us how you first got into blogging.
- 3 How did you establish your “theme” or brand?
- 4 For your theme or brand, do you have things that you do consistently?
- 5 Where do you find the inspiration for your blog posts?
- 6 What do you think is the best strategy to get more traffic to your blog?
- 7 What’s your favorite social media platform?
- 8 How do you gain followers?
- 9 Once you have the followers, how do you keep them?
- 10 How many times a week do you post?
- 11 Is this a part of your strategy to keep gaining followers or do you post at random?
- 12 What are some misconceptions about social media?
- 13 Do you have photos taken professionally or do you take them yourself?
- 14 What’s your favorite location to take photos?
- 15 How do you find relevant hashtags for your photos?
- 16 What are your top 2 favorite emojis?
- 17 How do you keep your website updated & relevant?
- 18 What apps would you recommend to our followers?
- 19 What else do you want to add to help small business owners?
Social Media is no easy feat. So we’ve interviewed the best of the best to share their social media secrets and successes!
NNB and I go way back… back to the college days at UCF. I met Chelsey in a class at UCF and, of course, we had to do a project together (I feel like projects are in EVERY college class). Needless to say, we kept in touch and even after college. It’s been amazing to see the growth of their NNB brand, especially on their social media! They also bring a different aspect of it to the Orlando blogger scene- Chelsey just moved to NYC! Talk about amazing! Now she and Jocelyn share their favorite clothes (a lot of times at a great steal!) and their favorite things. Here’s Chelsey & Jocelyn’s insight into social media.
Tell our readers about yourself and your blog
Based out of NYC & Orlando, Not Necessarily Blonde is our little scrapbook full of memories comprised of personal style, travel, outtakes and thoughts shared by us! We created Not Necessarily Blonde as an outlet to explore and discover life together. We are two sisters with very different personalities, but share an equal love for fashion and traveling. Our goal is to inspire each of you to reach for things that might seem intangible. We hope you’ll stretch yourself to rediscover the child who believes they can achieve anything again. We want our creative scrapbook to be a place where you can find inspiration and information in one place. Our goal is to share our lives open and honestly; see all the imperfections, candid moments and laughter we share. Giving our friends an insight into our sometimes hectic and imperfect lives, we hope to show that an image can capture a million words, but there is so much more behind a pretty picture and everything is Not Necessarily Blonde. This journey is our storyboard of life together as sisters, as best
Our goal is to inspire each of you to reach for things that might seem intangible. We hope you’ll stretch yourself to rediscover the child who believes they can achieve anything again. We want our creative scrapbook to be a place where you can find inspiration and information in one place. Our goal is to share our lives open and honestly; see all the imperfections, candid moments and laughter we share. Giving our friends an insight into our sometimes hectic and imperfect lives, we hope to show that an image can capture a million words, but there is so much more behind a pretty picture and everything is Not Necessarily Blonde. This journey is our storyboard of life together as sisters, as best friends, and as one another’s biggest fans!
Tell us how you first got into blogging.
After launching Never Naked Boutique in November 2014, we realize what we genuinely love. Photography, styling, content creation, storytelling, social media and curating beautiful images… that’s who we are. All these main components lends itself to a blog more than just a clothing boutique. So, we are launching a new vertical to the N.N.B. brand: Never Naked Boutique & Not Necessarily Blonde, the blog!
Since blogging, we’ve learned that’s truly where our passion lands. Therefore, we are now spending 100% of our time blogging and have recently sold our boutique to a darling girl in the Orlando area.
How did you establish your “theme” or brand?
We were lucky enough to have some trial and error with our boutique. We figured out what worked and what didn’t. We also have been fortunate enough to have one another to ‘bounce’ ideas off… together we’re a very good team and are constantly trying to make things better – not only creatively, but operationally.
For your theme or brand, do you have things that you do consistently?
It’s the age old statement, “consistency is key” and it’s not a lie! It certainly isn’t easy to post on every social media platform at the best times everyday, plus blog everyday, plus reach out to companies for marketing etc., but setting up an editorial calendar has helped and carving out set days we work on certain projects helps. Consistency and organization really is a big part of the battle.
Where do you find the inspiration for your blog posts?
We both read or browse the net A LOT! We also keep a running list, so as we find something interesting, we will jot down an idea that stems from it.
Other bloggers
What’s going on in entertainment, fashion, beauty, home decor sites
Magazines
The News
Podcasts! – huge podcast junkies
That’s just a few of the outlets we keep our eyes on
What do you think is the best strategy to get more traffic to your blog?
SEO, consistency and providing something unique. “Content is King” – was said by Bill Gates in 1996. 20+ years later, that is still the case!
Instagram – we’re addicted and I wish we knew why! We’re shifting some of our focus to Pinterest in Q2.
How do you gain followers?
The infamous question!
1) We post at certain times – based on our analytics that support when our followers will be most likely to engage
2) Quality over quantity – we’re still new ourselves, so sometimes our images aren’t perfect with the clarity we want, but you also can’t get SO caught up on perfection that you end up posting nothing… paralysis by analysis is a very real thing
3) Comment, like, follow fellow bloggers – blogging is a community so don’t ask for people to follow you, if you’re not willing to return the engagement.
Once you have the followers, how do you keep them?
We really try to only post images that our followers will enjoy seeing. We’re a fashion & travel blog (dabbling into beauty), so we will only post images that support that. You won’t see political posts or a picture of grandma on our feed (although our granny is pretty cute) 😉
How many times a week do you post?
We try to post 4x per week on the blog; on social media, several times per day (usually 2-3)
Is this a part of your strategy to keep gaining followers or do you post at random?
100%
That there is no skill or strategy behind it – we think the people who feel this way perhaps don’t understand it or don’t want to. Social media and SEO truly IS the future – get on board now!
Do you have photos taken professionally or do you take them yourself?
We have done both. It depends on if we are both in the same city nowadays. If we aren’t we hire someone, if we are, we will shoot one another.
What are some tips you can give in order to take a good photo?
Watch YouTube tutorials and figure out the basics. Photography might be one of the most difficult things when it comes to blogging and it may be one of the top 3 most important aspects of your brand. Without quality content, it really is that much more difficult to grow organically. There are also classes or even Groupons out there where you can learn for cheap.
What’s your favorite location to take photos?
Well, Jocelyn lives in Orlando and I live in NYC – so our locations really are a little random mostly.
Research & trial and error
What are your top 2 favorite emojis?
The two sisters
The laughing face with the tear
How do you keep your website updated & relevant?
Because we post so often (or at least try) it stays relevant. As far as updated: we review our analytics on the 1st and 15th of every month and we set aside the first of the month to go through our broken links, redirects, SEO etc.
What apps would you recommend to our followers?
Photography Apps: -VSCO -Snapseed -Facetune
Organizational/Fiance Apps: -Evernote -Good old fashion day planner -Concor
Scheduling Apps: -Bettr -Tailwinds
Inspirational SEO/Marketing Apps: -Marketing School with Neil Patel & Eric Siu (podcast) -Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn (podcast)
What else do you want to add to help small business owners?
Network and set up ‘think tanks’ with people who are like-minded. It doesn’t even have to be within your own industry always, but being around people who want to ‘hustle’ will keep you motivated… especially on those days when you want to curl up in bed with ice cream and call it a day!
Feel free to read and shop more here: www.NotNecessarilyBlonde.com
Follow on Instagram: @NotNecessarilyBlonde
XO, NNB Sisters Chelsey & Jocelyn
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