You know you’re supposed to have a “Call to Action" in your Instagram bio, right?

But, what if you don’t want to change that link each time you have a new blog post? Or a new sale? Or a new promo?

Well, with the help of Link In Profile, I have found the most amazing way to convert your Instagram post views directly to where you want them to go - whenever your readers are viewing your Instagram feed. Finally, no more saying “link in profile” and then having that actually no longer be true for said post a few days later when they come across it. Oh, and you can stop using Bit.ly links to track clicks from Instagram to your site as Link In Profile shows up in your google analytics and looks a heck of a lot less spammy {I’m personally always leary to click on a bit.ly link, especially because many users don't switch out the letter combo to be a user friendly phrase that matches their promo}.

You can now easily turn your Instagram followers into your Etsy shoppers, website viewers and more with Link in Profile.

To do this - you simply need to sign up for an account at Link In Profile and keep the same username as your Instagram account for continuity. You will then be provided with a special link to update the url in your Instagram bio with. Once in place, you will want to include a url in your post caption to the direct spot you want the reader to go to. In your caption, you will still direct them to click the link in your profile {see sample post below which resulted in a sale - proof that this works}. When a viewer clicks that link - they are brought to a page that looks like Instagram {montage on the right above} but every single post you have ever posted that contains a url in the caption will show up here. Your viewer will simply click on the post they want to see in more detail and they will be taken directly to the targeted page you want them to see.

You can now say “Goodbye” to updating your bio url forever. Your Instagram posts are now super targeted at any time they are viewed. Please head on over to Link In Profile and sign up. There’s a free 30 day trial and it’s only $9.99 a month after that. Seeing that I saw results with my 2nd post {The Power of Pinterest Course post shown above} - I’d say I’m keeping Link in Profile without hesitation. Last week, I also scoped about how amazing it is to have this capability. You can see the video right here . . .

A quote from Ryan, creator of Link In Profile, after he saw my scope . . . "That's an amazing video.  We are so grateful when someone shares about our service.  We made this service for the exact reasons you said in your video (plus we do see passive clicks on old content too ~20% of people don't follow your CTA, but click on a different image)."

PS: After signing up for Link In Profile, Ryan emailed me and we chatted a bit and I'm thrilled to say I'm now one of their 3 featured users on their home page. I loved being able to share about this amazing add-on to Instagram after testing it out first-hand. And, now I'm proud to be an affiliate of the company Ryan started, being one of their featured users and sharing all about it with you. Please support this wonderful creation Ryan designed by clicking on one of the links I've provided above. I'll earn a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.

Have you recently checked your Periscope follower list?

If not, you may want to do this ASAP and be sure you don't have anyone looking to show you their "b-double o-bs". Every so often {at least once a week if you're growing your following fairly quickly} you will want to go into your Periscope follower list and block the spammy accounts.

Why Should You Block The Spammy Accounts?

Because, if you have any of these yucky accounts following you and you invite people to someone's broadcast, you are also inviting those spammers that are following you. And, you know what? The spammers will then usually invite their followers who are spammers too. Double Yuck! So, go block them now and you will keep their unwelcome comments out of your scopes and the scopes you are watching.

PS: So thankful to Danielle of The Merriweather Council for alerting me {and others} to this great Periscope tip.

And, if you want to follow me on Periscope - you can do that right here. Be on the lookout for another social media tutorial/tip scope from me very soon.

Have you noticed a dip in engagement on Instagram recently? Either with likes, comments, or both?

If you have, then you are likely being affected by the recent update with the algorithm on Instagram. They are favoring posts with text that takes up 20% or less of the image. The Instagram posts that are of course performing the best, are ones with no text, just plain visuals. I heard about this last night from a lifestyle blogger after she posted a giveaway that featured a predominantly text based graphic {showcased the logos of the participants}.

So, how can you increase your Instagram engagement?

From the beginning Instagram was a visual platform, so post those eye-catching photos and write an attention getting caption to draw the reader in to read more and take action with your post. I think Instagram is clamping down on the overload of the motivational quotes that are so text heavy. And, Facebook does own Instagram, so we can’t be too surprised that Instagram would follow along with the 20% text rule. I have noticed sponsored posts are showing up more and more in my feed which only makes me think more changes are on the horizon.

But, for now, you can post eye catching visuals and grab my 5 Tricks to a Highly Engaging Instagram Post so you can be sure your posts are seen by those you are targeting.

Want to save time and increase engagement with your Instagram posts, immediately? In my latest Periscope, I shared a live tutorial on how I create my Instagram posts without any scheduling apps.

In this scope, you see me get an Instagram post up while you watch and I walk you through exactly how I do them to increase engagement right away. Plus, I reveal a special way you can be seen on my Instagram feed - did you know that if you add the tag #bwbfinds to your elegant "wow" imagery you have the chance to be shared in my Instagram feed? And, there's something brand new that will quickly become your must-have wedding professional resource when it comes to using the right hashtags for your target audience. Watch below to see it all . . . or continue reading below the video for more details >

So, what do you think? Are you ready to make your posts instantly engaging and to reach your target audience? Don't forget to Pre-Order your Ultimate Instagram Hashtag Guide for Wedding Professionals today before the pre-launch price goes away on February 29th.

