Recap of Alt Summit Winter 2015

Oh, Alt Summit. You are a genius. Three days of creative entrepreneurs and brands together in one space = magic. This was my third Alt Summit experience and my second one speaking, and it was just as incredible as the events in the past. Each year I have gone to the conference for something different. 2011 was about learning as much as I could about blogging. 2014 was about delivering a successful Pinterest talk. 2015 was about connecting with brands AND delivering a successful Pinterest panel discussion. AirBNB, Honest Co., Overstock, Wayfair, Microsoft, Munchkin, and many more were at this conference, and I definitely was able to have great, long-lasting conversations with each brand. If you want to get practice pitching brand partnerships, go to Alt Summit. It's the only conference I know where brands are genuinely approachable and WANT to be pitched content ideas.

The most important nugget of gold I took home was to be purposeful with each social outlet of your business. Write out your objectives for each one and focus on that. Below, you'll find mine:

Pinterest | a curatorial experience of what A.V.E. Styles enjoys

Instagram | a portfolio, behind the scenes experiences and work philosophies of A.V.E. Styles

Facebook | a place to share latest blog posts

Twitter | an extension of Instagram and Facebook

Now that I have these filters in place I think it will be a lot easier to hone in on growing a genuine and engaged audience.

The Pinterest panel with Rachel Faucett, Kelly Beal and Sara Martineau was a success. It was great hearing the different perspectives of Pinterest, and learning all of the new things Pinterest has in store for their users. Pinterest is truly a company that listens and cares about it's users, and for Pinterest to sit on this panel it was crystal clear that they value the blogging community. If you weren't able to attend the presentation here are 5 things you should know about Pinterest:

1| You NEED to Rich Pin - Okay, well, you don't need to, but if you're a blog or business that is not doing this you are missing out on MAJOR traffic. You see, Pinterest gives priority to Rich Pins and recommends Rich Pins to their users because it's content that is ensured to be good and valuable. How does Pinterest know that? Well, you have to apply to use Rich Pins, and a staff member at Pinterest goes through the applications to make sure you a a legitimate business that is not spamming people. Since using Rich Pins my site traffic and engagement has grown significantly. Go get them now! Run! Don't walk!

2| Get a business account - You might be saying to yourself, "Well, I'm just a blogger. Only big brands need a business account." Wrong! If you care about getting your blog content out there and growing your Pinterest community your business account will be able to give you statistics that will help you measure your Pinterest success. You'll be able to know how much traffic is coming to your blog from Pinterest, which pins are performing best, which users are repinning your pins the most, where in the world your community lives and more. This is all important in building a Pinterest strategy. Plus, it's free! Get one here.

3| Time does not exist within Pinterest - I'm not trying to be philosophical here. Time literally doesn't matter anymore when it comes to your feed. Your Pinterest feed is a smart feed based on the interests you follow, what you are pinning and who you follow. You will still see content from those you follow and your followers will still see yours as well, but it just won't be shared in a chronological format. What does this mean for you? Well, you can go on pinning sprees as not worry about stuffing your followers' feeds. Also, you need to be purposeful about SEO and optimizing those pin descriptions to get your content in front of your audience.

4| SEO matters - Did you know that search engines like Bing and Google pull in your pins now? Awesome, right?! That means it's important to write great pin descriptions that reflect what a user would search. Simply describe what you see in the pin. For example, "ivory sweetheart lace wedding dress by Claire Pettibone."

5| Image matters - Well-styled, illuminated, colorful content that's oriented vertically will out perform a landscape, black and white iphone photo any day of the week. Make sure you are paying close attention to the creation of your pins. If you don't know how to take great pictures, hire a photographer. If you don't know how to style images, hire a stylist!

Want more tips? Follow me on Instagram (@avestyles) where I will share a new tip each Friday, AND I'm starting to plan a webinar. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement. If you are interested in being the first to know, please send me a note alexandra@avestyles.com and I will put you on the notification list.

All images provided by Alt Summit and taken by Brooke Dennis.

January Makeover: The Master Closet

This post is sponsored by Easy Closets.

One would think that a fashion stylist would have an amazing closet, but here's proof that's not an accurate assumption.

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My closet functions. I know where things are, and there's a method to my madness (I swear). But, is my closet the best it can be? Is it organized in an optimal way? Nope! With the new beginnings come new goals, and one of my goals is to do a home makeover project each month starting with my master closet.

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Easy Closets is going to help me achieve my January goal. I've already met with one of their designers, and she has redesigned my space virtually. I can't wait to get started putting it all together and show you the process.

