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How To Incorporate Custom Artwork Into Your Home
In case you didn’t know, I’m actually an artist! I went to art school and was a graphic designer in NYC before switching to teaching art. I paint and sell and like to do stuff for myself to keep as well…but as much as I love abstract art as decor, there’s nothing like reliving some of life’s greatest moments, big & small, every time you walk into a room.
I honestly forget how I first found Smallwood Homes, but it was probably on Pinterest or Instagram. It was those extra large custom frames and the second I saw them, I had to have them. After our first ever family trip to LBI in October of 2020, I ended up with three amazing photos of the boys, that I thought would be amazing for these custom frames. We were also completing our shiplap wall in the stairwell and I just had such a vision; these frames would be so perfect!
These are the XL, 25″x44″ custom photo frame in the Almond color.
The quality of the canvas was so exceptional, I was truly blown away. It’s different than I expected but they’re fabulous. It’s thicker and harder than I imagined it would be and the pixels are mind blowing. I can see every detail of the photo crisp as if though I zoomed in! The grains of sand on Jack’s face make it.
I also dabbled in their custom wrapped canvases just a bit….they’ve kind of exploded all over my house. The problem is, I have 40,000 photos on my phone and I hate that I never see the photos! I spent countless hours sifting through and thinking back to moments I enjoyed, from when Bert was a baby and so on. I was able to come up with some of our simplest but most treasured moments….at Oak Hill Farms, in the wild flower garden, at the beach…simple.This is our home office and these are the XL Square, 25″x25″ custom wrapped canvas.
I love the wrapped canvases because they have dimension and you get to see the photo from every angle. Again, the quality is second to none. I have these, the small squares which are 13″x13″ and some of the 17″x25″ rectangles. See below!
This is our stairwell to the playroom, playroom, upstairs hallway entering our room, Bert’s room and the other corner of the office. [Don’t mind the rooms, none of them are completed yet!]
The phrases, sayings and custom wording that you can create are also a favorite of mine. You can play around with fonts, sizes, colors and add a personal touch to accompany your beautiful photos!
Use CODE GRACE20 for a discount!
Thanks for reading!
XOXO
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The Foyer
Updated: Nov 3, 2020
While a small and simple part of a home, the foyer is the first impression people get, when they walk in. What do you want your home to say about you? I want ours to say, “We’re simple and organized”, even if only the simple part is true. The foyer in our home was already spacious, but being a colonial, it was closed off to the rest of the downstairs. You could enter it from either the front door or the garage [still can] and it had 4 openings; one to the formal dining room, one to the kitchen, one to the sitting room and one was the landing. to the stairs. Our before picture is from when we had just bought the house, so don’t mind all of the clutter! You can see how I originally had it set up as well. I’ve since spray painted the metal on the console table black, in the interim, until I get a new one.
In this bottom photo, you get a sneak peek of my DIY kitchen and through the plastic, the start of the major reno! When we first bought the house, we painted [most of] it natural gray, by Behr. I was on this gray kick and we attempted to achieve the perfect shade so many times, our home literally ended up 50 shades of gray! Not exaggerating, every room was different. My husband, Rob, and I took turns picking out the shade because we “knew what we were doing”. In the end, we landed with the natural gray, and while it was definitely gray, as you can see in the picture, in certain light it looked purple. Drove us crazy. So we decided for the renovation, to make it simple, we would go “white” but “not white”. And so the saga continued…
SPOILER ALERT – we chose Polar Bear by Behr from @thehomedepot and we love it! In fact, we literally get EVERYTHING at The Home Depot. Walt, who ours kids now call Uncle Walt, either loves us or hates us, he’s had so much interaction with our family. He’s been with us through good times and bad, well behaved toddlers and moments where they were at the brink of a mental breakdown. 8pm deliberation over windows when bed time is 7pm. 6am Saturday morning door discussions, and last minute run ins for the random stuff…speaking of, I can’t wait to share my homemade built-ins with you, that I made from Home Depot cabinets! I’ll post our process!
Getting back on track, here’s the rough after of the foyer. The kitchen is now gone and you can see what was happening behind the plastic. I’ll post about it later, but two major walls were removed and the porch was enclosed to become part of the house. The windows, ALL THE WINDOWS! [13 to be exact and a set of french doors]. I remember the day the plastic came down. I felt like I could breathe again!
