The Holly Peck

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Color Street Childhood Cancer Awareness Strips

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The Color Street Foundation has been committed to finding causes that are near and dear to the hearts of many stylists. When the company polled stylists about foundations and causes they would like to support, childhood cancer came up.

In honor of September being National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, Color Street is launching an exclusive set of nail polish strips.

Color Street Childhood Cancer Awareness Launch

The strips are a mixed mani, with 4 different patterns among the nails. The predominant color is golden, which is the color of the childhood cancer awareness ribbon. See a mockup of the design below, as shared during the 2018 National Conference:

color street childhood cancer
And here, you can see the final design:

color street childhood cancer

Color Street Foundation Donations

Two dollars will be donated per strip sold to Alex’s Lemonade Foundation. If this is anything like the Autism Awareness strips, then a total of $40,000 will be donated from sales, and the Color Street Foundation just may supplement that donation….just like how Fa Park presented a check for $100,000 to the Autism Society of America. Color Street’s goal is to donate $100,000.

color street hope love cure

How to Purchase Color Street Childhood Cancer Awareness Strips

Click HERE to shop now: make sure that you add four strips to your cart to take advantage of the standard buy 3 get 1 free offer. These strips will launch at 4pm eastern time on Aug 27th, so you can get them in time to wear them all September.

 

color street childhood cancer awareness

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My First Blogging Income Report: One Year In

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One of the fascinating parts of blogging is that there is great potential to make a decent income. However, it’s a long-term game; a proverbial marathon, and most bloggers are not able to successfully monetize their blogs. Many bloggers don’t get past 10 blog posts, and it’s when the number of posts continues to increase that affiliate income begins to really take off. Here’s my first blogging income report, and exactly how I did it.

Note: I am not including direct sales income on this report, simply because it is not possible to definitively determine what sales came from the blog, and what was from marketing efforts elsewhere.

Blogging Stats

First, let me take a moment to tell you about this year in blogging. I launched my blog in August of 2017, after completing SassySuite’s Blogging Boot Camp. In March, I was at nearly 50 published blog posts, and then I announced that I was leaving LuLaRoe to pursue Color Street. That meant that a large number of LuLaRoe-centric posts needed to be deleted, as they had become a misrepresentation of the purpose of my blog.

I deleted 17 blog posts that were currently funneling people to my now non-existent LuLaRoe business, and began to rebuild to have blog posts that fit more of a lifestyle/affiliate marketing blog. Along with that, I’ve been integrating Color Street posts. As of August 26th, 2018, I have 42 blog posts (this one makes #43).

Blogging Income Report: Hosting Services

For my first year, I had hosting through SassyWeb Services, which is powered by GoDaddy. While the services were great, there was not an affiliate program, so that did not fit my personal blogging strategies. I did some research for hosting services, and overwhelmingly, SiteGround was recommended.

You can read a full blog post about why I made the switch, but so far, SiteGround has been my number one source of affiliate income. I LOVE SiteGround, and highly recommend it to everyone. Their live chat is AMAZING, and they are quick to help me anytime I have a question. 10/10, would recommend.

Total income earned: $200

Blogging Income Report: Amazon Affiliate Services

Amazon is one of my favorite places to shop. In fact, it was the #1 store online, and accounted for 178 BILLION worth of sales in 2017. The convenience of Prime 2-day delivery appeals to all, not to mention, it seems that everything is available on Amazon. Throughout this blog, there are many links to Amazon products, which brings me 5% of the costs of purchases made using my links. I LOVE Amazon because it’s easy, both for shoppers and for affiliates alike.

Total income earned: $118.40

Blogging Income Report: Share-a-Sale & Miscellaneous

Rather than using Google Ads on my blog, I found that Share-a-Sale allowed me to be more strategic with the “ad space” on my blog. I can use the sidebars to place strategic “ads” for services and such that I would like to promote – like SiteGround or Tailwind. Share-a-sale is also great because you can get payouts for each affiliate who joins under you – win for all levels of referrals! Seriously you should go ahead and join here.

I’m also an affiliate for BluChic themes. These gorgeous themes are delightful and feminine, and perfect for a blogger, especially one who is in any kind of “boss babe” niche, like many of my friends are.

