Instead of sitting, waiting, & wishing for things to happen, establish clear goals & create actionable tasks to complete them. There's no time to wait. NOW IS THE TIME. Follow these tips to make the most of your goals. Interested in establishing successful blogs?

Take it from me, someone who CONSTANTLY gets off track. These strategies increased my overall productivity compared to the month before. 

1. WRITE IT DOWN

What good is a goal if you can't even remember it? Write your goals somewhere so you can see it. Type them in the notes section of your phone. Write it down on paper. Looking at your list serves as a constant reminder to strive for your goals.

2. BE SPECIFIC

Simply saying "I want to blog more" doesn't amount to much. How often do you want to blog? For how long? On which days? Where? What were you doing before? Vagueness is not your friend. The small details make a difference. A better & more specific goal is: "I want to publish one blog per week for the next 4 weeks. I can commit to writing, editing, & photographing my post on Saturday mornings since that's my only free time."

3. SHARE YOUR GOALS

What pushes you more (or is more embarrassing) than having a friend ask, "Did you ever finish that thing you were working on?" or "I thought you were going to give up watching so much Netflix." Sharing your goals might be the shove in the right direction. If you feel unmotivated, your friend asking "Whatever happened to...?" could be just what you need to keep going. So tell your friends & family! Share it on your blog or on social media. You could also hire me as your coach. :]

4. DON'T GIVE UP

It isn't easy to create successful blogs these days. Whatever your goals are, don't give up if it doesn't happen or work out right away. Sometimes life gets in the way. Distractions happen, but don't let it completely derail you. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't instantly work out. Keep at it! I was blogging for 4 years before I earned even one cent!!

5. DO IT

Don't just say you're going to do something, do it. Don't procrastinate. You want to workout more or write more? Well, get up off your butt & head to the gym or go on a walk or start typing on your laptop, even if you have nothing to say. Actions speak louder than words, so let your actions do the talking.

As a social media manager as well as a local San Diego blogger, I've done my fair share of blog writing, publicity, press, events, & pretty much everything under the social media sun. I've been on both the giving & receiving end of social media marketing. Sometimes that means a brand collaboration, sometimes that's an Instagram collaboration - I have first-hand perspective on what brands look for before working with a blogger. How can you secure a brand collaboration? How do you find local influencer marketing?

I've managed social channels for brands that focus on timeshares, sewing & embroidery designs, vegan energy bars, & more. Blogger outreach, brand collaboration, and Instagram collaboration are the ideal way to get brands in touch with modern influencers. Whether you're a California lifestyle blogger or an organic mommy blogger, make sure your blog is on a brand's radar. If you want to receive more inquiries from brands, get your first brand collaboration, read up on these seven things brands look for before working with a blogger.

Before we get started, subscribe to my newsletter for more blogging & social media tips!

1. Quality Content & Photography

Before a brand even gets around to reaching out to you, we scour your blog to look at your content, your writing, & your photography. We browse your content & photos to judge if a possible brand collaboration would work. We want good spelling & grammar. We want clear & interesting photos. We want to see your personality shine through your words & content. We view your past posts as a reflection of what a collaboration would look like.

2. Social Media Following

We actively look at all of your social media channels to determine if your blog is a good fit for us. After all, we are providing a service, product, or financial compensation to you & your service is exposure, website clicks, & potential sales for us. You don't have to have an enormous social media following. Count up your followers on all your social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. My tip: sometimes it's more powerful to say, "I have 3,000+ followers across my social media channels," rather than "I have 907 Facebook followers, 750 Twitter followers, 824 Instagram followers, 500 Tumblr followers, etc." If you're looking for an Instagram collaboration, brands will consider your overall reach & comments - they might ask to see your analytics.

3. Activity on Social Media Channels

What good is a social media following if you never Tweet, update, or post? We're looking to see if you're active on social media channels by updating relevant & regular information to what we're selling. For example, a vegetarian jerky brand reached out to me because I Tweeted several times about being vegetarian. If you're a San Diego blogger, make sure you're following local San Diego accounts.

4. Engaged Readers

Engagement is extremely important! You can have a huge social media following but no engagement. You're more valuable to us if you have 100 daily views & 2 clicks to our website versus 10,000 daily views & 2 clicks. If you're lacking in followers, your engagement level may save you. If you have both a decent social media following & engagement that makes a wonderful mixture.

5. Demographics

All the above are great & everything, but are your readers who we are targeting? Your blog readers, their age, their location, & their habits, affect whether or not our brand is a good match for your blog. If we're selling candy bars but your blog focuses on healthy recipes, we're probably not a good pair. If you're a single woman in your early 20s, you may not be a good fit for our family-oriented timeshare rentals.

6. Reliability

Did you know that when brands send free stuff or pay for a sponsored post, that costs money? It usually comes from a yearly or quarterly budget set aside specifically for marketing, social media, or influencer outreach. Blogger outreach is costly & brands only have a certain amount of budget & inventory to give out, so we want to ensure that you will be a reliable blogger should we decide to work with you. How long does it take you to respond to emails? How often do you update your blog? What's your turnaround time for collaborative or sponsored posts? Do you have past examples?

7. Media Kit, About Me, or Sponsor Page

After we determine that everything about your blog is a good match for us, we look at your media kit, about me page, &/or sponsor page to find out more about you. We're trying to find your contact information, other brands you've worked with, your page statistics, & any readily available information. This is the final touch before we gather all the content we've accrued & either take it to a superior for approval or begin reaching out to you.

You heard it from me everybody! This is a step-by-step guide in what brands look for before working with a blogger or pursuing blogger outreach. It's a tedious & time intensive process to find the perfect match for the brand, but if we are a good team it's well worth it.

