We were lucky to catch up with Layla Todd recently and have shared our conversation below.

Layla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I started my blog back in 2018 as a place to share my writing with the online literary community and envisioned it as a place to post my work and interact with likeminded writers. About a year into blogging, however, I started running into people who were making a full-time living from their blogs and I began to wonder if I could turn my blog into a side hustle.

I read up on other bloggers’ stories of turning their blogs into a viable income stream and determined that the first thing I needed to do was go self-hosted. I have been self-hosted since August of 2021 now and, although making the switch definitely came with a steep learning curve, it is one of the best decisions I made. Being self-hosted allows me greater website flexibility in terms of design and makes my site more search-engine friendly, which is beginning to pay off now that I have started writing evergreen blogging and writing content regularly.

Once I went self-hosted, I also focused on setting up Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest accounts with consistent branding, as well as thinking through what to post on each platform. Once my blog and social accounts were ready to go, I started writing and sharing posts and have not looked back since.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I describe my blog, Nin Chronicles, as a creativity site where I share writing and blogging guides alongside poetry and prose. I work as a content creator and offer guest post placements on my site, provided the posts are relevant to my audience and niche.

In the past two years I have worked with several brands, including Galen Leather, Aura Print, PAJ GPS, and AC Silver to create evergreen blog posts that focus on sharing useful and relevant information while promoting the brands I believe in. I have also worked with several brands on Instagram to create story, reel, and carousel posts that share services and products I love.

I love sharing brands that I feel are relevant to my audience or fit into my lifestyle in as natural and organic a way as possible and am proud of the way my content creation skills have evolved.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I use several resources to make my life that much easier and one of the biggest resources I have come to love is Canva. Canva is a free graphic design tool that has only recently risen to fame despite being around since 2012. I use it to create a range of graphics, from Instagram poem templates to engaging Instagram stories to Pinterest pins. I also used it to design my blog logo and site media kit, but it can be used for so much more!

Canva’s bank of social media templates and stock images is amazing and using the tool allows you to create consistent, professional graphics you can use again and again.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I will pass on some good advice I was given when I was starting out with social media: you don’t need to use every platform. Use the platforms that work for the type of social media content you are sharing and tweak your content to integrate more naturally into each platform.

I tend to use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest the most and, although the content I post on each platform generally follows the same pattern, I try to vary it a little here and there to create diversity among my social media accounts. I also try to post content per platform that each platform favors. For example, I tend to post photos and videos on Instagram and Facebook instead of on Twitter.

Finally, consistency truly is key. You do not have to post every day, but committing to a set schedule will help keep your motivation levels up and let the algorithms know you have an active account. I typically post twice a week on Instagram, slightly less frequently on Facebook, and most days of the week on Twitter, but definitely think about what works for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ninchronicles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nin_chronicles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ninchronicles
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ninchronicles