Brand Spotlight: Maniology

I've decided to start a series called 'Brand Spotlight', where I highlight my favorite products from a particular brand. Let's start with my favorite products from Maniology. I do have a coupon code with them (MICHELE) for 10% off I believe. I get a small percentage of this, but honestly it's a few bucks here and there. My point is, I like the products and that's why I'm sharing. If you use...

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Did I Save My Instagram from Tanking?

Back in December I talked about how my Instagram numbers were going down after a busy November in my personal and professional life. I debated if doing Instagram was worth it - some people told me not to worry about growing my account and to just have fun, but for me the challenge and discipline of it is really motivating and fun. I decided to give it my all in January and see if I could turn...

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The App I'm Digging for Managing Instagram

*April 2020 update: while I loved auto-posting with Planoly, I think it may have affected my engagement so I recently switched back to posting manually. Sign up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) if you want to be notified when I post, I will update you on this. Happy New Year! If your New Year's resolution is to be more organized, you're in luck. Today I'm talking about the app I've been using...

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How to Gain Instagram Followers (And Do You Want To?)

Today we're talking about the question I get asked the most - how to grow your Instagram account. I'm also going to get deep (bear with me) on whether these efforts are really worth it... but that's later. I'm not a marketing specialist, these are the things I've observed growing my account from 0 to over 10k in one year. I'm also not going to go into every single tip, just the ones I've found...

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My Top 5 Textured Nail Stamping Plates from AliExpress (Cheap)

Nail stamping plates can be expensive, am I right? That's why I order most of my plates from AliExpress, which is like an international Amazon for all kinds of stuff. A lot of the products are made in China and take a long time (1-2 months) to arrive. But if you have the patience, there are great deals, free (or super cheap) shipping and a lot of the products are actually really good quality! If...

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How to Record Nail Art Videos for Instagram

September Recap Well! September certainly was exciting. I reached 10k followers on September 22nd, woot woot! I felt thrilled, overwhelmed, it was almost surreal to pass that landmark. And! We completed my first nail art challenge - #ManiFunChallenge was a big success in my eyes. There were a bunch of dedicated women who got right in the spirit of things and participated enthusiastically, it...

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How to Find [Legal] Music for Instagram Videos

Do you know what made a big difference in my Instagram growth? Adding videos to my Instagram feed. There was a lot to figure out, and a big issue was finding music for my videos. Contrary to common belief, it's not legal to use popular music without permission - even if it's just for 30 seconds. When it comes to jail, I'm of two minds... On one hand, I think I might do great - I'm an introverted...

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