Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Sunday Lately, 5

Do you ever find yourself so focused on one thing that other (still important) tasks are totally left at the curb?  It feels like this week is almost like that.  Pure tunnel vision here.

Sunday Lately 5

Completing

Even though I have tunnel vision on one thing (must write more posts), nothing is quite “done.”  Do you ever feel that blogging is like studying?  In school, especially college, I never felt like I was done studying.  It’s almost like that with this blog; until the entry posts, it’s never “done,” it’s just “acceptable to post.”

Visiting

Doctors.  Nothing bad, just two weeks in a row of appointments.  I work a later shift on Tuesdays, so I have the ability to schedule appointments in the morning and not have to take off work.  But that means I get to haul my cookies to the eye doctor (ew) and the dentist two weeks in a row.

Embarrassing-slash-not-embarrassing fact: I LOVE the dentist.  I would go to the dentist every month if it meant I didn’t have to go to the eye doctor.  She’s nice, but I hate having my eyes dilated.

Repeating

My father is back in the hospital, so I’m repeating the fun path of working all day, driving to the hospital, staying there for a while, and then falling into bed when I get home.

Applauding

My best friend is close to finishing up grad school for a masters.  I am so proud of how far she’s come since we were in high school together and it seemed like getting to this point was so far away.  She’s a total rockstar.

We went to happy hour the other night and she was talking about where she wants to go after graduation.  It’s sad that she’s been away for years at school and in a few months she’ll be leaving Pittsburgh again, but you gotta follow your path.

Scheduling

Well, clearly not any more doctor appointments!  I’m trying really hard to have the next month’s Levo event nailed down before the current month’s event and I’m not there with March yet.  I know I have time, but it seems like I’ll have all the time in the world and then BAM there’s the event date next week.

What have you been doing lately?

Five ways to use social media to promote your blog today

Along with providing good customer service, my day job is spent consulting on ways to use social media marketing to promote their brick and mortar (and sometimes online-only) business.

Since blogs are basically a business, I took some of my best tips for business owners and made them work for bloggers.  Get ready for a quick refresh on some best practices to promote your blog online!

Five ways to use social media to promote your blog today

Be consistent

Consistency is key.  I’m pretty sure it’s my mantra at work.  This is especially true of Facebook (they’ll penalize you if you do anything they don’t like pretty much) but also on other platforms as well.

There’s nothing like going to someone’s Facebook page only to see they haven’t posted anything since March 2013.  That isn’t going to make you want to follow them, right?  Right.  So find a content calendar that works for you and schedule away.

I’ve bee enjoying CoSchedule, despite some early skepticism.  When you’re publishing your post, it’s so simple to schedule and promote that post today, next week, or next month.  You can also schedule social media updates that aren’t connected to your latest post.

Focus your attention where you enjoy it the most

If you haaaaate Facebook but are only on there because you think you should be, stop following the pack!  Same goes for Tumblr, Google+, or whatever isn’t serving you anymore.  If you half-heartedly throw something at the wall hoping it sticks but not really having any oomph behind it, it won’t do you any favors.

Your followers can tell.  And they will not care either, I promise you.

But, if you love being on Instagram and pinning your little heart away, your excitement will come through those networks.

You have better things to do than feel guilty for not updating Facebook, especially if blogging isn’t your full time job.  You have better things to do with your time.

Don’t ignore where your traffic is coming from

A caveat to focusing your attention where you enjoy it is to watch where your traffic is coming from and nurture that network.  Install Google Analytics and watch your numbers.  If you’re getting the most clicks from Twitter, spend a little more time there nurturing those connections.

There are free tools to help you maintain those networks.  Play around with what works for you.  As I mentioned, CoSchedule does post to other networks, but it doesn’t monitor the chatter.  I for that, I use HootSuite and Tweetdeck (I talk about them a bit here).  Buffer is also a great tool.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

It’s impossible to stay on top of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Blog Lovin’, Stumble Upon, Digg, etc AND still write good quality posts (y’know, the whole point of blogging so you can get traffic through those social networks).

Like I tell my accounts at work, don’t add more when you can’t handle what you’ve already got.  So cut something loose.  It’s okay.  You can always add to it later.

It’s smarter (and easier) to introduce a new platform to a mix that’s already performing well than just spinning plates haphazardly.

Be social

Social media connections are just as valuable as a face-to-face interaction.  The beauty of blogging and social media is that you can make connections and learn new things from anywhere.  Be sure to post valuable content on social just as you would on your blog.

Facebook especially is going to reward you for that.  The goal is to inspire, educate, and entertain, not just self-promote.

Ask questions, post content that relates to your blog/industry, make yourself a hub of information.  Things that are “share-worthy” will be shared and you’ll get in front of a fresh set of eyes.  Go out and say hi!

What strategies do you use to promote your blog/business online?

Disclaimer: the CoSchedule link is a referral link.  If you try it out, I get a little help on the price of my subscription.  I wouldn’t be recommending it if I didn’t use it and love it!

Currently, January 2015

I had this Currently card all written out last Saturday in preparation of posting this the following week and then I realized I was no where near the end of the month.  But now it’s the end of the month and I’m all like, where did the month go?  It’s amazing the difference a week makes.

