11 Easy Ways to Interact With Other Bloggers

Something that I enjoy most about blogging is the community. I have had the pleasure of interacting with so many incredible creatives since I began blogging. As silly as it sounds, when I first started blogging I figured people would just find my posts after I hit publish. I mean- that's how I found all of the blogs that I was reading! Finding a community of others who understand the effort it takes to keep a blog up and running, people who enjoy what you write, and those who will offer constructive criticism takes effort but can be accomplished. How? By putting yourself out there to interact with other bloggers!

Online community is extremely important as a blogger! It can be isolating to sit behind a computer screen putting the necessary time to run a successful blog. You and I both know how time consuming blogging is- and it's very satisfying to know that your hard work is being acknowledged.

This list is by no means all-inclusive, but I wanted to share 11 easy ways to interact with other bloggers. One of the keys to creating a successful community is consistency. Consistency with interaction as well as content creation on your part so that others have something to interact with! Everyone has busy seasons of their lives, but if you can commit time to interact with others I guarantee that you will begin to reap the benefits of community. And let me just add, it's absolutely worth the effort! Without further ado, here is my list:

1 Comment on other blogs, regularly.
2 Participate in a Twitter chat.
3 Write a guest post.
4 Share one of your favorite posts on social media.
5 Join a link up.
6 Participate in a photo challenge on Instagram.
7 Send an email to your favorite blogger.
8 Join a Facebook blogging support group.
9 Tweet a response to someone's newest post.
10 Co-write a blog post or series with another blogger.
11 Create a round up of your favorite posts/Instagram/Twitter accounts and let the owners know you've included them.

How do you build your online community? What do you do to connect with other bloggers?

2016 Blogging Goals: Update

Hey y'all! Happy Wednesday! I wanted to check in and share an update on my progress with my 2016 blogging goals so far. I know we're only 2 months into the year, but part of putting my goals out there was for accountability- and I want to keep that up! So here's a little update on my goals.

To recap, here are my goals that I made at the beginning of the year:

1 Post consistency. I'd say that I'm doing ok with this so far. I've fallen off the bandwagon 1 week so far, but I've been able to put out quality (in my opinion) content 2-3 times a week so far this year! I definitely want to keep it up!

2 Diversify my content. I haven't made time to shoot for any fashion posts just yet- but it's still on the list. I've shared one recipe so far- but I still need to work out the best way to improve my photography for these posts. My kitchen is far away from any natural light, and makes for a difficult shooting location. That's definitely my greatest challenge thus far.

3 Finish my blogging courses and enroll in more. I haven't even re-opened my courses this calendar year, so I unfortunately have to report no progress here.

4 Increase social media presence. I've been steadily increasing my presence, interactions, and followers across my favorite platforms! I'm excited about my progress with this goal and hope to continue on this trajectory. Please, check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! And don't forget to keep sharing your favorite posts! I appreciate all of your support.

5 Blog Sponsorship. This is another goal with little to show right now, but I do have some items in the works. I need to take some time to research which blogs I want to sponsor myself, and I'd love to hear some feedback if you currently have sponsorship open for your blog or sponsor a blog you love! Any information I can get is helpful for me!

I'm hoping to have more to share next time I check in with y'all, but I feel good about this progress so far. I need to stay focused on the goals that I have and continue to come up with fun, creative ways to accomplish them! If you have any advice on how you'd approach these, let me know in the comments! I always love hearing from y'all.

How I Blog Successfully

While I certainly don't claim to be a blogging expert, I feel as though I've fallen into a good routine when it comes to blogging. I love this because blogging makes me happy and since I've simplified my process, it helps me to blog more often. I've utilized many resources from reputable experts and my blogging friends to see how they have achieved success. By mixing and matching what works for others, I've found a process that works well for me and I wanted to share it with y'all. Hopefully you'll learn something new that may help you as well!

My post topics: To be completely honest, I write when I'm inspired by a specific thought. This is what helps me to create an authentic post and (hopefully) write about something that others will find enjoyable. I have the Blogger app on my phone for when inspiration strikes randomly, but mainly this occurs during the time I schedule out of my day specifically for writing. For those moments that I'm lacking inspiration, I keep a running list of ideas. The contents of my list vary: some are well-thought out post concepts while others are just words that will help me come up with a more detailed post concept around that idea later on.

The actual post: I typically sit down and write my posts in their entirety. If I have to break it up, I try to stop at a point where I can easily pick up my thought process again at a later time. Hopefully I end up with a cohesive post! After I've completed a post, I'll work on a main image. This is something that I try to make eye catching and pinnable- often by using stock photography. Depending on the nature of the post, this could just mean editing my photos taken prior to writing the post. After the images are inserted, I utilize Blogger's post preview option and proof read my post as it appears on my homepage. I'll make the necessary edits at this time. I rarely write my posts on the day they are published, so I select the date I want it to go live and schedule in advance.

