Wednesday, June 7, 2017

One Year Blog Anniversary

I can't believe today marks the one year anniversary of my blog, Styles Revealed. I started my blog a year ago today as a creative outlet for me as a stay at home mom at the time.  (I am currently working part time as a wardrobe stylist and teacher). I literally felt my life was  like the movie in Ground Hog day. Everyday felt exactly the same. Getting the kids ready for school, making dinner, bath time, etc.  I fell in such a funk and I felt like I needed something more than just being a mom. Honestly, I was a little depressed because I felt like I lost who I was as an individual before I had my kids. As a result, I decided to take a leap of faith, and last year on this exact day, I decided to pursue my passion for starting a fashion related blog. Hence, Styles Revealed was born and what better day to release my blog than on my birthday. I felt like I was also "reborn". You can read more about my first blog post here. 

It's been such an exciting journey with so many ups and down. I've learned so much this year about blogging and more importantly I learned so much about myself. I want to thank each and one of you for your support and to be able to do what I love! Styles Revealed is definitely still a work in progress and I am happy for all the opportunities and collaborations I had thus far. I will continue to strive my best in providing style tips and my journey through motherhood with you. 
 I rounded up my top 5 things I've learned as a blogger as well as how I grew my Instagram account.  (Disclaimer: This is what have worked for me and what I have learned from my research and what I have observed ) I will also be sharing the details of my favorite maxi romper dress that I will be wearing tonight to celebrate my birthday with my family.  Without further a due, let's get started.


1. Consistency
Consistency is so important in growing your blog and Instagram account. Trust me there are days that I just want to hide under a rock and not post pictures of my outfits or get out of my bed and be in pjs all day. However, I know that my readers expect an outfit post from me at least once a day. Therefore, being consistent is so important. I feel like the more you post the more exposure you get. I find that posting at the same time each day also allows my readers to expect what is coming and it also holds me accountable of when I should post my outfits on Instagram as well as my blog post. I recommend posting at least once a day if you are starting out and trying to grow your audience. If you've been following me for awhile, I usually try to post twice a week and on Thursdays and Sundays which seem to be the best day to post according to my Google analytics. 

2. Time Management 
This one is huge and I've learned that being a blogger is a 24/7 job. Before I started my blog, I always admired and secretly envied how nice it was for bloggers to get free clothes and free vacations for just posting a pretty picture. Initially, I thought that it is so easy and a piece of cake. In contrast, I've learned that it is NOT easy, but a A LOT of time and planning goes behind each blog post from scouting the perfect location to getting the right clothes, accessories, to doing your makeup and hair and also posing and trying to get the perfect shot. It might look easy and appear effortless on Instagram, but what you don't see is about 100 takes of the same photo. In addition to taking picture, writing & editing the photos of  each post is also very time consuming. I wish I could tell you that I figured it all out but in honestly, I'm still working on balancing time with my kids and family and blogging. With summer around the corner, I will be spending more time with my kids and will try to blog as much as I can since at the end of the day my kids and family come first. 

3. Active Engagement 
This is extremely crucial especially growing your likes and engagement on Instagram. It's called social media for a reason. The more you interact with your followers or similar accounts the more engagement you will get in return. I've been struggling lately with this since the school year is ending and my kids have been more demanding but I learned that the more you engage and comment the more your blog and Instagram will grow. I strongly believe in setting aside time maybe once or twice a week or as often as  you can to engage with like minded bloggers or accounts that you love. 

4. Loop Giveaways/Giveaways
I find this to be very controversial lately. Some people are 100% against it and have made comments about people "buying" their followers and that they are not growing organically while others have been 100% supportive of saying this is just another way of trying to gain more traffic to your site. I've done a fair share of giveaways and have a love/hate relationship with it. For those who are unfamiliar with loop giveaways, it is a giveaway where bloggers or shop each pitch in for a grand prize in return for people following their accounts. If the giveaway runs well, you can gain a lot of followers anywhere between about 500-1000 followers, but at the end of the giveaway you usually lose about half of the followers that you gain. In retrospect, I'm glad that I've done them and it has definitely help my Instagram account grow but now that there are so many it's hard to grow through loop giveaways since they are so much more saturated now. At the end of the day, you need to do what's right for you and your account. 

