Often times you see the advice to “just be you” with your blog. But how easy is it to really just be you?

Even though I’m a fairly confident and persuasive person, translating myself and my life into blog world format doesn’t come naturally. I can’t talk like I speak because I’m rather shy in person yet overly extroverted online. I also use my blogs as a way to talk about things I don’t usually talk about in person. I’m a much better writer than talker so it’s much more natural for me. All that being said, I wanted to to take today to talk about how I go about finding my voice and being the best me I can be when it comes to my blogs.

1. Find your passion

Find something you’re passionate about. I don’t care if it’s online, in your life outside of the Internet, or completely in your dreams – find passion in something. And then when you figure it out, shout it from the rooftops and share it with everyone. I blog about a lot of things between here and my numerous other blogs. But I’m passionate about food, self-employment, and living life to the fullest. So almost every project I have, or every other blog I create, somehow relates to one or more of those things. This ends up being what people know me for. I don’t claim to be an expert on anything that I love, but they are things that I’m passionate about that I want to share with the world so I do. It was by far the easiest thing for me to do because talking about it is natural and never forced.

2. Apply the golden rule

So the golden rule states “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.” And I use this as a way to find my voice on the Internet. I try to blog in a way that reflects what I love about other bloggers. Those that are willing to help others. Those that build a sense of community around them. Those that are helpful, honest, and open. I love blogs like that so I try to put those types of things into the voice behind my blogs. It makes it easy for me to spend time working on my blog, writing posts, etc because it’s a direct reflection of my ethics and standards.

3. Find your comfort zone and then ignore it

When I first started blogging, I started within the walls of my comfort zone. It may have been a bit bigger than most people’s, but for me, it was limiting and restricting. It made me feel like I was lying to myself when it came to my blog. There was so much more to me outside of my comfort zone that I knew was there, just waiting for me to break down the barriers. So I did. I told all of my deepest secrets during secret week,branched out into a new blog, and completely redid my product line in the shop. I was scared of people judging me for my secrets and worried that starting over with a shop and blog would be hard, but it was the right move for me and my business. What’s within your comfort zone may be the popular decision, but it’s not always the right move for you, your blog, or even your business. Figure out where your barriers lie and ensure that what you’re doing isn’t limited by the walls you created. If it is, knock them down and do something out of the ordinary. You never know what you will find beyond those walls – it just might be the thing that eventually defines you.

4. Love what you’re doing and if you don’t, change it

I mentioned in the above point that I started a new blog and redid my products in the shop and there’s truly only one reason why I did that: I was no longer loving what I was doing. Pieces of me were getting lost along the way and I needed to change. I was at that fork in that road that forces you to give up or change for far too long. I thought about quitting for so long. I wanted to and I was ready to. But deep down, I knew I could change it. So I did. And because of that, my voice changed. However, it was a direct reflection of the change that had occurred within me which was exactly what I needed. If you don’t love what you’re doing or how you’re doing it, change it. Even if it’s hard, make it happen. It’s not the finishing point that matters – it’s the journey that brought you there. So make the journey a good one. One that reflects who you are and the changes that occur within you and your life.

5. Don’t ever be discouraged

I’ve had “failed” product lines. I’ve had posts with no comments. I’ve been rejected and ignored. And while it felt rather life shattering when it happened, I bounced back every single time. It became an opportunity to grow and/or change instead of a mistake that I regretted. Because of this, I’m able to keep my head high when things get tough. A slow down in sales or advertising. Lack of views or comments. It happens to everyone and sometimes it’s truly just temporary. Use those moments for growth and change instead of wallowing and frustration. Use that time to come up with a new idea, change your blog/shop/posts up, or just refocus on what you really want out of everything. We’ve been trained as a society to think of these things as negative experiences, but they don’t have to be. They are what you make of them and can easily define the voice you’re looking for when it comes to the online world.

The How-To/5 Tips is a weekly series that will be moving to Thursdays next week! It is dedicated to answering some of the most popular questions I’ve been asked through consulting and on my blog. Want tips on something similar in nature? Or maybe you want more personalized advice? Send me an email at afterninetofive@gmail.com.

The Etsy Search Ads are one of two ways that Etsy allows handmade business owners to market their business on their site. I have used them to promote my current shop in a few different ways and wanted to share my experience with those considering using this as a tool for their shop. This is 100% based off of my experience with them and you may find that other people have had different results.

