HOW I REBRANDED MY BLOG

If you’ve been following along for a while, you probably know that I started this blog under the name “Lovely in Gold.” I’ve been getting some questions lately on why I made the switch to Kelli Testa, how I made the change, and whether this was beneficial to my blog & business. Rather than answering the same question through DM & email, I thought I would address my process and results here on the blog.

When I first started this blog (circa 2016) it took me a while to decide on a name. I am naturally an indecisive person (which drives Daniel crazy – sorry love) and cursed with never being satisfied in my present career position. This could be viewed as a good & bad thing – you bet your a$$ that I  H U S T L E, but I can also be pretty hard on myself to push towards my goals. So as you can imagine, determining the name of my blog was no simple task.

I had a few cutesy names that I liked but did I really want to go the whole favorite drink + name of fabric route? Not to hate on anyone that’s done that, but it wasn’t the right fit for me. On multiple occasions I thought of a name I loved only to discover the domain was not available – AM I EVEN ORIGINAL? And no, I am absolutely not buying a domain at .me, .co, or .space. Please don’t do that.

After enlisting the help of some friends, I landed on Lovely in Gold. I started out on Blogger for the first year, bought a DSLR camera, and had my first brand collaborations. All in all it was a great start and with time, I started getting more and more opportunities. I was building contacts and joined multiple affiliate programs (Check my list of affiliate networks you need to sign up for here!). I soon realized that if I wanted this to be a serious business, it was necessary to use my own hosting. Anyone that is contemplating this – I would strongly encourage you to make the jump. Think of Blogger as renting an apartment – it’s right for some people, but it’s not really yours. When you purchase your own hosting, you OWN your site.

I chose my hosting package and started the transition from Blogger to WordPress. I do all of my own site development and I’m not going to lie, this was a stressful process. There was a lot of yelling/swearing/freaking out while I made the move. Dan had to witness this meltdown … poor guy – he is really such a gem. I’ll be doing a post on how to migrate your own site in a few weeks so I won’t go into too much detail here. I will say that after those few panicked hours that all was lost, I could see the light & was officially hosting MY OWN site on the WordPress interface.

With the switch, I felt like my blog was being taken more seriously and it felt good. I landed larger brand campaigns and my first travel collab. I was growing and really starting to make a name for myself but still felt like something wasn’t right – I didn’t love my branding.

I’ve been told I was crazy to change and the name was cute, but it wasn’t where I saw myself years from now. I have big plans for this blog & I’m in it for the long haul. I’m proud of the long hours, headaches, tears, and triumphs I’ve conquered and needed a name where I could continue to evolve.

I went simple this time and used my own name and it felt right. Again, this wasn’t a seamless process. I moved my primary & secondary domain with my hosting company, updated my social handles, changed email addresses, updated my affiliate profiles, and went through a complete rebranding strategy. This might sound like a lot, but it was SO WORTH IT. If you are unhappy with the name of your blog, don’t settle and make the move. The longer you wait, the lengthier the process and I promise you will feel so good once it’s done!

Alright guys, rant over. Can we talk about this adorable Chicwish pearl dress? I wore this out for Dan’s birthday dinner this weekend and have a feeling it’s going to be a date night favorite. It’s a soft knit fabric which is perfect for transitioning into fall.  I love the retro glam drop-waist & the fun pearl embellishments. I am wearing a size S-M for reference and linking it below.   It’s under $75 and going to sell out quick!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

xx KT