How to Create a Brand that Reaches Your Audience - Guest Post by Caroline George

Chances are, if you visit an art museum, you will be able to differentiate paintings by Claude Monet from those belonging to Pablo Picasso. Artists have their own styles, aesthetics and subject matter—they have personal brands that set them apart from other creatives.

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In the same way, your personal brand gives you a unique edge, helps you cater to your target audience and boosts your overall recognition.

How does one build a personal brand?

Is it possible to develop a brand even if one isn’t media savvy?

Before we explore the benefits and process of personal branding, let me preface by saying not everyone is designed to be media superstars. In fact, personal branding is less about exposure and more about recognition, loyal following and longevity.

For five years, I worked to pinpoint my personal brand. I tried different color schemes on my social media, struggled to find my own media voice and failed to create a lasting brand over-and-over again. After many bouts of frustration, I concluded: Personal branding is all about knowing myself and knowing my niche—it’s not an acting gig where I get to try on different personas.

Before you can solidify your personal brand, you must first:

-        Know yourself

-        And know your niche.

Who are you? What are your goals? What do you want to achieve? Who would be interested in your content? What do they want and need? How can you reach them?

Getting to know yourself takes years of trial-and-error. However, once you answer the questions above, you’re ready to begin the personal branding journey.

Social media is a labyrinth of algorithms, influencers and excessive content. Attempting to develop a personal brand and audience through platforms like Instagram and Facebook may seem daunting.

Things to remember:

-        It is better to have a small, loyal audience that engages with your content than a large following that steers clear of your posts.

-        Social media fame doesn’t happen overnight. To gain followers, you must be consistent.

-        There is room for you in the social media world.

Things to keep in mind while constructing your social media:

-        Unity needs to be your number one priority. Unless your content is unified by your message, voice and color scheme, your personal brand will be indistinct.

-        Know your voice, then include it in your posts. Pinpoint the “most you” way of writing and use that style in your captions.

-        Choose a color scheme and stick with it. Your social media pages should have similar aesthetic.

-        Content is king. Be sure to offer your followers valuable information, pictures, etc. that encourage them to return to your pages. If the content aligns with your message and style, it will strengthen your personal brand,

Lastly, give yourself grace to grow. No one was born a social media guru. Those who seem to have a knack for personal branding perfected their skills over time. When you fail, try again. Always look for ways to better understand yourself and your audience.

If your brand succeeds, so will your personal business.

About the Author:

Caroline George commits her time and energy to telling stories in their many forms. As a 2017 Belmont University graduate with a double-major in publishing and public relations, Caroline aims to pursue a career committed to helping authors, publishers and organizations project their stories to their publics. She spends her time blogging, writing for various magazines, leading a local small group and authoring young adult fiction books (her current publications include “The Prime Way Trilogy” and “The Vestige”). She considers herself a not-so-southern Georgia peach, coffee-junkie, bona fide goofball and delights in being best known for writing the phrase, “Coffee first. Save the world later.”

Question for you:

What are your greatest struggles when it comes to personal branding?

Tweetable:

How to Create a Brand that Reaches Your Audience - Guest Post by Caroline George #branding #writerslife @tessaemilyhall @CarolineGeorge_ https://bit.ly/2P5g0za

3 Tips for the Chronically Ill Writer - Guest Post by Sara Willoughby

Writing is hard. I don’t think anyone disputes that. It’s wonderful, and exciting, and I love it, but it’s hard.

Chronic or long-term illness is also hard. Very hard. And perhaps not wonderful, or exciting, or loveable. (Unless you are referring to the bad type of exciting, then I can see your point.)

When you mix writing and illness together, sometimes it gets downright impossible.

Today, I want to share three tips I’ve learned through my own journey of writing and publishing a book while being chronically ill because I know that I’m not the only one.

1. Have mercy on yourself

Hear that? Have mercy on yourself. You already do so much within a day, just fighting to stay alive and function. It’s okay to realize that illness makes writing even harder than it already is. When illness messes things up, it’s okay to feed yourself some allergy-friendly chocolate, take a nap, and get back to it when you’re able to. Don’t blame yourself. Have mercy on yourself when you struggle to meet deadlines, when your writing isn’t all you think it should be or all it used to be. Have mercy on yourself.