Promoting the post on social media: I just recently learned through one of Helene Sula's posts that you can find the permalink for a post within blogger before the post goes live! This has been a huge help for me in scheduling post promotion across social media. I now use Hootsuite to schedule post promotion in advance so that my post is being advertised on the day it goes up- all while I'm at work. Hopefully this is not annoying to my followers, because I really enjoy the fact that it's on autopilot now! I utilize Ahalogy to schedule my pins on Pinterest and try to stagger them out throughout the week that the post goes up. These automation tools have significantly reduced the time I spend promoting on social media and these particular tools can actually optimize the posting times so that my content is most likely to be seen by potential readers! I rarely promote my posts through Instagram, but that's just a personal preference.

Other post promotion: I will promote my posts in a few additional ways to make sure it's seen by the most people possible. One of my favorite ways to do this is through Facebook groups. I've met some of my best blogging friends through these groups and recommend them to anyone looking to find their people online. I've gushed about this before, so you can read more about my favorite groups here. I'm also a fan of link-ups when possible. This is a fun way to get new readers on your blog and to explore some new reading material as well!

I hope you've enjoyed the peak into my process of how I blog successfully and that you've found something useful to your own process! I recognize that I still have a ton to learn, but I'm excited to add onto this method as I learn more. I'd love to hear about your own process, or if you have any suggestions to improve mine!

2016 Blogging Goals

Happy New Year lovelies! There's something so magical about NYE. I find myself consumed with it as soon as Christmas passes and I'm always excited to begin the year on the 1st. I really love starting fresh! I'm not one for resolutions, but I'm always excited to work towards a new set of goals. After reading some awesome goal-oriented posts from several blogging friends, I decided to try my had at it! This is my first time actually setting goals for my blog and I hope that putting it out there in writing helps me be held accountable throughout the year! Here are my current goals for A Peachy Sonder in 2016:

Consistency. I've had a ton going on this year (read this recap if you missed it). I don't expect that to change too much in 2016, as I have an entirely new set of responsibilities and challenges that I'm facing, but I do hope to cope with it better. I'd love to be able to post 2-3 times a week, every week, and make an attempt to schedule out posts when I know I'll be away/unable to write.

Diversify my posting. With the exception of gift guides, I try to stay away from posting a ton of collage posts. However, I found myself resorting to these to share fashion posts and ideas since I didn't have access to a photographer to take my own style photos. I no longer want to let this be a barrier for me and am excited to try to incorporate more fashion posts. I also hope to include more recipes. You have no idea how much passion I have for cooking based on the amount of food-related posts on my blog. It's a huge part of my life and I hope to share more of that with y'all.

Finish my current courses and enroll in more. You may or may not know this about me- but I'm a huge nerd. I love to read and learn. Blogging has become a wonderful hobby for me because there are so many unknowns that provide learning opportunities! I've participated in several free webinars and am enrolled in 2 paid courses, Quit Your Job to Blog and Instagram for Success. I hope to take a DSLR course at some point this year to improve my photography skills- both for this blog and for my personal use of my camera!

Increase my social media presence. I am a lover and habitual user of twitter, instagram, and pinterest- yet I let life get in the way of regular posting. I hope to make this more of a priority over the next year, and in turn increase my followings across all platforms. Are we connected yet? If not, please give me a follow! I'm active on twitter, instagram, pinterest, facebook, and bloglovin'. I'd love to link up with you!

Blog Sponsorship. So far, I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful brands to create sponsored posts for y'all. I want to take this to the next level by focusing on ads and affiliate links this year. On the flip side of this, I'd like to sponsor other bloggers to see what that experience is like. If you have any sponsorship opportunities currently available, please shoot me an email so that we can discuss further!

I feel like this is a great place to start and I'm confident that I can reach these goals (with y'alls help!) if I keep my focus in the right place. In addition to my goals, I want to help you reach yours too so if there's something I can do to assist you, don't hesitate to reach out to me! Welcome to 2016!

What are your goals for 2016? Do you have any advice on staying focused on your goals throughout the year? Do you have any tips to help me reach my goals?

2015 in Review

I seriously cannot believe that 2015 is over. This has been such a roller coaster of a year for me. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to reflect on everything, and that I'm able to be so excited for what the future has in store for me. Today, I wanted to take some time to look back and share some of my 2015 happenings!

Starting at the beginning of the year, I fell into a more comfortable stride with blogging. As I have mentioned before, I had no idea what to expect when I started this little space. And I sure as heck didn't have a vision of what it would look like after I did! I began writing posts that were more personal to me and had the opportunity to work with some lovely brands to do sponsored posts! I was able to shoot a sponsored outfit post and tried a few on my own. If you want to see some of my sponsored posts, you can check them out here! 

