What to do When Being Rejected By a Brand/Influencer?

What to do When Being Rejected By a Brand/Influencer?

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As bloggers, we love to collaborate with brands and influencers, at least in my case I enjoy it very much. Is not a secret that at some point either if you are starting or you like a brand a lot; you reach out to them for a potential collaboration or you apply to websites to affiliate as well.

Most of the times you get a very nice response and meet kind people who like to support bloggers. Other times we get that rejection message, it might sound or read like “unfortunately right now you don’t meet our qualifications but keep doing what you are doing and apply again in a near future”. I am sorry but this literally makes me feel like sh*t, is not cool or nice.

To me, this should be a reason to actually keep doing what you do. Not because they tell you to but because you love doing it. Here are a few tips to overcome this rejection feeling:

- Don’t let rejection discourage you.

- Blogging is a rough world with a lot of diminishing people but you just have to keep it up because everyone is DIFFERENT, UNIQUE and has SOMETHING TO OFFER.

- Be consistent with your content and publishing schedule.

- When receiving e-mail rejections answer back nicely thanking them for their time.

- Find new ways to improve your blog.

- Remember the reason why you are doing this, for YOU, not other people.

- Look for ways to create new sections, be more innovative or interact more with your readers.

- Look at others bloggers strategies to advertise themselves and putting themselves out there.
- Is always good to learn from others and start improving in your own way.

Have you ever been rejected by a brand/influencer? How do you overcome this situation?

Como bloggers nos encanta colaborar con marcas y otros influenciadoras, al menos en mi caso lo disfruto mucho. No es un secreto que en algún momento si estas empezando o te gusta una marca mucho, te pones en contacto con ellos para una colaboración o aplicas a páginas para ser afiliado.

La mayoría de las veces o una buena cantidad te dan una muy buena respuesta y conoces gente que les gusta apoyar a los bloggers. Otra veces recibimos rechazo algo asi como “Lo sentimos, en este momento no cumples con nuestros requisitos pero sigue haciendo lo que haces y aplica en un futuro cercano.” Ok, lo siento pero esos mensajes a mi me tumban el animo completamente.

Para mi esta debería ser una razón para seguir haciendo lo que haces. No porque te lo hayan dicho pero porque te gusta hacerlo. Aqui unos tips para no dejar que esos mensajes te afecten:

No dejes que el rechazo te haga sentir mal.

Ser blogger es dificil con mucha gente que te hará sentir que no eres suficiente pero debes seguir adelante porque todos somos diferentes, únicos y tenemos algo que ofrecer.

Se consistente con tu contenido y publicaciones.

Cuando recibes e-mails de rechazo responde dando gracias por su tiempo.

Encuentra maneras siempre de mejorar algo de tu blog.

Recuerda que la razón por la que haces esto es POR TI, no por los demás.

Busca maneras de crear nuevas secciones, ser más innovador e interactuar más con tus lectores.

Busca a otros bloggers y mira como lo hacen, sus estrategias y como se hacen publicidad.
Siempre es bueno aprender de otros y mejorar en tu propia manera.

¿Alguna vez te ha pasado? ¿Cómo sigues adelante de esta situación?

Motivation Monday

Motivation Monday

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Because being happy is a decision and not something that happens just like that. We have to choose to be happy in order to attract positive things to our life. No matter how hard it seems, no matter how hard it can be, start with small steps until you have the control to choose to be happy, that's what self -discovery is about.

What are you choosing today?

Porque ser feliz es una decisión no es algo que pasa asi como asi. Debemos elegir ser felices para atraer cosas positivas a nuestras vidas, no importa lo dificil que parezca o lo dificil que sea. Empieza con pequeños pasos hasta que tengas el control de tu propia felicidad, eso es lo que significa descubrirnos a nosotros mismos.

¿Qué eliges hoy?

