Boost your Blog // What to Post on Instagram When You have Nothing Insta-Worthy

My favorite social media platform is Instagram.  I love how visual the platform is and how interactive it can be.  I also love how curated it can be...if you want it to be.  Because it's such an interactive platform, everyone knows Instagram is the place to be to attract readers, followers, and sales.  We're drawn to a consistent posting style & consistent schedule, especially from our favorite influencers.  I also find myself wanting to curate my own grid while also being organic & authentic...so sometimes I don't have something prepared to post.

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Keeping a consistent schedule doesn't have to be all planner apps and editorial calendars - we can be a little organic in our posting to give our followers an authentic experience while still being on brand.  First there are a few tips I want to give you on deciding what to post when you have nothing to post:

1. Does it give value?  If you just want to post something because you haven't posted anything, reevaluate what you're doing.  What you post should give value to your audience and not just be filler.  We're dedicating time to curating a sub par post and taking our time away from another, perhaps more productive task just to follow the rules of engagement.  If it doesn't add value, don't post it.
2. Does it fit the aesthetic? While we can be as organic as we like or as gird-centric as we like, the best thing we can do to keep our followers interested is to make sure our posts fit our aesthetic.  Aesthetic is a broad term and I may not be the best person to give you advice on this but........make sure what your posting fits with your page.  Edit it the same, use the same fonts as your brand, etc.  Make sure it fits on your feed.

So, with all that being said, what can we post that is authentic & on brand when we don't really have anything to share?

Current View/Stock Photo + Motivational/Real Talk

This is my favorite one (and that's why I put it first!) because often times I have something I want to say but I don't have a picture to say it with.  Usually I snap a quick shot of something I've got styled in my home, my actual current view, or an on brand stock photo then use the caption to offer something of value.  I use A Color Story to create consistent edits so that my photos all have the same feel.  A Color Story also has a feature to help you plan your feed and I use this to make sure an edited stock photo will fit in the aesthetic I've already got going.  I've listed a few stock photo resources  & tips here.

Turn a Poor Photo Black & White

Sometimes we get so caught up in the perfect Instagram life we forget that real life things do happen.  Like last minute road trips, quick runs to Target, or just front porch sits with our family.  We like to capture photos of these moments but they don't always turn out insta worthy because we're enjoying the moment and not thinking about our feed.  If you do want to share a candid shot that may not be perfectly styled - turn it black & white!  The contrast is going to help your photo look alright and fit into your grid.  Instagram has a few black & white filters, but I have a whole post on creating the perfect black & white photo right here.

Share a Quote

If you want to give something of value but you don't have a photo, share an image of a quote.  Every ninth photo on my grid is a quote on a white background in my branded text.  Use a text overlay app like Phonto, A Design Kit, or PhotoMarks to create your quotes to stick with your over all aesthetic.  I like Phonto because you can import branded text right to the app.  For example, the script text I use for my blog header is not in the Phonto app but I was able to import it so I can use it consistently.  You can also use the stories feature on Instagram to type out quotes and then save to your camera roll & upload.  PicMonkey and Canva work great for this too, and they both have a smartphone app.

Styled Product Photo

Grab a product photo from your shop and share it on your feed.  Talk about the product, why you love it, what it can do for someone, or why someone needs it.  Share something of value in the caption so that your followers feel a connection.  They may not even know you have a shop or that you sell anything!  They may just want to get in on that action!  You can also share how you're currently using something that you sell to create that authentic connection.

Video 

Since videos automatically play on our feeds and there's some action going on, videos often get more interaction from our followers.  They are longer than just the second it takes to view a photo so videos can help us capture our follower's attention.  Through video, followers are able to hear your voice and see a snapshot into your real life.  With the app A Color Story you can even edit short videos to match the edits on your feed.  That app is seriously the best app ever for bloggers.  Plus the ideas are endless when it comes to what you can showcase in a video.  You can even use a fun app like PVC Pro to create video collages.  (review coming soon!)