Here she is! Still not quite done yet…I’m anxiously awaiting a new front door, which I’m hoping is a double door, a new rug and finishing decor touches. Don’t mind the price tags on my baskets…or my not streaky mirror [slapping my forehead]. I’m also in search of a new console table. I’m thinking something with darker wood, like an oak, taller and with no bottom piece. Just when the reno is done and you think so are you…the real work begins; design!
As a matter of fact, I am SO excited about the new HGTV show coming out by @theramblingredhead. Do you follow her? If not, you NEED to. She has a gorgeous home that she showcases on her instagram and her show is going to be No Demo Reno. We are planning another major addition and renovation of the upstairs, but most of the bedrooms are staying the same, including ours. So, I’m super excited to get some inspiration from her about how to transform your current spaces into something amazing, without major structural changes or mega bucks. I have some ideas already…but one thing at a time!
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Front Door DIY Makeover
Updated: Oct 10, 2021
I posted a picture of my foyer and the compliments that flooded in regarding my front door were incredible. I laughed because we’re currently looking for a new front door [in fact, we’re looking into double doors] and in the interim, I gave it the good ole DIY makeover. I didn’t want to just paint it, because I wanted it to appear like it had wood grain and not flat, so I started looking into products that could do that. I found this amazing kit on Amazon. It was super affordable [about $35] and so easy to use!
The kit literally provides everything you need, even the painter’s tape! You start by painting the door, letting it dry and then using the mitt that they give you, dip it in the “magic” top coat and rub it on, following the natural wood grain direction. You can do one coat or 3, depending on how intense you want it to look. VOILA! That’s it! It took me maybe an hour or so to do my entire front door and sidelights. They have a few color options to choose from. I used the Black Walnut. The kit I used for the garage covers 2 doors for about $70. Way less than new doors!
Also, I should mention that you DO NOT have to sand down your door prior. I did not sand the actual door itself. We only sanded the sidelights because my original intent was to stain it all, but I wasn’t loving the color [bottom left] which is ironic, because it probably would’ve looked like the paint job! The sanding and removing of years and years worth of paint was just so much work. So, we made it all this way and threw in the towel as I changed courses and ran with the painting kit option.
Meet Jake 🙂 I even painted the white, vinyl storm door to blend in and look like wood. I didn’t do anything to prime it either; no sanding, nothing! Below is a photo of my first round, the Black Walnut.
I was really experimenting here, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted black or natural wood front and garage doors. After doing the garage doors the same way, with another color, I decided to go with the natural wood look. Below is an updated photo! I used English Oak.
I should add that, I painted both my front door and garage doors over a year ago, and they are still as perfect as the day I did them! It allowed us to achieve the look we wanted while we wait to be able to afford actual new garage doors and the double front doors of my dreams. 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you subscribe to never miss the inside details on my home projects and easy, everyday style tips and deals!
Thanks for reading!
XOXO
Kel
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HGTV Dream Home 2021 Event with Belgard Outdoor Living
I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the HGTV Dream Home 2021 Event, however, due to COVID, this year it was virtual. Normally, they would’ve whisked my husband and I away to a fabulous weekend at the Dream Home 2021, wined and dined us and showered us in lavish gifts! I will say, while we couldn’t physically be there, I felt like I was! I got a chance to hear, firsthand, from Brian Patrick Flynn [the interior designer] and Joe Raboine [the Belgard Outdoor Living expert]. They explained their processes that went into designing this home and why they made the decisions they did. I have to honestly say, I feel so educated and soaked up every word they said! Clearly, home design is a passion of mine and I really enjoyed hearing these talented experts explain how it all came together.
Watch this video to get an up close and personal look at all of the details with Brian Patrick Flynn!
A few days before the event took place, I was greeted at my front door with a pleasant surprise! As I approached the door to get a closer look at the package, the beautiful navy blue Belgard logo started to take form. Upon opening it, I found all the things to instantly transport me to Newport, RI [which is where the Dream Home 2021 is located]. Belgard Outdoor Living had sent me this gorgeous and thoughtful gift of Famous RI Clam Cake and Fritter Mix, a crab smasher, crib picks & cracker, some sea salt and a scoop, a beautiful navy yeti for my coffee and a signature cocktail recipe which I CAN NOT wait to try!! I’ll post that later!