Outstanding income: $34.98 (Share-a-Sale has a $50 min payout).
BluChic outstanding income: $19.75 (also has a $50 min payout – I think – I forgot, really. EDIT: I was paid out for this on September 1. Looks like a 90 day wait? Either way, WIN!).

Blogging Income Report: Google Ads

Full disclosure: I hated Google Ads. I hated it so much that I disconnected them from my blog. Google ads didn’t fit my blogging strategy, as they’d often automatically show ads for competing products. Imagine, if you will, researching website hosting, and landing on my blog post about why I chose SiteGround. Then, you’d see ads for Bluehost or for GoDaddy hosting. Since one of my reasons for posting about SiteGround is to get people to click my affiliate link and choose SiteGround, then having ads for GoDaddy or Bluehost just doesn’t make sense.

Total income earned: $0 (I have $28.68 outstanding in my account, but I am uncertain if I will ever reach the $100 minimum required for a payout).

As you can see, in about a year, I made about $400 in affiliate income. While many bloggers make that kind of income in a month, I am excited about that year’s worth of work. It’s a start, and it feels super special because I had a lot of major changes in my blogging and income strategies. Most of my work up to this point has not been strategic or focused, so any income feels like a win.

A month ago, I made a bank account specifically for all affiliate payouts. All money earned from the blog is going straight into that account. My crazy big goal is for the blog’s affiliate income to grow to the point where it can pay for our house someday.

So what do you think? Are you breaking into affiliate marketing? What is your favorite source of affiliate income?

blogging income report

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Why I Turned off Social Media Notifications

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A few weeks ago, I turned off social media notifications on my phone. Push notifications on my phone were constantly dinging,  pulling me away from what I was working on in that moment. The reality was, I knew that something had to change in order for me to be able to accomplish more. I turned off social media notifications, and I’m never going back.

I Now Have a Clear Home Screen on My Phone

Notifications don’t necessarily bother me: the constant stream of red dots doesn’t give me the anxiety that it does some people. However, each one of those red dots is a call to see what is going on. Red things are meant to draw your attention: stop signs are red; stop lights are red. They are meant to stop you from what you are doing and make you pay attention.

A clear home screen doesn’t stop me from doing what I picked up my phone to do. Notifications distract me.

I No Longer am Interrupted by Notifications

It’s hard to concentrate when constantly interrupted. Many people pride themselves on being master multi-taskers, but I have found that I personally perform better when I am able to complete the tasks uninterrupted. Because I work a part time job, and balance blogging and my direct sales company (Color Street), I must use my time wisely and effectively.

Studies show that the brain completes tasks more effectively when able to focus on a single task. The two sides of the brain are able to work together in harmony, and get more done. In fact, it gets done better.

I Become the Master of My Time

Clearing those red dots becomes a game. Every time I opened my phone, those notifications were a pull to look at the apps with the notification. In fact, the higher the red number, the more likely I was to click on that app first. That changed my productivity habits, because instead of going to post in my VIP group, I would go to clear the notifications.

Now, I go to apps when I specifically need to go to the app. I go specifically to the place where I need to be, and get the things that I need to get done accomplished. This lends a focus to my work that I have desperately needed.

How are you working to help increase your productivity? Do you have your notifications still on, or have you taken the plunge to turn them off?

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social media notifications

 

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30 Days of Social Media Post Prompts

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Coming up with a social media plan can be a time consuming part of blogging. This is why finding prompts for your social media channels is super helpful. My favorite form of social media prompts comes in the form of one-word prompts, as they are not restrictive. It’s easy to use them as inspiration for Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Here’s three ways to use these 30 days of social media post prompts.

Use Post Prompts to Plan Instagram Images

This is probably the easiest way to use one-word post prompts. The one word prompts can help inspire imagery that elicits the thoughts or emotions in the prompts. For example:

  • Joy – a happy looking picture of you, when you felt joy
  • B&W – well, this is pretty simple – a black and white photo you like!
  • Vintage – find a vintage item you love and snap a pic!

Reading those, you see what I mean – these simply serve as prompts to help you look for things. This is particularly helpful when you feel totally lost on what to post.

Use Post Prompts to Plan Instagram Captions

Ohhhh, captions. Those can be a challenge. Some folks opt for inspirational quotes. Some just share their thoughts from the photos they are posting. Others share their feelings. Having prompts helps you to find captions with intentionality. It can also help you find new hashtags outside of your usual ones to help grow your following – make sure to use Tailwind’s hashtag planner to find new hashtags to help you find and use the best ones for your posts.