Summer Dress

Summer Dress

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MNG dress

kate spade new york shoes, watch & bag

Silvano Apparel sunglasses

Must visit: Panama's Casco Antiguo

Must visit: Panama's Casco Antiguo

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If there is one place I am completely in love with in Panama is this one. As a tourist is a must have obviously, and when you get to live here for a while is the best plan for the weekend or a night out.

The architecture and beauty of this place is breathtaking, if you ever find yourself in Panama you must go. 

Here are a few pictures I took when I went the other day.

Enjoy!

Si hay un lugar que me encanta en Panamá es este. Como turista es un deber pasar por el Casco Antiguo y cuando vives aqui por un tiempo es el mejor plan de fin de semana o para una salida nocturna.

La arquitectura y belleza de este lugar te deja sin aliento, si alguna vez tienes la oportunidad de visitar Panamá, anota este lugar como el primero en la lista.

Aqui les dejo algunas fotos de un paseo que hice el otro día.

Disfruten!

Do Bloggers Help Each Other? - My Experience

Do Bloggers Help Each Other? - My Experience

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Ok, so this is a subject which I have come to see more often this past couple of months. It’s been a rough year so far and honestly, I am well aware my blog might not be the most influential, popular, followed or anything similar to this but at least I am happy that I get to be me. And even if it’s to inspire at least one person, that is just an extra reward.

Since I am aware of the popularity of my blog I told myself: why not ask for help/advice? I tried doing that but it was not quite as I expected. I understand as bloggers we are all trying to make it because there are so many of us. The beauty of this is that we are all so very different and we have so much to offer individually.

In this social media era, you are your numbers, and your likes and the brands you work with and the people who you know. Of course, 99% of the time when you are successful is either because you fought to be there or because you know important people and they kind of helped you get there.

I feel like a lot of them judge you for your social media/look/numbers etc. and it makes me sad it is this way. Hey, at least I have this platform to let you know about my point of view. Sometimes I try to understand the situation, maybe is my content? Maybe is my blog? Maybe is my way of being? I don’t know but I do think it’s not cool if you judge people for any of these reasons. You know how women claim to empower each other? I have seen lots of quotes and posts about this but have not really seen a lot of practice.

Where do I want to get with all of this? I Just want to let you know from my point of view, being a blogger has not been easy and receiving help from fellow bloggers it not easy either (especially if they have tons of followers and readers, they become more important and popular). I have not been doing this for a month or a year, it’s been 4 years+ and here I am. I just want you to know there are many sides to everything and this is mine. So, should I quit doing what I really love because my worth is basically measured on followers/likes/popularity? Of course not, I love what I do and I do it for MYSELF, as I said if I get to inspire or motivate you in some way that’s an extra reward.

I spent years giving more importance to everyone else’s opinions but this is the space that gave me the courage to stand up for myself; to think about me but also communicating with others who might feel the same way. If you don’t like something change it, if someone asks for your help and you are able to give it to them, DO IT. This world does not measure your followers/likes/popularity it measures your kindness, your humbleness, and your honesty.

After writing all of this, I just want to ask. Is there anyone out there reading this? If so, what is your opinion on this matter? I would really love to read more points of view.

Ok este es un tema que he podido estudiar un poco más estos últimos meses. Este año empezó de locura y yo estoy muy clara que mi blog no es el más popular, seguido o algo similar pero me hace feliz y si llego a inspirar al menos a una persona, es una satisfacción muy grande.

Como yo sé muy bien donde mi blog está parado me dije: ¿por qué no pedir ayuda/consejo a otras bloggers? Lo intenté pero la verdad no salió como pensé. Yo entiendo que como bloggers todas estamos intentando posicionarnos sobre todo cuando hay tantas en todo el mundo. La belleza de esto es que todas somos diferentes y tenemos mucho que ofrecer individualmente.