2. Plan Ahead

As you probably know, planning ahead is impossible for those with a chronic illness (or two or three). Things change from day to day, minute to minute, and nothing is ever predictable. So what do I mean by “plan ahead”? I mean, plan for the unpredictable. Obviously we can’t know everything (ahem, mercy on yourself, remember?), and this isn’t meant to tell you to worry, but to plan to have flexibility. Give yourself a buffer, whether it’s by batch writing blog posts or starting on things waaaaayyyy ahead of time. Take advantage of the times you have enough spoons/energy to write. There will be times when that isn’t an option, and you can’t give yourself wiggle room. And that’s okay too. Just try your best and don’t be afraid to ask for help. (Again, the mercy thing, people!)

Make attainable goals and don’t push yourself too far. We all know what a flare feels like and pushing yourself until you crash or flare is not going to help your writing.

Trust me, I learned the hard way.

3. Don’t Give Up. Your voice is needed.

However, don’t give up. Don’t get discouraged, don’t stop fighting, don’t give up writing. God will use your writing in powerful ways.

A friend of mine struggles with the fact that she can’t travel, or drive, or do other basic things because of her illness. She worries that publishers won’t want an author who can barely take care of herself. But the very things that have prevented her from traveling, driving, etc., are the things that make her writing so beautiful. She may not know how to drive, but she does know what pain is. She knows what is is to suffer, and to find meaning, joy, and beauty in that suffering. And that is what makes her writing powerful. Her maturity, compassion, and depth of understanding shine through in her books and characters. It strikes a chord within those who read it because of how real it is.

So let me say it again: your writing is powerful. Your chronically ill voice is needed. Don’t you dare give up. Yes, the going will be tough, but did you expect otherwise? Celebrate every single achievement no matter how small, and recruit a cheerleader if you need (I think every writer needs one). Take breaks if you need to (even if it’s for years). Follow God’s leading in what He has for you to do. But don’t give up.

Illness Warrior? You got this. It won’t be easy. It will be terribly, overwhelmingly difficult. But hang in there, because God can use your voice far more that you can ever imagine. Plus, writing is fun.

About the Book:

Are you a teenager trying to navigate faith through chronic illness? I’m here to tell you, you are not alone.

When sickness takes over your life, it’s a never-ending battle to make it through each day. How do you cope? How do you keep fighting? Most of all though, how do you find God in the midst of the suffering?

Through my own journey of sickness, I’ve struggled with the same questions—questions we all think but are afraid to ask. My name is Sara, and I’ve been sick with Lyme disease and more since I was fourteen.

Those questions you’re afraid to ask? I’ve asked them too—as have many others.

This book addresses topics and questions such as:

• Why is there sickness?
• Where is God in sickness?
• Resting in the storm
• How to deal with the way chronic illness changes you
• Joy and despair
• Hope
• Praying through chronic illness
• Relationships in the midst of chronic illness
• And more!

The journey of illness is not an easy one, but hope remains. God hasn’t left us. He hasn’t forgotten us. On the contrary, He’s making diamonds out of us.

About the Author:

S. G. Willoughby is a seventeen-year-old girl with Lyme disease, toxic mold poisoning, and MCS. Currently, she resides in Arizona with her parents and two siblings. In her spare time she loves to write, read, and have adventures. She writes at FoundWhoIAm, R535, and Th!nk Magazine.

Reaching Success at Your Own Pace - Guest Post by Tabitha Caplinger

I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until I realized I had always wanted to be a writer. It happened in college. All dreams of paleontology, veterinary medicine and archeology faded when I, seemingly out of nowhere, chose to major in creative writing. Suddenly all those childhood years of making believe and getting lost in my imagination made perfect sense.

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I didn’t become a writer after college though. After I spent two semesters taking all creative writing classes (except that one physics and one fencing class, the latter of which has come in handy with the whole writing gig) I left it all behind to pursue youth ministry. (I feel equally called to student pastoring but how those two parts of my life all work together is a story for another time.) I didn’t start writing until ten years later. I wanted to write but just couldn’t. I thought it was because I didn’t have the time. I later found out it was because I was writing the wrong thing.


See, I had this notion that pastors had to write nonfiction. If I was going to write and get published it would be with a devotional for teen girls. (I self-published a collection of essays about women in student ministry but it was a hot mess because I didn’t know what I was doing.) I was in my thirties before God told me that He never told me that whole nonfiction thing. That He gave me a big imagination and He was going to use it. He has been true to His Word.