During this event, I learned all of the behind the scenes design processes and how/why certain products were selected. Hearing how Brian planned out his color schemes and how he staged the area was SO interesting! For instance, predicting the year’s trends based on a popular music album cover! The hardscaping for The Dream Home 2021 is like nothing you’ve seen before! Each paver was carefully selected with a purpose to compliment and tie together the entire space, and it really did just that! I fell in love with so many of Belgard’s products and it really got my wheels turning when thinking about our yard.
Below are some photos of the interior and exterior.
We are redoing our backyard this Spring and that includes installing a rather large, 1700 sq ft patio. We are going to create an outdoor kitchen, dining area and hopefully have room for a lounge space as well. I found myself not knowing where to start. I know what I want, but want to make sure I can execute it properly. While listening to Joe Raboine, the Belgard expert, I learned about their Belgard Rooms Planner! I felt like I was on an HGTV show! This thing is so cool, as it allows you to select the space you desire [kitchen, dining, living, office etc] and then they offer ideas based on your home’s style. You can play around with product and see what it will look like, in a virtual, 3D design. It really brings the concept to life so you are left with little to no unwelcomed surprises at the end!
Amidst all of the Belgard products, my husband and I fell in love with quite a few! We are doing a mix of white and dark around the exterior of the house, from the pool deck to the roof…so I want to tie it all together, to create a cohesive look. Belgard has so many options that are a perfect blend of warm and cool tones and their design elements are just beyond.
I’d like to truly thank everyone involved for inviting me to participate in this unique experience and a big thank you to Belgard, for their generous gift! Joe Raboine was inspiring and shared so much wonderful information.
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Installing a DIY Stair Runner
Updated: Jan 1
The time spent mentally preparing myself to install this runner took longer than installing the runner. I can’t express enough, how truly simple this was! I did my research beforehand, which certainly helped and hopefully this post can save you that much and lay it all out there for ya! I used a Dash and Albert rug, by Annie Selke and I can’t say enough great things!
What you’ll need…
- I hope this is an obvious one, but measure your space two
- or three times and order more than you need, by at least a few feet! My runner came in 2’6″x8 or 2’6″x12′ and I used 1 entire 12′ and then probably another 4 or 5′ of the second runner. Don’t worry, I’ll go over how to combine two together.
- Make sure you have rug pads for each tread. My stairs were finished hardwood so we didn’t have anything. I actually found a 2×8′ runner pad with a rubber backing on amazon. I loved this for multiple reasons; I didn’t have to adhere anything to the hardwood because the rubber keeps it in place, it was so easy to cut through to make the individual tread pads and it was only $25!
- Tape measure, staple gun, crown staples and a flat tool. [A spackle knife or wallpaper smoother will work; I used my wallpaper smoother]
- Pliers , to remove any staples that may go in wonky.
How you do it…
- Center rug pads on steps, all the way down and double check it with tape measure, on the sides.
- Lay the runner out to get an idea of placement and have all of your materials ready to go.
- I lined up the binding of the runner [because I wanted it to show] with the top of my step’s kick plate. I angled the staple gun upward and shot staples into the top corners of the rug, on the kick plate, to hold it in place. Afterwards, I used my fingers to keep the rug even and stapled it along the top, 2-3 more times.
- Use the flat tool to tuck the runner into the back bottom crease, taut, and staple as close to the crease as possible.] I turned my staple gun sideways to get it as close to the tread as I could. Again, I avoided stapling into the tread. Do this on the 2 ends and then fill in the middle with as many staples as you need. I used about 4 across every pass.
- Using my hands, I kept the runner aligned on the bullnose of the tread [because my pattern required that] and then holding it taut again, stapled underneath, repeating the above steps.
Watch the below video to see how I did it…
What to do if you run out of…runner…
- Using scissors, cut across the runner, leaving enough rug to cover the last kick plate on your bottom step. [Better to leave even more; you can always trim it further]
- Fold over the start of the new rug, aligning it and layering it over the cut edge of the first rug. Staple the same way as you’ve been. You may need to use extra pressure to get through the multiple layers, depending on how thick your rug is. [I didn’t love how this was looking with my pattern, so I actually just stapled the raw cut edge on top of the new piece.] It blended in enough and I chose a height that no adult would really see if they were standing near the steps.