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I'm drooling, lying on the couch, eating a liquidy black bean soup, watching CSI: Miami on Netflix while the left side of my mouth is completely & utterly numb. How did it get here? Why is saliva falling out of my mouth? What's going on? Well, let me fill you in. Wondering about the gingivectomy recovery experience? How bad is the gingivectomy pain? Keep reading. 

DAMN YOU WISDOM TEETH! There I said it. Some of you may have experienced a wisdom teeth extraction. It's a pretty standard procedure to get them taken out since many of us don't have enough room in our mouths to keep them. If you do, you're lucky! The wisdom teeth are technically your third & final set of molars; they usually pop up in your teens & 20s. 

I got my wisdom teeth removed in 2013. I had three of them. My recovery was relatively easy. Of course, there was a bit of discomfort & some aching. I slurped on some soft foods & liquids, relaxed & let it all heal. There were no issues. Now fast forward three years. I'm not a doctor, so don't take this as medical advice. It's just my own gingivectomy recovery experience.

What is a gingivectomy? 

The gum tissue where my wisdom teeth were & my current molars are decided to heal up stupidly, causing infections & other issues. My dentist recommended getting the extra gum tissue or deep pockets removed. So I did. The surgery is called a gingivectomy, where excess gum tissue is removed to reduce diseased tissue & pockets that trap bacteria in the deep pockets. It is a surgical gum disease treatment. I split the gingivectomy procedure into two procedures because it was more most cost-effective through insurance. I already did my right side a couple months ago. Now for my left side.

Depending on the severity, your gingivectomy procedure may include major gum removal or reshaping the gum line. It may take several visits to the oral surgeon / dentist office. Your dentist may use local anesthesia to numb the area. 

Gingivectomy Procedure Survival Kit

You'll need:
- Neosporin
- Q-Tips
- Face Ice Pack
- Soup
- Advil &/or Tylenol
- Reading pillow
- Aura Cacia Chill Pill essential oil blend

What can I expect after a Gingivectomy?

Day 1: Gum Tissue Removal

The procedure took about an hour to remove gum tissue. They applied a topical numbing cream & then injected me with something to ensure my gums were totally senseless. No pain. All I felt was a slight pinch. I was awake during the procedure & kept my eyes closed most of the time. That's the beauty of local anesthesia. It's pretty freaky to open your eyes & watch people with a scalpel hack away in your mouth's gum tissue. I could feel the slight discomfort & tension of the scalpel on my teeth as they removed excess gums. Mine used a scalpel, but your surgical procedure might use a laser to remove loose gum tissue. 

Now I'm lying in bed eating soup & avoiding chewing anything on my left side. My mouth is still numb but the feeling will go away in a couple hours. Today is all about icing my mouth & just resting & recuperating. The healing time for the gingivectomy procedure took a couple weeks. Soft foods for the next few days. For a surgical gum disease treatment, it didn't take too long.

Day 2

For the first 24 hours after the operation, I'm supposed to ice my left cheek with an ice pack for 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off. I didn't strictly follow this. Every four to six hours, I took two Advil & a Tylenol as ordered. I followed the pain-relieving guidelines after my numbness subsided & the aching came through. Some facial swelling. At night, instead of taking the Advil/Tylenol combination, I took two Tylenol PMs. Always read the label!

Oh my lord. My jaw is sore. I can open barely my mouth to a third of its capacity. So much discomfort it feels like someone sucker punched me in the face a few times. Rinse with a solution of warm salt water every 6 hours, or follow doctor's orders.

FYI: During my first procedure I received a cut right at the corner of my mouth/lips during the stitching part. Apparently, this is called angular cheilitis; thanks for the info Google. Any movement seemed to open the wound & keep it cracked. My advice to you is to specifically request for them to lubricate your mouth & lips to avoid this error in the future. I asked for Vaseline twice during my second procedure & this absolutely helped.

Since I woke up with an incredibly sore mouth, I did the Advil/Tylenol combination & iced my cheek. I felt better after a couple of hours. Today I'm supposed to do a warm saltwater rinse instead of the 15-minute icing intervals. I did a rinse in the morning & in the afternoon.

Day 3

I didn't take any pain medication today. I'm a little sore but nothing I can't survive. I'm sticking to mashed foods, soft foods, liquids, & soups because I can't chew on my left side. The foods & liquids are not delicious but what can you do when you're in pain?

Day 4

My gums are doing well. I did a saltwater rinse. Even though I'm not actively trying, I can feel the stitches in my mouth. As ordered, I've been using the Peridex solution every day & night on the gums rather than brushing them. Other than that I brush my teeth as usual, simply avoiding the affected area. Same foods & liquids. Can't wait to eat real food.

Day 5

My mouth & gums barely hurt at all, no pain! Yay! I can somewhat chew & eat.

Day 6

My stitches are coming out. My jaw feels funky though. I think it's a bit sore from being open during the procedure & having to exclusively eat with my right side.

Days 7 - 10

Everything is almost back to normal. Healing well. There's only a mild sensation of awkwardness in my jaw & gums.

Day 14

I feel back to normal. I visited the periodontist today & he said everything looks great. There's a bit of swelling & healing left, so he wants me to come back in two weeks. My tip to those who are getting a gingivectomy surgery: if you're healing well, schedule your checkup 3 - 4 weeks from your initial procedure to allow time to heal, so you don't have to keep come in multiple for a 5 minute check up. 

Day 21

Day 32

Have you had your wisdom teeth removed? :]

Make your own lip gloss colors with items you already have at home! I've been experimenting with lip colors recently. I don't necessarily want to invest in a $20 lipstick when I'm not sure about the color selection. I took matters into my own hands. I had this enormous eyeshadow palette with 80 colors & so many different types of lip balms. I thought I could combine the two & create my own lip glosses...& I did!