DIY: Textured Concrete Look Photography Backdrop (For Under $10!)

This Step by Step Tutorial will show you how to make an Easy DIY Textured Concrete Look Photo Backdrop on a Budget (For less than $10 each!). This handmade photo board is the perfect background for product photography, bloggers, food photography, flat lay photos and more! 

Click here to pin this tutorial on Pinterest!

Photography, it might seem simple and straightforward - but when you're photographing for a blog or a business, a seemingly simple thing can suddenly become complicated - and expensive. 

That styled flat lay? You've got to have a background, some perfectly curated props, the right angle - the list goes on and on. 

Over the last 10 years of blogging (yep! 10 years! I was blogging before Southern In Law too!) I've seen photos change dramatically - and if you're a blogger or an "influencer" or even a brand today, you're probably feeling the pressure.

But I want to help you take some of the pressure off!

You see, a quick Google search will give you hundreds of thousands of photography backdrop/photography board/photography backgrounds you can buy - but they're pricey. A single backdrop could set you back $75-100, especially if it's textured.... but what if I told you that you could make your own DIY Textured Backdrop for around $7? 

That's exactly what this DIY will show you how to do. In just a few hours (I say hours because it needs to dry, but it will only involve about 10-15 minutes of actual work) you'll have a custom made textured concrete look backdrop that's perfect for photos. 

Whether you're a food blogger wanting to take beautiful food photos, a beauty vlogger wanting a background for Instagram flat lays or a business owner looking for new ways to photograph products for your website, this backdrop DIY is perfect for you. 

So let me show you how to make it! >> 

FOMO & Bloggers: Why It's Okay to Say NO (and be told no!)

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If you popped by the blog over the weekend, you'd notice that... well... girl got a little ranty in Would You Like To Work For Free?. If you're a blog reader without a blog yourself, you probably had no idea what I was ranting about, but the post definitely connected with a lot of fellow bloggers and I've been receiving comments, messages and emails about it ever since. 

But in those responses, I noticed a bit of a common theme in the emails that were hitting my inbox. A lot of bloggers have a huge FOMO when it comes to brands.

A whaaaaaaaaa? You might be saying? FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out. 

It's that fear of missing out that is perhaps the biggest problem of all (and quite possibly the reason brands think they can use bloggers!) and that's what I thought we could chat about today. Chat because I don't want to be the only one doing the talking - I want to hear your thoughts to!

My drawings are back too, because it's really hard to find stock images to illustrate my crazy thoughts :P

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So let's think about a situtation that most bloggers have probably been in. You open up your inbox and Hey! Would you look at that!

You've got an email from a brand... and for this scenario (for ultimate FOMO-inducing-ness) we're going to say it's a brand you've been wanting to work with FOR. EVER. 

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First thing's first, you need a moment. You jump up and down, do a little happy dance and modesty flies out the window because HELLO BOSS LADAAAYYYY! Look at you, this awesome brand reads your blog. BOOM!

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Oh yeah.. the email... you should probably read past the first line. 

The email's a lot like the usual ones you get, the brand "loves your blog" and wants to "offer you the opportunity" to promote their products. 

They've talked about products and reviews and they've listed out all the ways they want to work with you - recipe develop, review posts, social media shares, you name it - but they haven't mentioned a thing about compensation. 

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They're asking a lot of you. They want a guaranteed feature on your blog and a whole heap of things checked off their to-do list. You know it's going to take up hours of your time and you know that you're going to give them a pretty decent amount of exposure - so what do you do?

You think about bringing up the compensation side of things, but what happens if they say no?! 

What happens if they do say no? Well nothing, really. It's as simple as that. 

The question is, is your FOMO really worth it? What are you worried about? Is your life really going to change because of a free lipgloss sample or a new kitchen appliance that you need to develop XX recipes with? Probably not. 

They say you never know unless you ask and that's exactly the thing to remember in this situation. Your fear of missing out shouldn't stop you from asking the question - and it shouldn't make you do something you're not comfortable with either. 

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And so what if they say no! It's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of writing posts for free products, however, you need to ask yourself; 

What is right for me?

And is it really worth it? 

When one individual or business provides a service to another, it involves compensation. It's not about deserving (that word gets thrown around a lot, however, to be honest, you don't deserve anything simply because you blog) - it's about fact. The game shouldn't change simply because that service provider is a business. 

When a blogger offers an endorsement that is valuable, content that can be used to generate sales or profit or information that a brand desires, we should be asking what the compensation should be and not if compensation should be offered. 

Remember; Compensation does not necessarily have to be monetary, it has to be right for you. What you need to do is come to an agreement that works for both you and the brand. 

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What we want to strive for is developing a partnership that works for everyone. You want to be happy but you always want the brand to be happy, too! The best partnerships are ones that deliver results and value for both parties. 

