How to starting Blogging & Influencing

First off… Hi, I’m back!

I know it’s been a couple of months since I’ve blogged, but I have a whole new vision and can’t wait to share some of the exciting things coming your way. ★

More often than not, I have friends and followers reaching out about how I got started blogging and becoming an influencer. Just to be clear, everyone has their own path and journey on becoming an Influencer and there is no “one size fits all” way to do it. But, I do have a few tips about how to get started.

1. FIGURE OUT WHAT TYPE OF INFLUENCER YOU ARE
   
   1. Fashion, lifestyle, health & fitness, etc.
2. CREATE WEBSITE FOR YOUR BLOG
   1. If you’re not a coding wizard, you can create a free website by using WordPress or Squarespace (I use WordPress & it’s super easy to use.)
3. CREATE AN INSTAGRAM FEED THEME
   1. The first thing that people notice on Instagram is if your profile is aesthetically pleasing or not..
   2. Download Lightroom presets & edit your pictures on Instagram (I’m actually starting to create my own that’ll be available for download, so stay tuned!)
4. POST ON INSTAGRAM EVERYDAY
   
   1. Make sure they’re quality photos tho…
5. POST RELEVANT HASHTAGS
   1. Instagram allows 30 hashtags, so be sure to post specific hashtags in the section of your comments that are relevant to your picture & what type of influencer you are
      1. Ex: #microinfluencer #lablogger #discoverunder5k
6. ENGAGE WITH FOLLOWERS
   
   1. Respond back to all comments on your pictures
   2. Follow Instagram accounts that are similar to yours
   3. Make sure you reciprocate with those who engage with you often
7. CREATE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER BLOGGERS
   
   1. The blogging community is HUGE, so reach out to local bloggers & plan meetups!
   2. When followers see that bloggers are friends and go to the same events, etc. it causes them to be more interested in your lifestyle as a blogger

Other than those tips, just stay true to yourself and don’t try to be anything you’re not. It’s really obvious when you’re faking it.. You’ve got this!

If any of you have an questions, feel free to ask me anything!

Love Always,

Shell

Summertime Sadness?

Hey Readers,

I know it has been a little bit since my last blog post, but I’m back and ready to write! This past month has been crazy busy with my last semester of college starting back up, getting ready for sorority recruitment, and working so I can afford life. I’ve barely had any time to myself, but here I am!

So today, I totally just realized that summer is actually over for me. According to meteorologists, the last day of summer for the northern hemisphere is August 31^st and for the southern hemisphere, it is February 28^th! This makes me so sad because my summer break completely flew by. Writing this post made me want to reminisce and look back on all the adventures I had this summer. Because I didn’t travel as much as I did last summer, it felt like I didn’t do a whole lot. BUT, looking back on the millions of photos I took, I realized that I had a summer like no other.

First and foremost, I spent the first two and a half months of summer 2017 in Alabama. As it is no surprise to many that I have a wonderful boyfriend by the name of Shane who lives there! As for some of you who don’t know me too well… I have a boyfriend! We’ve been doing long distance since the day we met and have been together for a little over a year. The most amount of time we had spent together was about 2-3 weeks max; so we wanted to take advantage of our last school break and have me live out there for a couple months.

With that being said, I found an internship at a marketing agency called Inner Spark Creative in Auburn, Alabama so I could get some professional experience while testing out the whole living together thing with my boyfriend. That was my first internship and I was as nervous as could be because I didn’t exactly know what my day to day job would be like as a public relations major. After getting over my nerves and interning at this agency, I learned A LOT. The main thing that I learned was that I 100%/absolutely/positively want to work with social media upon graduation.

As a millennial, we grew up with social media from the beginning of its developing stages and have watched it evolve and grow alongside with us. Although I know how to use every social media outlet, there was a lot more to it when it came to the business side of marketing. And concluding with that, this internship got me hooked and eager to start my professional career.

Now onto the relationship part of this post… Before I left to live in Alabama for the summer, I really did a lot of self-reflecting and analyzing of mine and Shane’s relationship. I told myself that living with him for 3 months is going to tell a lot about our relationship.