In the past eight years I have written and published three Christian Urban Fantasy novels. I’m working on two new projects this year that I hope to find publishing homes for. To some that might seem like I’ve arrived, I am an author…but not to me. I don’t feel like I’ve arrived at anything. I still feel like the rookie who doesn’t know what she is doing most of the time and who is never cool enough or popular enough, who’s books never get enough attention to make all the time put into them worth it.

That’s the thing with writing, and just about anything we pursue in life, it doesn’t always feel like we are succeeding at it. Sometimes it barely feels like we’re good at it. I mean, we think we know what God wants us to do. We know the gifts and talents He’s given us and we’re trying to use them to walk in our purpose on purpose. But it doesn’t seem to be happening. It’s happening for other people, why isn’t it happening for me?


Here’s two things I’ve learned thus far on my writing journey that perhaps will offer you some encouragement on yours…

“Don’t judge your chapter one by someone else’s chapter ten.” 

- Paul Scanlon

We look at people around us, other writers, and we see the level of success they’ve reached and we compare our own story to their’s. They seem to hit all the right lists, get noticed, have fans, win awards and we, well, we’re sitting in our pajamas drinking our fourth cup of coffee for the day and pretending to write while we are really just getting lost in the vortex that is Pinterest (maybe that’s just me). We start to think we’ll never get where they are. We begin to think we aren’t as talented as they are. We doubt ourselves. We doubt our gifts and purpose. We doubt God a little.


But maybe you are just on chapter one and the’re on chapter ten. Maybe your pace is just a little slower. That’s not a bad thing. We all run our own race, at our own pace. We can’t compare our lives or our success with someone else’s. Keep focused on your own path.

“Most of us do not allow God to develop us because we are waiting on man to discover us.” 

- Christine Caine

Often frustration comes because I’m not seeing success from man’s perspective. I’m not getting the sales numbers or mingling with the most popular bookstagrammers. I want someone, some person, to validate me. I don’t need that. Validation is nice, and good reviews or an email from a reader always make my day but I can’t live from one nice word to the next. They are too few and far between most days. I have to remember that while things may not seem like they are happening as quickly as I want or the way I want doesn’t mean that God abandoned me or that I’m doing the wrong thing. Sometimes the outward results I’m looking for aren’t happening because God is working some inward things that are much more important.


I don’t know where you are on your writing journey but I’m sure there are days where it’s not what you thought it would be. Don’t give up. Don’t compare yourself to others. Covet the times of inward growth because they will make the outward success all the sweeter and all the more lasting.



About Tabitha:

Tabitha Caplinger is a wife, mom, youth pastor and professed tv addict. It's seriously a problem but she doesn't plan on getting help anytime soon. Mostly because she loves the stories. She can't help but get lost in the worlds created and invested in the lives of the characters. She brings that same passion for the story to her own writing. The first two books in her YA trilogy, The Chronicle of the Three, are currently available with the third book releasing in 2018. Aside from writing and watching tv, Tabitha can be found singing off key and dancing in the kitchen or car with her two adorably sassy daughters and awesome husband who she thinks is kind of cute.

FACEBOOK.COM/TABCAPLINGER

Instagram: @TAB_CAPLINGER

Twitter: @TAB_CAPLINGER

www.tabithacaplinger.com

Question for you ... How do you deal with discouragement as a writer? Let us know in the comments!
Tweetable:

Reaching Success at Your Own Pace - Guest Post by Tabitha Caplinger @TessaEmilyHall https://bit.ly/2P8JT1O #amblogging #writerslife

#ReadCleanYA - Guest Post by Teen Author, Taylor Bennett

I’ve read books before that I love—like, really, really love. Books like The Kite Runner, that introduce me to an entirely new culture. Books like The Book Thief, that make me laugh and cry and—oh, did I mention?—bawl my eyes out. Books like…

Oops.

That didn’t come out right.

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While I love books like those mentioned above, I rarely never endorse them because…there’s some seriously bad stuff in them. Not that I’d know what, exactly (I’ve read copies that have the inappropriate scenes/words blacked out 😉) but I know it’s nothing very good.

The few times I’ve had the audacity to pick a book off the YA shelf at a bookstore, I’ve been gravely disappointed. I once had the immense displeasure of having to throw a brand-new hardback in the garbage after reading the first chapter.

And yes.

I know what you’re thinking.

Did I really have to throw it in the trash?

Yes.

Yes, I did.

