Tag: lauryn evarts

What I do to get inspired.

by Madison

We all get into creative ruts as bloggers or entrepreneurs. It’s hard to continue creating new content when things in your life are off or you’re just not feeling it. SO, this is my go-to list. I love to write and sometimes I just need a little push in the creative direction. Follow me on Instagram for more day-to-day creativity tips and to see what I’m up to – @MadisonCrowley.

★ Go to spin class. 
Are we surprised this is my first response? Nope! Spin class is my go-to for endorphins and a high. I am always ready to conquer the day after spin class.

★ Get off of Facebook. Go to Pinterest and search something SPECIFIC that you want to learn or write about.
For me lately, I have been searching “branding”. I love learning about the branding process and how I can take details of my brand to every aspect of my blog and Instagram or YouTube. I like learning about new fonts. I like seeing new color palettes. That gets me inspired to finish writing a blog post that I have been saving as a draft, and working hard so that I can expand my brand.

★ Go back to the page/website/person/Instagram/whatever that made you want to start blogging. For me, this is reading Payton Sartain’s blog or watching her YouTube videos. 
I gain a lot of inspiration from other people. I think that if you want to learn how to be great at something, study other people who are succeeding in the area that you are trying to succeed in yourself. Take notes. Watch how they interact. How they post and when they post. If they are killing it, chances are you can learn from them. NOTE: This does not mean copy. Don’t plagiarize. Don’t steal people’s ideas. Don’t copy their outfits. Don’t make your blog or vlog the same as theirs. Simply gather ideas, see if you could do a similar post in your own voice that will speak to your own personal audience. And then remember why you’re doing that you are doing. Write down what you take from their blog. Write down how it makes you feel. Not figure out how to make your audience feel that.

★ Watch Danielle Carolan’s YouTube videos.
I have been watching Danielle Carolan’s videos for a while now and they bring so much light into my life!!! I love that she is in Athens and I get to reminisce about my days at UGA but I also just love her hustle. She inspires me to get my butt up and go after what I want. It’s not going to just be handed to you!!! I think what I love most about her vlogs and Insta is that it’s literally just her life. Payton’s life is kinda dreamy, like a goal or farfetched at times. Danielle is just a college gal living her life on trend and with passion. Kinda how I want to live my life. We can’t all be glamorous all of the time ( not that Payton claims to be, it’s just sometimes the pressure that I put on myself as a blogger ) and I think it’s important to not lose that.

★ Read The Skinny Confidential or listen to The Him and Her Podcast.
Lauryn Evarts is SO INSPIRING. Like everything that she does. Google her blog and podcast. You won’t regret it.

★ Go to a coffee shop.
Pretty sure nothing inspires me as much as going to a coffee shop. If you know me and have been following me for a while, you know that one of my favorite things to do is to find new, cute coffee shops. Coffee shops have an atmosphere that promotes hard work and the coolest vibes. I write some of my best posts and short stories in coffee shops.

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Tabs I have open 24/7… And why I can’t let them go.

by Madison

It’s Friday Eve! Isn’t that the best feeling ever? Thanks for popping into V&L. Hope ya like it. Explore around, search some terms, read up on who I am. I am always ready to chat so DM me on Insta ( @MadisonCrowley ) if you feel like being bffs.

This was a post that I randomly thought about one night as I was closing multiple tabs before ending my work for the day night. I realized there were so many that I keep open and frequently use so I wanted to give those a shoutout. I am going to start polling about blog posts because I want to know what YOU guys want to read about. Have any questions or topics that you want me to research? Please let me know so I can write about them!

Most of these tabs are super useful!! I keep a lot open so y’all may be slightly stressed by this. BUT I have most of them “pinned” so that they don’t take up alllllll of the room on my browser.
Let’s jump in.

☆ Google Docs: I am always thinking, writing, and brainstorming so I always have a Google doc up. I categorize with a few different keywords like V&L | Brand or V&L | Blog Ideas and then if I am doing work for my internships I will do C&C | Partnerships or if I am researching a new oil I will do YL | Notes. So you get the idea. Everything in its place! And Google docs are perfect because I can be typing up a post on my computer and then have to run out the door and can finish on my phone. I love that I never have to worry about losing my work and I can always share the docs with someone if I want to collaborate or share what I have been working on.

☆ Coolors: This website is way too exciting if you are a blogger or into branding. I could spend hours on this site going through color palettes and finding new tones of blush to fawn over. You can also install a coolors plugin onto your bookmark bar and go through with a “picker” that allows you to pick the colors from your favorites brands and websites to see just what colors they are using to define their brand.

☆ Virtual Office: I always have VO up so that I can check on what my business babes are up to or look up an oil to see what it’s benefits are and what it does. I am constantly finding new Young Living products that I want to add to my home or oil collection. There is really an oil for everything and I love finding them. Virtual Office keeps track of how big my paychecks are going to be!

☆ V&L Stats: Alllllways using this! I love to see where people come to my blog from and what they click on after they get there. A lot of people use Google Analytics, I need to start using it as well. But for now, I just use the stats that come with WordPress and I devour them. I like to see what people search and what items they click because that really helps me write content that not only I like but what YOU guys like.

☆ Facebook: Let’s be real, I find myself scrolling waaaaaay too often. I normally catch myself doing it and then close FB and then go right back when I remember that there is something I need to do. FB holds all of my Bachelor groups and secret oily groups filled with my gfs who I use oils with so I am always finding inspo from them or a new recipe that I want to try, hence what always pulls me back to Facebook. I am working on sharing more of my life on FB as well, I just want to connect with you people!!!

☆ Back & forth between H+H and TSC ‘Relentless‘ post: As all of you guys know, I finally made the move to start a blog in 2016 after reading Hustle + Halcyon for the first time!!! Payton is my fave and every time I need inspo or need to remember why I started blogging I head to hers and am instantly inspired by her realness. That’s exactly what I want to be for my followers – real. No bs over here. Life can be hard and life can be wonderful. I want to share it alllll. I also fell in love with the word relentless from Lauryn Evart’s post on The Skinny Confidential. I’ve linked it here so you can read and I am writing up my own post with info on the word that moves me. It may be a long time coming since I want it to be perfect. #perfectionistbloggerprobs

☆ Canva: Being a blogger means making tonnnnns of graphics! I love making graphics and making my blog posts pop. It’s super fun for me. I make all kinds of things on Canva. Social media posts, labels, my media kit, you name it and it has probably come from Canva. I made the pic at the top of this post with Canva!

Honorable Mentions:

V&L Email / Yahoo Mail / Intern Email: Emails, emails, and more emails. Never a day where I’m not constantly checking my email. Personal, work, internship. There is always something going on!

Instagram: Engaging on Insta is SO much easier on a desktop. I like typing on my computer so much more than on my phone. I actually hate typing on my phone LOL.

Amazon: I am always popping things into my cart. Prime is life.

Nordstrom: Allllllways browsing as a blogger. And a gal who likes to window shop.

Well, there ya have it! My most frequently used / always open tabs on my browser! Hope you guys got a glimpse into my world and what I do on the daily. I am always googling and researching and looking things up so this definitely isn’t all that I use but it sums it up super well. What tabs do you always have open? AM I MISSING SOMETHING? I need to know. Share your tabs with me by commenting or whatever way you like to share.

‘Til next time,Autumn in November