My Pixi Beauty Collection!
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
3 Reasons To Have A Pet In Your Home
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Health
Studies show that pet ownership is often tied to better physical and mental health. Having a pet is shown to decrease stress, with the science showing that the stress-producing hormone cortisol is lower after you spend time with your furry companion.
Having a pet also requires you to be on your feet, whether it be cleaning the litter box each day or walking the dog a few miles. This increase in cardio helps keep pet owners in good physical shape. Pet ownership can also be a great way to deal with allergies, asthma, and your immune system, particularly for your newborns. Studies prove that those who grow up with pets are at a lower risk of developing allergies and asthma, as well as eczema. With dogs especially, exposure to the bacteria they have in their mouths is shown to boost your immune system.
Connection
In adults, a pet provides companionship and an emotional and physical connection with another being. At times when we are mentally unwell, a pet provides us with that constant feeling of love and stability. A pet can also be a great ice breaker. If you are feeling lonely, take the dog out for a walk. You may just meet other pet parents or neighborhood friends looking for a connection, as well.
The connection between a child and a pet is also important when it comes to childhood development as well. Pets teach children valuable lessons about responsibility, love, and loss. A pet is often a child’s first experience taking care of and nurturing another being, which will prepare them to develop kind and loving connections in their future. Children who grow up with pets are also shown to have fewer behavioral and learning problems and may also prove to be more compassionate as they grow into adulthood. Unfortunately, pets’ lives are often shorter than our own. The loss of a pet in a child’s life often comes before the loss of a grandparent or older relative, and this will teach them the important lesson that time spent together is precious, and no matter how short or long a person’s life, and no matter the pain we experience when they are gone, we would never trade the pain for the incredible memories of the time we spent together.
Purpose
For pet owners, their furry friend is often the reason they wake up every day. The regular schedule you need to adhere to when feeding, walking, or scooping the litter box gives the motivation to wake up every morning and take the day head-on. If you have trouble getting out of bed every day, a pet can provide that extra sense of purpose and love that pulls you out of a funk and gets you moving. There is often a positive physical and mental reaction when it comes to taking care of a being that needs you to survive. Your pet depends on you just as much, if not more, than you depend on it. That feeling of responsibility can be trying when you’re working around a busy schedule, but always incredibly rewarding.
Conclusion
Having a pet is one of the best decisions you could make for yourself or for your family. The health benefits are high, and the emotional benefits are even more rewarding. Choosing the right pet for your family and your schedule is important, and we should always remember to “adopt - don’t shop!” when it comes to finding the perfect furry companion. Whether you’re looking for Birmingham homes for sale to house your future fleet of puppies or just searching for a cat to make your small apartment feel homier, there’s a furry friend out there for you that needs your affection just as much as you need its companionship.
*Featuring my own fur baby - Luke Skybarker, a Labrabul (mixed of Labrador and Pitbull).
My Blogging and Influencer Journey - Looking Back
Monday, August 17, 2020
I have previously posted a blog post about my journey into becoming an influencer with a tad bit of information and enough tips for you to begin your own influencer journey.
Today, I am giving you a detailed background and timeline about how I started!
The Beginning – Stepping into the world of blogging.
I always wanted to have my own website because I know somewhere in me – is someone who loves to write. I purchased my own domain in September 2016 and started working on the design of my blog. However, it's not until March 2017 that I finally and officially launched it!
The Next Step – Building my Instagram Foundation and Presence
March 27, 2015, when I dived into the Instagram craze and opened my account just for personal use. I was just posting random photos of everything. Came 2016, I was a stay-at-home wife doing odd jobs online and obviously had a lot of spare time in my hands to be on social media platforms, specifically Instagram. I saw people getting free stuff and sharing their thoughts about them. I said to myself, "I want to do that too." I started following freebie hunters so I can learn where to get free products to review that led me to discover different platforms and websites and started signing up for them. I always love to share my thoughts and my experiences with others, so that little fire of passion for sharing my first-hand experiences to others, later become that Influencer passion I have until now. In March 2017, I started to get products to review. I accepted everything – from scissors to kitchen utensils, pet supplies, makeup, and skincare. Then I came to love skincare and makeup – that became another passion.
I then started following makeup bloggers and skincare enthusiasts. I slowly learned how to do makeup and started to have a complete skincare routine! Makeup and skincare became my niche. I enjoyed watching makeup tutorials on Youtube and Instagram. And when TikTok emerged and took over the world (okay, I am just being exaggerated here!), beauty influencers became more active in sharing their talents in this video-based social media platform where they can be more creative. I can tell you that they are absolutely fun to watch!
True, there's a lot of fantastic beauty influencers in TikTok right now, but Popsugar rounded up a few talented beauty influencers that you should be following.
Although blogging is my passion, sadly, I stopped May 2019 due to a lack of time and motivation.
Reaching some milestones – Expanding my Instagram Family
So going back to my journey, I started my Instagram with around 150 – 200 followers, and most of them are friends and family. I reached my first 500 followers in May 2017 and mark the 1000 followers around September that same year. I can't remember exactly how I grew from there, but all I know was, I was stuck at 3k followers for so long – probably a year (2018 - 2019). Fast forward August 2020 – I just recently reached 6k!
And along with it, I was able to find time and motivation again to continue blogging, hence, rebranded and relaunched my blog!
It was a struggle to grew my Instagram following but always thankful to those people who supported me from Day 1. I believe that it's imperative that you know who your target audience is and that you are willing to show up for them every single time, even if you don't feel like it. Engagement is key. I have also learned that taking good photos and adding a compelling caption that gives them a glimpse of who you are, helps a lot in retaining your existing followers and gaining new ones. Plus, don't forget to play with the hashtags if you want your post to be seen by new people.
My current goal is to have 10k followers by the end of the year. Let's make this happen!
Collaborations and Sponsorship – The endless possibility
Is the number of followers important in getting those collabs and sponsorship? For me, it's a yes and no answer. And I will tell you why. I had gotten quite a few collabs when I was just starting out, especially from small brands that needed product testers and can offer you free products. There are also several platforms where you can work with different brands, even if you still don't have that big following. So, in this sense, the number of followers is not essential in getting collaborations. Some brands actually prefer micro-influencers (influencers with less than 10k followers), because they tend to have a higher engagement rate. This means their products will actually be seen by engaged and interested people.
However, big company and higher-end brands tend to rely on macro-influencers (influencers who have over 10k followers) which obviously have a better following. The logic behind this is that, their product will be visible to more people because macro-influencers have a higher reach. Macro-influencers also tend to have a higher chance of getting a paid sponsorship – meaning, brands are willing to pay them with money along with free products, to promote their brand. So yes, in this case, follower count, really counts! Still, this is not always the case; micro-influencers can be paid and offered sponsorship by brands too. I actually have a current paid brand deal in the works while I am still considered a micro-influencer. So all of this comes down to different factors and also depends on the brands.
But nevertheless, we can see here that influencers are becoming essential parts of marketing. That is why many brands are depending on them to promote their products. And then, this is where influencer marketing platforms play an essential role. They help brands find the best and trusted influencers to promote their products. See, for example, Intellifluence, an influencer marketing platform that is home for more than 80k influencers from 176 countries, all ready to collaborate with the right brands. And since beauty is one of the most popular niches, they have a new approach to beauty marketing. They have a pool of talented cosmetics influencers who are waiting to collaborate with beauty brands.
All that being said, influencer marketing seems to be staying for a long while. And for this reason, if you want to start your own journey as an influencer, now is the time!