So when you think you've got nothing to post, you've now got five ideas to get you back on track!  You can even build these ideas into your current posting schedule if you've got space to fill.  The point of this is to show you that you can be authentic while still being on brand.

It is important that we're keeping social media a stress free place for us as infulencers and as consumers.  Personally, I don't like stressing over the perfect photo especially when I could be spending that time on quality content on another platform.  In order to be more authentic online recently I've not been stressing myself out if I'm not posting on every single platform.  I want to create content of value not just a quick post & run.  Lets create a community rather than just a conglomeration of overwhelm.

What is your Instagram strategy?  What do you post when you don't know what to post?

xoxo, Moe

App Review // Paternator

I am not one for changing out my iPhone cases - I buy a case when I upgrade my phone every two years and then I stick with it.  I'm committed like that.  And you can bet I will pick a phone case that is purple.  My current case is glittery purple (reminds me of Barbie + mermaids, and that is pretty much perfect) and the case before that was a purple Mophie case.

I am all about that iPhone wallpaper life.  Even better if I can make it myself because I will make about 3 thousand of them and clog up my camera roll.  This app, Patternator, is a super fun app you can use to create patterned images to use various ways - most importantly as a wallpaper on your phone.

First off, I want to rehash some of my favorite overlay apps that you can totally use to make amazing backgrounds - here are 8 overlay apps that I love, here are 4 ways to add text to your iPhone photos, and here is a post on creating journaling cards on your iPhone (can totally be translated into wall papers!).  

What it is

Create the world’s cutest patterns, backgrounds, wallpapers and lockscreens. Pick from millions of cool stickers, hundreds of beautiful background colors, and endless pattern options.

taken from the Apple app store here.

What it does

Patternator allows you to create, quite litterally the cutest backgrounds ever.  Choose a sticker to add to the background - you can scroll through the seemingly endless categories or type in a key word to search.  The hardest part about this is picking a sticker to actively convey your emotion, as there are a ton to choose from.

Fine tune your pattern by selecting the layout and then adjusting the scale, spacing, angle and more.   Select the background color and export your image. The control you have over creating your pattern is great - though this app isn't a full on pattern maker.  You can not export your creation as a tile-able image but the quality of the image created is good enough to use on Instagram or small projects where a tiled image won't matter.

Why it helps you
If your a blogger or instagramer or shop owner, or anyone who uses social media this is a great app to create a background for an announcement.  Using this background in conjunction with another app like Phonto to overlay text is a great way to create unique advertising on your platform of choice.  Advertise shop sales, meet ups, announcements, etc.

If you just like being creative, this app is fun to have in your design arsenal on your phone.  Create backgrounds for wallpapers or to use in smaller projects the quality the image is saved isn't as high as I'd like it (you can get really hi res images from an app like Rhonna Designs).  You could use this to create pocket scrapbooking cards (in conjunction with this app tutorial and then use them in the Project Life app) or small stickers.  This is a fun app to play around with!

**I think you also used to be able to order phone cases right from the app, but that feature is no longer available.  I'm not sure on the resolution quality on a printed item like that though.

Do you have any pattern making app recommendations?  I can't seem to find too many in the app store!

Why I Don't Mind the Instagram Algorithm Change

In case you didn't know.....Instagram is initiating a change to the way you see your feed. No longer will you open the app and see posts in chronological order.  You'll now see posts that are catered to your viewing habits, or catered to what Instagram has extrapolated what your viewing habits are.  This has caused a huge uproar, there was a petition and even a boycott......but I'm here to tell you that I don't really mind the algorithm change, and here is why:

Instagram is a business

Instagram is not just some free app for the masses to use and lap up....it is a business.  There are more and more ads running and more and more businesses (both big and small) are using Instagram to advertise.  I've heard the term 'strong armed' thrown around about how this algorithm is forcing small businesses to have to pay for exposure on Instagram.  This was in comparison to how your page on Facebook will get little exposure if you don't pay for it.  As far as I know, the problem with that was the page wasn't as engaging as someone's family feed, or a group.  A group is way more engaging because that is the main goal of a group.  (ps. I'll never create a group on Facebook, too much work!)   I don't know how far this will go, but Instagram will do what it needs to in order to bring in that cash money.  Instagram knows how you interact with what makes it the most money....so it will move confidently in that direction. 

