[music playing]
Hello! It's Seo from tbhstudying,
and this has been a highly requested video,
so here are a few tips and tricks for running your own study account.
First off, you need to post your own original content.
Stealing photos or posts just isn't cool at all,
and besides, people are more likely to follow you for your own content.
I personally refuse to follow accounts that repost, even with credit,
because I just don't really feel comfortable with it.
Sites like weheartit and Pinterest are not valid sources.
If you really really REALLY want to repost something,
make sure to ask the original creator for their permission first,
and if they say yes, then make sure to credit them appropriately.
On Tumblr you can make your own masterposts and advice posts.
I like to make a rough draft on a Google Doc first and collect a bunch of links for a masterpost,
or write and edit something for an advice post.
A lot of the time, people make header images for their master posts and advice posts,
so you could try making one as well.
Like I've mentioned before, don't steal photos.
Instead you could use your own photos, a color background, or use a royalty free image.
Graphicstock is a good option to use for that.
They were kind enough to sponsor this video,
and they're giving away seven days of Graphicstock for free!
That way, you could try it out and make a few header images of your own
using their royalty free images.
They have a huge unlimited download library
filled with graphics, illustrations, vectors and images.
I've actually used a few vectors in some of my header images and masterposts,
like my environmental science masterpost.
This month, they're launching a new collection featuring new futuristic and dream inspired images,
so make sure to click the link in the description box and download a few.
You can use programs to manipulate the images and add things like text.
PicMonkey is a free online photo editor that you could use to make them.
I personally use Adobe Photoshop CS6,
but that's more pricey and it's not free.
You can take your own studyspo photos as well!
Be sure to use natural light and have a non-distracting background.
Your desk surface can be a great place for that.
Photo composition can also make your photos look super aesthetic,
so try arranging your stuff around.
I just take photos with my iPhone camera and that's been fine for me.
As for editing, you can use photo apps on your phone like VSCO and Afterlight.
I'm lazy, so I just use the options in the iPhone photo library,
or if I feel like being super extra, I use Photoshop CS6.
Make sure to be active and post regularly on your account.
Interact with other people and try to make friends, but here's an important thing about making friends:
don't be too pushy, and try not to treat other people like idols.
That can actually distance them even further from you.
For me personally, I appreciate all the support that you guys give me,
but it can be difficult to get to know someone if all they say is,
"Oh, your handwriting is great, I love your pens, will you follow me..." constantly.
We're not study robots or some sort of perfect beings -- we're people too.
I don't mind if you just come into my inbox and say something like,
"Hey, I found this quality meme that I think you would like,"
or, "Hey, look at this really funny pun, I think you would like that!"
It's hard for me to get to know more about someone and start up a conversation
if there's nothing to really talk about, you know?
And I bet a lot of other people feel like that too.
Also, this might just be me, but I find things like follow-for-follow, or shoutouts,
or like-for-like, or self-promos to be a bit annoying.
You can't really force other people to follow you; that also ties in to my next point:
don't start a study account just for the followers and the likes.
It's really obvious when you do that and it doesn't feel as genuine, so people aren't as likely to follow,
so, yeah, just be yourself!
For studyblrs specifically, a good theme for your blog can be super helpful.
I like to follow blogs that are easy to navigate, and have sort of an aesthetic theme.
You can get a lot of free and amazing HTML themes made by theme creators on tumblr,
so just click the customization button on your blog page and edit away!
You might need to have some small knowledge about HTML stuff, though.
You can make pages for your blog, and you can customize them by clicking the HTML one,
or you can use the default pages that come with the theme,
so just click the "add page" button at the bottom of the customization tab.
So you can tag your posts and add a tag page, you can put a little "About Me" on your blog, or like an FAQ page.
It's just really nice to navigate and see everything on your blog!
For studygrams, you can use Instagram Stories to update on your life and study progress.
I love posting on my story, and it's really fun!
You can also livestream for an hour on Instagram, that's really fun too!
It sorta makes you seem more real and genuine, and besides, they're really fun!
Some people also like having a theme for their feed.
I personally pick a color and stick with that for a few posts, and then move on to a new one.
If you want to have a theme, make sure the photos that you post have relatively similar colors.
They'll look nice next to each other on your profile page,
and if you want to sort of preview how your photos will look next to each other,
make a new album on your iPhone library -- I don't know if Android can do that --
but you can make a new album and put all the photos in there, and see how they look next to each other.
For YouTube channels, it's definitely a lot more work.
I know, it seems really fun and easy,
but you actually have to put in a lot of effort and care when making videos.
You can use your phone camera and a free video editor like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.
I think that Jasmine from studyquill uses Movie Maker, and her videos are great,
so it's totally possible to make good, quality content with those.
YouTube even has a video editor on its own site, but I'd probably use Movie Maker or iMovie instead of that.
I suggest using the free options first and making sure that you're interested and enjoy making videos
before investing into more expensive equipment and programs.
Furthermore, learn how to use the programs that you have effectively.
Editing is a key part of making your videos look nice,
and if you don't know how to use the tools that you have, then it'll be harder to produce your content.
It doesn't matter if you have, like, a billion-dollar program;
if you don't know how to use it, you won't make good videos.
I personally use my phone, my mom's camera, Adobe Premier Pro CS6, and Adobe After Effects CS6,
but like I said, you don't have to have expensive programs,
you just need to learn how to use them effectively.
For voiceovers, I'm lazy and I just use the Voice Memo thing on my iPhone, and it's worked out fine for me.
You could use a microphone or something like that if you'd like.
Also, when you use music for YouTube videos,
be sure to use music with a Creative Commons license or something like that.
That way you won't get marked for copyright violation, which is a big thing on YouTube.
The YouTube Audio Library channel on YouTube itself has a lot of choices that you can pick from
to use in your videos.
And, finally, the most important bit:
DON'T LET SOCIAL MEDIA TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE!
The minute you find yourself stressing over follower or like count or something like that,
you need to log off your account and take a moment to breathe.
I know, validation feels great, but you don't have to let an online thing become an obsession.
It's not good for your mental health.
It's important to just have fun with it!
I hope this helped, and thanks for watching!
Be sure to click the link in the description box to get that seven free days of Graphicstock
because free things are great!
Bye! Good luck!