5 YEARS OF BLOGGING! Q&A
Today marks 6 years of Simply Lauren Rose. I cannot believe that what started as a hobby turned into this amazing community! I am SO incredibly thankful for each and every one of you who constantly lift me up, bring me support, and share your kind words with me! I wouldn't be able to do what I love without any of you. so THANK YOU.
I like to think I've come a LONG way since I started 6 years ago (I'll share some throwback pics below!! they'll make for a good laugh! lol) and I have learned so much along the way.
I thought it would be fun to sit down and answer a bunch of your questions today.
Question: How did you start to gain such a big following? Any tips?
Answer: It is SO hard to grow today. When I first started blogging, it was much easier to grow. I would just post consistently, engage with my followers, engage with other bloggers like me, and follow other accounts like mine! Nowadays, the only way that I've been able to grow is by partnering with other bloggers who are similar to me and doing giveaways with them. It's so unfortunate that Instagram has made it so hard to grow and that they hide our posts at times.
Question: Where are you moving to?
Answer: I'm not going to get specific with this for privacy sake but I'm staying in CT and moving near the beach! Check out my house hunting videos for more info!
Question: What's your favorite part about having your own blog?
Answer: the community we've built together! It's so great to chat with you guys and make connections with you! I also learn SO much from you - any time I need advice or tips, I always ask you! I also love being able to have the freedom to express myself with my clothes and style and sharing what makes me feel happy! My main goal is to spread kindness and share my experiences with you in hopes that I can help at least ONE person.
Question: Why do you have a passion for fashion? What inspired you? Have you always like trends?
Answer: I'd say i was born with a "passion for fashion." I always had a different purse with me, I'd change my outfit constantly throughout the day when I was younger (sorry mom lol) and that really hasn't changed. I get inspired by other bloggers & Pinterest mainly! I wouldn't say that I really like "trends" because there's a lot of trends that I absolutely dislike haha. I think that my style has been pretty "simple" throughout the past 6 years and I feel like it's stayed pretty constant.
Question: What obstacles you have to face in starting?
Answer: I think a lot of times people are scared to start because they're scared of what people will think of them. Many people think that "blogging" is not a real job or that it's super easy. But the reality is that it's A LOT of work and it's hard to shut off sometimes. I didn't tell my friends that I had a blog until I reached 10k followers because I was scared about what they'd think. I think that if you're going to start a blog - you need to be 100% passionate about it and expect not to make money for some time. Do it because you LOVE it, not because you want extra income.
Question: How did you get started?
Answer: more about that here.
Question: I'm a new follower - can you just do like a basic intro about you?!
Answer: Welcome! So glad you're here and that you found me :-). Here's a bit of a basic intro about me!
Question: Where do you see SLR going in the future?
Answer: honestly, I'm not sure! I have many goals for SLR and I've reached some of those goals this year. Those goals being - starting a boutique, starting a podcast, and continuing to grow on IG and LTK. I hope that my boutique will continue to grow as well!
Question: Favorite vacation destination(s) so far?!
Answer: Turks & Caicos! Hands down. Want to go back ASAP!
Question: How do you stay positive with negative people comments?
Answer: I'm still working on this but I've learned that anyone who leaves a negative comment or message is dealing with something within themselves. If I get a mean message, I've decided to reply by saying I'm so sorry you're having a bad day. I hope you day gets better, I am praying for you. I just know deep down, that while those messages may hurt, it's more of a reflection on those people than it is on me.
Question: What's one of your largest takeaways from blogging/2020?
Answer: stay TRUE to yourself. I've talked about this before but Ive seen so many bloggers who I've followed from the start change SO much and it makes me not want to follow them at all. I feel like you guys follow me for a sense of "realness" and I'll continue to share that with you. I'm not perfect and will never be perfect. I will never pretend to be perfect.
I've also learned that patience is key. I constantly worry and it really gets me no where. I need to just be patient and realize that what is meant to be, will be. Still working on this one too.
Question: Advice for new bloggers!
Answer: kind of like the answer above - be yourself! The blogging world has become pretty saturated and people will be able to tell if you're trying to be someone/something you're not. I think what's going to make you stand out is your true personality coming through and that will attract the right kinds of followers to you! If you're sharing stuff that you don't actually love/care about - you're going to attract the wrong kind of people.
Question: Advice for engagement? What has worked and what has not?
Answer: I feel like my engagement isn't that great lol. For the amount of followers I have, I feel like my pictures should get way more engagement and same with my stories. But I really don't know what "good" engagement is? What I do for engagement is try to reply to comments within the first hour of posting, answer DMs, and share on my story when I have a new post up on my feed. I also notice that my story views are better when I am more active on them!
Question: shaving/waxing tips?
Answer: I wish I could say I had some! I don't get anything waxed so I have no tips on that! And for shaving, I just use my billie razor!
Question: do you keep all of the clothes?
Answer: No!! I give a lot of them away to family members or friends! Since part of blogging is keeping up with new products and being able to share new things, my closet would overflow (more than it already is!) if I kept everything!
And that's it for the Q&A!! I'm so happy you're here and I hope you'll stick around for all of the years of SLR to come!!
Let's take a trip down memory lane and see some of my old IG pics :-)
Here's my first pic and what my feed looked like back in the day!! I remember working so hard to take some of these pics and make sure that they looked okay! Now looking back - I'm like what was I thinking?! Lol!
This was one of my favorite pictures ever! I was so proud of it!
This was the picture I uploaded when I first got accepted to Like to Know it! I was SO excited! I had previously gotten denied (I think it's much easier to get accepted now) so I was so nervous to apply again!
This was when I graduated grad school! May 2016
This is when I reached 10k followers!! I was SO excited. This was such a big deal. But you guys can see, it took me almost a year to gain 10k!
SLR turned 1!! July 1, 2016
My first RewardStyle rooftop party! This was SUCH a cool experience for me!
This was when my hair was really long and I decided to go super dark with it!! Lol
My mom's friend and her husband would get me ice cream cakes for big milestones that I hit!! This one was for 18k!!
This was in Turks & Caicos! One of my favorite pictures ever. I remember I hit 20k followers on IG in Turks & Caicos!!
LOVE this sweater!!! Still one of my favorites. I hope they come out with a similar one this year during the Nsale!
Another rS rooftop party! So much fun! And I love this jumpsuit!
I turned 25!! I remember thinking this was so old!! Lol.
Another one of my favorite pictures ever!!
This was when I visited Nick in Colorado! Was my first time there!!
I became an aunt!! March 23, 2018
My first collab with Nordstrom!! I thought this was the coolest thing ever!
Nick survived his first family trip with us in Hilton Head, SC!
Nick's first official appearance on the blog for the Nordstrom Sale!
Nick surprised me with a trip to Florida for my 26th birthday!
Went to my first Reward Style conference ever!!
Went to Wyoming for the first time to visit my best friend!
Moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment!!
Nick & I took a road trip from Vegas back to CT! We stopped in so many cool places!
I became an aunt again! Giada Annmarie! Born September 25, 2019.
I started my own online boutique! Styled by Lauren Rose.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post!! Again, thank you for all of your continued support!! XO!!
