Hi! Over the last month or so a handful of readers have sent questions my way asking where to find specific things they were looking for and it inspired me to put this post together. It seems like a good time to chat through my direction with my blog, social media, and the shop platforms I utilize as I've felt especially motivated to fine-tune my process lately. This world in which I work is fast-paced and ever-evolving, so things shift and change for me, too. Happy to share my whereabouts right now and offer some transparency on some behind the scenes things and how/why I utilize particular platforms.
Blog
My blog will always be my bread and butter. Having started at an early age (2 decades ago now) it is part of me. Plus, ownership is very important to me and my body of work. My creative priorities, ideas, and grand plans always start here! Then branch off into the other sectors of my business...
Mostly sharing stories at this point and staying connected with my community. While I'm so grateful that Instagram has served as a massive tool for my success all these years, I'm wanting to utilize it more as a way to simply amplify the work I am doing off my phone. It's a work in progress because dismantling systematic habits takes time, it's a priority of mine to create outside of the app first and then to share finished products, roundups, etc. after. Even question forms now (which I love utilizing) I am going to move over to my blog... I don't want to bombard people with 50 story frames.
Newsletter
I was using Mailchimp a few years back which I didn't 100% love. Substack came around and it really captivated me by its simplicity and reminded me of the golden days of blogging. Simple, straight-forward, and efficient. I'm going to utilize my newsletter as I did earlier on: a weekly catch up of all that I am working on. Blog posts, edits, Pinterest board spotlights, I renamed it "as of late" because I wanted it to be more open-ended, a spotlight on anything and everything I am currently into, working on, inspired by.
I paused my newsletter earlier this winter while I was very ill in the first trimester of pregnancy. I needed to take some time to get through that season of life, but also led me to redesign my work flow this year. Excited to get back to this space in Feb. See you there soon!
LTK
Forever grateful to LTK and will always be a fan and user of their platform. I have been sharing things online that I love far before there was any kind of monetary reward, but LTK took my lifelong hobby and turned it into a career. I want to break down the difference (in my experience) between LTK and Shopmy and why I utilize both. A little more meat to LTK as I've been with them since 2015...
—LTK houses thousands of brands and allows you to add them to categorized folders you create. I look at this platform as my library of everything I'm saving. It makes it really easy for me to find things as I have specific folders itemized by style finds, home goods, and by brand/retailer. You can also see these finds on your end, too, under my blog shop pages.
—They also have amazing 'widgets' that I can create, copy, paste and add to my blog posts (like the scrolling 'shop the post' widgets all over my site or the 'boutique' widgets that I use for said shop pages. I am a very visual person, so have loved being able to use these over the many years to showcase my curations.
—Years back, I worried about my slow and steady growth. I'd say up until 2018, it was clear to me that brands were basing partnerships on follower count. But things are very different now after companies gained access to backend analytics on LTK and other affiliate platforms. They see actual performance, sales, clicks, etc. It has been a game changer and a reason why I've been so lucky to work with dream partners because LTK offers these kinds of insights. Their team has matched me with companies and brands that I have historically always linked to on my own, love, and support. It was well worth it to me now to move slowly, more thoughtfully, and stay genuine in my approach with what I source and promote.
—I also adore the LTK app (which as a shopper you can download here, my username is ashleykane if you do and want to follow!). It's so handy to upload an image, link all products included, and then share to blog and social. They are constantly innovating and making their space so seamless to use. You can now browse 'collections' (I have outfits by season and home category), and you can comment under posts (if you download the app and create an account) if you have questions on sizing, etc. You can also 'heart' posts or items which you'll then receive sale/low stock alerts, too! It has become more engaging/more of a social app, the kind in which I am here for!
It takes a lot of time to source, edit, create content and collages, and bring these posts and widgets to life—but I love sharing my findings in ways that are beautiful and tell a story. A big reason why I love LTK so much. It's incredible that they've become a pillar of my livelihood, to make a small commission per sale on something I always enjoyed doing. Their team and tools have been such a guiding light and support in my career and I'm just very grateful.
Shopmy
I learned about Shopmy a little over a year ago and have really loved using their platform, too. I look to them to create shop edits, like a digital boutique with handpicked pieces that I've thoughtfully pulled together. But it also helps to organize new post ideas and is a great way to share quick roundups when need be. Like when sales unexpectedly pop up and I want to pass along a board full of my picks with you!
A lot of the brands that I have worked consistently with for years, Jenni Kayne as a prime example, now utilize their platform to manage their ambassador program. Shopmy has a cool lookbook and gifting element to their site for companies, which makes it very seamless to make selects, grab links and codes, and share with your readership.
Similarly to my LTK, I do try and share my imagery with featured links here, too. This is mainly to just cover all of my basis in hopes that you're always able to track things down that I've shared, no matter where you look.
I hope this makes sense and creates some clarity on what I share where... but do let me know if you have any questions! I'm going to be very diligent about keeping both platforms updated this year.
Amazon Storefront
I created a storefront recently because it was something I was asked about quite often. I think a lot of creators have been doing this for years now... or so I suspect by the amount of those asking for a link to mine! Haha... I am definitely more interested in using LTK and Shopmy, but I did put together a handful of lists based on the main things I have / do order from Amazon. Hopefully this is what you were looking for, those who have inquired!
Thanks for inspiring me to dive deeper into this—always happy to open up and be helpful where I can. And just want to say, thank you so much for your loyalty, trusting in me, support, and for taking part in the reason why I am here. It means more to me than I can express.
xx
lately
