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4 Blogging Investments I Recommend!

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4 Blogging Investments I Recommend!

Today on Prada & Pearls I’m talking about 4 blogging investments that have completely transformed my business!  I often get questions about what has helped me grow, especially on Instagram.  I thought it would be easier to create this blog post to answer everything all at once!  I do however want to mention up front, that these are some things have helped me, however they may not necessarily help others.  I’m a firm believer that you need to carve your own path and try many different things to see what sticks!  Everyone finds success differently but with that being said, I really hope that these blogging tips help you!

1. CAMERA EQUIPMENT

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Sweater: Nordstrom

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Iphone

The first investment I want to talk about is my camera equipment!  I use various different devices to take my photos.  Over the last year, I’ve noticed that on Instagram, my followers tend to respond better to iPhone photos.  It seems to be the angles the iPhone takes that are popular.  I use an iPhone 8 to take my pictures.  However, with that said, sometimes the lightening and quality on iPhone is not ideal, which is why a couple of months ago I went on the search for a DSLR lens that could produce similar angles.

DSLR Camera

I like to use a DSLR camera to take all of my blogging photos for my website.  I also use a DSLR camera to take some of my Instagram photos.  In the future, I may want to get into Youtube, so I wanted to make sure that the camera I purchased also had great videoing capabilities.  I decided to go with the Canon REBEL T7i (800D)!  Mainly due to the price point, and its overall capabilities.

For the first 6 months of blogging I was using a 50mm Canon Lens.  Also referred to as the nifty fifty, the lens produced a really nice Bokeh look (blurred background).  One thing to note however, when you use this lens you have to stand at least 3 meters back from the subject which is difficult in some shooting locations!  About a month ago I decided to look for a better lense which led me to the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art DC HSM Lens.  This lens is made for Nikon, Canon and many other cameras!  It also produces that Bokeh look at certain angles.  Before you purchase however, please do some research into this lens, I have heard it is not compatible with all camera models!

Other Equipment

As for other equipment for my blog, I have a lens cover that helps deal with sunlight and I also have a Tripod that I use when Chris isn’t available to take my shots!

 

2. PRESETS

Before

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After

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Top: Goodnight Macaroon (get 30% off using code “pradaandpearls”)

Next I want to talk about editing!  I get a TON of questions on this weekly so I wanted to discuss it.  I use Lightroom to edit all of my photos.  I also use presets in Lightroom however, with that said, I heavily edit the presets to make them my own.  I believe that’s important because if your just using someone else’s presets it doesn’t make you unique!

To check out the presets I use click on this link: Presets

I use all of the presets available, at this time however I’m not going to go into exactly how I edit, as that’s what makes my content unique!

3. PINTEREST

 

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I only recently got into Pinterest about 2 months ago!  Pinterest is such an amazing tool to use to grow your blog traffic and a lot of people don’t use it!  Pinterest is technically a search engine and not a social media platform which makes mastering it different than other platforms.  Over the past couple of months I’ve really invested a lot of time into growing my Pinterest.  In 2 months my pinterest has increased from 50 to 160 followers, 5K views to 233K views and I’ve increased my blog hits by 100s.  These hits have also led to sales on reward style which is a win win!  In the next couple of months I plan on writing blog posts on tips and tricks to mastering Pinterest since there is SO much to talk about!

For the time being I would recommend doing research into pinterest and try things out!  It’s worth the time, my success if proof of that!

4. YOUR TIME

I couldn’t create a post on blogging investments without chatting about time.  This is the most important investment of all.  A business won’t grow if you don’t spend time on it.  I work a full time job, which makes working on my blog difficult.  I’ve had to make sacrifices in order to spend time writing and producing content.  The more time you invest the faster you’ll see results.  I understand that everyone’s situation is different, you may have kids, you may work full time like me, however it is so important that you invest effort into growing your business. One thing that has helped me, is making a schedule, where I assign specific hours at night to work on my blog.

I try and post to my blog 2-3 times a week and on Instagram everyday, sometimes two times a day!  That’s a huge time investment and it requires scheduling and commitment! I post my Instagram photos on my way to work, and sometimes on my way home.  I’ve found ways to maximize my time because its very valuable!   I would recommend trying to find what works for you, but remember time is SO important to growing.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post on the best blogging investments!  If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out!

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