- When you get to your last step, you’re going to cut the runner again, and bring back that last bit from the first, that you saved. Attach it the same way you did above. Then, making sure it’s straight and taut, staple in the bottom along the base trim. We had quarter round lining every step, which is why I kept the binding. It just fit nicely into the recession of the trim. If you don’t have this, you may want to pop off your trim and put the runner behind it! It all depends on the look you’re going for!
That’s it! It took me less than an hour and I did it while all 3 kids were playing upstairs. I may go back in and staple some more, as the cotton stretches a little with the constant pull and I also went VERY light on the initial staples.
Helpful Tips…
- Keep the rug pads evenly sized and the front edges straight. I would keep them almost as deep [within an inch] as the stair tread. If it’s a 10″ tread, cut them 9-10″
- The rug pads shouldn’t be as wide as the runner; you want the runner to lay flat at the edges.
- I used an electric staple gun. Less man power needed.
- Take your time and make sure you’re pulling as tight as you can, keeping the pattern even, if it applies to your rug.
- Use a rug tape or adhesive to help hold it in place, if you don’t care about your steps’ surface.
I am so happy I finally dove in and completed this project. It has brought warmth and dimension to our home and the whole family, especially the dogs, is enjoying the transformation. Thanks for reading and as always, comment with any questions!
XO
Kel
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My Monthly Grove Collaborative Order
I love clean living and using products that work but are safe for my boys and pets! I slowly and accidentally fell into this plant based, natural world and now I can’t go back! I will use the occasional Clorox wipe for the intense messes that I feel requires the extra gusto, but overall, I am totally in love with the level of clean that these products bring. I’ve been using Grove for years and love them because they offer products that you can’t always find in the store, but mostly because you get them at a discount, they come right to your door AND you get free gifts!
Below are my revolving monthly order staples. The links are below the photo collage.
Carpet and Upholstery Stain Remover
Grapefruit Brightening Facial Wipes
My Random Finds. Links are below.
How it works:
– When you sign up, you get 60 days of a free trial, so that’s 2 monthly orders!
– After that, should you decide to keep it, [because you can cancel for free] it’s $20 for the year!
– You can skip months altogether, change your order whenever you want, add, remove etc.
– You also set frequencies, so I have some things automate every month and others every 2-4 months.
– You can not only change the dates but if you need something asap, you can ship it that day.
– When you spend certain limits, you get free gifts and usually there’s a great signing bonus gift too!
As always, feel free to ask any questions!
XO
Kel
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10 Tips For Stress Free Packing
Jacket I Tank I Joggers I Sandals
This photo was what I wore for the car ride to the hotel and I was oh so comfy but looked put together and felt super chic when we arrived! [Although I was not wearing any makeup and my hair wasn’t done!]
1. Ok, so my main tip is to keep a small travel bag filled with your toiletries etc, always packed and stored in the linen closet for an easy grab and go.
In mine I have:
Razor
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Face Wash
Face Lotion
Body Wash
Body Lotion
Shampoo/Conditioner
Makeup Remover Wipes
Contact Solution
Q-Tips
Hair Oil
Leave In Hair Treatment
Hairspray
Dry Shampoo
Comb
Lip Balm
Extra Hair Ties
Bobby Pins
Bandaids
Neosporin
Perfume
Tampons
Tweezers
It seems extensive and no, my bag is not that big! I get all travel sized things and refill them, if I can, with my full sized stuff when I run out. I will inevitably forget something small yet important, so this way, I am always prepared! I subscribe to ipsy, so a lot of times, I take those small products and use them for this purpose!
2. It weirds me out to keep a toothbrush in there because of the bacteria and who loves a hard bristle anyway…so I always make sure that on the day that I’m traveling, as soon as I brush my teeth and put my contacts in, I pack my toothbrush, contacts and glasses. Here’s a link for a really convenient toothbrush cover. [If you happen to get new frames and have 2 pair, you can keep the older pair in this bag too, so you don’t have to worry about bringing the ones you wear daily.] I always get nervous that I’ll forget them ON the vacation and not have them when I get home.