It will force us to be more engaging

The way your photos will be seen, from my understanding, is the interaction a user has with your feed influences your feed's presence on their timeline (I'm using timeline for lack of a better word).  So this will force you as an Instagram user - whether for business or pleasure - to take better pictures, use better hashtags, offer better content than a picture of your coffee and the heart eyes emoji.  You'll need to use your feed to engage with users.  You'll have to step up your Instgarm game and use it as a source to provide quality content, just just as a social media outlet to promote your other endeavors.  I'm excited - to me it's like micro-blogging, and I totally just made that up.  I've already started to offer supplemental content to my main outlets (blog/etsy/youtube) as well as unique content created just for my feed.

Technology is always evolving

Remember when we petitioned Facebook to remove is from our statuses?  And that was like the best thing ever!  Remember when people wrote notes on Facebook and now it's like what is that even for?  Remember when Twitter didn't have that little header image?  Remember when YouTube used to change where the info bar was?  I totally remember people saying info in the side bar way back in the mid 2000's.  Guess what, times change.  And we'll continue to live long after the algorithm changes.   And if it sucks, someone will invent something way better and we'll all move over to that platform.  Remember when we all left MySpace for Facebook?  There are people, with Facebook profiles that have never, ever had (or maybe even heard of) MySpace.  So yeah, things change man.

I used to think that after Facebook there would be nothing else.  But now I find myself being super social on Instagram.  And now I think that Instagram is the end all to the social platforms.  But in a few years we'll all be flocking to the newest craze.  I just hope it's not Periscope...because I really don't get Periscope.  

If you're feeling jazzy, why not follow me on Instagram?  I'm @fivesixteenths.  I'm not going to ask you to turn on post notifications though, because no one wants their phone going off a zillion times a minute with all the accounts they follow.

How do you feel about the change?  Do you care?

xoxo, Moe

Trend Tuesday // Beautiful Flay Lay Photos using the iPhone

Have you ever heard of a flat lay photo?  You may not know the name but you do know the style - a beautifully styled bird's eye view of something super trendy.  You can find the flat lay all over Instagram from makeup, to music, to cleaning supplies (that last one is me!) and creates a beautiful all encompassing image to tell a whole story.

My favorite flat lay to shoot is of beauty products but anything you can lay on a flat surface works great to tell a story like this.  Here are a few tips for flat lay photos

Background

Decide whether your photo will benefit from a simple background or a background with texture.  This may seem a little bit weird but it will give the over all feel to your photo and help you tell the story.  Adding a patterned paper in a contrasting color will give a pop to the scene your photographing.  Photographing against a white background will add a bit of simplicity to the scene. Play around with different backgrounds to see what story you can tell.  An example in the collage above is the flat lay of cleaning supplies - I chose to photograph against my carpet because cleaning is a part of my home, this is an everyday occurrence in an everyday scene.

Lighting

The lighting in your photos is pretty important.  Often you can get a little bit of brightness through apps but if you brighten too much you'll end up losing quality.  If you don't have a light box or nice light to illuminate the scene pretty evenly see if you can get the light to scatter across the scene from a window.  Stage your photos outside or when the lighting is perfect in a certain room.  It may take a couple hundred practice shots in a few different lighting situations to find exactly what you might be looking for when photographing certain scenes.  I usually take photos of beauty products on my white makeup storage because believe it or not the lighting in my closet is pretty nice!  I also use two clamp lights with bright daylight bulbs to take other blog photos.

