Pep-Talk Tuesday {The Blogging Blues}

I had this post on my mind for a while now. Just finding the right time to spell out my feelings in a way that wouldn't come across as whiny, was tough. But today when I found it hard to drag my little butt out of bed and when husband brought me breakfast, then refused to bring me lunch to the bedroom too, I figured I had a little bit of a problem on my hands; I may be suffering from a mild case of the blogging blues.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Everyone has their own reasons for blogging and for some, there's more than one main reason. Yet, it can be tough to maintain a sense of purpose and a sense of acceptance from your blogging peers when it seems like everyone and their Mom (seriously, I mean this in the most literal ways possible) has started a blog. Blogging is the new facebook. An accessory to some, a way for others to claim their chunk of Internet real estate. Sometimes blogging feels like I'm swimming in an overcrowded pool of bloggers; I'm not drowning but instead grazing other's legs as they too try to tread and maintain their position on the surface. Then all of a sudden, 50 new swimmers cannon ball into the pool. And you know what happens next. Blogging can feel like a fight to the surface, like you need to kick a little harder to avoid getting trampled by the new swimmers.

Remember in high school when you'd get dressed in the morning in your brand new jeans and top, heading off to school feeling like a million bucks? Only to get there and see that that much prettier, smarter and more poplar friend of yours was sporting an even better new outfit, leaving you in turn feeling defeated, left out, maybe even reconsidering why you even bought your new digs in the first place. I feel like this with blogging sometimes. When I look at my blog, and my blog only, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. For more than two years I've groomed this little babe into something that's become my full time job, my purpose and my calling. But then I look around at the gazillion others, who in much less time have more followers, more pictures of themselves and their girlfriends, better submissions, prettier posts, more happiness it seems (all while they make it look so effortless) and I think, what could I have done differently?

The answer is, I think nothing. This whole comparison game is all too familiar (remember the comparison game I played here?) And in short, comparison is the road to madness. Apb gets on my case daily about my little pity parties because they probably drive him nutty. Actually they do drive him nutty because I know how they make me feel. Close friends (you know who you are and I adore you) continually sing praises to me in an effort to either shut me up or allow me to realize I am fabulous the way I am (or perhaps both). And me? Well, these bouts of the blogging blues are a sign that I care. That I really truly care about this blog, what's its been, where it's going and what it represents to me and the thousands of you that read it everyday regardless of how boring you may find me or the content here. That if I didn't feel the need to be better, to grow, to learn, to stay inspired and on top of myself personally and professional then these blogging blues wouldn't exist; and I am a firm believer in going through a little bit of bad to feel a whole lot of good.

Jenna McKenzie took these fun little shots of me. I asked her to capture the real me. I think she did just that xo

Anyone else out there ever feel the Blogging Blues?

Read more...

Why Branding Is Important

First off, let me start by stating that I am by no means an expert or a professional when it comes to marketing, business solutions and branding. I have however learned a few things along my short yet busy little journey, about what it means to build a professional business that represents you, your goals and your product. Here are a few of my thoughts that I am happy to share with all of you.

{Establish Your Brand} This is the single most important thing, in my opinion to attracting your desired clients, staying in business and keeping both you and your clients happy. If you don't know what you're selling, promoting or doing and what type of person you are selling, promoting and doing these things for, then how do you expect the perfect client to approach you much less lock in your services? Pinpoint your brand and establish what it means. For example my own branding (which isn't perfect) includes the following:

My logo. Which can be viewed above and to the right and which consists of my business name Hey Gorgeous, Events by Rhiannon Nicole. It includes everything I have deemed important at this stage in the game: my business name (Hey Gorgeous), the type of work I do (events), and who I am (Rhiannon Nicole). I've selected a clean simplistic font that you don't typically see and I made sure to add in feminine flourishes to represent my style which undoubtedly includes lots of pink, lots of soft touches and of course lots of femininity. 

My website. Which content wise, is static. And changes when I have new and relevant content to add (i.e. photos of a recent project or wedding, a change of location, a new about me photo). While I do try and keep my blog as professional and streamlined as possible, my website is a way for people to get everything they need to know about me and my business all in one place. For clients it's an expectation and a place for them to get a feel for what I am about, and what I am capable of. I once read on JStar's blog that "Your website is your handshake and your blog is your voice." That alone as guided me into maintaning both features of my brand into what they are today; a site that is professional yet reflective of my personality and a blog that's fun, unique and all sorts of inspirational. 

