Top 4 Lessons on my 4 Year Blog Anniversary

It’s my 4 year blog anniversary!! I began my journey as a creator and influencer on May 19, 2019 with a singular photograph on a new Instagram page. At that time, I thought I was late to the game and never would have guessed where I would be a mere 4 years later. Today, May 19, 2023, I come to you with a beautiful audience of over 86,000 women from all over the world. I get to share daily midsize fashion inspiration and I’ve expanded into lifestyle. The opportunities I have now are just surreal and I am still pinching myself that it all worked out. With that in mind, I want to share my top 4 lessons that I gleaned in my fourth year as a creative.

Photo Credits to Tiffany of Tiffany Given!

Invest in Your Craft and Education

The first major thing I did this past year was finally investing in my influencer education. Prior to that point I really just relied on my college degree and my marketing internship to get me through. It was okay but it didn’t really set me up for success like Sidewalker Daily did. This online program legitimately changed my life because they taught me how to pitch myself, how to make a nice media kit (that is now complimented often by companies) and how to set up a portfolio that I can now send to countless companies.

I’ll be real buying the class was a little steep, I ended up spending nearly a grand on it but it forced me to really sell myself and make business connections. It was also the first time I realized how much I could truly charge for my services and that was a game changer in and of itself. I made back that money and so much more in the last year and in 2023, it’s the first year that I’m making a fair salary for myself. I still can’t believe I’m making this dream a reality and I’m getting one step closer to a 6 figure company!

Community is the Key to Success

Okay so year 3 was really my biggest year to date. Not only was I financially making a fair wage I also exploded from 10,000 followers where I hovered for years to now 86,000 followers. While follower count isn’t incredibly important, it does allow access to larger campaigns and I have made far more in affiliate sales this year than ever before. What has been even more important in my opinion though is finally fostering a community. I try to always respond to my audience in DMs, I always get back to comments and really take time to engage with people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, social media is meant to be social. When we finally take the time to have conversations and let people be heard, that’s when the real magic occurs. Not only will that lead to sales but it will lead to friendships and connections that can take you anywhere.

Alongside follower connections I also want to mention business and collaborative connections. Prior to this year and especially prior to moving to Spokane, I was really doing this all by myself. I knew the places I was living in were temporary so I struggled to find other people to work with. Once moving to Spokane however I met my magazine and Gals Need Pals friends and that has completely changed my life. Now I have a solid community of likeminded women I can bounce ideas off of. I also have mentors and girls who are doing something similar to me. It’s given me a photographer, a hair gal, and so many other connections that have taken my business to the next level. I also think I’m starting to have a positive impact on others and opportunities are becoming more abundant with this newfound growth.

Know When to Outsource

I think one of the biggest lessons this year has been to outsource. As mentioned before my business has grown exponentially and I’ll be honest I wasn’t fully prepared! I became very overwhelmed the first time I went viral and about a month after that experience I was working for just myself full time. I stopped helping others with their social media and instead focused on my influencer work. I also had my first management team at that time but unfortunately they did not prove helpful in my endeavors so I parted ways.

At that point it was just me focusing on a million projects but it was a month after that when I skyrocketed from 35,000 to 85,000 followers. That was the first time I really realized I needed help with my company and hired on my second management team alongside my first ever assistant. I absolutely adore Taylor who has become both a mentee and VA. We get to work together on so many neat projects and it’s been fun helping someone else grow and develop as a creator. When it comes to my new management team, I am finding myself signed to new projects and they have great connections that are adding to my business. As I have slowly learned to loosen the reins, I am finding myself having a better work life balance and I get to finally be creative again without worrying about minor details as much.

The Only Person to Impress is You

My final tip and lesson is to only impress yourself. If I learned anything from going viral it’s people will have opinions and it can STING. Everyone will question you and your intentions and if you aren’t firm in who you are you will crumble. It’s unfortunate yet true. However do not let this deter you from success. I always remind myself that what I’m doing is working and I never thought I’d reach the heights I’m currently at so who cares what other people think. Now I get to make content that I am so happy with and I don’t have to sacrifice my joy for the sake of someone else. I also think it’s leading to better content overall because you can see how joyous I am to film what I’m filming. As long as you are happy with your work and helping other people, who cares what a Karen might say.

Here is to Many More Years of Lauren Trivison

Again I really just want to say thank you to everyone who has come across my page and decided to give me a follow. Whether you are here for the outfits or for me as a person, I am forever grateful for the opportunity this risk has provided me with. If you’ve ever wondered if social media is right for you, this is your sign to just give it a try! You never know what may happen next in your journey and with consistency and a bit of luck you too can reach heights you didn’t dare dream before. If I can do it, I really think anyone can!

Until next time,

Lauren

4 Lessons I Learned in my Fourth Year of Blogging