Currently List, January 2015 using rukristin's journaling card

Watching

Parks and Rec.  Netflix has treated me so well.  I always magically find the glory of a show on the final season, though, which then always makes me sad.  The Office, HIMYM, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock.

Reading

“Dearie […]” still.  It’s a long book with big pages and tiny writing, okay?  I’m looking forward to finishing a Jimmy Stewart biography when I’m done with this.  Then I’ll move on to “Appetite for Life” by Noel Riley Fitch, another Julia biography.

Listening

Background TV noise.  Nothing even memorable.

Making

A mess of the kitchen.  The floor at my father’s house is being replaced and with the help of Jonathan, it was easier than planned, but it’s still a mess.  Then I decided to make cookies and got flour everywhere.

Feeling

Stuffy.  Cold suck.  These five things make winter suck less, but winter is still a bitch.

Planning

First solo Levo event, which actually already happened.  I’ve mentioned it before, but it was great.  I’ll have to write a recap of what happened.  Inna from Hey What’s Next lead us through some great exercises.  I thought my word / intention for 2015 would be FOCUS but after that night, I changed it to CONNECT.  It feels much better.

Loving

Being Gardening In High Heels.  SynEr was great (and still my personal Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/Etc) but I like having a clear focus and a dedicated idea of what I’m doing here.

What was your month like?  I still can’t believe it’s already the end of January.

A Tale of Two Brows

Truth time: brow pencils scare me.  I avoid using them because I don’t want to look like that girl with two-tone eyebrows.  I also don’t want to looks like I’ve taken a liquid eyeliner and drawn on rectangles above my eyes.  I think you know what I’m talking about.

I love this video from Jenna Marbles because it illustrates my point perfectly.

Brow maintenance one of my least-favorite activities.  It takes so long to do myself, but I don’t like scheduling an appointment to have someone rip the hair off of my face, pay at least $15 for the pleasure, and then tip them on top of it for something I can do myself.

That said, shout out to Laura at the Sewickley Spa – I used to work there and she’s seriously the brow whisperer.  I haven’t met anyone who can do them like she can.

What happens when you accidentally wax your eyebrow off

One day, I didn’t grab her before she left and I absolutely HAD to do my brows myself because they were tragically beyond tweezing and I was going to a wedding with Jonathan that weekend.  It was the first time we’d be attending something fancy, and it was only a few months after we started dating so I was still pretending #iwokeuplikethis.

I’ve done it before myself and I wasn’t worried.  I carefully applied wax, smoothed the paper on top of it, and ripped off the tail from my right eyebrow.

Sexy.

Panicked, I went to Target and collected all the brow cosmetics I could find.  I compared brand reputation, price, color.  Since I never did anything with my brows, I didn’t know what I needed.  I did know that I needed something that would look natural and stay in place all night.

I lucked out when I chose this Revlon Brow Fantasy pencil/gel combo.  It got me through a humid day and a long night.  The pencil feathers on color naturally and the gel keeps brows in place without looking like you have gel on your brows.

Revlon Brow Fantasy saved a big beauty whoops

I have relatively straight and thick brows, so they don’t need much help.  Translation: I usually don’t put anything on them to make them look presentable.  I don’t need to fill my brows in or apply gel to hold them down.  It’s possible there are other brow products out there that may work better for stubborn brows, but for low-maintenance hairs like mine, I’m really happy with how this turned out.

And if Jonathan noticed, he didn’t say.  He’s much too polite for that anyway.

So that’s today’s tale of two brows.  I’ve had some bad brow experiences, like the time I used pre-waxed strips and got my eyelashes stuck to them.  But that’s another story for another day.

Have you had a beauty oops?  How did you get yourself out of it?

Sunday Lately, 4

This week was kind of crazy.  I had my first solo Local Levo event (if you’re in Pittsburgh, please join us in Feb at Wigle Whiskey!), I feel like I worked it really hard at work, and Jonathan and I are going on Day 2 of burger eating.  Yesterday was Bubba’s after the Beer Blizzard and today is Steer and Wheel food truck during Weather Permitting.  They have my absolute favoritest fries in the city.

Sunday Lately 4

Updating

Still updating this little bloggy space of mine.  I love how these prompts let me remind you so much that things are still a-changing around here.  I’m okay with that!

Reminding

..Myself not to get wrapped up in things I cannot control. So much of my job is apologizing to people because something didn’t work correctly. Not that I did anything wrong, but empathy is the first step in disarming an angry person. Mix that with my knee-jerk reaction of apologizing for stuff in my personal life and I’ve got a sure-fire way to think that everything is my fault.

Needing

Furniture!  I have a bunch of hand-me-down stuff and it works but it is only comfortable really just for me.  I can’t host people for long periods of time without being embarrassed that my living room furniture consists of an old armchair and ottoman slip-covered in sheets from Target and a papasan chair that really belongs outside.

Amusing

..Coworkers with my responses to emails we all get.  For example: when someone sends a message in all caps, I’m that person emailing the department, “OKAY, I’LL ANSWER THIS ONE.”  Always good for a chuckle.

Being

Just being. As in reminding, I just need to be and I’m not. I should schedule massages for myself more often so I can “just be.”

What are you up to lately?

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together