Apps

When it comes to apps and filters I think the best thing you can do is create a natural scene.  I hardly use the filters in the Instagram app as they are often too harsh and overlay weird colors that create unnatural scenes. I've posted before on my top three iPhone apps but one I want to mention in this post is A Color Story.  The premade filters give just the right touch to brighten or otherwise adjust your photo for a natural look.  You can get artsy with some effects, but generally I'd stay away from those.  This app allows for control over curves and control over filters themselves.  My favorite filters are Lite Bright & Everyday.  These filters are both part of the free Essentials pack and work great to add brightness and make the whites of your photo whites.  I also love that I can correct the light warmth because while the light in my closet is great, it is often too warm adding a hint of yellow to my images.  I correct that by dropping the temperature while editing the photo.  Often you can use the adjustments with in Instagram to get a brighter more defined photo as well.  This natural editing will tell a better story and not create unreal, harsh effects.

The camera you have right in your pocket is a pretty powerful tool and if you start off with the right photo you can do some simple edits to feel satisfied with your image.  Keep it natural to being with and you'll only need a few edits to add that pop you're looking for.

If you'd like more photography tips, check out the posts here.

Have you mastered the flat lay?  Do you use this photo style in your feed?

xoxo, Moe

Three Apps To Use Along with Instagram

The title of this post should be something like three apps I use everyday or the three apps I talk to death on my blog or something like that.  The truth of the matter is 90% of the time I'm on my phone, I'm on Instagram.  I use Instagram to promote my blog & my shop and to just share parts of my life.  Even if you don't use Instagram in a professional way, these apps are perfect for making a beautiful feed.  

Phonto (free + in app purchases)

I've tooted Phonto's horn for like ages on the blog.  See a full review here.  And I'm back, again, to toot something - text presets.  If you share a lot on Instagram and are worried of your work being shared, reposted, etc with out proper credit, Phonto can help you with a watermark.  The best thing about the presets is that you can set a few and then you don't have to type out your blog address, Instagram name, or shop address.

To add the presets, click on the three lines at the bottom of the edit screen, select Settings, then tap Preset Text.  Select Add New Text and type in your preset.  To add it to your image, tap the scree to add text then use the left arrow to arrow over to the preset you'd like to use.  If you favorite a few of the zillions of fonts offered in the app then you're done with your watermark in like 2 seconds.  This is helpful for me because I tend to put all the words I overlay in all caps and sometimes I forget to double tap the shift and then I have to start over. By the way, I just realized how dumb the previous sentence sounded...but it's true!  I don't want to have to retype!  Phonto is seriously a fun and easy mini design machine for your iPhone or iPad.  (if you want another fun font over photos type app I used to love Phoster! It makes your images into faux-posters...you can add folds, etc....check it out!  You should also check out Text Mask...it's pretty cool for adding text too.  Tutorial here.)

Afterlight (.99 cents + in app purchases)

Here is another app I've boasted about before!  (See the full review here.)  This app I love because it is super easy to design your own filters.  Much like actions would work in a program like Photoshop, you can design and save you're own presets to get consistent photos across the board.  This is called fusion in the app.  I have a specific 'blog' fusion that I use on nearly all my blog photos and my Instagram photos.

It gives them that je ne sais quoi slightly filtered look that I'm in love with.  You can set as many as you'd like (I believe) and even email them to friends or to yourself to install on all your devices.  I have the 'blog' fusion filter on both my phone and iPad incase I'm on one or the other.  You can also add to the fusion later, if you wish.  I emailed myself my blog fusion filter and then added to the original one - bumped up more brightness, etc - because some photos may need a little bit more.  (If you find you'd like to do some detail work - targeted highlights/contrast/etc - try Snapseed.  If ever I find one corner of my photo is a little too dark I run it through Snapseed first.  This app is also super detailed and like a master photo-editing app for your phone.  I'm always impressed.  Oh, and VSCO Cam also is pretty impressive.  In doing research for this post I found that there are some pretty interesting tools you can use now!)