My take on them: I will not be using them again as I didn’t achieve the desired results from it. I made a few sales, got an okay amount of views, and only a few favorites. But for those that want to try it out, here’s what I recommend!

1. Be specific with the products you promote

The Etsy Search ads have you pay by impression. So every time your ad is shown to someone (even if they don’t click on it), you’re charged. Therefore it’s crucial to make sure your products are ones that people want to buy, especially when paying to have them show up before other products on Etsy. Select ones with the best pictures, ones that might be a popular trend, a product that’s been marked as a favorite multiple times, etc. Choose specific products that you want to really market to people so they are more likely to click on them.

2. Only select the most relevant keywords

It may seem like the more keywords the better, but that’s not the case. The most relevant keywords are the best ones to use every time. Look at what people have searched for and how they came to your shop in the past. Try to use similar keywords to those as you already know that people come to your shop because of it. Also, try to avoid vague keywords. Colors and simple words may not always lead to a relevant search for a potential customer, leading them to completely ignore your ad.

3. Watch the trends when you begin and adjust as needed

You can adjust the ads that you have in place every 24 hours. So if you notice that one or two keywords aren’t getting you anything in terms of relevant views, you can delete them. Watch what’s bringing good traffic to your site (searches that lead to a view, favorite, or sale) and what’s not doing anything (an impression that doesn’t lead to a view, favorite, or sale.) Adjust your keywords (and products if needed) as necessary to make sure you’re getting your money worth.

4. Pay attention to the rest of your searches without the ads

Be sure to pay attention to all of the searches going to your shop during that time, not just the search ads. Adjust the keywords according to those as well. Compare and contrast your searches OUTSIDE of the search ads to see if they are truly even benefiting the products you’re trying to showcase. If your shop is doing better in the non-search ad searches, then maybe it’s not working in your favor and it may be a good time to consider ending the search ads and maybe picking a new marketing strategy.

5. Start small

You could spend A LOT of money on the search ads to find out that it doesn’t work. So I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend starting out small. Maybe even $5-10. If you find out that it works for you, then you can easily up your amount. If it doesn’t, then you aren’t out a ton of money. The amount of money you spend only changes how often you’re given the impression/what you’re charged for so it’s in your benefit to only start with a small amount of money to find out if it works.

The How-To/5 Tips is a weekly series, dedicated to answering some of the most popular questions I’ve been asked through consulting and on my blog. Want tips on something similar in nature? Or maybe you want more personalized advice? Send me an email at afterninetofive@gmail.com.

Marketing your blog is definitely necessary for it to grow. Paying money to do this isn’t always an option though. The tips below are 100% free other than time and are great for finding traffic and bringing it back to your blog. Be sure you’re happy with your blog’s look and content before spending too much time on these tasks though. Bringing in views to a website that is lacking in design or content is unlikely to create returning visitors and is more likely to stunt the growth of your blog.

1. Ensure your blog can grow by “Word of Mouth” marketing

By far my favorite way to market for multiple reasons. Word of Mouth marketing consists of very little effort on your part in the end. However, it involves a lot of your effort in the beginning. You may not be the one spreading the word, but you are the one that’s creating the content you are hoping will spread in the first place. Spend time on your posts and write ones that you feel are worthy of being shared, ReTweeted, posted in a links post, etc. I’ve started many posts only to erase them by the time they are done because I could never find the exact words to be 100% satisfied with it. While a clean design is needed to read your blog, your content is the key to it’s growth so invest your time and effort into it. People will see that effort and be much more likely to spread the word.

2. Include an option to share your posts on your blog

To go along with the first one, you MUST make it easy for people to share your posts. The easier the better because some people are unlikely to put forth much effort in sharing your work if you don’t make it accessible within a few clicks. If you notice at the bottom of all my posts, you’ll see a few buttons – Twitter, Pinterest, etc. These make it easy for your readers to quickly send it to the website they would like to share on which will hopefully in turn bring you more views. WordPress has MANY widgets that do this, but one of my favorites is Social Discussions. Blogger also has this option in the blog posts.

3. Make social media become your best friend

Social media is a great resource to share your work if you do it right. Grow your followers by interacting with them before you spam them with a bunch of links. In general, try to use the 80/20 rule: Interact and share someone else’s work 80% of the time while you share your own 20% of the time. This works for multiple reasons: you not only start to build relationships with other people, but you also engage your audience before promoting yourself. Learn the ins and outs of all of your chosen social media sites and then use them to your advantage. This could include scheduling updates for prime reading time, giveaways, finding a new audience, building relationships, etc.