5. Being Authentic and True to Yourself
If you only take away one thing from this post, I hope you take away this one! Being authentic and true to yourself is extremely important. At the beginning of my blogging journey, I was torn about being "liked" by everyone that I had to post a certain outfit to get more likes or be someone that everyone will like. I've learned that it's okay to just be YOU. I know it's hard at times to see other getting more likes or followers and that you have to "copy" them or be just like them. I've learned to reevaluate my goal as a blogger. Is my goal to receive the most likes on my Instagram or is it to use this space to inspire women to be self confident and be supportive of one another. As a result, I have post things that I like and that speak to women who are similar and have the same taste in fashion as me. 

Thank you again for supporting me and continuing to show support on this journey for me. I have a lot of goals for Styles Revealed this year and I thank you for continue to be part of this journey with me. I hope you found this post helpful especially if you are a new blogger and trying to figure it out. Trust me, everyone is still "figuring it out" and that is the whole beauty of blogging because the possibilities are endless. You are able to make YOUR blog anyway YOU want it to be! Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise! Cheers to 36 years and I hope I am able to inspire you in some way and to live your dream! Life's too short not to! 








As a thank you for your support, I have collaborated with Everly to giveaway 2 lucky winners 4 stackable rings or an engagement ring + 2 stackables of your choice.  Entering is very easy.

Guidelines for Giveaway

1.Must follow @Stylesrevealed on Instagram

2. Must follow@Everlyrings on Instagram

3. For 50 extra entries-Comment on this blog post with your Instagram name.

Giveaway will run on Thursday, June 8th-  Sunday 6/11 and the winner will be announced here on Monday 6/12

Congrats to @mjansen1930 & @hopefulincardigans you are the two lucky winners! Please DM me to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone that entered! Stay tuned for more fun giveaways! 


Outfit Details: Jade Floral Maxi Romper (CURRENTLY ON SALE 20% OFF) (wearing XS fits true to size)//Effie Block Heel (fits true to size wearing size 8)//Gucci Dionysus//Necklace: c/o Blush & Bar//Rings: (c/0 Everly)//Braids: c/o Justbraydz//Hat: Brixton//Sunglasses: BP (sold out) similar here & designer version here//Earrings:  Charming Charlie or similar here

All the dresses that I linked below are currently on SALE & 20%

A special thanks for Everly for sponsoring this post and giveaway!

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18 comments

  1. Happy belated birthday and congrats on making it to your one year blogging anniversary! I enjoyed reading your tips and experiences and am happy to have met you through blogging! Oh, and I'm always happy to shoe-twin with you! :)
    Gina || On the Daily Express

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    1. Thanks so much Gina! I'm so glad we connected through blogging and sharing our passion and love for fashion. I'm always happy to shoe-twin with you too! Great minds think alike, right?

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  2. Happy birthday and blogiversary! So glad that you were able to find and pursue your passion, some people are afraid to step out on faith to try something new and you are so brave to have done that!
    @cocoa36heart

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  3. Happy blog anniversary! I adore all these photos - they're gorgeous! @missannagray ❤️

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  4. Happy Blog Birthday!! So excited for you and for the next years success! @mrsmattmoore

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  5. Happy blog anniversary beauty ❤️ @beckygorbatenko

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  6. I just found your blog through your Instagram. Happy birthday and blog anniversary. I am really excited to look through past posts and to see your new ones too. Your content is cute and relatable!!
    Xo,
    Emma
    (ig: elkykooy )

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  7. Thank you very much for this helpful tips! And a belated happy birthday to you! I have been wanting to start a blog for several years and I just don't know where to start. I think I just need to do it. And I can change it as the months and years go by. Thank you for this beautiful post and these very helpful tips!

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  8. Happy one year!!!!!!! Instagram: laurenaroberts

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  9. Happy blogiversary! Love your style and those Everly Rings! IG: @bellern09

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  10. Happy one year!!! IG:princessrayj

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  11. Happy Blogiversary! IG @sweetums82

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  12. You know I adore you!! Happy anniversary and belated bday again!!! @hopefulincardigans

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  13. You are the cutest! Love the romper�� Thanks sonmuch for the helpful tips and happy anniversary love! ��❤ @ddrotenko_

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  14. A very happy one year anni! Love this giveaway! IG: @tmariah

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  15. Those shoes & dress!!!! Fabulous.

    Instagram Name: SlatkaSladja

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  16. Yayy for your blog! My Instagram is Balexa622

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  17. Like the post you've shared here about the usual baby, pieces of clothing are genuinely helpful because it gives some incredible data. Keep Sharing. organic romper dress for sale online

    ReplyDelete

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