I have some exciting things lined up for 2016 so far and can't wait to share them with y'all. Now for me, blogging is more than just writing reviews in exchange for items. I truly love being able to express myself freely and have found my way into the best communities out there! I didn't realize how much finding the right group of blogging friends would impact my online experience. I feel supported and know that I have an awesome group of witty, kind, and helpful people at my fingertips whenever I need. That's an incredible feeling in my book! For those of you wondering, I've found these lovable bloggers through different groups. Primarily, I have found the most assistance within the Millennial Blogger Network, Show Your Blog Love, and Style Collective communities. I recognize that these are specific to me and my needs, but I highly encourage you to find where you feel supported within the blogging community. It's changed my experience drastically!

I also took a leap and invested in two courses to learn more about blogging: Quit Your Job to Blog and Instagram for Success. At this time, I don't intend to take my blogging past a hobby level- so I had serious hesitation in dropping some cash to learn more about blogging. But I cannot express how happy I am that I did! I'm still working my way through my first course and can honestly say that I've learned enough to up my blogging game already. I can't wait to get further into this course and begin my second one.

Although I still write anonymously- mainly due to the fact that I don't want my blog to pop up through internet search for professional purposes- I feel as though I've still been able to connect on deeper levels with y'all online. I hope to increase that next year and look forward to seeing my current relationships blossom. I've also decided to post more photos of myself and aim to be more open with y'all in the next year.

Lastly, I wanted to share a couple of personal happenings for 2015. (And thank you for sticking around if you're still reading! I know this is a long-winded post.) For those of you who had been reading for a while, you may have heard me talk about my long distance relationship that I was in for the past 5 years. And you may notice that I haven't mentioned it over the past 6 months. Over the summer, things ended. At first, this was so devastating for me that I had to take time away from many facets of my life, including blogging, to take care of myself. And to be honest- I wasn't sure that I would ever find the energy to continue blogging, but healing proved to be a gradual process for me. Thankfully I was able to slowly get back into the swing of things. I am sending my SINCEREST thanks to the sweet girls who noticed my absence online and thought to reach out. That really helped to inspire me to continue writing. Also, in the more recent months I've had a whole lot going on with work. I've taken on new responsibilities and been able to participate in a few programs that have helped me to be more successful at my job. It's kept me busy but has definitely been worth it!! Also on this topic, I have some exciting news to share with y'all, but it deserves a whole post to itself so stay tuned for that next week.

While this blog may not be viewed as successful by some in the community (in terms of social media followings and pageviews), I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect space of the internet for me. Thank you to each and every one of you who has taken the time to read, comment, pin, and/or tweet to interact with me! I wholeheartedly love y'all and look forward to growing together in 2016! See you in the new year!

What sticks out most to you about 2015? What are you excited for in 2016?

A 2015 Round Up- My Favorite Posts!

Happy Monday y'all! I hope you had an amazing Christmas and weekend following. Although mine was busy, it was fabulous! My holiday season is filled with tradition. On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a family dinner before church. We go to an old, tiny Methodist church every year for their evening Christmas Eve service. I've never actually attended any other services at this church but I couldn't picture going anywhere else on the 24th! We have a traditional service that wraps up with candles and 'Silent Night'. That is the epitome of Christmas spirit to me. On Christmas day, we do brunch at my sister's house with my mom and open presents together. This year we made gluten-free cinnamon rolls from scratch. They were DIVINE. I've never made a bread or dough before and it seemed very time intensive. Absolutely worth it, though. After brunch, we cleaned up and head over to my dad's to open presents there. We spend a few hours just as the family, and then my step-mom's family comes over for dinner and the White Elephant gift game. It's always a hoot!

Saturday my sister and I hit up a few after-Christmas sales to spend some stocking cash. I got a new watch and a few Christmas decorations that I'm excited to use next year. More than anything, I enjoyed spending time with my sister and running into family friends. It's always nice to be home.

As 2015 draws to a close, I wanted to gather up some of my favorite posts from the year. I've had some awesome collaborations and put together some posts that I'm really proud of! I truly hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have, and I hope you enjoy them a second time if you've been with me all year.

How to Appear Confident (even when you don't feel it!)
7 Bible Verses to Ease Anxiety
How to Prioritize "Me" Time
My Fall Bucket List
5 Packing Tips for Business Trips
The Leather Jacket
4 things you should try alone
Why I Stopped Taking My Coffee to Go
Current Coffee Table Books
French Toast for One
What I've Learned from Living with Awful Roommates
My 7 Workday Essentials
The Perfect Fringe Cardigan 

I also did my first guest post over on Seashells and Sparkles! I love Rachel's blog, twitter, AND instagram, so I was thrilled to get to work with her. Check out my post here: 3 Tips to Nailing Your Next Interview. Thanks again Rachel!

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a special year-end post! I'm really excited to share a more personal year-end post with y'all. Have a fabulous Monday!