My blog. I've said it before, but hands down, my blog is the most important tool in helping me solidify and build my brand. It too, flows consistently with the above mentioned components of my brand (in terms of design and content) and above all else, provides people with an experience when they visit. I don't want people to visit Hey Gorg just to scroll through and exit the page within ten seconds (unless of course you're a hot pink gerbera daisy loving gal, then we may not be the right fit) but instead I want people to visit my blog and get me, and get my brand and feel as if they've not only connected with my work, but that they've experienced a connection with the things I've wrote, the things I've shared, the inspiration I've provided and most importantly with me and my personality. My blog to me isn't just a place to dump pretty weddings but rather it's a place to further enrich the Hey Gorgeous experience.

{Stick To Your Brand} And try not to deviate too far from it. My personal branding represents muted pastels, soft lighting and modern vintage touches so naturally I try to feature weddings and photographs that fall under this umbrella. If you head over to the Ruffled blog, chances are you'll find vintage themed wedding inspiration because that is after all, the type of reader they cater to. Same holds true, for budget wedding blogs. Imagine heading to a budget wedding blog to find only expensive products and vendors that by no mean fit with their brand? Chances are you're less likely to go back to said blog because they surely aren't sticking to their brand and it only leaves you disappointed and confused. Stick to your brand, and your clients.readers will in turn stick with you.

{Stick To Your Guns} This is a toughie but is so crucial to building a strong business whether or not your business is directly correlated with your blog. Once you've established your brand and have done a great job of building upon that foundation, you need to keep your brand in mind and do your best to adhere to it even when people try to steer you off path. An example? The other day I found an incredible wedding that the photographer was excited to feature on Hey Gorg. Once they sent over the photos to me, they asked if I could add their logo and.or watermark to the collages I'd be creating. I have a no watermark policy on the blog (like most wedding blogs do) and I kindly told them that if I allowed them to submit watermarked pictures surely future photographers would except the same sort of treatment and with that, I'd continually have to make exceptions resulting in a jarring, messy looking space of watermarked submissions. After a few emails back and forth it was decided that my brand and her beliefs weren't the best fit for a partnership and with that I lost the wedding, she lost the feature. While I was bummed about missing out on the wedding, I couldn't imagine not sticking to my guns and allowing her submission to be the exception to my guidelines for making the Hey Gorg experience enjoyable for my readers. Imagine emailing Style Me Pretty's Abby Larson and asking her to watermark all of your photos for your upcoming cover feature? It properly wouldn't fly. Stick to your guns and people will take you and your business seriously.

What are your thought on branding your business and blog?

Read more...

Finding Balance Between Blogging and Life {Part I}

I'm not the first to say it but running and maintaining a blog that works hand in hand with your business is one giant commitment. I know I know what you're thinking, "But Rhi, you should only blog because it's fun and what you love to do and it's strictly for the sake of personal fulfillment!" and let me scream it from the rooftops friends, I do love what I do and yes, blogging is certainly all about those above mentioned perks. It's just that when you are incredibly passionate about what you do and you have goals in mind and things your serious about accomplishing it can be a tinsey bit difficult to draw a line between work, blogging and life. Here are a few things I've started doing so I can add structure to my schedule and draw that fine line between work, blogging and my life as Rhi.

{Set Hours} One of the benefits of working from home is being able to roll out of bed and walk 15 feet to your desk. No work day commute, no need to get dolled up for the office; it's not a bad set up. Yet on some days I find it is incredibly easy to roll out of bed, slump on the couch, turn on TLC's hoarders marathon, and realize that come 6:00 pm I haven't even brushed my teeth. Um gross. Setting a work schedule regardless of where I work from, not only provides structure and meaning to my day, but gives me a deadline to get things dome. I try to be on my computer by 9:00 am and pending my work flow logged off by 5:00 pm. I will then check twitter, email and so forth again before bed in case something pressing has happened. By giving myself a normal work day schedule I hope to make room for other activities in my life; like a shower. Too much information? Maybe. But it happens.

