Cassie DeNisco

The Great Alone Book Review!

October 2, 2023

I can hardly believe this is my first October post for the month! I have finally surpassed 50 books this year goal and I am so excited to share one of my favorite reads of the summer with you! The Great Alone book review by Kristin Hannah was such a great read and one that I often find myself thinking about, even today!

This is a historical fiction read, which we all know is one of my favorite reads. I devour books like this, even with a page count of 549 because of how interesting the read is. This post has an affiliate link to shop for the book but as always, there’s no pressure to purchase!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

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This book follows the Allbright family as they navigate very big life changes. Leni, their daughter is forced to move with the family to an extremely remote part of Alaska. Mom Cora will do anything for her husband Ernt, even though he’s working through PTSD and is extremely abusive towards her.

Once they move to Alaska things only get harder as they realize life up there is rough. It’s essentially a full time job just prepping for Winter in order to stay alive. The community around them welcomes them with open arms but Ernt still struggles with his mental health.

I found myself captivated by what life would be like up in a remote part of Alaska. They had no running water in the house so they’d have to collect and boil water for cooking. It’s such a different way of living that I’m not sure I would survive.

We read as Leni starts to grow up and move into her teen years. Navigating being a girl is hard enough but with a toxic home life and just the harshness of Alaska, you find yourself routing for her to make it through.

With really tough topics, like domestic abuse, this book does need a trigger warning. If you are able to get passed that, the themes of community and resilience are popping off the pages. We read as Leni falls in love for the first time and has to battle her father who is very much against it.

I loved this book because you route for Leni and her mom on every page. Kristin Hannah really gives you insight into toxic relationships but finishes off the story with an ending that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and so incredibly proud and happy for Leni.

Final Thoughts

I’ve reviewed another book by Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale which I absolutely loved! It’s safe to say for me Kristin Hannah has really become one of my top author’s! She writes so beautifully that you really become transported back to the time period the book is in.

I also recently read Four Winds and if you’d like a book review on that let me know! I’d give The Great Alone Book Review a 4.25/5 and would consider it a must read! Be sure to check out my other book reviews here!

4 Years of My Blog!

May 31, 2023

As I sit down to write this, I can hardly believe it’s been 4 years of my blog. My very first post was shared on May 15th, 2019 and it’s crazy that this much time has gone by. I thought we should walk down memory lane and I’d share some of my favorite posts from my 4 years!

Very First Post

Let’s Do This

This post makes me laugh because I truly didn’t know anything about blogging. It was a random day I decided to purchase a domain and a wordpress subscription and just started writing. I wasn’t expecting much out of it but these past 4 years have been such a wild ride!

Most Viewed Post

My Dyson Air Wrap Review

Talk about a random post to do so well! I wasn’t really expecting this post to be as successful as it was. I’ve even done a few others similar that have done well too. This is really where I realized people value honest opinions on items you purchased with your own money and it shifted the content I create!

Least Viewed Post

My Greek Salad Bowl

This is least viewed because it’s like one of the newer ones. Go give it some love because this bowl is SO good! I love creating and sharing recipes like this. I never would have thought that cooking would become such a huge part of my content and blog!!

My Favorite Post

Best Books to Read for 2023

This was so hard to choose but I’m just really proud of this post. Last year I created a monthly book club for the blog that has evolved into almost 2 book reviews a month consistently. This post is all about the books I read in 2022 and my recs for the new year. It’s a staple post when people ask what books I recommend!

I hope you loved this walk down memory lane with me. Having a blog is hard because so often we see the world switching to video content so I’m always trying to “fit in” with what’s trending. Blogging has taught me so much about all aspects of life and myself and I’ve had so much fun so far.

There have been many times over these 4 years that I’ve felt like I should just give up but I remember this amazing community we’ve created and how much I love what I do! Here’s to my first 4 years of my blog and to many more!

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My 2023 New Year’s Resolution!!

December 26, 2022

I can hardly believe another year has passed and I’m writing out new year’s resolution! It’s crazy how quickly the years go by and how fast we get to the next one. This year I wanted to share my new year’s resolution in a different way.

Instead of picking multiple things, I just wanted to choose a word that everything falls under. I started this last year with the word wellness and I truly think I got to live that word out. This year I’m doing the same because I feel like sometimes resolutions can be too limiting and put too much pressure on yourselves.

