I want to increase my goals on my social media accounts. It is almost every blogger and vlogger’s dreams. The truth is goals are something I rarely share with my readers. The reason is quite simple, really (in my broken British accent, which is slightly Americanized). Note: Ah, the things that go on inside one’s head, LOL.
No, but seriously, let me give you a backstory. (per usual, short, but sweet)
I have been blogging for ten glorious but trying years. I slowed down in 2015 but now I am picking back up. I now want to make money from blogging. For the sake of my family, I have to make money from this. I was thinking about this a few years ago when I refused to play into the hype of disclosing how much money bloggers made in a month/year since becoming bloggers.
Lesson learned, and while I would never disclose my complete income, which is no one’s business but mine and my CPA when she does my taxes (just got them back today), I felt that I might offer a little inspiration on what programs I used in order to get to that point, where I can brag talk about it. Someone may be struggling in that area. So, without further ado, here are my goals for this month. As you will see, I have listed the current total of viewers who follow me and what I want to increase the number by.
Instagram
Current Followers: 714
The goal for the month: 200 Needed (making it 914 followers by 4/30)
Instagram is a struggle for me. The reason is I have a Samsung Note 4 smartphone, and a Mini IPad 3. While that worked well in the past, I am finding that I need more memory to store pictures for the phone. I also need a camera. Many experts say that you do not need a camera. I can (with cooperation from Google Chrome-hate the other one) turn my desktop into a simulated phone for sharing photos from Google and my desktop on Instagram. If you are not squeamish about diving into the back end of Google Chrome, here are the instructions:
- On the toolbar (it says Instagram, search, a little compass symbol, etc..) right click with your mouse button.
- Go to “inspect”. You will see HTML stuff. Trust me, you do not need to touch it at all (Thank God)
- Right next to Icon with the screen and arrow, you will see an icon with a big screen/little screen. Click on it.
- What this does is toggle it between from a full screen to looking similar to your phone screen. It should have the plus sign (+) on it so you can add photos from your internal drive. Keep the dialog box open while doing this. I closed mine out, and now, either Instagram figured out what I was doing, or I have to watch the video I got it from again.
What do I place on my account: So far, family and project pictures I am currently engaged into.
Facebook
Current Friend/followers: 1,129 (1,063 friends and 63 followers)
Current My Ambiance Life Page: 52
Current P. Lynne Designs Page: 208
Current At Home with Tricia's Baskets page: 0
Current Simply Organized Crafts: 322
Total amount: 1,711 friends and followers
Goal: 500 no matter what they follow.
I am not so worried about my Facebook account. It is nice and comfy, and almost just right, BUT, if I want Amazon or any other sponsor to look my way for an influencer’s account, that amount needs to be higher, much higher. I do not have any tricks or tips on Facebook except, let go of the drama, mama. Whatever is going on in your home/work/school/church, needs to stay there. It used to be a time when the only time a person posted as to when something bad is happening in your location. People thrived on drama. They still do. Do not contribute to it.
I am also confused by what Facebook considers friends vs. followers. If you look at followers along, not too many people are following me, but when you factor in my friends and people who follow my business pages, I have a lot more than needed. So my question that I need to find out is, “What are potential sponsors looking at, and what do I need to concentrate on. More research needs to be conducted before I can give you the answer.
If you created your account to promote your business (and by all means, please do), note that Facebook does not take too kindly on the likes of too much promotion, or you may find yourself in Facebook jail. Yes, that is a real term.
What do I place on my account: I post on each of my pages the current post from each blog, except P. Lynne Designs. For that page, I post on how I am coming with the website. Once I am finished with that, I will do the same for each blog. By the way, each blog has a new domain name, but I will not reveal until it is time to launch it.
Twitter
Current followers: 1,683
Goal: 500
My Twitter is in the same boat as my Facebook account. I can always use some work on it. The truth of the matter is whenever I post to Facebook or I post to Twitter, the opposite get the post as well. I set it up like that when I first got both accounts, even though they are not owned by the same company. I wish it was like that for Facebook and Instagram. I can post something from Instagram to Facebook, but I cannot post from Facebook to Instagram, and they are from the same company.
