December was one of my favourite months of last year. Aside from Christmas and Katy Perry, there was two days of utter magic, inspiration and a whole lotta #Girlboss spirit to look forward to. Earlier in the year I made the decision to attend Blogcademy, a two day seminar run by Gala, Kat and Shauna. It was held in Auckland at BizDojo, a cute little space tucked away off K Road and those two days were freakin' amazing.

I initially started my blog for 'fun' and that's something I always want to retain. When it stops becoming fun you have to step away. Anyway, sidetracked there. These three ladies are all hella passionate. They've taken what they love and turned their blogs into a job. All three of them have extra projects, whether it be graphic design, self-love causes, or even a magazine (you go Kat). Aside from their amazing advice, I just loved hearing their stories and learning what their inspirations were. There were many times on Day 1 alone when I had 'aha' moments as Oprah would call them and I had some awesome chats with Shauna. She has such good advice and amazing taste in design, fashion, you name it. I got to watch her put flat lays together and she is a pro. 

We went through some of the blogging basics which was good to go over, both for beginners and those of us who need a bit of a refresher. We also talked about the importance of branding, just how pivotal good quality images are, why your about page should not suck (note to self, get on that) and a whole lot of information. A lot of it I'm going to keep to myself but I will share four key pieces of advice they gave us which some of you may wish to make use of as well. I can't tell you everything, but if you're thinking of going for the value of information and resources alone, book in now. You will not regret it.

Image c/o Bubblerock

-Know exactly who your ideal reader is. Where does she live? Where does she shop? What does she look like? If you know who you're writing for, it is much easier to express yourself and tailor your posts, imagery etc accordingly. Gala, Kat and Shauna got us to answer these questions on paper and it's such a useful exercise. 

-Cool toned images are attractive-Especially when it comes to Instagram. Maybe it's just because the warmer filters aren't flattering on photos but I always tone down the saturation and warmth in my pictures on Afterlight to make them a bit cooler-toned. This may be something to keep in mind and you can actually go into your statistics for Instagram to see which filters etc are the most popular with your audience.

-When it comes to still lifes, props create consistency-I've been playing around with this a bit recently, which is why you may be noticing a certain pineapple statue making its way into a few photos #whoops. Seriously though, the props you utilise and the way you shoot your photos really helps to hone your style. I've had a few different people tell me now that when they're scrolling through Instagram they can recognise my photos because of the way in which I shoot and compose them. I think that's what you want as a blogger/brand so cohesiveness is key. Check out Gala, Shauna and Kat's Instagrams too guys because they have way more followers than me and are total bosses when it comes to their pictures.

-Be consistent-This is something all three ladies repeatedly stressed. Whether it's when you post, what you post, even your branding. Consistency is key. Speaking of, my branding is going to have another overhaul too and my site's front-page will become a bit more user friendly. I made a mammoth to-do list during the two days and I've still not made a noticeable dent in it but hopefully you will start noticing some changes soon and things will be looking more rad.

So I had an absolutely inspiring, mind-blowingly awesome 2 days at Blogcademy. It was pricy, but I felt like I'd earnt my investment back after Day 1 alone. It was so valuable getting to have one-on-one chats with Kat, Gala and Shauna as well. All three of them are so lovely and amazing at what they do. I kinda wish they were coming back to Auckland this year actually so I could do it all again! The Blogcadettes I met were all lovely too and I'm looking forward to seeing where our blogs all go from here on in. If you're considering going to Blogcademy, do it. If you want to take things to the next-level, start a blog or even just get some straight up advice from three ladies who know their stuff and more, you get all that. Just writing this post up has reminded me how inspired and excited I was after the weekend was over and I'm looking forward to putting what I learnt into action.

*I hope you've enjoyed this post! All photos unless specified are my own aside from the selfie and photo of me with my camera, which were taken by Hannah.