Year: 2021

Top 10 Reasons To Use Lightroom

There are many photography apps on the market these days, so I can only imagine that it can be hard to find one that you’ll enjoy. You might have found yourself asking, Do I need to pay for an app to get the best option? Do I need something to do quick edits? Do I also need to think about being able to store and organize my photos? Adobe Lightroom is a powerful photo and video editor for managing and processing thousands of stunning images.

Thank you Tracey Jones for contributing this post to lifestylewithkris.com
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10 Creative Post Ideas for Social Media

You’ve started a business, you’ve created a brand. You’re ready to start marketing your business/brand on social media, but there’s so much overwhelming information out there. Everyone is telling you that you should post at least 3 pieces of social media content per week, post to your social channels every day, and create high-quality content, but where are you going to find inspiration to post interesting, engaging and relevant things to share with your audience? Here are 10 creative post ideas for social media that can work for you!

Thank you Tracey Jones for contributing this post to lifestylewithkris.com
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Powerful Words of Affirmation For Success
Words of affirmation are short and powerful statements that people can use to promote positive thinking. They allow us to be in control of our thoughts and shape our realities. Individuals can repeat affirmation statements until they become new beliefs. I use affirmations to eliminate negative thinking and to help me navigate challenges that will make achieving goals easier, through the law of attraction. This blog post will provide insight into what affirmations are, what the laws of attraction mean, and how to incorporate these things together when motivating ourselves through self-care practices.

Every day, people are using affirmations to attract confidence, abundance, love, success, and happiness. Studies have shown that it is not uncommon for people to increase their happiness through a positive mindset. Plenty of people desire to be more successful in life and have found affirmations help combat negative self-talk and negative mindsets. After I started using affirmations, I found that I have a better outlook on what my purpose is and that I am worthy of attaining success. I’ve learned how to be gentle with myself by becoming more trusting and confident in my abilities to make decisions. Positive affirmations require regular practice to achieve long-term changes in your life.

Related: How Letting Go of Negative Thoughts Changed My Life

Words of Affirmation: The Laws of Attraction

The Law of Attraction is the belief that positive thoughts will yield positive results in your life, career, health, or relationships. There are 3 Laws of Attraction that detail this concept:
1. Like Attracts Like
2. Removal of Negative Energy
3. The Present is Always Perfect
Like Attracts Like is the law that similar things are attracted to one another. Although opposites can often attract, it is the belief that it is more often that like attracts like. What we think about and choose to believe is what we tend to do. People will use affirmations to think and believe positive thoughts to do the work needed to attract positive results.

Removing negative thoughts makes space for positive thoughts! This law of attraction is identified as “nature abhors a vacuum” and is the belief that if we remove negative energy and replace it with positive, we will create a space to attract new things. Ex: Decluttering your closet will allow you to make room for the new clothes that you just purchased

The Present is Always Perfect if you’re looking to use this law to attract the things you want. Amid a challenge, it can be hard to see the good in bad things. It is never too late to change how you choose to respond to negative situations. Implement the use of affirmations whenever there is a desire to complain about something that isn’t going right for you. Look for ways to improve the present moment.

20 Powerful Words of Affirmation to Attract Abundance & Success

Related: Who Else Wants a Free 7-Day Gratitude Journal

Now that you know about affirmations and the 3 laws of attraction, here are 20 affirmation statements that you can use to help you attract abundance, confidence, and success into your life. This list of affirmations that I’ve compiled consists of action statements that I’ve repeated throughout the year. Try saying them in the morning, to start the day or at night, before going to bed. Repeat affirmations daily and regularly (at least 10 times a day). Listen to yourself say each word, focus on them as they are leaving your mouth, and believe them to be true.

I hope that this post helps anyone interested in learning how affirmations work, and how to use them to attract success and happiness in their life. I have always encouraged positive thinking as a form of self-care and I believe it motivates people to meet their goals. What are some positive affirmations that you may say to attract what you want?

Let me know in a comment!
5 Proven Tips For Starting Your Online Store

Photo by Ann Nekr on Pexels.com

You have been crafting for some time and now feel it is time to start selling your masterpieces, but you have no experience running a business. You aren’t sure where to start and the whole thing feels a bit overwhelming at the moment. You’re interested in starting an online store but not sure where to begin.
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The Secure Guide to Filing With TurboTax

Thank you, TurboTax for sponsoring this post!

Filing taxes is a stressful situation for everyone. Every tax season, American citizens are hopeful and excited about their tax returns. Some look for ways to ensure that they’ll receive as much money back as possible, some are prayerful that they will not have to owe the IRS anything, and some look for tax preparers or financial advisors to help them because they need professional tax advice.

