• An edgy and unique style
• A mix of lifestyle and fashion posts, but all showcase her personality and style
• She contributes to a lot of other blogs and really shows versatility

Ah insta, we all scroll through it about 3 times every hour (whoops) but do you ever feel like everyone else has these perfect posts and yours just looks....average? Having good posts on instagram can lead to more followers, likes, and is a representation of who you are and what you like. Follow these tips to take the perfect Instagram photo and get on your way to social media fame.



Mix your photos
Don't make every post a selfie! To make your posts stand out they have to be different from one another and show a variety of your tastes.



Have someone else take the photo
On that note of selfies...stop taking them! In general, you look much better with a full body shot, and having someone else (with a steady hand) take your photo will look more professional. If there's a great hair day and no one around to see it, plug in headphones with the microphone that you can click to hang up a call, when you click this button on the headphones it will take a picture.

A little while ago I did a post on Courtney's social media fame, views and advice and I wanted to share some more responses I got from a gal named B, known for her Instagram and blog, La Matte Noir.

1. Tell me about yourself, where you're from, your age, your aspirations in life, what got you started in social media, etc.?
   
   
   My name is B and I'm an 18 year old fashion and beauty blogger from the glamorous state of Iowa. Im an aspiring make up artist, maybe that's why my beauty posts get lengthy, and am currently working part-time at Ulta! I also hope to move to New York City in the near future, we'll see! 

   
   
   

   I'm not entirely sure what got me started, but like most people I started on MySpace about 9 years ago...I was hooked almost instantly at the fact that I could grow my following and share tidbits of my life to people that actually cared! I eventually moved to Tumblr and now Instagram.

   
   
   
   
2. When did you start your blog and instagram, and how long did it take to get a large following?
   I started my Instagram 4 years ago and my blog just last summer. My following didn't actually start growing until about March of last year. After dealing with tons of cyber bullying on tumblr I didn't want to allow my Instagram to become big. I just ended up realizing that nothing [negative] anyone says on the internet matters and ever since I've been working to grow. 
   
   
3. Did you try to advertise yourself, if so how? If not, was there one post or theme of posts that you found drew a lot of followers?
   
   
   I started participating in shout outs, which helped me grow really quickly. I don't do them much anymore, but still like to [occasionally] because I like to make my followers happy and if giving them a little exposure is how to do it, then that's what I do! 
   
   
   The 2 biggest tips that I have for growing a following is utilizing hashtags and figuring out which times of the day your followers are most active. For the hashtags I think it's important to use hashtags that the stores you're wearing advertise. This helps by giving you brand exposure and the potential of a repost. 
   
   
   I've come to realize that coffee posts get the most attention on my account, which in turn gets me more followers. I'm always drinking coffee so coffee shots are too easy for me, that's probably why I have so many!
4. Since you've become "social media famous" what are some of the perks and downsides? Do people in your school/community treat you differently?
   
   
   I don't personally categorize myself as "social media famous" but at the same time I don't like to discredit myself since I do have more followers than your "average Joe". I guess the best way I like to put it is that have a "wide audience". The definite perk to having a wide audience is being able to monetize what you do. I've been able to grow my brand into a part-time job and network myself with brands that I've never thought possible. 
   
   
   For the most part people treat me like they always have, but there's always the exception. I've never been the "popular kid" in school, and while most of the people I went to school with know about my Instagram, it never made me popular. It sounds like I don't like that, but honestly I don't "fit in" in any sense, so me being popular would just be extremely awkward.
5. Do you think that this could be a job for you, where you could make enough money to sustain yourself? Do you currently spend a lot of time posting/editing where it is like a part or full time job?
   
   
   Instagram and blogging was my job for about a month before starting my job at Ulta. I do hope to be able to grow it into something a little more profitable in the future, but that is something you have to work really hard for. 
   
   
   I do actually spend a lot of time with social media. There's way more behind the scenes work than people realize-- email, shooting and editing can get very stressful, especially the email portion. Since I do take what I do very seriously I do take my time to write out professional emails and a single email can take anywhere from a minute to a good 20 minutes (for me at least).
6. What advice would you give to someone who looks at these pretty girls with thousands upon thousands of followers and is trying to get their blogs or instagrams well known?
   
   
   Honestly, all I can say is just keep going. Keep putting out the content you enjoy and stay true to yourself. Always remember this is a quality over quantity industry, for example most people would prefer to follow a fashion blogger type account rather than someone that only post their Starbucks frappuccino, although there's nothing wrong with that every once in awhile. 
   
   
   Also, [using] hashtags and knowing your best posting time that I mentioned earlier is going to help you to expedite the process. Don't be scared to use as many hashtags as possible.
7. Anything else you care to share about yourself/social media world/anything?
   
   
   Something you touched on earlier that I'd like to stress, is that whatever someone says on the Internet doesn't matter. As a trans woman I get a good amount of hate, catered toward who I am of course, and if you don't have a good self-esteem [that] can really break [you] down. You just need to keep reminding yourself that you matter and are beautiful.
   