4. Get your name out there on other blogs

Some of the most common ways are through guest posts, advertising (ad swaps and some blogs offer free advertising if we’re still looking at zero cost routes), and commenting on other blogs. The key with this approach is being incredibly tactful. Don’t leave pointless comments or write a sloppy guest post just to hopefully get views on your own blog. It won’t work. Comment because you have something worth saying and leave your name / blog link at the end for people to easily find you. Write a guest post that’s worthy of Word of Mouth Marketing and include your links at the end or the beginning. Similar to this, advertise on blogs that are similar in nature and would generate a good audience for your blog. Don’t just advertise on anything that’s free. It’s worth it to be picky when you’re deciding on where you want your audience to come from.

5. Sell yourself on ALL of your sites

Many of us have multiple websites, even if they are social media sites. This can include a shop, shop blog, personal blog, Twitter, HelloCotton, Bloglovin, Facebook, About.Me Page, and so on. Use all of your websites to promote yourself tactfully. Let people on Facebook know that you have a Twitter account. Tell people on Twitter that you have a Facebook giveaway going on. Share with your customers from your shop that you have a blog and vice-versa. If someone is following you in one place, they’re a great option to follow you in another. And sometimes it just takes letting them know that they can find you elsewhere. However, don’t overload people with the information – I promise that they don’t need to be reminded every day. 1 or 2 times a month is plenty. But you can also ensure that your links are prominent on all sites so they don’t need a reminder. This point is very important because some people are more likely to read and share things on different sites so you’re increasing your chances of your blog or work being mentioned/shared.

The How-To/5 Tips is a weekly series, dedicated to answering some of the most popular questions I’ve been asked through consulting and on my blog. Want tips on something similar in nature? Or maybe you want more personalized advice? Send me an email at afterninetofive@gmail.com.

1. Start a series you’re passionate about

The 5 Tips series is something I absolutely LOVE doing. Every week I look forward to this post. Even if I’m a giant slacker and writing it only hours before it’s scheduled to go live. I always feel reinvigorated with my blog after the posts go live and I get feedback from my readers. I love helping people and sharing my tips/ideas with them + I love blogging so it’s a win-win for me. Before you start a series, always be sure to decide if it’s something that will last though. Ensure you won’t run out of ideas after three posts and make sure it’s a long-term passion for you, not just a phase.

2. Turn off your computer

Take a break from the things you’re desperately wanting to accomplish and live your life outside of the computer for a little bit. All of my most inspiring moments, happen when I’m off the computer and living life. There are very few times where I’m stuck in a writing rut and staring at my computer screen brings me out of the funk. Close your laptop and do something. Even something as simple as watching a movie can inspire me. But get out, take a walk, go to a new place, talk to a friend – do something that’s likely to make you think and get those wheels turning again.

3. Save ALL of your ideas for blog posts

I have MANY more ideas for blog posts than actually posted blog posts. But I keep all of them in a blog post idea notebook. There are essentially five categories they end up falling into:

Most of my ideas come to me when it’s rather inconvenient for me to write a full-on blog post so I write them down for a later date when I can devote the attention needed to it. Some of the ideas are never used and some need more research before I would write a post about it. Other ideas are best suited for guest posts because I may have already talked about it on my blog or it may be somewhat irrelevant to my standard topics.

There have been SO many times that I pulled out the notebook on a day I felt uninspired and then proceeded to write numerous posts so I would highly recommend some method of keeping track your ideas to stay organized and inspired.

4. Get some insight from other people

I talk to my husband about my blog on a pretty regular basis. He also reads my blog which means he’s a great source of inspiration when I need something fresh. He knows what I write so he can usually suggest something I haven’t talked about recently, or even at all. I’ve also talked to friends who read my blog (including other bloggers) when I’m having a bit of writer’s block and they tend to be able to help me out. Similar to this, sometimes I reach out and ask people to guest post on my blog. Sometimes a new face and new ideas are the perfect thing to give you some new ideas.

5. Change up the daily grind

More often than not my lack of creative thinking is an after effect of my schedule becoming dull and repetitive. So I change it up. I do things in a different order, work more at night rather than during the day, or work on something that’s been put on the back burner for a while. I tend to try new things until I slip into another schedule that seems to work for a while and then the process starts all over again. This keeps me on my toes on reminds me that I don’t need to me so set in my ways, inspiring me to write more and be a bit more creative with my time and projects.

