I’m so excited to share a new series I am starting here on my blog called #TheMomBlogCollective. Twice a month, a group of 10 of us will be sharing a blog post on the same topic — related to blogging, Instagram, working with brands, making money, photography, motherhood and more. More than almost anything else, each of us get asked how we started blogging, what tips we have for someone looking to start, how to work with companies for sponsored posts and more, so those questions are the starting point for our series. To kick off the series, we’ll each be sharing our Top 5 Tips on Starting a Blog and Instagram Account

Each month we will feature different guest bloggers in addition to our core 10. My favorite part is that while we will all be answering the same questions and writing about the same topics, it will give each of you a wide variety of perspectives. We each have a different blogging style, photography style, schedule and more so it will be a great opportunity to read everyone’s posts and then figure out what works best for you. And if you have a topic you’d love to get an answer to in our series, search the hashtag #TheMomBlogCollective on Instagram and comment on any one of our photos under that hashtag to let us know! You can also leave comments on our blog posts.

Without further ado, here are my tips!

1. Decide on your “why”: First of all you gotta know why you’re starting this journey, because it IS a journey and it WILL be work. It will take some time and some consistency so you’ve gotta know what you’re doing and why. I think some people think bloggers are just people who get free stuff but creating content that is authentic and relevant is not easy, I actually work really hard to create the things I am posting. That’s a whole different story though. So, are you wanting to share pretty pictures of your life, are you wanting to just relate and connect with other moms, are you wanting to encourage and empower other women as they journey along, show off bits of your home with real time photos of your family. What is is the thing that you want people to connect with? When they come to your feed what is it that people are going to be looking for? You want to get people excited about what you’re sharing so they keep coming back and know what they’re going to get. For me I’d like to think that my why is sharing honest motherhood. Thats crazy things my kids do, the cute posed pictures, our favorite brands, kind the good, bad, pretty, and everything in between.

2. Set yourself up for success: Okay, obviously you need to have a blog or at least an Instagram. There are totally a good amount of people who use Instagram as their blog which you can do! Blogs are fun though because you can post more content (more photos and more words) and some brands like that. You can totally create a free website that has a built in theme or you can pay someone to do all sorts of fancy stuff for you. I wish I could have done that but we couldn’t afford it so I got a tech savvy friend to sort of guide me through the set up. I have so many things I want to update but what I have right now was a good place to start. You want to have a cohesive name on your Instagram and blog so that people relate the two easily. You can get creative or you can literally just use your name, it’s up to you! My blog and Instagram name started as a joke and has sort of just stuck. My husband has a pretty successful Instagram account and his name is @seacannon for (C. Cannon which is his name but spelled sea because he loves to surf). So when I started mine I used Mrs. SeaCannon and here we are almost two years later.

3. Get started!: I knew for about 6 months that I wanted to start a blog and just kept putting it off for one reason or another. I always had some sort of excuse, but it was something I really wanted to do! Once I finally got up the courage to get started it all kind of just fell into place. I started my blog about a year after I had really “cared” about the things I was posting to my Instagram. I had a pretty good idea of my “why” and what people liked about what I was posting, so I just gave them a little bit more of that. Instead of focusing on coming up with brand new or different content, I simply just posted a few more photos and more details of things that I was already sharing on my Instagram.

4. Cultivate your style: This is something that is really important for both gaining followers and getting opportunities to work with brands. You will want to find a look of photo that you like and stick with it. You can find apps that you like that do editing, or you can even use the built in editing tools in your phone. Whatever you want to do just stick with it so your feed looks cohesive!

5. Engage in the community: One of the best parts of Instagram is the community you can find if you are open to it. So respond back to comments, go find some like minded mamas to connect with, get in a comment pod, respond back to direct messages, and share in your stories! By the way stories are one of my favorite things because they remind people that you are a regular person with a messy house, who sometimes has greasy hair, with kids who sometimes don’t listen.

This is a lot to take in, but let me just sum it all up by saying that you just need to be yourself because authenticity is the key to success in this space. Be who you are because nobody else can bring exactly what you can to the table. The world needs you, and not a copy of someone else. So just get started and the tiny details will work themselves out.

A Blessed Nest | @blessednestblog

Ashley Noel | @_ashley_noel_

Britt Havens | @britthavens

Cultivate Motherhood | @cultivatemotherhood

Darling Nightingale | @darlingnightingale

Kole Impressions Blog | @steph__pollock

Hello Baby Brown | @hellobabybrown

Occasionally Perfect | @occasionally_perfect

The Love Designed Life | @thelovedesignedlife