   Plus, the love outweighs the hate in every situation. 
   
   

...And remember how I said there were ones who didn't want me to interview them? One said she was just far too busy blogging and with her life, but was amazingly sweet about it. A lot just didn't respond. Another one responded to me with this:
While I on one hand agree, your goal shouldn't be about getting followers, it's about your passion for blogging or capturing pictures, the followers do matter. You have to tailor your content for what they want, and it's their numbers that inspire you. As a new blogger, I can attest to the fact that it's difficult to pour your heart and soul into a post when you know no one will see it except your mom. Followers do matter. They always have an always will. Without followers no one would lead. Religion, education, fashion, movies, musicians, books, sports...all would be obsolete without their followers. If there's no one to read the message you want to convey, why send that message out?


In addition I ask everyone to take a moment to remember the lives we lost on September 11, 2001.

To my few but amazing followers, I hope you found this helpful and interesting, perhaps good advice as well. I really found it interesting to get an insight to someone with so many followers on Instagram and how it can be a job and lifestyle, but it can also be just a social media account.

I went to dinner with my dad and brother the other night, and my dad forgot his wallet and I didn't bring my purse and my brothers card had only $15 on it. So as we were sitting there trying to transfer money to his card or figure a way that one of us would drive home, the waitress came up to us and said that the couple at the table next to us had already covered it for us. It was so nice and unexpected and it really got me thinking about the 'pay it forward' movement, so I made this little "30 Day Challenge" to motivate you to do something nice every day, even if it's just something little.

Tweet, pin, and share this with the buttons below and use the hashtag #SBSKindessChallenge on all social media posts to share pics and stories of your kindness challenge. I challenge you also to tag 10 people in your post to take the challenge with you. While this is definitely a challenge, use this as a guide but really try to do some of these things every day... good luck!

Here are some graphics as well to share and let everyone know what an awesome challege you're partaking in.

Online bidding became what it is now due to the site "ebay.com". It may be hard for some of us to imagine a life without the online thrift store, but some are (gasp) too afraid or unsure of how to use the site and don't use it to its full advantage. Here's some basics to get you started:

1.You don't have to search for specific items
So ebay is great for finding second hand name brands, but not always great for finding the exact piece you want. Search the brand or style you like (ex. "Ralph Lauren polo top") then use the categories and other filters to the left to limit your search time.

2.Fake it until you make it
There's a TON of great dupes and fakes (shh don't say I told you that!) for top quality brands on ebay. It's also totally ok to go for these much cheaper dupes. Many ebay stores are actual stores set up through ebay, not just people selling their old clothes. These items come clean, new and in (usually) tip top condition, for a fraction of the cost.

3.Don't search price low to high
So for other online boutiques, this is a great way to filter your results, but on ebay, people start their bidding at $0.99, with a week to bid on it. While these cheap prices will entice you, they entice other people as well, all who bid on the item and drive the price up quickly. Don't waste your time on items that are so cheap and still have a long way in the bidding war.

4.Don't be afraid to make an offer
Some people will let you "make an offer" for their item. Ask a price thats a little bit lower than you would actually like to pay for it, and the seller will likely make a counteroffer of something that's right in your price range. Remember most people are trying to get rid of their old stuff, and will take any bit of money for them.

5.Check out your seller
Looking at your seller's profile is helpful in many ways. You can see their reviews, how many people have shopped from them, where they're from and if they're selling more items. It's likely that if a seller has an item you like, they'll have more that are similar. Knowing where a seller is from is also important; it will affect shipping time and cost. Even the quality can depend on where a seller is from. For example, many ebay stores are selling items out of factories in China. While these items typically sell for much less than if they were American made, they're also usually much poorer in quality and take a long time to ship. Also when buying from overseas the item must go through customs, and if you bought it for over $200 you can be charged an extra fee when it arrives at your door.

6.Be careful before you start putting all your junk on ebay
After cleaning out my closet this summer, I decided I should get at least a little cash back for all the clothes I was otherwise going to donate-I figured whatever I didn't sell was ok since I was going to donate the stuff anyways. I didn't realize what a process it was to sell your stuff on ebay. If you sell too many items you can be charged a fee, you have to pay for your own shipping and boxing, the item has to be shipped out within a certain time frame after you sell it and if you break any rules in this process you could not get paid and/or be charged a fee. So be sure you understand ebay well and have everything ready to be shipped before you list ten things at once.



7.Get a PayPal account
Using PayPal rather than your credit card is much safer. PayPal stores your credit card info and charges the card to put money onto your PayPal balance, which then is transferred to the seller's PayPal or credit card. It all happens with one click (when you decide to pay using PayPal) so you don't have to even worry about going out to your car to get your purse to get your wallet to enter in all the info...and it keeps sellers from having access to your personal information
Those are all the tips I can think of now. Have any more tips? A horrible or amazing ebay experience you want to share? Comment below!