En esta era de redes sociales tu eres tus numeros y tus likes, las marcas con las que trabajas y la gente a la que conoces. Claro, 99% del tiempo cuando sé es muy exitioso es porque se luchó para llegar ahí o conociste mucha gente que te ayudó.

Siento que muchos te juzgan por como te ves, tus numeros, etc y me pone muy triste que sea de esta manera. Al menos tengo este espacio para hacerles saber mi punto de vista. A veces trato de entender la situación: ¿quizá es mi contenido? ¿mi forma de ser? ¿mi blog? No lo sé, pero si creo que es triste si juzgas a alguien por alguna de estas. ¿Saben como las muejeres asegunra que están para apoyarse unas a otras? Pues he visto bastantes quotes y posts de ello pero poca practica.

 ¿Adonde quiero llegar con todo esto? Solo quiero que sepan mi punto de vista, ser blogger no ha sido ni es fácil, y recibir ayuda de otros bloggers tampoco lo es (sobretodo si tienen muchos seguidores y se vuelven importante y populares). No he estado haciendo esto por un mes o un año, han sido más de cuatro años y aqui estoy. Solo quiero que vean que hay muchos lados de una historia, y este es el mio.

Entonces ¿debería dejar de hacer todo lo que hago basado en mis seguidores/likes/popularidad? La respuesta es un rotundo y firme NO. Amo lo que hago y lo hago por mi y pues si llego a inspirar o motivar a alguien es una recompensa extra.

Pasé muchos años de mi vida dando más improtancia a lo que decian y pensaban los demás pero este espacio me dio la valentia para ser yo misma, pensar en mi y también conectar con otros que puedan sentirse igual. Si no te gusta algo cambialo tu, si tienes la oportunidad de ayudar a alguien, HAZLO! Este mundo no te va a recordar por los seguidores/likes o popularidad sino por tu amabilidad, humildad y honestidad.

Después de todo esto me queda preguntar ¿hay alguien ahí? Y si es asi, ¿que opinan de este tema? Me gustaría leer más sobre que piensan.

Motivation Monday

Motivation Monday

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Sometimes is not about where we are in life but how we feel where we are. Even though sometimes I wish I was somewhere else I am so thankful I get to be here, and experience and know about a different culture, country and way of life. Feeling alive is not only about being physically in a place you want to be but also, mentally. If we are comfortable with ourselves, what we are doing and we are always looking to improve then, we should feel more alive than ever. Of course, From time to time it is key to travel to other places where you can feel more you, more alive than ever.

Where do you feel more alive? Share!

A veces no es acerca de donde estamos sino de como nos sentimos donde estamos. Aunque muchas veces quisiera estar en otro lugar, estoy muy agradecidad de poder conocer una nueva cultura y experimentar un nuevo estilo de vida. Sentirse vivo no es solo acerca de estar fisicamente en un lugar en el que quieras, pero también mentalmente. Si estamos cómodos con nosotros mismos, lo que estamos haciendo y siempre buscamos la manera de evolucionar y mejorar; deberíamos sentirnos más vivos que nunca. Claro, de un tiempo a otro es necesario que viajemos a otros luagres donde nos sintamos mas nosotros, y ese sentimiento de sentirnos vivos evolucione.

¿Dónde se sienten más vivos? Compartan!

Pastel Vest Effect

Pastel Vest Effect

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Pictures: Gary Robles

Topshop vest

Bershka pants & heels

kate spade new york top, watch & handbag

Silvano Apparel sunglasses

Which Apps Do I Use More?

Which Apps Do I Use More?

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As a blogger, social media is necessary to put yourself out there and well, these days having a phone is kind of necessary for most people. There are people who love to have a bunch of apps but use very few or maybe all of them, I like to have apps I use all the time and that serve a purpose. These are my most used apps:

Instagram – is my number one app (duh) I love being on instagram and I enjoy looking through my feed and finding new accounts to follow. I follow very few accounts but I like to be inspired and I actually like to see the posts of the people I follow. I don’t know how people who follow 1000 others can find all the posts; I follow for a reason and is because I feel inspired by whoever I am following.