Honestly, you couldn’t have paid me to get me to give that book to anyone else. It was that bad—and I’m not just talking about the plot and prose.

Sooo…what’s a girl with a heart for the Lord and strong convictions to do? I certainly can’t give up reading altogether, and, sadly, the contemporary YA genre (my favorite!) is filled with stories that leave a reader feeling scummy. It isn’t unusual for me to leave a bookstore in a sour mood after paging through several of beautiful new YA releases, only to have my innocence affected in the process.

The Narrow Shelf

You know that shelf—the tiny one at the back of the store? The one that’s so easy to overlook? Yes, I’m talking about the Christian fiction shelf.

Somehow, in our age of acceptance and inclusivity, bookstores have decided to nearly obliterate their selections of clean and Christian reads in the name of carrying books that appeal to a more progressive audience.

So, in their effort to reach more people, they’re actually turning away some of their most faithful readers.

And that makes me…

Sad.

As Christians, we are called to be set apart, to not let the sin of the world seep in around the edges of our holy and sanctified lives. And that is why my heart breaks every time I hear about the “newest and coolest” book, song, or TV show. Because, more often than not, it’s not something the Lord would want me to be a part of.

But then…if we are to be in the world but not of it, how do we, as obsessive bookworms, find enough books to satisfy both our unique thirst for story and our desire to stay pure in mind, body, and spirit?

That is why I challenge you…

#ReadCleanYA

Did you know that the #ReadDiverse has more than fifty thousand posts across Instagram? #ReadCleanYA has…four.

But what if this wasn’t the case?

What if we—as word-loving, heart-guarding children of God—began to raise awareness for the books we love. The ones that don’t harm our souls or lead us down a narrow path. The ones that speak to our heart, encourage us when we’re weak, and put a smile on our face. The books that deserve to be recognized as the pure, lovely stories that they are.

It can be done.

I know it can.

So let’s try it—you and me and all of the other amazing, clean-reading bookworms out there today. Let’s #ReadCleanYA, and let’s make sure the whole world knows. Use the hashtag, spread it around like sunshine and sparkles. Showcase your favorite books and talk about how they touch your heart and your soul for the better.

Share books that point to Jesus, and books that are just good, clean fun. Let’s help each other out by showcasing the books that speak to our hearts in this way.

(Because, let’s face it—we always want to add to our TBR, and what better way to do that than to fill our to-be-read stack with beautiful, pure, and wholesome books?)

Who’s with me?

If you’d like to join me in my quest to raise awareness for these kinds of books, chime in with a comment below or post to your social media accounts using the hashtag #ReadCleanYa.

Let’s start a clean-read revolution!!

PS—Here’s a list of some of my favorite clean YA reads, in case you could use some inspiration:

• First Date (and the other two books in the series) by Krista McGee
• This Quiet Sky and To Get to You, both by Joanne Bischof
• The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle
• Unblemished by Sara Ella
• The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
• Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederik (Okay…these start out as MG books, BUT they “grow” with the characters until everyone is leaving for college at the end of the last book.)

About Taylor:

Homeschooled since kindergarten, Taylor Bennett is the seventeen-year-old author of Porch Swing Girl, which will be released by Mountain Brook Ink on May 1st. When she’s not reading or writing, Taylor can be found playing her violin or taking walks in the beautiful Oregon countryside. She loves to connect with readers via her author website, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (her favorite!), Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Goodreads

YouTube

Order on Amazon

Porch Swing Girl back cover copy:

What if friendship cost you everything?

Stranded in Hawaii after the death of her mother, sixteen-year-old Olive Galloway is desperate to escape. She has to get back to Boston before her dad loses all common sense and sells the family house. But plane tickets cost money—something Olive gravely lacks.

With the help of Brander, the fussy youth group worship leader, and Jazz, a mysterious girl with a passion for all things Hawaiian, Olive lands a summer job at the Shave Ice Shack and launches a scheme to buy a plane ticket home before the end of the summer.

But when Jazz reveals a painful secret, Olive’s plans are challenged. Jazz needs money. A lot of it. Olive and Brander are determined to help their friend but, when their fundraising efforts are thwarted, Olive is caught in the middle. To help Jazz means giving up her ticket home. And time is running out.

Tweetable:

Raising awareness for #ReadCleanYA - Guest Post by Teen Author, Taylor Bennett #yalit @TessaEmilyHall https://bit.ly/2O0iRbw