Starting A Resolution Revolution with The Giving Keys

There are some things in life that you simply can't pick yourself up from. Sometimes the hurt is too great, and you need to ask for help. 2014 had a lot of pain in it. Henry Cloud said, "We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing." That was the case in my life, and so I put myself in counseling, group therapy and marriage counseling.  There was no way I was going to let pain sit on my heart and kill it slowly - the pain of was too great. I've been waiting for the right time to say something about this journey in counseling, and now it has arrived. I'm sharing this with you in hopes that, you would consider resolving to get your mind and heart to a place of peace for 2015. The reality is that we often can't do that on our own. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know I could not be in this place of hope and peace without the professional help of others.

So, what about this Resolution Revolution with The Giving Keys? Well, The Giving Keys is an inspirational company all about wearing and sharing hope in a fashion forward way. You can read all about their story here, but in a nutshell, The Giving Keys takes old keys that are scratched and scarred, and repurposes them into modern jewelry for men and women to wear. It doesn't stop there though, after you have worn your key for awhile you are encouraged to give it away to someone else that needs to wear that hope. There are all sorts of words that you can put on your key, and I have chosen the word "peace." It's a word I prayed a lot about, and I feel it's the word I meant to wear for the year so that I can share my journey to this place of peace. I by no means am "healed" from the pain, but I'm now equipped with a better understanding of myself and my faith in God so that I can have peace in the midst of the good AND the bad. It's truly a peace that surpasses all understanding that only God can give me.

So, what's your word? Think about it, share it and take part in this Resolution Revolution with The Giving Keys where we can inspire and bring hope to many people!

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Here's what you can do:

1. Follow The Giving Keys on Pinterest.

2. Create a Pinterest board with your word for 2015 in the title along with the hashtag #ResolutionRevolution. Click here to see mine for an example.

3. Populate the board with inspiration that expresses your word (fashion, food, photography, decor).

4. Share it on Facebook and tag The Giving Keys in your FB post.

The Giving Keys will be selecting a winner from the entries, and that person will win a necklace with their word on it.

Photography by Melissa Jill. Get the Look: T-shirt and jeans from Shop Olive You, blazer from Nordstrom, Necklace from The Giving Keys, boots by Matt Bernson, 

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DIY Winter Terrarium

This post is sponsored by Coca-Cola Licensing.

Terrariums have become quite popular over the past two years. More an more people want to learn how to grow things in their home and breathe life into the stale air of the indoors. Usually, you will find succulents and cacti in terrariums, and even those will hold up well in the cooler months, we thought it would be fun to create winter terrariums. (This is a great craft to do with your kids too).

Instead of sand we used fake snow, and instead of succulents we use mini pine trees. See how below:

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1| Choose your terrarium. You can use a variety of things, and even a glass dome on a plate. We chose these West Elm faceted terrariums.

2| Fill the bottom of your terrarium with fake snow that you can purchase at any craft store. Then add some moss, and then sprinkle some more snow.

3| Place your winter objects inside. We used miniature trees that can be found at Hobby Lobby. You could also put a tiny deer or even build a mini snowmen with pom-poms and cotton balls.

4| You're finished! Now you just have to choose where you want to put it in your home.

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Photography by Melissa Jill, Floral design by Hoot and Holler, Art Direction by Alex Evjen.

How to Style Your Bar for the Holidays

This post is sponsored by Coca-Cola Licensing.

Holiday cookie exchanges, open houses, parties and intimate gatherings...Chances are you will either host or attend a holiday party this season. If you are hosting, you will most likely have to put together a spread of goodies on a table, island or bar top. Today I'm going to share with you how to make your spread look special for your event.

1| Set your food and drinks out first. You'll want to make sure you have enough room for everything. Keep the sweets with sweets and savory with savory.

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2| Place any utensils you may need next to the food. Don't forget the bottle openers! I always forget those, but how can I forget this cute one by Coca-Cola? You can even have some drinks already poured into glasses with straws just like we did with the Coca-Cola Heritage Glasses.

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3| Go back through and add design elements that very in height and size. You may want to add different sized vases, candles or maybe even create a fun winter scene with figurines, fake snow and an old crate like this one from Coca-Cola. We also created winter terrariums to add dimension and spirit to the space.

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4| Add some sparkle - Place ornaments, glitter or tinsel around the area. We hung ornaments above our bar to draw the eyes upward to our chalkboard wall. Think about what you can add above or below too.

5| Add some live greens or flowers - Fresh flowers or even fresh pine is a nice way to liven things up. If you don't feel confident arranging bouquets, simply add branches of pine in vases.

Photos by Melissa Jill, Art Direction by Alex Evjen, Florals by Hoot and Holler, Chalk writing by Katie Sterbenz