Social Media Post Prompts Provide Community

Many of those who use social media post prompts are part of a community that uses the same hashtag. It helps them find each other, and be inspired by others who are using the same prompts. Social media is all about community, and gathering around common things - so finding a good set of social media prompts helps a lot with continuing to develop relationships. Grab the image with the prompts here, and save it to Pinterest for future use! social media post prompts

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How to Request a Current Color Street Catalog

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Love the feeling of a good old-fashioned paper catalog in your hands? Do you enjoy the feeling of getting mail in your mailbox (that is NOT political ads, or even ads of any kind)? Are you the kind of person who likes to sit down with a cup of tea? Do you have a pen at the ready to plan how you’ll use up hostess rewards? Then this is the post for you: here’s how to request a current Color Street catalog.

Want Access to a Catalog NOW?

Before I write about the magic of the paper catalog, it’s only right that I link you to the PDF file of the current catalog. Some folks just want to see the digital catalog, and that’s a-ok. Click HERE to see the current catalog.

Secondly, if you have no idea what I am talking about, check out this article to learn about the magic of Color Street.

Request a Current Color Street Catalog Kit

You can request a Color Street Catalog KIT here! The kit includes:

  • Paper copy of the current catalog
  • Sample kit (1 packet with sample nails, rubbing alcohol prep pad, and mini nail file)
  • Ticket – make sure you don’t lose this!

One lucky person will win a free set of mystery nails each month – must be in my Facebook VIP community to win!

How Often Does the Color Street Catalog Change?

You can expect to see new print versions of the Color Street catalog each spring and fall. While there are frequent launches of new colors and holiday-themed shades (so far, we have seen halloween, Christmas/New Years, winter games, Valentines, St. Patrick’s Day, Patriotic, and summer-themed nails), these have not resulted in a completely new catalog.

The Color Street Fall 2018 catalog is anticipated to drop the week after labor day – make sure you fill out the request form to receive a copy, and join my VIP group for all the Color Street news!

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Color Street Blue Lagoon Swatches and Review

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Color Street Blue Lagoon joined the Color Street catalogue as part of the Spring 2018 launch.

Color Street Blue Lagoon

Color Street Blue Lagoon 100% nail polish strips are a teal blue glitter with sporadic amounts of green glitter mixed in. The overall effect is a bright blue reminiscent of tropical beach waters.

Color Street Blue Lagoon Nail Strip Color

Color Street Blue Lagoon Application

Color Street Blue Lagoon nail polish strips apply easily and are forgiving if you place it wrong the first time. You can lift and reposition the strips if you don’t get it perfectly positioned.

Color Street Blue Lagoon Swatches

One of the most amazing things about Color Street Blue Lagoon is that layering the strips creates a more intense color – see the picture below! If you prefer a more dense glitter coverage, layer the strips. Layering creates an almost “foiled” effect, as you can see, with a thicker coverage. With only one coat, you can still see a little bit of the nail underneath. This reminds me of traditional nail polish in the bottle, except that you can’t see the “drag” effect of the brush strokes; the polish coverage is far more uniform – those of you who have used glitter nail polish know what I’m talking about!

color street blue lagoon swatches comparison

Color Street Blue Lagoon is vibrant and perfect (see close-up, pinnable image below).

color street blue lagoon nail polish

Color Street Blue Lagoon Removal

Glitter nail polish is hard to remove in general, but not impossible. To remove Blue Lagoon without damaging your nails, I recommend using the tinfoil method, where you soak a cotton ball in remover, and use tin foil to leave it on your nails for a few minutes. Or, you could purchase silicone caps on Amazon, and use them over and over, rather than having to use tinfoil repeatedly. That gives it time to break down the nail polish for easier removal.

I recommend natural nail polish remover rather than acetone remover, to help avoid damage. You can find an amazing cruelty-free remover here from Amazon. Need tips on removal? Click here to read an article about how to remove Color Street.

How to Purchase Color Street Blue Lagoon

Need some Blue Lagoon in your life after reading this? Shop here! Make sure you add 4 sets of nail strips to your cart to take advantage of the Buy 3 get 1 free offer.

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