Picframe (.99 cents)

Once again, I have a horn to toot.  Here is the full review of PicFrame but if you're wondering why I choose PicFrame over the hundreds if not thousands of collage apps, here's the reason - it's the first one I downloaded.  Its a damn good collage app!  Nothing is frilly about this app.  there's your standard grid style collages.  Nothing crazy, no diagonals, no star shapes, no funny business.  It is sleek and simple.  I use it in the basic way possible and add none of the minimal extras that are in the app - filters, frame shapes, banners, etc.  I used it to make the screen shot collages above!  I keep it to collage and that's that - square collage, horizontal collage, vertical collage, just collage.  The best part is I can use a simple slider to get rid of the white lines between each image.  Its all in the design of this app for me.  (If you want a free collage app, you'll have to search yourself! I will never leave my beloved PicFrame!)

All of these apps help me keep a professional and well composed image on my Instagram page.  Not all of my pictures are perfect - and I like it that way - but when I want to take one of those pretty pictures this is where I turn!  I can protect my work, add a dreamy filter, and showcase multiple things in one image.  These three apps are my solid go to before I even touch Instagram!

What apps do you use in conjunction with Instagram?  Any others to recommend?

xoxo, Moe

Four Ways to Gain Followers & Likes on Instagram

Everyone likes to be liked right?  We all want that gratification of the little heart that shows up when someone has liked your Instagram photo while you were not looking.  A little self promotion here - follow me on Instagram if you're not already here.

Now, you don't really need the approval of others to use Instagram.  I struggle between the notion of documenting real life and making my life seem perfect.  I feel like that is the duality of Instagram - you're only taking the best, most composed photos but then you take that random picture of your dog sleeping.  At least that is what I do.  But if you're thinking you want to grow your Instagram base for your blog or business here are some tips to gain likes and follows:

Focus on photography - If you want to have a perfect feed for your blog or business consider setting some limits on what you post.  Will you post that dark, grainy image of your dog being a fool?  Or will you only post perfectly curated photos that reflect your blog/business?  Thats up to you but if you want to appeal to others focus on the principles of photography to take well lit, well composed photos.  Here are some posts to help you learn more about photographing with your phone - 5 Pictures to Improve Blog Photography,  iPhoneography Tips + Tricks,  Phone Photos Become Blog Worthy

Participate in Photo-a-Day Challenges - Currently I'm doing a Planner Photo-a-Day challenge (search the hashtag #PCAPE to find it) that is helping me get back into my planner & being creative with it.  By participating in a photo challenge you're guaranteeing that others will participate as well.  This gives you a base of people to gain likes from.  If you tag your photo with the appropriate challenge hashtag you'll have eyes pouring over your photos in no time.  Participate in the challenge to meet people & follow others but you'll gain likes too.

Pay if Forward - If you want to have people like your photos you'll need to like some.  I know when someone likes one of my photos I go over to their page and flip through their feed.  If I find one I like....I like it.  To me, it lets them know I appreciate their like.  Also, sometimes I just flip through different hashtags.  When I like a photo sometimes that IGer comes to my page & likes something in my feed.  Sometimes we'll follow each other.  I try not to follow a zillion people on Instagram so I understand trying to tone down your own feed - but likes will equal likes.

Hashtag the Hashtag - Hashtags can get annoying, I know.  But a tip I read on a blog a long time ago (and I can't remember which one now) was to comment on your own picture with all the hashtags you want to include after you post it with your caption.  Then you can go back later and clean up your feed by deleting your comment.  That way all the relevant hashtags show up on IG when others may search for it, but if you're posting to Twitter or Facebook the hashtags won't show up in your original post.  Just keeps your social media cleaner - unless you want all those hashtags.

So there are just a few tips to get those likes going on Instagram.  Instagram has to be my first choice social media platform.  I can't remember the last tweet I posted that wasn't from inside Instagram.  