Whether you decide to go to a CPA or financial advisor, or you decide to do your taxes alone, you want to feel comfortable about the decision you make. TurboTax is the best solution for all your tax filing fears! I am an active and current TurboTax user. I have always had an easy, comfortable, and reliable experience with using their software. In conclusion, this post is your secure guide to filing your taxes with TurboTax.
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How to Use Instagram to Grow Your Audience
In the world of social media, Instagram is one of the most popular platforms out there. Users post pictures and videos daily for personal enjoyment, exposure, and business opportunities. For entrepreneurs, it’s important to reach your target audience, client, and/or customer for your business. This post contains everything you need to know about how to use Instagram for business. Anyone can grow an audience on Instagram! There are over 1 billion monthly active users, with accounts, defining their audience.

With The Five C’s Contingency Plan, you will be able to organically grow an online presence. You will be able to use this contingency plan with any Instagram algorithm. This Contingency Plan is a combination of strategies that I use regularly and simultaneously to reach new readers and subscribers to my blog, sell gratitude journals, and land brand partnerships. I used the 5 C’s Contingency Plan and reached over 60,000 accounts, receive over 400 new followers, and increase content interactions within 90 days in Q1.

What is the ‘5 C’s of Contingency Plan’?
1. Connect
2. Consistency
3. Comment
4. Commit
5. Create
Connect & Network

Connecting with people can and will help you to grow your audience. You should be following more people and engaging in conversation. Get to know the competition, but do not compare too critically! Networking is an easy way to land new opportunities and business deals. Collaborations happen every day on Instagram.

Note: You should NOT be following “overwhelming accounts” that can trigger emotions like imposter syndrome or self-sabotaging doubt.

Consistency Is Key

Post consistently to your feed and Instagram stories. If you are inconsistent with posting, how will you truly be able to cultivate an audience? When will your audience know when or where you post? Everyone’s posting schedule is going to be different. Your posting schedule should be based on the peak days that you receive the most views. Using your insights and metrics, you will be able to figure out what is the best time for you to post your content.

My peak days of the week are Monday through Friday (9 am-9 pm). That’s a twelve-hour window for me to post my images and videos and maximize the views I receive during those times of the day. Although Saturday and Sunday are not the best days for views, according to my insights, I still find the best peak time of the day whenever I’m looking to post on the weekends.

Enjoying this post? Check out more Social Media Tips & Tricks
Comment, Like, Share

I’m 100% certain that commenting and liking posts will help you grow your audience on Instagram. After you leave a comment on someone’s post, their followers can see your comment and now have the option to engage with you! This type of banter often leads to clicks on your profile, clicks to the link in your bio, and someone else learning more about you. I hold plenty of conversations with brands in their comments! I’ve also pitched to brands for sponsorship post opportunities via email just through conversations that developed in the comment section.

Note: Pinning comments is good exposure for your business, and can be small examples of CTAs when guiding your clients to make a purchase or subscribe to a newsletter.

Commit to Quality

Commit to sharing quality pictures, videos, and graphics. Use Canva to create your graphics and use photo-editing apps like Lensa for brighter and high-quality pictures. Image quality is important to increasing user engagement and decreasing your bounce rate, which means more traffic and higher rankings! Commit to making content with value! When recording videos, try to find spaces in your home that will make great aesthetic backgrounds. Committing to sharing quality images will help you create content you know your target audience would want to see.

Create The Content They’ll Love

Always remember to create content with value when creating engaging content. When you’re ready to share the content that you’ve created, you’re going to want to create captions that will grab the audience’s attention. OMG, did I just make a scroll-stopping caption? Be sure to also include CTA (call-to-action) statements in your caption and use relevant hashtags. Additionally, if your post contains a product, tag the brand in the post and the caption. Ideally, it would help if you were using one CTA and at least five hashtags per post.

You want to avoid asking your audience to do too many things in one post. Why? Your audience won’t know what you want them to do first and they will do the exact opposite of what you wanted. Lastly, do not use hashtags that are already being used by too many users or will cause your post to be shadowbanned.

Note: Shadowbanning is the practice of blocking a user or their content online from being seen or shared.

There’s no doubt that when (not if) you incorporate the ‘5 C’s of Contingency’ into your social media strategy, you will begin to see an increase in your engagement on Instagram, new clients or customers for your business, new subscriptions to your blog, and more. Using these methods are ways that you will learn to navigate any algorithm and help you grow your audience!

Follow me on Instagram for more tips and strategies.