3. Another tactic that I find helpful [but obviously, it depends on the nature/length of the trip and how much space you have] is to pack versatile items; neutral pairs of shoes, simple basics that can maybe be reworn or repurposed with a statement piece…like tiny white tanks and a pretty kimono, for instance. Rewear the same pair of jeans and so on.
4. I bring a plastic bag to put my dirty clothes in, so when I inevitably repack things I ended up not wearing, they aren’t mixed in with dirty stuff!
5. Roll your clothes. You can actually layer a few tops and pants together and tightly roll them up. This prevents wrinkling and also creates more space in your suitcase!
6. I place my shoes heel to toe and stick them along the outer perimeter of the suitcase and then fill in the middle. This saves space and stops your shoes from getting crushed.
These last 4 are from my husband. I laughed writing them, but he really does follow it, so here you go!
7. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes…so that he doesn’t forget anything like underwear, etc..
8. He uses the netted compartment for his dirty laundry. [I use this for my undergarments]
9. He puts his socks inside his shoes, since it’s empty space. [I thought this was pretty clever!]
10. He packs the “sturdy” items, like his shoes etc on the “wheel end” of the suitcase, so when you lift it up to roll, it doesn’t crush anything delicate or that can get wrinkled.
Hopefully this helps you the next time you sit down to make your mental list! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a post!
XO
Kel
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging
Recently, I have run into a situation with instagram, where they disabled my ad account. [Different from my actual account]. It allows me to run promotions for my posts, a very integral part of my growth. From this experience, I have learned the hard way what NOT to do while running an IG account and I am offering you those tips here! TBH, my account got hacked and I think that’s what flagged me in their system…but just in case, after reading their policies, I am now, much more educated on the below!
The Do’s:
– Post regularly, sometimes more than once a day.
– Engage immediately, after posting, for about 10 minutes [Some say for 10 min before and 10 min after]. Reply to as many if not all of the comments, as close to the time they came in as possible. They say engagement within the first hour, sets the tone for the performance of the post. Your goal should be to get as many people seeing and engaging with your post as possible in that time frame and respond right away!
– Make note of different times that you post and the insights that follow, so you can identify the best times to post etc. If you don’t keep track of this, it’s like jumping on a hamster wheel. You could be spending months posting at a poor time for active followers and get nowhere.
– Get on stories. This is even sometimes difficult for me, because I feel like no one cares what I’m doing but then I remember that I get lost, for hours, watching my favorite bloggers just talk about their day. Feeling like they’re talking to you and getting to “know” them is part of the fun and certainly a driving force in being influenced. So, hop on, even just once a day, and say hi for a few slides!
– Focus on your content. Produce high quality, engaging, scroll stopping content. Make sure you know what the value is that you’re providing people with.
– Invest in a preset. Some say this isn’t a necessity. As an artist, the aesthetic is so important and trust me…it matters! You want people to feel at ease when scrolling through your feed and be attracted to your posts. If it’s all over the place, people won’t know where to look and it makes it very overwhelming. My personal opinion, use one that’s generic and easy on the eyes but gives a consistent feel to all of your photos. I truly am turned off by the feeds that have an all orange overlay or the extremely washed out presets. I want to know the true color of the outfit or furniture I’m seeing. I use light and airy.
– Reels are a great way to reach thousands of people quickly! I suggest dropping a post and later on that day, a reel. Using popular or trending songs, help the reach, I think.
– Promote your posts. This is a great way to reach more people and anyone who follows you, does so because they want to, ending up with more authentic engagement! You can keep it automatic or customize who you want to reach and set a daily budget. You can pause, resume and delete promotions at any time. [Just know, once you’ve promoted a post, you can’t ever edit the post!]
– Check out hashtags you’re using and engage with posts that you like, under those same hashtags. Engage on the explore page as well. This can help people discover you, engage back, possibly follow and ultimately get YOU on the explore page!
– Get personal! Obviously you don’t have to divulge everything going on in your life, but people love getting to know who you are and feeling more connected to you. If they have things in common with you, it will keep them interested and make you stand out from the very saturated influencer market right now!
– Make real connections and engage with accounts you truly like to see on your feed! Organic is key!
The Don’ts:
– Buy followers or engagement of any kind. Not only does instagram consider this going against their policies, but it won’t help you anyway. You want your engagement to be real and if you buy followers, they’re probably not going to comment/like etc, on your posts. This will hurt you more than help you.
