The Six Sisters' blogging conference has been a way to help others know how to blog successfully.
A simple blog has turned into a successful business for six sisters.
The blog Six Sisters and Stuff started off as a way for six sisters to keep in touch as they grew up. The blog now receives roughly 5.7 million views per month.
On the blog, the sisters share their favorite family recipes, easy-to-make crafts and fun family ideas. Now they make money doing it. In a recent visit to Brigham Young University's campus, sisters Stephanie Loaiza and Camille Beckstrand shared their five steps to make a blog a success.
1. Find people who are interested in what you have to offer, and get your content in front of them.
The Six Sisters share most of their content on Pinterest because it is a popular avenue for crafts and recipes. They also branch out to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to generate higher traffic on their site.
'We love to say 'go fishing where the fish are,'' Stephanie said. 'The type of product or content you have to share will determine what platform you share on.'
Stephanie said Facebook has been a great way for the sisters to reach an older audience, whereas Instagram is how they reach their younger followers. Twitter has been a useful platform to connect with advertisers and partners.
2. Deliver quality content.
When the quality in content improved on their site so did the number of viewers. Stephanie said the sisters invested in local photography lessons and a nice camera so their pictures would be higher quality. Planning out posts beforehand also contributed to the success of each post.
'Doing things last minute can be the worst enemy,' Stephanie said. 'You won't be able to capture the mistakes, and you run the risk of leaving things out, like a missing ingredient.'
3. Share information you know your readers will like.
Sharing one's own content is important, but sharing other people's content can be just as important.
'We would share other people's stuff, mainly on social media, because it helped establish us as a place that people can go for quick and easy recipes,' Stephanie said.
Sharing memes that are relevant to their posts is one popular way the sisters share other people's content, Loaiza said. It creates trust with their readers and grows their audience as people share what they posted.
4. Be consistent.
The blog's only viewer when starting out was their mother. As they continued to post, they began to gain more viewers.
'One of the most important things is to keep posting,' Stephanie said. 'The Internet is not just a one-and-done deal.'
It is important not to expect immediate results. Consistent posting means consistent viewers. The sisters explained that responding to comments is helpful and encourages page activity.
'It is important to be sincere and remember that those viewers are the reason that you have a job,' Stephanie said.
5. Be real.
Posts that show imperfection make readers feel like they can relate. Sincere posts capture audiences' attention and build relationships with viewers.
'A lot of people use social media to put the best of the best of their selves out there,' Stephanie said. 'Our most popular posts are the ones of all of our messes.'
The Six Sisters love to share their real-life messes with their audience by sharing behind-the-scenes pictures on their blog.
Six Sisters and Stuff hosts a blog conference every February to help aspiring bloggers reach their goals. For more information visit their website at buildyourblogconference.com.