{Set Priorities} I love commenting on other blogs, I love watching television, I love taking naps and I love doing other leisurely things that are carefree, fun and enjoyable. But if I did these things all day every day whenever I wanted, it's highly unlikely that there'd be any content on Hey Gorg leading to no job; and it's highly unlikely I'd have a happy husband or supportive friends. Set priorities. Commenting, tweeting to and about others, linking to other sites, getting out of the house, going to a yoga class, calling home to family, sending friends a card in the mail, snuggling up on the couch to watch a movie. All of these things are equally important and crucial to a well rounded life. The key is setting priorities and making sure these things are done at the appropriate time. Just like I urge you above, to set hours, within those hours set priorities that provide you with personal and professional fulfillment, satisfaction and success.

{PreBlog} This sounds a little nutty but I'd say a good half of the content on Hey Gorg is preblogged; meaning it's written days, if not weeks, before it goes live. If I get an idea for a post, or a submission that I absolutely love, I start formatting the post when I have a bit of free time so that when a day comes where I'm stumped for content all need to do is hit "publish." Since I'm dedicated to blogging at least once a day and on some occasions twice, preblogging has made my life a little less stressful and frantic for me. For blogs where spur of the moment content is what you're all about then preblogging doesn't make sense. For a blog like yours truly it absolutely does.

{You're Not Perfect} This one is a toughie for me. I thrive on the notion of perfection and bless my heart, have been medically diagnosed with a mild form of OCD. While it benefits things like my event styling work (and my closest and underwear drawer), in the grand scheme of things I am easily let down, frustrated and frazzled when things aren't up to my standards. At the end of the day which these days unfortunately is midnight and beyond, I too often measure my success on the comments I've scored, the tweets I've tweeted and the amount of e-mails I've successfully responded to and archived neatly in the appropriate folder. Once you're able to say "That's enough for the day" or "Or well the feedback for today's post wasn't what I expected" and you are able to move forward and embrace a new day, you can allow yourself to grow, learn and experience positive thoughts as opposed to thoughts of not meeting your potential. And remember, if someone comes across as being a master at doing it all, chances are they are missing something in their life whether it be personal time, a social agenda, a gym routine, an orderly home; or they can afford to pay for an assistant. No one is perfect.

What are your thoughts on Balancing Blogging and Life?

Read more...

How to be a Better Blogger

I've been talking a bit with some other bloggers about blogging etiquette and I thought it would be nice to share some of the things we have discovered and some of the things we think make or break a blog. While I'm no expert on the subject and my blog is far from perfect, there are a few things that I think can make any blog better and a few things you can do (or avoid doing) to increase your readership and make your little piece of the Internet more intriguing and enjoyable for readers.

{Passion} Whether you blog about weddings, food, fashion, your family, interior design, yourself or a mixture of a bunch of different topics, a blog is so much more alluring and pleasurable to visit when the author instills a bit of passion into it. Whether it be through your writing or the photos you post, readers will know when you blog with a purpose and in turn will want to come back time and time again. A little bit of honesty and a little peek into your life will also keep people coming back for more. People like to be able to relate to bloggers and like to know that there's people out there just like them so don't be shy and don't be afraid to share a little about yourself and your life (within reason of course). Like anything in life, a little effort goes a long way.

{Commenting} Sigh. In my opinion, commenting makes the blog world go round. Sure it can be time consuming and frustrating when you run into word verifications, incredibly long posts and content you can't relate or care to reflect on. However, I'm gunna go ahead and assume that most people with public blogs, blog because they have something to share and garnering feedback, discussion and appreciation is very important to them (myself included). Some aren't in it for the comments and that's completely cool too! But for those of us who are, you give a little you get a little. Pay it forward to those who visit your blog and in turn you will see your followers, comments and blog traffic increase. Never forget where you started and how good it felt to get your first comment and follower.

{User-Friendly Spaces} A lot of people are visual learners which is why a clean design is best for usability and reader navigation. Those gazillion stylish blogger award buttons down the side of your right hand column are an eye sore to some and distract from your main posts. If the buttons are important to you, put them in a blog post that you can add to when necessary or place them in the footer of your blog. The super cursive font you're using for your body text is illegible and causes headaches when people try to decipher what it reads. And the white font over top of the neon blue background is so psychedelic it feels like my living room is spinning. It's great that you have interests and preferences but try to flaunt them in a way that is conducive to a site that isn't too much for the average viewer to handle. Think of your blog as your home; would you invite people over to your home with clutter all over the floors and loud music blaring from your television? Didn't think so. Which leads me to my next thought.