– Participate in engagement groups or pods. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with this because I saw them all over instagram! I loved them because I found so many accounts that I loved following and I made some really amazing connections. Unfortunately, once my ad account was disabled and my stories were deleted with a message saying I was violating policies, I read those policies and found out this is all a big NO NO! The story that got deleted was a giveaway for Belgard Pavers! So my question now is, do companies know it’s illegal and don’t care? Or don’t they realize? Another fun one is trying to evade IG by mispelling, truncating or using other words for ones that are a buzz word for the algorithm. This is actually written in the policies. “Obfuscation” is their word of choice. “Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language.” Thank you, Google. So this means, all of those G I V E A W A Y S and R33LS are exactly that, obfuscation. The other problem is, since the algorithm is a computer, once you’re flagged, there’s virtually nothing you can do about it. There’s no person you can reach, no chat, no phone. You’re done! So, you’ll just have to lay low and make sure you do everything by the book! My outlook on it now… if I question what I’m writing, I don’t write it!
These, of course, are just my experiences and opinions on the matter. If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them the best I can! I’m no expert, but I do have good engagement for my following and have been lucky with brands wanting to partner with me, both paid and gifted product. From this point on, I will be sticking to the law of IG!
Thanks for reading!
XOXO
Kel
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Tips For Getting Started With Collaborations
Updated: Jun 9, 2021
For anyone who wants to get into collaborations…you should know they are A LOT OF WORK. Like, full time job work. My best advice would be start small and get a handle on how you’re going to manage them. Start by making a list of companies you love. Get a feel for how you’ll showcase them, what the deliverables [what you are responsible for] are and how much time it takes you to produce the content. You’ll also want to save all of your contracts somewhere they can be easily accessed for reference. They come with a lot of specifics about what you can and can not do/show/say…and there’s nothing worse than eagerly jumping right in, just to find out you wasted an afternoon and have to redo them! Trust me, I know!
What to do first: A media kit would also be a great place to start. This can be something super simple, although everything I do is overdone, so mine is a 3 page resume. Until you get your first collab, you can introduce yourself, include your social media stats [I update mine monthly, so I notate that on my stats page] and add pricing if you’re comfortable. Once you begin to execute collabs, feel free to add a page with them on it! Canva is a great website/app for this! They offer templates or you can create from scratch!
Pricing: The rule of thumb is $100 per 10k followers. So, if you have 2000 followers, ask $20/post. Of course, if your engagement rate is uniquely high, you can ask more. To calculate an instagram ER [engagement rate], you divide your total likes/comment/saves/shares by your follower amount x 100. For example, if a single post has 30 likes, 10 comments, 5 saves and 2 shares and I have 200 followers…I do 47/200 = .235×100 = 23.5% That is an exceptionally high ER. The average is around 4% and should actually drop slightly, the more followers you get! I google everything for my ig research!
How to get them: Jump right in! Get out there! Don’t be afraid to get turned down! You can’t have an ego in this industry; humble is key…but so is CONFIDENCE! It definitely helps if you follow my “business plan” to only enter partnerships with companies you already use and love. It takes the guessing out of, well, everything! When I write my captions or blog posts, I literally talk to you like I am talking to my best friend, and when I know the product well, it makes it effortless! I like to DM the accounts that I like because it gives them immediate access to my main platform [ig] and it almost acts like a screening process. If their social media manager thinks I would be a good fit for their brand, they usually respond with an email for a direct contact to the person in charge of forming partnerships. Sometimes they also decline right there and then and that’s ok too! Keeps me on my toes!
I also keep my request brief and just use a greeting and mention that I am looking to speak to someone in regards to forming a collaboration. I thank them for their time and say I look forward to hearing back. It’s important to be respectful of their time spent, reading your message and looking into your page because, well, it just is! I also think they appreciate that!
I would also recommend making sure you’re following the business you’re reaching out to. I ran into a situation once where I was not and I got this horribly awful and brash response back attacking my character and questioning my authenticity! It was a total oversight, as I excitedly messaged them one night after seeing their sponsored post [they paid to have it pushed out] pop up on my feed for the first time. They were a local business I loved, new to instagram. I sent it and ran to put the baby to bed without going back to their profile and and clicking follow. When I went back to look through their feed and follow, I saw the message. They were totally in the wrong, in both the way they treated a true supporter but also just being a kind person…regardless, I took it as a learning curve and now make it a point to be following…just in case!
