Hi friends! Welcome to my first Q&A! It’s Wednesday and I’m having some wine so why not let it be a Wine Wednesday Q&A? Grab yourself a glass of wine or coffee or tea or water, whatever you want and let’s dive in 🙂
Do you have any suggestions as to how to differentiate yourself from all the other blogging noise out there?
This is a big question that I hear come up in the blogging world and one that I feel like I am constantly asking myself as I try to grow and better myself, my blog, and the content that I produce. There is no secret to success unfortunately, and it’s a lot of hard work. Being consistent is super important to establishing yourself I think. What I always come back to, even when I’m feeling uninspired, is to just be me. When I ask myself what I can do to stand apart from other bloggers and be different, the answer is clear: I have to be ME. So many style bloggers wear a ton of the same clothes, some style them similarly and some don’t, but that noise is easy to get lost in for sure. I would say it’s important to just remain true to yourself and what you like and what makes you feel good. If you’re producing content because you’re just hoping to get a bunch of likes on an Instagram photo or maybe, for example, you don’t post something you genuinely like because you may be worried that other people don’t like it. I’ve been there. Ultimately you have to not listen to those little voices that make you doubt your work. If you like it, that is all that matters. Are you doing this whole blogging thing for other people or are you doing it for yourself? If you create content that is true to you, you will attract the right audience to that content that loves the work you put out. It’s also the only sustainable way to create content. You will burn out really fast if you’re just trying to “keep up with the joneses” so to speak. The one advantage that you and you alone have over every body else is that YOU are the only YOU out there. So let yourself, your personality, your passions…let them shine. That is how you will stand out in a genuine way for years to come.
What are your favorite treadmill workouts?
I very rarely run on the treadmill because I just love running outside, however if it’s pouring down rain or something I may take the workout inside. But generally on the treadmill I like to do incline walking, and the best go-to workout I like to do is just put the treadmill on the highest incline it has (incline 15.0 on the treadmills I use) and speed 3.5 for 45 minutes.
The treadmill is also great for sprinting so sometimes I will use it for that as well. I posted a few Treadmill Interval Workouts on this post and will share some new ones soon!
How do you gain sponsorships through your blog?
Another question I get a lot is how do you earn sponsorships through the blog, review products, build relationships with companies, and make money on your blog. I’m excited to announce that I am in the middle of working on a full blogger course that will teach you everything from the foundations of your blog to the monetization of your blog with all my tips I’ve learned along the way (since blogging since 2010!) for working with companies and making money on your blog. I want to help you get there so that is coming just as soon as I can churn it out. It will have sample emails for approaching companies,
how to know what to charge, and more. There will be more info coming on Friday so check back here for that. And don’t forget to join my email list to be the first to know when the course drops AND I may just have a little extra discount in there for my email subscribers 🙂
How do you maintain such a productive lifestyle and keep up your passion without “burning out?”
It has definitely been a learning experience to get to a place where I feel like I am balancing the things that are important to me pretty well. Is it perfect? No. Do I feel like sometimes I’m not dedicating enough time to something? Of course. But I also had to get to a place where I wasn’t so hard on myself if I didn’t get every single thing on my to-do list checked off. The burn out comes when I am placing stress on myself. I can get physically sick when I am stressed out and I lose sleep, so I definitely do what I can to avoid it. Making working out a priority every day is crucial to this because it totally gives me an attitude/mind shift once I’m done with my workout. I feel more ready and prepared to tackle the rest of the day when I know I’ve done that. So some days I work out in the morning, some at lunch, and some later in the day, but minus the whole waking up early thing, I prefer the morning workouts lately because it’s just such a positive way to start the day. I also recognize another thing I need is to straight up just veg sometimes. I need to sit on the couch and unplug and watch some reality TV or Netflix. So I guess the balance of being productive without burning out comes from knowing my own limits and needs. It’s certainly a practice in listening to yourself and prioritizing yourself. With the blog specifically, I know that I love it, and it allows me to feel creative
and connect with people I’d otherwise never know, so for that I’m able to look forward to the time I put into it. I think when it feels like a chore is when I’d start feeling burnt out. I’ve circled that feeling a few times and when I get that way I just take a step back and really try to pinpoint what is causing those feelings and see what I can do to change.
What are your favorite home decor stores?
Home decor is my hidden passion y’all. Maybe not hidden but I seriously love it. I wish I had all the time (and money, lol) to
decorate. I know I share bits and pieces on the blog but I definitely would love to share it more. I love Wayfair because there are generally really great deals on stuff and they have pretty much anything you could want. I also love Anthropologie because it’s just so cute and eclectic. I have a few things sitting in my cart as we speak 🙂 Also obviously TARGET duh. That goes without saying probably. And Home Goods. The only thing I don’t love about Home Goods is that you can’t really shop online but, once I’m in that store, I’m in it to win it y’all! LOL. If y’all are looking for an interior decorator on the cheap, hit me up. I would seriously be down to do that I’m not even kidding!!
Speaking of the home decor, that is a perfect segway into announcing the winner of the Croscill Naturals giveaway!! I put all the entries into an excel spreadsheet as individual entries and then used random.org to generate the number of the winner.
Thanks so everyone that entered…the winner is… #124 ALI!! Ali please email me at hello@bessharringtoncarter.com and we will get you your prize!
Thanks again to everyone who entered. More to come for y’all!
Also thank you so much for the questions, please send more more by leaving me some in the comments or emailing me!! Love you all!
xo,
Bess
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