Patience

Now people always say patience is a virtue but I feel like a lot of my anxiety comes from jumping to the next thing or next worry. I want to really slow down in 2023 and try to get everything back in check.

In the times we live in we can really just feel out of control a lot. Life flies by us and if we’re not moving as fast as everyone we feel like we’re missing out or not doing something right. For me, I want to try to break this habit next year.

A slower lifestyle and mindset doesn’t put me behind others, if anything it’ll set me up for success because I’ll be able to make decisions based on thinking things through. I want to be so intentional with my time so I think having patience will help with that.

One other aspect of patience is with purchases. We live in a world where it’s so easy to order exactly what we want and have it delivered right away. Financially, you can only do that for so long so I just know being patient and thinking through purchases on clothes and other non-necessities will boost my finances as well.

As you can see, choosing one word that encompasses your mood instead of a resolution changes your mindset. I never followed through on resolutions because they always felt like too many unattainable goals. With choosing a word to live by, you can find it in all areas of your life and mold it to how you’re feeling.

If you have a word for 2023, share it down below! I love hearing how other people approach the new year with their mindsets. You can read more resolutions posts here! And don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest here!

Content Creation Tips & Tricks

March 21, 2022

As many of you know, I am a freelance social media manager on top of blogger and dance teacher. I feel like because of this, I know a little more than the average blogger. This helps me utilize these content creation tips to keep me consistent.

A lot of people will say just be a content creator but they don’t realize how much actually goes into it. I didn’t start to see a real amount of money from my blog until about 3 years in after being consistent. This post is all about how and why I follow the content schedule I do and why you need to have one.

Honestly, I would say a content schedule that you can stick to is probably the most important key to growing any brand. A content schedule is not only when you’ll post on social but also when you’ll create that content. You need to have the content to post so it’s crucial that you stay on schedule and have content prepared.

Establishing a Schedule

I’ve found that I am best able to promote and spend time answering comments on a blog post on a Monday morning, which is why all of my blog posts are then at 9am. I decided this year to up my posts so I added two others during the month on Wednesdays. I average about 6 posts a month on the blog which is a lot.

In addition to the posts, I have to post on IG, Pinterest, Tik Tok to promote the post after it’s live which also is why Mondays are best for me. Establishing when you are going to post not only keeps you accountable but people come to expect content from you on those days. This easy transition helps you create a community that knows when to come back for more.

Content Ideas

In addition to a schedule, I like to start a running list of dates throughout the year I’m going to post. This helps me see what content would do best during those months and gives me a spot to write down my ideas.

I honestly just googled Mondays in 2022 and copy/pasted it into a Google Doc. I can access this whenever I get an idea and it helps me always have ideas when maybe I’m in a crunch to post. Visually, this also helps me cross off what I’ve already created for the month to know what I still need to do.

I recently just started this for my other socials which seriously has changed the game for me. I can plan out all of my content for the month and then I just need to write/record/create.

Creation

Once you figure out step one and two, creation really shouldn’t be too hard for you. Obviously you need to create it but if you already have the idea and when it needs to go live, you can just jump in.

I like to create my blog posts at least a month in advance just in case I have something come up one week. This buffer ensures I’ll always have a post go live. Sometimes I will post randomly if it’s time sensitive but for the most part I like to be ahead.

As for socials, I like to post in real time if I can. This means that I’ll create then post right away. I feel like my posts are usually more informal so it’s good for me to just get it out.

Creation Days

I like to set each day a week as a different platform. I’m almost always creating blog posts on Mondays and Tuesdays. I’ve been trying to create Tik Toks on Wednesdays and then I usually take my IG pictures on the weekends.

I like to batch create content so that I only have to get fully ready once in awhile and I can just get whatever I need done. This is probably my biggest tip to stay accountable because by setting a day aside for one platform, you don’t have the ability to not get it done if you have other days that are for other platforms.

I hope this post was informative for you in creating your content schedule and with content creation tips. Honestly, I wish I knew this back in the beginning because it would’ve saved me so much time. I used to create whenever I felt like it, which is of course great but not when you’re having an off week and don’t want to create anything.

Let me know if setting up a content schedule helped you to level up your content or if you liked these content creation tips! To read more social media posts like this click here! Don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list here so you never miss a post!

How to Make Money from Blogging

November 5, 2021

I am asked almost everyday how I make money from blogging. Blogging is something that a lot of people are interested in but not really sure how to start. I also think people are not sure if blogging can be a stream of income for them. It took me 3 years to get tot a point where I do have some passive income from my blog and I’m going to share with you my top 3 ways of how I make money from blogging!