Snapchat – I remember the first time I downloaded I ended up deleting it because I did not understand a thing (do not blame me I am sure I am not the only one). Then I went back on it and decided to give it a try, now I currently love it and enjoy it.

Twitter – I have been trying to be more engaged on twitter, you can actually get to know a lot of people there better than instagram and you get to socialize with them and find a lot people too.

Sweat with Kayla – I am currently working on my fitness lol. And you will never find a gym that would give you all the tools this program gives you for $20 a month.

Pinterest – pin pin pin. I am not very much on it but I do find a lot of useful things all the time. Is like another Google to me haha.

A color story – when it comes to editing pictures, I am more of a perfect lightning than perfect filter type of girl. I like apps you can play with the lightning and this one is amazing.

Layout – thankfully instagram came up with their own app to make collages because the rest that existed were not as good. I use it mostly for collages of my videos.

VSCO and afterlight – editing purposes.

Retouch – ok this app is pretty awesome. You know how sometimes you get the perfect shot except that someone ran to the picture at the moment you were taking it? Or there is a stain you did not see on your carpet? Well, this one is like a little Photoshop magic but way easier and faster. You can actually delete those little details to have the perfect picture.

Veditor – to crop my YouTube videos and put them on my phone.

Facebook – don’t really use it much but is there.

Vine – from time to time I log back in and laugh my butt off. Always one if my favorites.

Dubsmash – it’s awesome!

Uber – we all need it.

That’s pretty much it; I have like two games but don’t really play them. My battery dies because of instagram, snapchat and twitter always.

Which other apps do you have on your phone? Anything fun to try? Share below!

Slow Traffic - Is There Something Wrong With My Blog?

Slow Traffic - Is There Something Wrong With My Blog?

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Having a blog involves a lot of things, is not only about having content, taking pictures, and being in all social media channels as possible. Is also about engagement and traffic. It can be extremely difficult at times and take a very long time for your blog to gain a good amount of popularity.

To answer the title question: NO, there is nothing wrong with your blog because you don’t get traffic but there are probably some ways you can try to increase it. Always remember that is not as fast or easy as you would like to but keep working on it and do it because you genuinely love and care about what you share and, you will get there.

So how do you get to engage your viewers/readers?

Sharing your content – not only once is published but as long as the post is relevant you can keep reminding them about the post. Twitter is a great tool for this, you can schedule tweets about your posts every so often so they are always there. (hashtags are key too)

Pictures – I have been doing a lot more writing lately and I just can’t never imagine a post with plain text only, NO! Always put images on your blog, if you don’t have one that is related to the post think about ideas to take some or use programs like Photoshop to design your own. Even is it’s just to write the name of the post on an image, do not leave it only as text.

Socialize and interact – I have actually abandoned twitter for a while but I realized you get to connect with a lot of people and interact with them in such an easy way. I know 140 characters can be a pain but is so much fun to talk with other bloggers or even readers of your blog and get an opinion or share something. I usually tweet a lot during award shows, about the red carpet looks and what do people think of them.

On Instagram works kind of the same. I am “the liker” it takes to leave a whole bunch of comments all the time so I mostly like pictures but I should probably balance both of these because they help you get exposure.

Pin it – pinterest is actually a great tool that is usually not mentioned a whole lot (I think). You can share things you like and at the same time, you can share what you publish on your blog and have traffic from it.

Keywords – others call it SEO. And since I am no expert at all I encourage looking it up. It has to do with typing throughout your post popular keywords that are linked to search engines, which means if someone googles something related to your article it will appear on the first/second page according to how you wrote your post.

Advertise yourself – connect with brands and email them about your blog and how you are available if they would like to do a collaboration. Depending which brand you email too they will most likely say yes but, there will be some (probably a lot more) who would say no so don’t let this discourage you. When is meant to be, it will be.

