Today seems a little surreal. After months of collaboration, preparation, and anticipation, our Suite is being featured on Glitter Guide today! For those of you who have been following along with Elle & Company since the fall, you know the story of our cozy mother-in-law suite and how I partnered with Michaela Noelle Designs to transform our current living space. And while I'm excited to share the final reveal with you, I'm even more excited to share how I landed this one-of-a-kind opportunity for my business.

How I Got Featured on The Glitter Guide | Elle & Company

Online magazines like Glitter Guide are a great way to gain exposure for any blog or business; they receive a large amount of traffic to their blog and social media accounts on a daily basis, and many people visit their sites for inspiration and ideas. I knew that getting featured on a popular online magazine would give me the opportunity to spread the word about my blog and reach an entirely new audience. So when I came up with the idea of transforming our small rental space into something more functional and personalized, I saw the project as a creative business investment. I knew that every penny we put toward pillows, paint, and curtains would be well spent if I was able to book one branding client from the whole experience.

As I began to think through the concept, my talented friend and interior designer, Michaela, came to mind. I not only admired Michaela's aesthetic, but I had begun to strike up a friendship with her through sponsoring the Bloom Workshop that she co-founded. I knew that a feature in an online magazine would be mutually beneficial for her and position her as even more of an expert in her field, so I reached out to her about the project and asked for her feedback. She was thrilled about the idea and we decided to feature the process on our blogs to allow readers to follow along and vote on options. Not only did it increase engagement on both of our sites, but we also benefited from pooling followers and sharing the project each others' sites.

I also recruited the help of another friend in the photography industry, Andrea Pesce, to take photos of the final reveal. Andrea is my go-to for all of the Elle & Company product photos and head shots; she's incredibly talented and wonderful to work with, and I knew that this opportunity would be beneficial to her, too.

Because we went into the project with a feature and professional photos in mind, Michaela was able to reach out to several businesses like Lulu & Georgia, Minted, and Target to ask them if they would be interested in partnering with us by providing items for the Suite. Not only was this helpful for our budget, but some of these companies have already posted our sneak peek photos onto their Instagram accounts because their items were in our images! A mention from a company with hundreds of thousands of followers is always good for business and blogging.

Within a couple months, everything came to fruition. Michaela did an incredible job designing our small space to match the Elle & Company aesthetic, finding items on our budget, and networking with all of the different companies who collaborated with us on this project. Andrea made a special trip down to Charlotte and took beautiful photos of our space on the grayest, most overcast day (you would never believe it looking at these photos, would you?). And Jake gets a shoutout, too, for all of his help painting and assembling - goodness knows I would have had trouble doing it all on my own!

Once everything was ready, Michaela and I discussed where we would submit the images. Our top two sites were The Everygirl and Glitter Guide, and each had its different advantages. Here's a side-by-side comparison:

While The Everygirl is ranked lower on Alexa and has more site traffic, Glitter Guide has a much larger social media following and tends to post about their features more often on Instagram. Michaela also had some connections at Glitter Guide, so she reached out to them about the Suite, told them the story and explained the project, and included a link to the photo gallery. And then we waited. After a week, we received great news that the final reveal would featured on Glitter Guide!

I learned several things from this entire experience. First and foremost, I learned the importance of collaboration and networking. Successful projects are most often team efforts, and this project wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Michaela's interior design skills and Andrea's beautiful photography. If you're looking to expand your reach and get featured in a publication on a large blog or website, reach out to other people in your industry who have experience, talent, and connections. Think of ways that your project will benefit everyone involved.

Second, I learned the importance of thinking creatively about business opportunities. Before this project, I would have considered online features out of my reach, especially because I'm not in the wedding, interior design, or DIY industries. This experience broadened my perspective on business opportunities and gave me the ability to reach an entirely new audience. If you're a business owner or blogger who hasn't considered getting featured in a publication of some shape or form, I would highly recommend thinking through this great opportunity to get your name out there. Instead of brainstorming ways to pull off the same thing everyone else is doing, make the most of your current situation and get creative. Stand-out ideas are often those that break the mold and do something different.

And third, I learned to do comparative research on prospective feature sites to see where I could get the most exposure for my business. A little research goes a long way. Instead of going along with the sites you're most familiar with, consider which sites and publications have the most engagement and would bring the most traffic to your site and social media accounts.

More photos and a Q&A on the final outcome is on Glitter Guide today!

Click here to view the Glitter Guide post

Be sure to visit Michaela's blog also to learn how she designed for our small space, and visit Andrea's blog to find out how she was able to take these gorgeous, bright images on such an overcast day!