I think for most people, they think making money from ads is going to be so simple however this is the part that actually took me awhile! I needed to have my blog well established and continue to be creating trending content in order to see any money from this area. If you notice, I have ads on almost every page of my blog and they’re often about things you would actually be interested in.

I like to use Google Adsense not only because it’s super easy to install but I find that it also does the best job of staying relevant with my content. My biggest tips for running ads on your site is to make sure they have something to do with your content and there aren’t too many of them. You want your content to shine, not the ads!

Affiliate Links

Oddly enough, I just started linking everything this past year. I realized that a great stream of passive income is affiliate links. Every time have on an outfit or a product, I always make sure to use my link generators in order to earn a commission from them.

You do have to make sure that you are disclosing whether or not something is an affiliate link to stay transparent with your audience. I just usually do a little disclaimer so people know that I get a very small kickback if they purchase through my link. Not only can you use affiliate links on your blog but you can also use them on your socials which just boosts your stream of income.

A Productive Work Day in My Life

April 23, 2021

Last year I shared a day in my life as a blogger, but this year things are very different for me! I now am a freelance social media consultant so not only do I have my own social media platforms, I also do a lot for other people. I thought it would be fun to share what a day in my life currently looks like and maybe share a few tips along the way on blogging and free lancing!

My Day

7:30-9am

This time frame isn’t work related but I swear it’s what helps me start off on the right foot. I wake up around 7:30 and get Sky going for the day. If you have a Frenchie, then you know they literally love to sleep and she would sleep all day if I let her. This time period is essential for me to get myself ready for the day with skincare and maybe even a change in outfit if I’m feeling it. I also make my iced chai or iced oatmilk latte and am always at my desk my 9am.

9-9:10am

The first 10 minutes of my day are dedicated to emails. I’ll check them when I first get up but won’t reply until this time. I also like to make sure my planner is set and ready for the day. I love filling out this Doing Well Daily planner and then get in the right mindset for the day.

9:10-11am

This chunk of time is where the bulk of my work is. Depending on the day, I’m either writing and scheduling a blog post for myself or working on projects for clients. I shared a few weeks about how I plan and create my blog posts, but for client projects it’s usually working on their website, or getting together images and other media for a campaign. One other thing I recently started doing first thing is making sure I’m posting a IG or FB post or story first thing. I find that even if I’m not posting at the right time, it just helps with engagement and visibility. I try to post at least one thing per client first thing in the morning.

One question that I often get asked is how do I charge clients for work. It really depends. For somethings it would be a flat rate, like building a website but the day to day content posting and interacting is generally hourly. As many of you know I also am a dance teacher so this work that I do is usually part time as well. I like getting most of my bigger things done in this time period so I have enough time to get everything done in the day.

11-12:30pm

This is probably Sky’s favorite part of the day. We go for a walk and I workout, two things she absolutely loves. My workouts are usually a Melissa Wood Health video and maybe an arm circuit with dum bells. Sky is notorious for trying to workout with me, whether she’s doing her yoga stretches or trying to catch my feet, she loves MWH workouts as much as I do.

I also take the time to have lunch during this time. If you noticed, I don’t usually have breakfast so lunch is always my first meal of the day. Generally I have a salad, sandwich, or whatever leftovers we have from the night before. I can’t stand having to make a whole meal at lunch time when I just want to eat quick and get back into the day.

12:30- 3pm

This is usually the last chunk of time in my productive work day. I usually would leave for the dance studio shortly after this so that’s why 3 is usually the end of my day. I like to do my lighter tasks after lunch. I’m usually starting to hit the mid day slump so I make sure my work is lighter.

My favorite after lunch thing to do is work on content. Whether it’s the IG stories I post or my Pinterest pin images, I love this time of day. I use Canva to create my content like that and for my clients as well. Canva is my go to for my own content and other’s. It literally is amazing at doing so many things. Paying for the premium subscription is must for a social media manager. You can try Canva here!

Like I said, my day either ends with heading to the dance studio or taking Sky on another walk. Since I’m only doing this part time, I have a lot of flexibility with how and when I work. This is like my favorite thing because when I was interning, I know for a fact I hated being in an office 9-5.