To make posting easy and engaging on Instagram - you can simply write your post in text edit or even an email with a break between your caption and hashtags. Then email it to yourself with the photo to save to your camera roll {if you want to add emojis, simply paste it into the notes app on your phone}. When your ready to post at your optimal time, you will . . .

1. copy and paste the caption and hashtags
2. go to Instagram
3. upload the image - edit if needed
4. paste in the caption and hashtags
5. select just the hashtags and cut them out {moving up the cursor to the end of the caption}
6. post and then immediately paste in the hashtags in first comment and send
7. now you can sit back and wait for the engagement to happen

With this method you don't need scheduling apps and you don't need to go out of Instagram to go back into notes to grab your hashtags. This wastes precious time when your hashtags could already be working to get you into the Top Posts spot {for a bit}. And, by having your caption and hastags in email or notes - you have a back-up copy {just in case}.

Now, Don't Forget . . .

How was your past week on social media? Please share your wins or what made you the happiest with any of the platforms in the comments below - I'd LOVE to see what made your smile this past week.

For me - it was seeing the power of Pinterest and how that power continues even after a year. I first saw that in the past week I had received 835 re-pins. One of my top re-pins was this naked wedding cake from a featured styled shoot, photographed by Ashley Cook Photography, that was showcased on my blog nearly a year ago. When I checked in the morning, the styled shoot feature had 6.1k re-pins. By evening, it was up to 6.2k re-pins. Say What?!?! {come follow me on Pinterest here}

Are you using Pinterest for your business?

If you want to leverage Pinterest to bring you continued traffic day after day, year after year - please be sure to join my Wedding Business Club {it's completely free + a bonus to join my NO DRAMA wedding pro only FB group}. I have something HUGE in the works that you will not want to miss out on. Especially because I will only be able to accept the first 20-25 that grab the offer as soon as it's available. And, my email list subscribers will be the first to know about it before I announce it publicly. Hurry, and get on my Wedding Business Club list so you can find out how to make the power of Pinterest work for you in 2016.

Can you believe that we are already into our second month of 2016? How was your January? Were you able to start on your goals for this year? If not, no worries - it's a fresh month with the chance for amazing things to happen. I have big plans for 2016 and in a way I'm calling it quits. Not, completely, but, with all the competition and inexperienced so called "experts" out there, it's got me thinking a lot about how I want to move forward this year. So, I'll be calling it quits in the ways that haven't been working. I'm going to be "following my arrow" and bringing my graphic design background more front and center in the new year.

I spent January doing lots of brainstorming and thinking about where I want to take my wedding blog in 2016. There's so many pop-up sites saying they'll do this and that for your business and they barely have any experience. They aren't even in the same industry and their numbers don't match what they claim. Makes me sad to see others fall for their sales pitches.

But, I'm not calling it quits and neither should you when things get a little tough.

One main thing I know for sure is that after 14+ years in the wedding industry - I am more passionate than ever in helping businesses just like yours reach the brides you want {need} and grow your business for success.

I'll soon be rolling out a brand new
section of business services just for you.

- Services that will grow your business.
- Services that will help you reach your niche market.
- Services that you will simply love to take advantage of.
I'm going to take your business from "ho hum" to "oh wow"!

In the meantime - is there anything you need help with for your business right now? Do you want to reserve a giveaway sponsorship and grow your audience at the same time? Please email me at bestweddingsites@gmail.com and let me know how I can help. 

PS: Have you received the 5 Key Components to a Great Instagram Post? If not, be sure to sign-up here and you will receive them right away.

You'll also receive access to my private {no drama} facebook group for wedding vendors only. It's all about business tips + tricks and special offers.

PS: the featured Follow Your Arrow coffee mug in this post is perfect for keeping you on track this year. Click Here to get your very own mug so you're reminded each day to "follow your arrow". {this is an affiliate link}

I'm sure you've seen many pins all about how to "Brand Your Social Media". These tips often apply mainly to Instagram. But, wouldn't you want to brand yourself on social media across all the platforms? Well, I'm here to tell you that while those ideas you've seen might all be great, there is one simple {and easy} way to brand yourself on social media without figuring out which of these "tricks" you need to "test" out first.

Let me first show you how you might brand yourself if you were focusing on Instagram so you can see why you want to "brand yourself" across the social channels. You could . . .

1. Create a co-hesive look to your entire feed {some feeds have a special look for every third image - this requires too much planning for me}
2. Use a consistent filter {although I'm personally not a fan of filters, but I do use the brightness, contrast, warmth and saturation adjustments within the IG app}
3. Have a dominate color throughout the images in your feed {pink is super common}
And, of course there's even more ideas that can leave you still questioning what to do

But, these "branding tricks" won't work for twitter or pinterest

So . . . are you ready to find out the NUMBER ONE way to brand yourself social media? One that you could have up and running by days end?