We need to be thinking about What value can we deliver and what value is that to the brand? That's what is going to deliver success and that's what will deliver results. 

Remember that every blog is different, every blogger is different and every opportunity is too. It's all about finding what works for you and remembering that no really isn't something to be scared of. 

You should never put yourself in a situation simply because you're scared of missing out on an opportunity that really doesn't deliver you any benefits - or because you feel pressured to say yes because you're too afraid to say no. 

It's okay to say no - and it's okay to be told no too. You're not missing out on anything, other opportunities will come along that are better suited to you!

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Well, this post went here, there, everywhere and possibly no where at all; so I want to hear your thoughts?

Do you feel like you experience FOMO when it comes to working with brands?

What are the things you worry about?

And what's your advice to fellow bloggers?

    

   

Why We're NOT Going to Ask You to Turn on Instagram Notifications

We've seen it everywhere. Instagram post updates with arrows of all sorts of shapes, sizes and types as brands, bloggers and the girl next door telling you to turn on post notifications right this second so you don't miss out on their posts. 

But to be honest, we haven't turned on notifications for a single page - and we're not going to ask you to turn them on for us either. 

Why? Firstly because I know you're probably just like us.. You put your phone down for a second and the next time you glance at your screen, there's at least one notification that's popped up, trying to grab your attention right this second...

• Your aunt needs a new life on candy crush. 
• @ilovedonutsandpuppiesandglitter is following your on Instagram. 
• That random kid from high school commented on your Facebook update. 
• eBay is trying to take all your money. 
• Groupon is telling you that you REALLY need a voucher for all you can drink kale smoothies.
• That game you played once and never deleted is BEGGING you to come back to it because you have 9,999 lives. 
• And your Mum probably sent a text to remind you to do your taxes or take your vitamins or something mum-y. 

Whatever it is, our phones are already beeping at us enough - you really don't need Instagram telling you every time we post a photo of our dinner! 

Everyone seems to be freaking out, but this new algorithm update really isn't that big of a deal. It's something that's been in the pipelines for quite some time - and something that really isn't going to end the world! 

If you're a follower, you'll see the posts from the pages you engage with the most (though, if you're a lurker you might have a bit of a problem there!).

If you're an "influencer" (I hate that term because it sounds like you're pushing drugs or something), the people who comment and like your Instagram posts are still going to be seeing them! If  you're posting content that interests people, it's going to be seen - that is what you need to be focusing on!

Facebook, who now owns Instagram, is pretty clever at figuring out what people want to see. Whilst social media is becoming more and more pay-to-play, it still relies on these algorithms to work out what you see. 

Whilst it may potentially be an issue for brands who rely on Instagram to sell product (if they're not engaging their audience - but that is already an issue in itself as they need to engage people to do that!), it's not going to be an issue for you and me. 

So instead of signing up for notifications on our posts, we'd much rather you;

• Connect with us! Comment on our Instagram posts, send us an email, share our Facebook posts. Blogging without interaction is like playing a game of "wall ball" - it's fun for about five seconds and then the ball hits you in the face and you realise you're throwing a ball against a boring ol' wall and that's definitely not even close to playing catch.
  
  If you're worried about missing our posts, connecting with us on Instagram through likes or comments is going to ensure that you don't miss them - so you'll see all the photos of Chanel and Trixie and all silly things we share as well as a whole lot of delicious food too. 
• Use your free time to cook something delicious!
  Instead of spending all your time answering your 55 million notifications, do something you love! The reason we work so hard on sharing these yummy (or so we think) recipes with you is so that you can create them too!
  
  If you want to, share your creations with us on Instagram (#southerninlaw and @southerninlaw), on Facebook, through our blog comments or via email.

There's a million other things I could suggest you do other than signing up for notifications on your post, but no one likes a bossy boots - so I'll stop there! 

But tell me, what's the last delicious thing YOU cooked?
Kind of off topic, but there's already 92 billion other people talking about Instagram so let's talk about something better! 

    

   

How to Be a Better Blogger: Be Yourself

I often get emails from people around the world who are just about to jump into the blogging universe but who are looking for some advice before they take that first leap. Those emails are often filled with different questions about how to create a successful blog, how to get readers, what to write, how often to post etc etc - but lately I've noticed that I've gotten quite a few emails with a questions that seems a little odd to me; 

What personality should my blog have? 

And that's where I think the blogging world has gotten a little lost in translation. You see, the reason why most of the most successful bloggers out there are so successful is because they are real. 

If you want to read an article, you pick up a newspaper or a magazine. 

If you want to read a story, you pick up a book. 

If you want to relate to someone, read a blog. 

Whenever I get an email from someone wanting advice on starting a blog, my first piece of advice is always the same;
To be a great blogger, you need to be yourself.

Why? There's a couple of reasons for that;