* Bonus tip: Keep an inspiration board or journal filled with pretty things, things that make you think, favorite memories, quotations, etc. Use it as a guide when you need a bit of a jump-start to your inspiration and imagination for the day.

1. Remember that you most likely don’t like everyone, and not everyone will like you

It’s a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but you can’t please them all. Now that doesn’t mean that people need to make it well-known to the entire world that you aren’t exactly their cup of tea, but it is the truth. You are bound to make some enemies on the journey through life even if it was never your intention. People should have better things to do with their time than leave rude remarks about you on the Internet, but sometimes they don’t. Just remember that it’s their problem, not yours.

2. Fight the odds of the negative overruling the positive
Sometimes (okay, most of the time) when something negative happens, it’s only a matter of moments before it seems like nothing positive happened before that point from it. All of the good things that were associated to that part of your life rush out like a flood, leaving behind only the footprints of a negative action or word. Suddenly we forget why we were doing it in the first place and we think that it’s only created a negative response, ready to throw away all of our hard work. Don’t let this happen. Not just in blogging, but in life in general. When something negative happens, remind yourself of the positive things. Even if it’s like pulling teeth to dig through the bad to find the good. Most likely, if you were doing something, you probably had a good reason for it. So remind yourself of that reason and any other good reasons associated with it. Remind yourself that it’s just one negative thing compared to however many positive things have already happened with it. And if you struggle when you’re faced with those negative moments, write the list out ahead of time. Take the things you love in life and write down why you love them, keeping those lists for the moments when you’re considering throwing it all away.

3. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything (out loud at least)
A lot of people I know think I don’t get upset about anything. They think I’m the calmest, most laid back person alive, never letting anything get under my skin. And while I’d love for that to be true, it’s not. I just have a hard time saying mean things to people because I know I’m likely to regret them. So I don’t say them. At least not out loud. I’ve had my share of unsent letters, written with the meanest words I know. I’ve said things to my husband in a venting session that I would be ashamed to hear myself say at any other moment in time. But it works for me. I constructively get my rage/grudge off my chest and forget it ever happened when I can no longer utter the cruel words that so wished to shout when I was first hurt. I allow myself this time to get it out of my system, knowing that once it’s done, I need to move forward from the situation. And it works for me. So figure out a constructive way for you to get it all out in a way that isn’t going to leave you regretting your words or your actions and move on. But whatever you do, don’t just hold it in. It will never have a place to go and will someday come back to do just the opposite of what you’re trying to do – come out in a negative manner, making you no better than the person that upset you in the first place.

4. Sometimes it’s truly just them and not you
Blogs are such an interesting aspect of life. I for one, am relatively open on my blog but if I were to meet you on the street I would be so quiet and reserved you’d hardly know I was there. The Internet provides something for me to essentially hide behind and feel comfortable baring my soul to the world. But for some, it provides something to hide behind and say things, rude things, without the consequences that life outside of the Internet brings. Anonymity lets people do, and say, a lot of things that aren’t necessarily right which means that it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s directly linked to you when you somehow step into their line of fire. Maybe they’ve had a bad day, or maybe their anger is directly related to something much deeper than the words or actions that fell upon you. You will most likely never know so it’s important to not waste your time trying to figure it out and instead focus on making sure you’re happy, never letting someone who isn’t worth your time of day take that away from you.

5. Approach everything with an open mind
Easier said than done, I know. Especially when it’s pretty clear that the people around you aren’t doing it. But it’s worth it, I promise. Wording is everything on the Internet. It is SO easy for miscommunications without the ability to understand facial expressions or body language no matter how many emoticons or LOLs are thrown into a conversation. Remember this when you’re writing, and remember it when you’re reading. Write without alienating your audience and read without judging the writer. Try to focus on the intention of what’s being said as it’s not always in line with what’s being said or done. If the intention seems rude, then so be it. Leave it alone. There’s not much more you can do other than frustrate yourself trying to remedy a situation that is not your problem.

The How-To/5 Tips is a weekly series, dedicated to answering some of the most popular questions I’ve been asked through consulting and on my blog. Want tips on something similar in nature? Or maybe you want more personalized advice? Send me an email at afterninetofive@gmail.com.