The NUMBER ONE way to "brand yourself" on social media . . . across all platforms . . . is to . . .
USE THE SAME HANDLE FOR ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.

You want to tell your audience something like this . . . "You can find me at @weddingsites". And, then, your audience can easily find you on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, even Periscope, and any other social media platforms you choose.

When you brand yourself online in social media with the same "handle", your name will become recognized whenever and where ever you share content online. When you do this, you will also be gaining authority in your field.

Please come back next week, when I share with you the second easiest way to continue to brand yourself across all the social media channels.

Until next week, please do share this article with your followers {via the social share links on the left}

Membership is 100% Free and my Facebook Group is the go-to gathering spot for wedding vendors to share business tips --- build a network --- and find others to collaborate with. Plus, I share exciting news with my members in this group before it's publicly announced. Join Today!

The other day I wanted to do a test as I wasn't happy with the results of my email campaigns. I knew I could do better for myself, my readers and my vendors. What I didn't expect was that the new email campaign I had created sent when scheduled, but my old email campaign went out as well. A big Monday ooops - but I'm looking at it as an A/B test with a twist {it sent to the same exact list - just 2 minutes apart. Turns out my old email campaign was never paused as I had thought it was}.

So, are you ready to find out how I more than doubled my email open AND click rate?

I had been sending emails to my subscribers with the RSS option in MailChimp. This meant they were receiving my entire blog post in the email. Problem? YES! They had no reason to click to my site and see the post the "pretty" way. You know, with proper text formatting and photos aligning like they do in the blog post. If, I tried the excerpt method, the photo from the post was missing. Neither way was an option for me anymore. I wanted to give my subscribers a reason to not only want to open my emails but to also come to my blog.

Here's exactly what I did to more than double my email open AND click rate . . .
• I posed a question in the email subject
• I added in copy {details from the blog post}
• I shared only 1 photo from the post
• I encouraged my readers to click to see more

The Results?

My open AND click rate for the new email campaign had increased more than twice that of the RSS campaign {just under 3x actually}.

PS: my sincere apologies to my subscribers for receiving both emails and a huge thank you for not unsubscribing. The problem has since been fixed for future email campaigns.

Bottom Line . . .

Take that little bit of extra time to craft an original email and schedule it to send after your blog post is drafted. This is easy and I had my custom email created in under 10 minutes with the replicate campaign option in MailChimp. You will increase your open and click rates AND bring more readers to your blog in the process. It's a complete win win :)

When it comes to Giveaways on Instagram, there's no denying there are many out there.

There's the flash giveaways
There's the loop giveaways
There's the single shop giveaways
There's the partnered giveaways
The list goes on and on . . .

View fullsize

But, did you know there's a truly easy way to host an Instagram giveaway?
One that won't discourage your followers and have them give-up on entering?

Yes, I'm talking about those darn loop giveaways. They pretty much require a post all on their own - so stay tuned for that. But, I will say this for now - if participating in a loop giveaway - make sure it keeps within your niche so you gain qualified followers.

Today, I have a few do's and don'ts to share with you when it comes to Instagram giveaways.

Then, I have a template that you can actually copy and paste right into your own IG post to make your next giveaway easy for you to create and easy for your followers to enter. So, here we go . . . when creating your Instagram Giveaway . . .

Don't make it complicated
Don't offer a prize unrelated to your niche {ex. no iPad as you will get many entries just looking for a freebie + you want your target audience to be entering}

Do keep it simple
Do keep it all on instagram {ex. no asking for likes on Facebook}
Do have a deadline
Do include a standard Instagram disclaimer

I have found the best Instagram giveaways ask for a like of the photo, a follow of the host's IG account, and tagging of friends in the comments. You can even offer an extra entry for re-posting the photo and tagging the host's account and a special hashtag created for the giveaway. You will of course want to check your hashtag before posting to be sure it's ok to use. The Instagram giveaways that require me to re-post the photo on my page result in me not being able to enter as I have consistency in my feed that I don't want broken up by another person's graphic.

“Instagram Giveaways : The Do’s and Don’ts PLUS a FREE Copy + Paste Template”

So . . . are you ready for the copy and paste template that you can use TODAY to launch your very own giveaway on Instagram?

Simply sign up below and access to the Copy + paste Template will be unlocked right away :)

Did you know the average tweet
has a lifespan of only 30 seconds?

So, now my question for you is . . . How often do you tweet? Thirty seconds is not a long time at all. So if you are only tweeting once a day and your audience isn't viewing their twitter newsfeed within 30 seconds of the time you tweet, they will likely NEVER see your tweet{s}. Unless they of course go directly to your profile - which isn't a likely scenario.

What should you do? Tweeting once an hour from early morning until late at night isn't likely going to work for everyone {even though that's the recommendation}. I personally aim to schedule tweets or send direct tweets about 10 times every day {M-F}.

Now, I want to hear from you . . . please leave a comment letting me know how often you tweet. Will you be increasing your tweeting frequency?

View fullsize