My final productive work day tip is time blocking. As you noticed, I do everything in chunks of time. Each day is usually the same but with different tasks during that block of time. I find it makes me work harder knowing that I am only doing something for 2-3 hours at a time. It helps to keep my days less boring and me more engaged throughout the day.

I hope this productive work day gave you some tips and tricks on productivity and even social media consulting. If you’re interested on a post diving deeper into social media management let me know in the comments below!!

My Top Secret to Drive Traffic to My Blog

March 19, 2021

I get asked all the time, “cute blog but does anyone actually read it?”. People are shocked to find out yes, actually a lot of people read it, not just family or friends. I learned early on that if I wanted to make my blog a source of income I would need many, many people to read my posts. This lead to months of research trying to find anything that I could do to get traffic to my blog. Read more of my posts on blogs here.

I soon realized, driving traffic and eyes to a blog is a little different for everyone. The one thing I kept coming back to was Pinterest in my research. I could talk on and on about Pinterest and let my social media manager side really come out but for now I will stick to the basics and how I use it as a way to get people to read my posts.

Pinterest Basics

In case you don’t know, Pinterest is a social media app where you can curate boards based on different topics or categories. Pinterest is unique because it is basically a search engine. You type something in the top like you would on Google and many many pins come up. You can click on the pins, save them, or go directly to the link of the website they came from. If you’ve mastered SEO tactics, using Pinterest to create pins that will lead back to your blog should be a piece of cake for you. You can follow me on Pinterest here.

Creating Pins

Every single blog post I create has a corresponding pin. This is super important because the pin is linked to the post on my website. People who see the pin then can click on the link to my website. As you can see from these example pins, I use the same template so that when someone comes to my account there’s a bit of cohesiveness.

Another thing I like to do is post just the images from the blog post without a template. I’ve found that some people on Pinterest like more organic pins and others like the template format. Also, I’ve heard really great things about people who post videos.

The Title, Description, Link, and Alt Text are crucial for you to fill out with keywords. This is where the SEO tactics come in. I do some research by typing in some of the keywords from my blog post in Pinterest and use the ones that generate content similar to mine. I fill my description with keywords and a few hashtags relevant so that people who are searching for my kind of content find it.

Scheduling Pins

One giant tip I have for you is to only focus your energy on one or two social media platforms. For me, I focus on IG Stories and Pinterest. I find I get the most interaction from them and they get me the most link clicks. To save time, I like to use the app Tailwind where it schedules and then posts my pins for me. This is game changing because I can have 20-30 pins going up every week to boost my engagement without me having to sit and do it myself.

Tailwind also has a feature where you can just loop your old pins. This helps my content to show more often. Good analytics and posting frequently is the key to getting your pins seen and links clicked on. Good engagement rates pull your content up higher when someone searches your keywords.

Realizing how useful Pinterest is to me was something that took awhile. I really had to build up my content and post consistently but I cannot reccomend trying it. I used to think that getting traffic to my blog was going to be so difficult with low followers but literally the game changed when I started focusing on Pinterest.

Let me know if you have any questions about Pinterest or if you have any tips for driving traffic to your blog!!

What to Know Before Starting a Blog!

May 15, 2020

It’s absolutely wild to think that my first blog post ever was posted 1 year ago. I can’t believe that it’s my 1 year blog anniversary! I decided randomly one day to launch a blog and it has been the craziest year since. In honor of my first year as a blogger, I put together my list of 5 things you need to know before starting a blog.

1. Have a Plan

I started out my blog thinking I would just write some posts and upload them but I soon realized so much more goes into that. If I could give one piece of advice to a new blogger, I would absolutely say make yourself a schedule. Write on one day, take photos on another, and then plan for a day to upload and also post on social media to announce it. To gain traffic, you need take your time and a plan will help you stay on track.

2. Use Social Media

In the beginning of my blogging days, I only posted on Instagram to announce blog posts. Now, I have posts on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest as well. Social media is a great way drive traffic to your blog but utilize all of it. I focused so much on only one site that my numbers weren’t as high as they could be. Now I have over 100,000 monthly views on my Pinterest posts which drives direct traffic to my blog.

3. Invest in Your Blogging Platform

I had initially played around with Wix for hosting my blog. After just a little bit of research, I found out that even though it was somewhat cheaper, it would be hard to monetize. I then decided to pay for WordPress and I could not be happier. Not only does it help you easily monetize, but there are so many themes to choose from. I know when starting out you might want to do it on the cheaper side, but in the long run investing in your site will absolutely pay off.