What are your tips for gaining followers & likes?

xoxo, Moe  

Instagram Dump // A Peak into Everyday Life

Sometimes I neglect instagram.  I'll post zero pictures for 3 days then all of the sudden post a zillion.  Half of it comes from thinking I don't live as beautiful a life as the others I see on instagram - but think about it how often do you stage a photo with the best light & angle?  Yeah, so do other people!  So I try to take better photos but I also just want to document my life.  So here's a peek in to what's been going on lately:

Lately I've been eating a muffin for breakfast everyday.  I go through phases where I eat breakfast & phases where I don't.   Currently I've been loving these Pistachio Nut muffins & Blueberry muffins from Meijer.  Another quick breakfast I grab is a bagel.  I've got some in the freezer right now & I'll pop one in the microwave, then in the toaster oven.  Chive & Onion cream cheese is my fave on bagels.

This shampoo/hair care line from Suave has been rocking my world recently.  You can read my full review here & keep an eye out for a hair care routine video on my YouTube channel!  But I love this line - it keeps my hair soft & nourished.  My hair stays detangled all day long with the shampoo, conditioner, & styling oil.

I reorganized my nail polish collection & have a blog post coming soon on it!  I got some baskets from Target to replace my super old, falling apart baskets & love the organization now.  If you've looked through my instagram feed lately you'll see that I'm on an organization kick.

I've been posting my daily make up on my instagram too.  I've been trying to do it regularly just to keep track of what I've been wearing but I'm also trying to work through my collection.  I've been buying, buying, and buying - I like collecting it & it's what I choose to spend money on but I also think I need to work through it!  Make up is easy to hoard!

I've also been eating Subway everyday for lunch.  Not sure how good it actually is for you but it's the only place where I can get out of my busy office, get some peace & quiet, and not feel gross after eating there.  I'm loving piling my tuna subs with spinach, tomato, pickles, onions, & oil and vinegar.  Yum!

That's just a little peak into what's been going on here lately.  If you want to follow me on intagram, please do!  I'm much more active there!

xoxo, Moe

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Make it Monday // Instagram Picture Inspirational Journal

A long, long while ago (when we were in Michigan actually) I ordered some pictures from Postal Pix.  When we got home I got them in the mail & they sat on top of the microwave for a long, long time.  I had no idea what to do with them.  One day I decided that it would be cool to have them in a sort of journal because they backs of the photos are blank.  Perfect for writing!

So I took a cue from this tutorial & made them into a book.  Here's what you'll need:

Line up two photographs with one face down & one face up.  Tear a piece of tape & place it where the two pictures join.  This becomes your binding.  Trim up the edges of the tape so that they are even with the pictures.  Repeat for a second set of pictures to make another signature, or bound set of pictures.  Then join these two signatures together in the same fashion. Place the first signature with the pictures face down & the second signature with the pictures face up.  Tear off a piece of tape & place it where the two signatures join.  Continuing making signatures in pairs & joining them.  Then join each pair of signatures together by lining them up & taping down the center & until you have a full book.

To make the outside binding, use pieces of masking tape or decorative washi tape or woodgrain contact paper.  I still have a load of woodgrain contact paper left over from other DIY's.

I knew I wanted to use my book for some of my favorite quotes so I decorated the cover with another strip of woodgrain contact paper & wrote QUOTES with a sharpie.  I then cut out circles of the contact paper & stuck them to the blank side of the photos.  Then had at it with quotes from my Hello Monday pin board.

You could use your's as a travel journal, a journal for a wedding or event, or even just as an everyday journal.  Also, you can add onto it if you get more pictures by just adding more signatures.

I also have an idea to make sort of an album that you could use for either a smaller option from postal pics or for your instax pictures involving the same sort of binding.

Coming up with cool ways to get my photos off my phone & into real life and coming up with ways to use them has been a cool challenge.  I don't want to do too much with decor since I know I'm moving around August.  But I am definitely keeping a photo wall in the back of my mind for our next apartment!

How do you get your pictures off your phone & into real life?

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Sum Up Sunday //Just a Normal Week

Nothing eventful happened this week. Just a bunch of Instagram photos.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a Make it Monday tomorrow.  I am itching to make something!