What do you think about the ‘5 C’s of Contingency’ Plan and how will you use it to grow your online presence on Instagram?
INFLUENSTER: Unboxing + How To Get For Free
Influenster is a product discovery platform for consumers and influencers. There are hundreds of thousands of brands looking for honest feedback in exchange for free products! Influencers are surveyed and matched to campaigns or a voxbox to review and share with their audience on social media.

HOW TO GET A FREE INFLUENSTER VOXBOX

Influenster is a product discovery app that encourages consumers and influencers to write reviews on products from thousands of brands. Reviewing products and being active on the Influenster app increases your chances to receive free stuff like voxboxes and match for voxbox campaigns.

The Influenster app is free to download and sign-up for! Go to your Apple or Google Play Store to download the app and create your profile. Once you create your profile, the next steps are to connect your socials, and start filling out snaps! Connecting your social accounts and filling out snaps will increase your impact score and are the best way to receive a free voxbox!

WHAT IS A VOXBOX?

An Influenster VoxBox is a box full of full-sized free products that you get to review and keep. These boxes are often based on a theme but are sometimes a single product or group of products from the same company. These are truly awesome boxes that can contain hundreds of dollars worth of free stuff.

O- M- G! The Love In The Air Voxbox from Influenster has arrived. I am so excited and grateful to have been chosen for this amazing opportunity to test a box full of free products. This post will contain product reviews about the products that were sent to me for free, in exchange for my honest review.

Love In The Air Influenster Voxbox

The voxbox that I received in the mail came with four products
1. Coach Dreams Eau de Parfum
2. Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Body Cream
3. Goop G.Tox Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo
4. Mont Blanc Legend Eau de Toilette
All items are available for consumers to purchase online (brand website, Sephora, Ulta). The fragrances that I received were not full-size. The Voxbox also came with details on each product included in the box.

Coach Dreams Eau de Parfum (2020)

I will be shopping for a new perfume after sampling this fragrance from Coach. Coach Dreams evokes the freedom and adventure of a road trip across America. The scent combines radiant bitter orange with the sensual warmth of gardenia, cactus flower, and Joshua tree. The fragrance is light and long-lasting. My only wish is that I could have received a larger size to sample. The Coach Dreams Eau de Parfum retails $28.00- $102.00 online.

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Dream Body Cream (2021)

This is body cream is amazing and is my favorite product of the four that I received. This luscious body cream is whipped with vitamin-rich watermelon seed butter, naturally smoothing hibiscus AHA and multi-weight hyaluronic acid for deep moisture and ultimate comfort. I applied this body cream after an AM shower and felt hydrated instantly and throughout the day. It didn’t take much effort to rub and absorb into my skin. Watermelon Glow Pink Dream Body Cream will leave your skin baby-soft and with a healthy glow. This product is the newest out of the four and retails online for $28.

Goop G.Tox Himalayan Salt Scrub Shampoo (2018)

I had no idea that this product is from Gwyenth Paltrow’s skincare line. I didn’t even know that she had a skincare line! This salt-enriched whipped-mousse shampoo removes product buildup, dirt, and oil, and leaves hair looking healthy and shiny. The scrub did not cleanse my scalp as much as I would have liked. Since I do have thick and coily hair, and I believe that I did not use enough of the scrub (6oz) on the first try. I do like that the shampoo has rosehip oil and peppermint to leave the hair feeling purified and cleansed. I will give this product another chance, as I’ve heard great reviews from other influencers! G.Tox Himalayan Salt Scrub retails for $42.00 online.

Mont Blanc Legend Eau de Toilette (2011)

Influenster sent some amazing fragrances! Mont Blanc Legend is a masculine and iconic fragrance for a charismatic and unforgettable man. It has key notes of bergamot and pineapple leaves and is subtle but striking and masculine. I gave this men’s fragrance to my husband to test and we were both impressed with how light and enduring the scent is. My only takeaway here is that this was another sample just like the Coach Dreams Eau de Parfum. Mont Blanc Legend is the perfect gift for the special man in your life and retails for $75.00- $120.00 on Ulta.

Love is definitely in the air with my Influenster voxbox. I am happy overall with the products in this campaign. I would recommend any of the items in this box for self-care or gifting someone that you love. I’m excited to have partnered with Influenster and look forward to bringing you more reviews just like this one.

Have you heard of Influenster? Did you already join Influenster and received products like these? Do you want to join Influenster to receive free a voxbox and want to know more about the community?

Leave a comment and tell me what you think about Influenster and the product discovery app.