Another bit of advice I’ll give, is to include your email IN your bio. The “email” button, sets it up to send, but sometimes companies that are looking for someone to work with, like to see it laid out right there so they can reach out quickly or pass it on to the correct parties.
You can also google influencer platforms. I mainly use AspireIQ. I find most companies don’t have a direct link on their websites for us “influencers”, probably because they pay for the platforms to help them find us. So, as I said, DMs are my first move, always!
If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment here and ask them! I promise to answer to the best of my ability but know that I am no expert! I just worked really hard to get to where I am and can only speak to what I know works!
Stay tuned on a post about the Do’s and Don’ts of influencing!
Thanks for reading!
XOXO
Kel
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Why I Do Collaborations
Updated: Nov 4, 2021
Behind the scenes “blogging” looks a lot like a middle school girl stalking out her latest Tik Tok to see if it’s gone viral! We pay attention to EVERYTHING; way beyond Likes. We look at our post’s reach, impressions, saves & shares and so on. As many of you know, I do quite a bit of collaborations. There are times when I notice that posts directly mentioning collaborations aka sponsorships, ads or partners, tend to not do as well. In researching possible reasons why, I’ve surmised that people probably think one thing…I’m a sell out!
This possible theory led me to write this post for you to read, because I want to set the record straight. I started this blog to do one thing; inspire, and I will do that for as long as people want to be inspired by me! I’m going to explain how I go about choosing my collabs and also how to land them, for anyone aspiring to do so!
The first thing you need to know, is I am as authentic as they come! I will NEVER promote a product or service that I don’t truly believe in. Some people may think I am rude by declining their offer, but if it doesn’t fit my lifestyle, if it doesn’t match the vibe of my feed, if it isn’t something I would wear or use, I won’t do it! I have prided myself, my entire life, on being an honest and ethical person and I am not going to give up 37 years of hard work for a social media platform! It also wouldn’t be a good investment for the company.
The second thing to know, is not all, in fact most of my collabs, are not started as offerings. I am a go getter. If there’s something I want, I go for it! So, I’ll think about how I spend my days, from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed and what I do, wear, use etc…then I will reach out to those companies to see if they would have an interest in working with me! This is where all of those behind the scenes insights come in. These businesses want to see that their invested time and product/money are going to be well worth it. That’s another good point…not every post is paid for in a monetary exchange. A lot of times it’s a barter system with product. For instance, I will post on my feed and promote said product, if you give me that product for free! Even more proof that I am authentic! I literally gain nothing, financially! I don’t make money for posting many of my posts or reels, but I was able to get the free jewelry, pillow etc…that I already love!
The Lull Mattress is a great example because this is such a large product, that to agree to a collab and not be authentic just doesn’t seem like a good investment on my end. If I blindly accepted and hated it, not only am I chancing losing the faith of my supporters but now I’m stuck with a King Size Mattress that I have to get rid of! My husband and I heavily researched this company and read too many of the 40k positive reviews on Google. To this, months later, it’s the best mattress we’ve ever had!
The other area is right here on my blog! From time to time, you’ll see me thanking someone for sponsoring a post. All this means, is that I was compensated for INCLUDING them in my otherwise natural and authentic post! For instance, my latest Raymour & Flanigan post; every word was my own, but they gifted me the furniture in exchange for writing that. Perhaps without the “push”, I might not have written about my office redo, but it was all REAL. My local business love post…same thing…I was asked to include one of those companies in a post, but it sparked my creativity to want to write about that topic and they are all my real opinions and recommendations!
I hope this makes you feel more comfortable spending your time reading and engaging with my posts/stories regarding sponsorships. My goal is to present things that make my life better, in hopes that they also help improve yours! Another quick fun fact about my selection process, is that if I don’t seem to think it’s something you, my supporters are into, I don’t share it…Keep an eye out for a blog post with tips and tricks on how to start landing collabs!
Free and easy ways to show your support…SHARE, SAVE, COMMENT & LIKE
As always, thanks for reading!
XOXO
Kel
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