Hi Laura! What’s the name of your blog?
Where are you from?
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tell us a little about you and your blog, Louella Reese, and what you mostly blog about?
Louella Reese focuses on feminine and casual style with a classic touch for everyday – for home, style, travel, and basic everyday life. For the most part I blog about fashion and home with travel coming in right behind those two.
How many years have you been blogging?
Five.
Give us your best tip to staying on top of the blog/work/life balance.
Have a time each day that you completely remove yourself from all electronics and have one day of the week you don’t touch anything for your business – mine is Saturday
Fill in the blank. What people don’t realize about blogging is….
It is really hard work and incredibly time consuming!
What are three things you wish you knew about blogging before you started?
- To get a photographer immediately.
- The importance of engaging across all outlets.
- The importance of the backend to your site.
What’s your favorite WordPress plugin?
Classic editor because the new editor stresses me out.
What skills and qualities do you think are necessary for a successful and professional blogger?
Determination, focus, drive, and being self-discipline
What has blogging taught you/given you that no other career or job has before?
SO many skills! From accounting to writing to SEO to negotiating – so many skills I never learned in other careers.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out in the blog world?
Really take the time to plan out your brand – what you want to be, who you want to be, and what you want to offer your audience. What will set you apart, how will you set yourself apart?
Is there an app or business tool that you swear by?
Snug – keeps me sane in planning my Instagram.
What is your main focus, blog or Instagram?
Blog.
What makes your brand different than other bloggers?
I would say I am more real – both with my content and my stories via Instagram – share a lot of real life moments and don’t feel the need to put on full hair and make-up every day just for stories.
What topic do you most enjoy writing about?
Home.
What would your dream partnership look like? From the brand, the content, all of it! Dream up your perfect collaboration.
Home Depot or Lowes – my husband and I just bought our first home and I have so many fun yard projects I want to work on that a long-term partnership with Home Depot or Lowes would be ideal. A couple of them – building islands and flower beds around our yard, beautifying our garden with pebbles paths, a short picket fence around it, and lots of fruits plus vegetables planted, building a little library in our side yard for our community to use, and a fire pit area.
What is the current blogging goal you are working on?
Upping my page views, Instagram engagement, and locking in more long term partnerships.
What does a typical work day for you look like? Whether you’re a full time blogger or not, we’d love to learn what your schedule looks like and how you manage it all.
I am currently blogging full time – the day starts around 8 a.m. and wraps around 6 p.m. with a break in-between to hit the gym for about an hour. Each day is so different I wouldn’t say I have a true routine other than being at my computer 75% of the day.
What’s your most recent WIN with your blog?
Engaging in some dream brand partnerships and negotiating to match my rates.
What is one thing in the blogging industry that frustrates you that you wish you could change?
People buying fake followers and likes and brands working with them.
How has your content changed since you first started blogging?
WAY BETTER, way more thought out and offers more to my audience.
What’s your guilty pleasure TV show?
Dynasty.
What do you have on for background noise when working? Music, TV, or silence?
Nothing.
What’s your favorite blogging memory or highlight?
Working with Tillamook – they were a dream and so much fun to work with!
What’s your Starbucks order?
Green Tea.
Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met in the blogging industry?
If you could do brunch with any blogger, who it would it be?
HANDS DOWN Liz Adams.