#1 Neither of us had ever lived with a significant other before

#2 We had never spent more than 3 weeks with each other, so 3 months together will tell a lot

#3 In the end, I told myself that this is either going to make us or break us

 

Fortunately, everything went as smooth as can be and made us a lot closer to each other in the end. He was the best roommate I could have ever asked for and is such an amazing guy to me. Whenever I felt homesick, he made sure I was okay and made me forget that I was two-thousand miles away.

I’m not sure where I’ll end up living after graduation, but all I know is that a long-distance relationship can work for anyone as long as both parties can give 200% into their relationship.

Love Always,

Shell

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Mellow Yellow

Today was a very mellow, but happy day in this life of Rachelle Dupre. I woke up to my cute puppy, Zoe, jumping on my bed and licking me to death and knew today was going to be a good day. The sun was shining and not a cloud was in sight. There was even a slight breeze. I decided to drive to one of my favorite coffee shops in Laguna Beach, California that is called, Zinc Café and Market. It is the cutest little coffee shop/market that sells everything from lattes, Rose wine, waffles, pizza, burgers, and avocado toast. And on top of everything they sell… it’s actually GOOD. This café is almost always busy but is buzzin’ with peoples of all ages and walks of life. Every dish is aesthetically pleasing, which is one of the many reasons that this café draws such a large and artistic crowd. I stuck with my typical green tea matcha latte and sat outside on the shaded patio while I journaled my thoughts.  I had nowhere to be and was on my own time, which was so nice.

 

After taking a walk down to Main Beach and dipping my toes in the water, I decided to hop in my car and drive up to Lakewood, California and visit my sister. I was especially excited to get there because MY BABY NIECE WAS BORN! She was actually born on Tuesday 7/25/17, but I decided to wait to write a huge blog post about her until I had more pictures to document the new little baby named, Kaia Kay Von Dreyer. Kaia is the most mellow and precious little newborn. She only cries when it is absolutely necessary and is just smiling and observing life around her 24-7.

 

 

She’s the happiest when she’s in mamas arms and when daddy is talking to her. Grandma and Grandpa Dupre finally got to finally meet their first grandchild and were over the moon with happiness. They were just admiring the newest addition to our family and it was definitely a wonderful sight to see. It makes me wonder how I’ll be when I reach that chapter of my life and maybe I will be a little more prepared now that I have a baby niece to take care of. Although I didn’t do too much today, I had a quality kind of day and these are the moments I live for and love to document. Until next time…

Love Always,

Shell

 

Auntie, Coming Soon…

If there’s one thing I can tell you that I’m super excited about is… becoming an Aunt! My sister, Alexis, is carrying my family’s first grand baby. She’s due any day now. Actually… her due date was a couple days ago  (7/17/17), but baby Kaia likes her warm and cozy apartment in my sister’s belly, so she’s taking her sweet time to make her debut. But, I’ll be patient because I have a lifetime to give that precious little girl some Auntie lovin’!

Having this little girl come into all of our lives is HUGE. Our family has been through a lot this past year, including losing our beloved grandfather, Mitchell Krol. He was the bond that kept our family strong, so you can imagine how we all felt when he left us. The beautiful aspect of it all is the irony of one life leaving the planet and a new life entering. Whether you believe in a God or pure serendipity, I believe that the leaving and coming of new life happened for a reason. Grandpa Krol is definitely baby Kaia’s guardian angel and will be helping her through every step in life because that’s just the kind of man he was, an angel.

Speaking of angels, this angelic looking person (my sister) is hands down the cutest pregnant person I’ve ever seen! I know I’m a little bias, but she’s literally almost 10 months pregnant and still looks so good. She’s the kind of pregnant person who barely gains any weight and doesn’t look pregnant from behind. Given she’s naturally a tiny human, I wouldn’t have expected anything less. Knowing me, I’m going to blow up like a balloon and gain weight everywhere…even my finger nails. But, we’ll just have to wait and see when that day comes!

Until then, I get to love on and give my baby niece endless snuggles because I just know how amazing it is to become an aunt. I’ve been a nanny for most of my young teenage and adulthood because I enjoy guiding children in the right direction and watching them grow as a person. Being able to shape and positively influence children is so humbling to me. I hope I can be Kaia’s greatest influence and role model in the coming years, so I’m going to strive to be the person that Kaia will need me to be. Hopefully we’ll be meeting her within the next week or two, so prayers are always needed and welcome!

Love Always,

Shell