Don’t feel sad – it takes a long time to get your blog out there, especially now that there are so many bloggers out there. Each blog and content is unique, and you should do it because you love it, and you like to share it with others so they like it. Some will and some won’t but still, it’s yours and you should be proud of taking the step of having a voice and something to say and talk about in this very wide social media world.

Do you have any other advice/trick to improve traffic? Share below!

Tener un blog incluye muchas cosas, no solo el tener contenido, tomar fotos y estar en la mayor cantidad de redes sociales posible. También es acerca de compromise y tráfico, estas dos pueden ser bastante dificiles en momentos y tomar mucho tiempo para que tu blog gane una Buena cantidad de popularidad.

Para responder a la pregunta: NO, no hay nada con tu blog porque no tengas el tráfico que quieres pero hay algunas maneras que puedes intentar para aumentarlo. Siempre recuerda que no es tan rápido y fácil como te gustaría pero puedes seguir trabajando en ello, y hacerlo porque genuinamente te gusta y te importa lo que compartes, y todo llegará.

Entonces ¿cómo hacemos para atraer vistas/lectores?

Comparte tu contenido – no solo una vez lo publiques pero mientras el post sea relevante sigue compartiendolo y recordandole a los que te siguen. Twitter es una buena herramienta para esto, puedes programar los tweets acerca de tus post cada tanto asi están ahí siempre (los hashtags también son necesarios).

Fotos – últimamente he estado escribiendo mucho más que antes y nunca podría imaginarme un post solo con texto, NO. Siempre coloca imagines en tu blog, si no tienes nada relacionado con el post piensa ideas para tomar algunas fotos o usar programas como Photoshop y crear tu propia imagen. Asi sea que escribas el titulo del post en una imagen, no lo dejes solo de texto.

Socializer e interactuar – hace poco que tenía twitter abandonado pero me di cuenta que puedes conectar con mucho gente e interactuar con ellos de una manera súper fácil. Sé que 140 caracteres pueden ser frustrantes pero es muy divertido hablar con otros bloggers o lectores y pedir su opinion o compartir algo. Usualmente yo twitteo mucho cuando hay premios, acerca de la alfombra roja y que opinan las personas de los looks.

En Instagram funciona más o menos igual. Yo soy de las que pueden dar “me gusta” a todo pero cuando se trata de dejar comentarios casi nunca lo hago porque toma más tiempo, pero quizá sea mejor balancear ambos y ganar exposición.

Pinterest – es una herramienta genial que siento que casi no la mencionan. Puedes compartir cosas que te gusten y a la vez, puedes compartir lo que publicas en tu blog y ganar tráfico de ello.

Palabras claves – o mejor conocido como SEO. No soy expert en esto en absoluto asi que, recomiendo buscar más a fondo del tema. Tiene que ver con escribir palabras o frases claves en tus posts. Cuando alguien en Google usa el buscador y escribe algo parecido a tu frase tu blog saldrá como parte de la búsqueda.

Promuevete – conecta con marcas y dejales saber que te gustaría colaborar con ellos y cuentales de tu blog. Dependiendo de la marca lo más probable es que digan que si pero también pasa mucho que dicen que no (a veces ni responden) pero no dejes que esto te afecte. Hay de todo y para todos y lo que tenga que ser para ti, sera.

No te sientas triste – toma bastante tiempor para que un blog crezca, especialmente ahora que existen tantos bloggers. Cada blog y contenido es único, y deberías hacerlo porque te gusta y te emociona compartirlo con otros que probablemente compartan o les guste tu opinion. Algunos lo harán y otros no pero igualmente, es tuyo y debes estar orgullosa de tomar ese paso de tener tu propia voz y tener algo que decir en este amplio mundo de las redes.

¿Tienes algún otro consejo/truco para aumentar el tráfico en tu blog? Si es así, comparte abajo!