4. Learn all you can about SEO

When I first started posting, I had no clue what SEO was. As I started to get further into blogging, I learned that “Search Engine Optimization” is the key to getting your blog post seen in places like Google. While you should always be creating authentic content, mixing in SEO rich phrases and terms will help you in the long run. I ended up installing a plugin that does most of the SEO work for me but since I am a Digital Audience major, I know there are plenty of online resources to teach you all about it.

5. Success Won’t Happen Over Night

After about a month or two of blogging, I hit a plateau in my viewers and site traffic. I honestly became really discouraged because I thought I was doing so well. One major thing to realize about blogging is that it does take time. You have to grow your readership and create connections. If you stay the course, you’ll be just like me, one year later with a lot of knowledge and viewers!

I hope these tips on what to know before starting a blog help you. I jumped right into blogging not knowing everything but I seriously wouldn’t have changed a thing. This was definitely a challenging year but it was so rewarding in the long run. I learned so much about building websites and website performance and loved every minute of it.

These tips on what to know before starting a blog are things that I know now would have absolutely helped me earlier on. Thank you so much for 1 year of readings my blogs and connecting with me! It has seriously been amazing writing and growing as a person. Here’s to another awesome year of blogging!

Follow me on Instagram: @cassiedenisco !

Where I’ve Been…

December 1, 2019

In life I believe we all go through phases in our lives when we’re feeling the least creative or unmotivated to do things we love. For me, I was really dealing with that during November. I love blogging and taking/posting Instagram photos but I soon found myself drowning from school work, my internship, new puppy, and dance work. I felt like my life was fully out of my control and the stress I was under just kept piling up.

I knew that my blog would take some sort of side position in my life once school started back up but I didn’t realize that it would become my last priority. I had so many other things on my plate that my energy was going towards that trying to write blog posts just became mechanic. I was writing merely just to not miss my Wednesday-Thursday deadline. I often would forget to announce the new post on Instagram on my story and I haven’t even been consistently posting on Instagram.

For something that was supposed to be a fun side hustle, it turned into in my eyes my biggest failure. Over the summer my analytics were threw the roof when I was posting consistently. After realizing how much I’ve neglected my blog, looking at my analytics is painful. This paired with the stresses of everyday life left me not at all wanting to blog. I had just too much on my plate that I couldn’t even allow myself to just blog for fun, I turned it into basically a competition for myself.

I finally realized something needed to change in mid November, when I actually stopped uploading. I let my last few scheduled posts go up but I just took the time off to not write blogs and focus on one area of my life at a time. I got my recital dances picked and somewhat choreographed, Sky’s older so she is much less needy, and my internship ended so I had free time again during the week. Finally, I just had to focus on my schoolwork and my puppy and I had the down time I was so desperately looking for.

In that time though, of course I couldn’t sit completely still. I started really posting on Sky’s Instagram and I swear it has really taken off. She has 81 followers in like 2 weeks of consistent posts and I realized how much FUN social media is. When I was doing it for my blog, it seriously became a chore and with Sky, I get to interact with other dogs and the dog moms behind the accounts. This really helped to inspire me to get back to blogging and actually having a desire to want to post. (Follow Sky @skythefrenchgirl)

Blogging never was something to get me Instagram followers or gain lots of money easily. Blogging was an outlet creatively for me and a way to show future employers that I am capable and able to help build an online brand. When I started to focus on the artificial and fake aspects of the internet, I lost myself and the reasons I love doing what I do. Even if you’re not a blogger, the lessons I’ve learned from having my blog can be applied anywhere. You need to remember why you’re doing something and make that the reason you do it. I love sharing my life and my ideas and my style with my audience and that’s what matters most. The numbers don’t matter and they shouldn’t affect why you want to do what you love.

So that’s where I’ve been. I really have been doing some soul searching and I can confidently say I’m back to blogging regularly. My podcast also will be back starting in January. I needed some time to get some better equipment and plan out more podcasts.I will always have a new blog post up on Sundays at 4pm EST but I am not sure yet if I will be posting on another day or just twice a week in general. I will keep you posted and let you all know once I’ve figured that out! Thank you all so much for sticking with me, it really means the world to me.

Be sure to follow me on my socials because those are also coming back hot!

Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter: @cassiedenisco

Sky’s Instagram: @skythefrenchgirl

Also be sure to sure to subscribe to www.cassiedenisco.com to stay up to date with my latest posts!