{Say No to Music} I love music. But I also love having the freedom to listen to the kind of music I like when I want to hear it. When I go to your site and the music pops on and scares me to death, and I spent five minutes looking for the widget to turn it off, and then the combination of your Kenny Chesney over top of my Britney Spears wreaks havoc on my poor cat and by this time I've already exited out of your blog therefore defeating any possibility of me getting to know you and your blog; well you get the picture. Music can also be embarrassing for people who blog at work (naughty, bloggers, you!) and all in all is bad news bears.

{Don't Do This} One of the fantastic perks of being a blogger is the relationships you create with others. I have made so many incredible friendships with people like Blair, Ashley, this Ashely too, Michaela and Megan, and even friends overseas like Helena, Krystal, Simone and Lou and so many others. These friendships have been built over time on a shared support system and genuine appreciation for each other's talents and blogs. Nothing is more tacky or irritating as a blogger who leaves a comment saying "Follow me and I'll follow you?" or "I'm your newest follower, how about returning the favor?" I hate feeling like I've taken the time to construct a really great post only for someone to respond with something relating to their followers count and I especially hate feeling bullied into following someone. Additionally, only comment on a blog post if you've read or at least skimmed over a post. Leaving a comment saying "How cute!" on a post about someone losing a loved one is incredibly embarrassing.

And imagine that, there's no picture with this post! So my friends, what did I forget? :)

Read more...

Pep Talk Tuesday {Blogging Edition}

Click here. And if you haven't already done so, you'll find the first post I ever wrote as a blogger nearly two years ago. It's humbling and refreshing to often check back to where I came from, to see how I've evolved into the woman I am, to see how my writing, passions, blogging style and personality has changed in more ways than one, for the better. I've experienced a handful of the typical bouts that bloggers go through. I've wanted to click on the 'delete' button and pretend I was better off without the whole blogging thing to begin with. A been there, done that sort of approach. I've felt intense disappointment, deep confusion and a slight sense of sadness, when I've lost a follower, failed to reach a specific set number of comments or posted content that seemed less than exciting or worthy of your time. I've sat for hours and hours typing until my fingers have literally spasmed up, trying to make it around to every single commentors blog to return the favour. I've breezed through more designs and headers than I can even count on one hand and even switched the title, domain and content of this blog just last Christmas. I've struggled with my online identity, my place in the online social circle and the purpose, my personal purpose, behind putting so much time, effort, and heart into this little dot com I call home.

I know I'm not every bloggers cup of tea. I rarely talk about fashion or post Polaroid photos of weekend adventures with my girlfriends. I blog a lot of text-heavy posts and am not afraid to share my feelings, some feelings that some people tend to shy away from because they're not always easy to respond or relate to. I can't say I don't love comments and new followers because the sense that any blogger gets from knowing that someone out there is reading what they have to say, is one of the many sparks that lights the fire under the behinds of us busy little bloggers. We blog because we want to be heard, we blog because we have something to share, say or sing about. I blog for these reasons. And so many others that I couldn't possibly fit into this one post.

I have to say I owe a lot to Blair, one of my closest online friends for her insightful wisdom, loyal friendship and ability to bring my mind and efforts back to a place where they belong. Last week, prompted by my feelings of inadequacy as a blogger, I went to her for support. As usual she went above and beyond to put a smile back on my face which also prompted a new About Me section that better represents who I am. I don't wake up at 7:00 am to head to my office and day job only to return home at the end of the work day to my laptop to check in with my blog. This blog is not only an extension to my business, my brand and my personality but it's essentially a huge part of my life, my work and my purpose. Without it I probably wouldn't have ever even discovered my passion and who knows what newsroom I'd be stuck in, pursuing some sort of path that's way off track from the dream I know I'm now following.

Today, whatever you're feeling, whatever you're blogging about, whatever lights your fire, whatever your passion is, whatever makes your heart so sing so loud you feel like dancing around in circles, make sure it's good and it's right and it's pure and that it makes you happy. Because without happiness, life couldn't possibly be as rewarding, fulfilling and fun as the version I'm living right now. Be passionate, be real, and be nothing except you. Everyone else is taken.

To another fabulous friend and inspiration, Beth Kaye who has instilled in me, an endless amount of courage and motivation to not only go after my dreams and goals but to let me feel beautiful when I most needed it, thank you. This girl is doing big things, people. I am so honoured to have her as a friend, business partner and peer to share some of my exciting news with next week xo

Read more...