I treat my Twitter account like my Facebook account with a little more caution: I still think in 140 characters. I write the most important stuff on the post and cut out the fluff. I was glad when Twitter stopped counting the URL as part of the post. It makes posting better and faster. Here is another tip: not too many Millennials have a Twitter or Facebook account. So, if you want to reach them, Try Instagram.
Linked-In
Current followers: 358
Goal: 500
The goal here is different. Why? Because as you see by the numbers, it is lower than Instagram. I am not on LinkedIn as much as I should. LinkedIn is more of a business network social media platform than the others. When it first started, it was made for business-minded people. You are not going to get your friends and relatives to subscribe to LinkedIn because that is not where the gossip is at unless you like hearing about Amazon and Apple’s business practices.
So, if you are looking to network with LinkedIn, keep in mind that you are dealing with business people.
Blogs
Current Follows: 9
Goal: 500
Current Follows: 158
Goal: 500
Current Follows: 9
Goal: 500
Even though all 3 have different audiences, I lumped them together, just because they are all blogs, and they belong to me. All the goals are the same. I am having problems with consistency at the moment, which I am having the same problem with my YouTube channel. More on that when I get to it.
Consistency
When you have blogs, it is important that you tell your audience when they expect to have a new post. This usually comes in the form of a newsletter. So now you are asking yourself, “Why is she telling me this when she has a hard time keeping up with consistency?” Consistency with blogging is different than consistency with having a YouTube or Venmo Channel, but they are one and the same. Both blogging and vlogging take up the same time which involves planning, editing, and publishing.
What do I publish: For P. Lynne Designs, it is about my handmade products, reviews, and tutorials. Every once in a while, it is about my experiences as a crafter and freelance person. At Home with Tricia's Baskets, it is about family, home life, and travel. Sometimes it is about organizing your home, places to visit, reviews on those same places and products. Lastly, for My Ambiance Life, It is about writing, working from home, journaling, learning how to blog, and social media.
Vlogging (Video publishing)- YouTube
Current Subscribers: 170
Goal: Working up to 1,000
P. Lynne Designs (no videos)
Current Subscribers: 0
Goal: working up to 1,000
I have been vlogging for about 7 years. At first, I did not care if a video went up or not. That was not my goal. Then, I started seeing what video could do for your business, and I was hooked. I think it was a family vlog I was watching, and I was thinking to myself, “hey if they can stay consistent, so can I.” OK, different lifestyles different goals, but it does work if you let it.
I must admit that I have 2 videos waiting for me to edit and publish. Editing is not hard, but it is time-consuming. You have to listen to what your tone should be towards your audience, cut out the crap, separate the audio, add music, upload to YouTube (or Venmo), edit some more, including adding the description, and you are done.
One tip I do need to add when editing: find yourself a good editing software. Be willing to pay for it. For a couple of years, I wanted the editing software that was sweeping the nation, but it is only for the Mac. I cannot think of it at the moment. Someone told me there was a Windows version of the software, but the site only pointed to my software that had some features as the version for the Mac. I tried Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and a couple of software that were not to my liking. Yes, in a pinch, you can edit videos in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, programs I already had on my computer. I also had Windows Movie Maker, which also sucked. I tried Filmore9 (not Sponsored) and loved it, but when I uploaded my first video using the software, it put this big ad in the middle of my face and covered my mouth so if a deaf person were to listen to my video, they could not. I want to make my videos friendly to all. Yes, they could CC on the video, but If they do not have to, it should come to that.
So, now, I paid an annual fee of $39 to remove the ad from my videos, and I am happier now, then when I was editing my videos with WMM. I still get the same features as before, so for now, I am sticking to the software.
So, these are my goals for April. I do have affiliates, which I did not mention in this post, but maybe I will mention in my next blog post for next Friday.
For today, I sprinkled little takeaways throughout the blog, so I hope you caught them. Be sure to subscribe to one or all of the places you can find me. Also, If you have any questions or comments, please list them below, as well as on some of my social media profiles. You can also reach me at plogan721@att.net.
Until then, have a great week, and God bless you.
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