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How To Meditate: Checklist and Guided Practice
In 2018, I learned how to meditate effectively due to high-stress levels from working a job that brought me much misery and grief. I had to find a release, an escape, something that allow me to relax and be at ease. When I first started my journey into meditation, I had no clue how to meditate, did not know if it really worked, nor what it all meant. I always heard it explained as “a way to practice mindfulness”. Moreover, I thought that it sounded like an option to explore to relieve stress. After two years of practice, I still continue to meditate and use it to help with stress.

Firstly, my journey introduced me to breath work and guided practice. Secondly, the meditation-guided practice helped me achieve inner peace has made things 100% easier. I share and document my meditation process on social media often and I get lots of questions from others about how should they begin meditation. Lastly, there are many people interested in meditation but feel that they’re not doing it right or have absolutely no clue what they’re doing.

Meditate With Guided Practice

You are NOT alone! You are NOT the master!

Yet.

I can relate to the feeling of being excited to do or learn something new and not knowing where to start. It can lead to an overwhelming feeling and sometimes makes you lose your desire to learn. As a result, I created a Mindful Meditation Checklist to help beginners feel comfortable with learning this new skill. The checklist has the basic tools that you will need to successfully complete one meditation session and will need to be repeated frequently to see results. This checklist is able to hold you accountable when you’re wondering if meditation and mindfulness is affective for you, as it is for me.

Click here to download your free checklist today to begin your first meditation session!

Get Your Free Meditation Checklist

Check out more self-care tips and tricks:
3 Tools For Goal Setting and Excellent Planning
It’s been super important for me to get organized with my ideas and goals because I’ve got all these great, big ideas floating around in my head, but no clear thought on how to execute them. It’s not enough for me to just come up with an idea (nor should it be enough for you). I need to find tools for goal setting and planning. The only way to see the outcomes of these ideas is to plan them out.

What am I doing? How will this work?

My impulsive thinking can sometimes lead to a load of inconsistency in executing these ideas. I get so excited that I rush or skip several steps in the execution process. This is how dreams get deferred and ideas get crushed. When you know better then you’ll do better.

That’s why I am sharing three tools I use to assist me in setting clear and concise goals through planning. Keep scrolling to learn new ways to help you stay organized, plan out ideas, and develop strategies for executing your plan.

Necessary Tools For Goal Setting

Tools for Goal Setting: Gratitude Journaling, Planning, Organizing

Journaling is the #1 source of where my ideas and goals begin. Through self-reflection prompts, I construct a list of 3-5 personal and professional goals I want to accomplish for the week. I also set monthly goals and daily affirmations using a gratitude journal. I find appreciation and gratitude to be instrumental in planning and setting realistic, attainable goals. The Daily Expression Gratitude Journal that I use comes with a “Gratitude Garden” that contains mindful questions and notebook pages for me to jot down my emotions and thoughts. I created it as a way to live with gratitude and appreciation. It’s available online for purchase and on sale for $7 here.

Goal Setting Tool #2: Planner

Having a planner as a tool is necessary because this is where I can sort out goals and figure out how I will meet them by listing small tasks that I can complete. Sunday- Saturday, I fill my planner with productive activities related to my weekly or monthly goals.

Let’s use an Instagram Reel as an example. The objective will be to create an Instagram Reel for the week.

I pick a day during the week that I can research reels to trigger inspiration, days that I can prepare for creation, and then the day that I want to post it. Making a reel does NOT just happen in five minutes! I realize that there may be intricate actions that I will need to take before it can happen. I may need to learn audio (lyrics and dialogue), rehearse dance moves, and sort out a look. Some of the questions I ask myself:
- Where will I film this reel?
- What should I wear?
- What is the tone?
I maximize a lot of my time by using a planner. The mom life is sporadic and chaotic. It’s easy to feel spread thin and busy. Honey, that’s the quickest way to burn out! Using a planner is beneficial to productivity. I’m able to juggle all of my many hats (human, wife, mom, teacher, writer, etc.) and not feel like I’ve completely exhausted all my time. It all gets done through time blocking, sticky notes, affirmation stickers, and lots of colors.

TIP: Use markers and colorful pens to list your tasks in your planner.

Goal Setting Tool #3: Google Calendar

The last tool allows me to schedule my tasks into a digital calendar, and get reminders and alerts when it is time to execute them. Once I learned from other digital content creators about all of the magic that Google Calendar has, I started using it for purposes other than birthdays. I use Google Calendar to
- help me figure out what time I have available to get things done.
- stay on track with time blocking
- celebrate accomplishments
- remember what’s planned for the day
- follow a schedule
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Was this helpful for you? How do you set goals and execute them? What tools do you use to help you execute your goals? How do you hold yourself accountable? Comment your thoughts on this topic below.

Check out more planning and organizing posts like this one: