It has been exactly one week since I’ve been back from Las Vegas competing at Mrs. America. I’ve needed the entire week to get back on track and for my body to fully recuperate. To say this past weekend has been a world wind would be a complete understatement. As much as I tried to prepare for the week ahead, the 10 days that I spent in Las Vegas we’re completely overwhelming but in a good way. I’m going to share with you a few tips that will help you if you are on your way to compete for the  prestigious title of Mrs America. Not only will these tips help you stay on track in maintaining your level of focus they will also help you not experience burnout and keep you level-headed. Remember we are competing for the crown and we have work to do. 

 Here are a few important topics I want to share to prepare you before traveling to compete for Mrs America.

Invest In Comfortable Heels

 I’m sure by now you realize that you will be on your feet for the entire duration of your stay.  Not only will you be on your feet all day you will also be expected to be at the top of your game. You will be stopped in the hotel to talk to guests and to take pictures with hotel staff and guests. Also expect to be moving from one end of the hotel to another for rehearsals, lunch breaks and makeup and hair touch-ups throughout the day. 

Investing in a pair of comfortable shoes is my number one tip to get you through Mrs America week. Trust me when I tell you comfort is going to take president over style. By day three of wearing those pageant heels your feet will be barking at you. 

There is nothing sexy about feet that are red, blistered, and painful to the touch.

 As soon as I got off of the plane Mrs America week was in full swing. I dropped my bags off at the concierge desk and I was whisked away to my first photo shoot at the pool still wearing 6 inch heels. I then had to travel to the opposite side of the hotel to check in, collect my things, and then travel to the opposite side of the hotel for my first orientation. By 6 p.m. my feet hurt so bad I already had two blisters. You do not want this to be you on day one. I highly suggest that you always keep a pair of comfortable flats in your travel bag each day while walking around the hotel property.

Another Tip: If you are arriving on pageant day be sure your attire is picture worthy. You will be taking tons of photos. 

Everyday Is a Photo Op: Dress To Kill

While we are on the subject of style I also want to emphasize the importance of showing up each day as Mrs. America. With all things, you always want to dress the part and Mrs. America week is the perfect opportunity to dress to Kill.  My rule of thumb is always  make sure that you are comfortable yet stylish. You will definitely have your nights where you will have to wear full evening gowns and over the top dresses. But your day to today wear should not only be comfortable it should be stylish. 

 Keep in mind that not only are you vying for your opportunity to be Mrs America you are also making tons of memories. This includes taking tons and tons of photographs not only with your new sash sisters but with guests who are attending the pageant and other pageant enthusiasts. 

You don’t want to get caught in those sweatpants you wear around the house. 

Take this opportunity to make sure you are presenting your best self.  Yes your days will be filled with tons of rehearsals and events so you don’t want to wear a suit each and every day however, you definitely want to make a statement with each outfit that you wear. Make sure that it not only shows your personality but it also sets you apart from your fellow competitors.

Show Yourself Friendly

 This next tip is critical because as a fellow competitor  myself I know both sides of this coin. I know you may be a bit shy or even feel intimidated at times but please be friendly to your fellow competitors. I really want to emphasize this point because your first impression is typically your lasting impression. Keep in mind that you will be meeting at minimum 49 other women from across the country who will be sharing this journey with you. They are also very nervous, excited, and experiencing the same emotions as you are. A simple hello or a friendly smile can really break the ice.

 As I mentioned previously you are competing to become Mrs America. You are going to have to get into the habit of becoming friendly and cultivating an environment where people feel comfortable walking up to you and starting up a conversation.

 This is the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to do the following:

• Connect with people from various backgrounds as well as networking with women and men.
•  Creating lasting friendships and relationships. 
• Getting a snapshot of what Mrs. America is really all about. 

So being friendly also means speaking to guests and staff in the hotels and places you visit. I can tell you from first experience, queens who don’t speak are remembered. 

I was standing in line getting coffee and striked up a conversation with a hotel guest. She told me about a fellow contestant who she waved at and the queen did not greet her. I apologized on her behalf and she told me that there were also three other competitors who did not speak back as they traveled throughout the hotel and she remembered what states they represented. This was very disheartening to hear as we are state representatives and ambassadors to our respective organizations. We want to be remembered as being kind and courteous. Remember your first impression is your lasting impression .

Make Memories

 Oh the memories you will make. As I sit back and think of the countless times I laughed with my fellow sash sisters during the week it really makes my heart smile. Not only did we create tons and tons of memories but the friendships that we created will be lifelong friendships. I know this is going to be easier said than done but try to take a few moments each day to really reflect on the journey.  What you are experiencing right now will be stories you share with your grandchildren for years to come. Really take in the time that you spent at Mrs America because as long as 10 days may seem it is going to be over in a blink of an eye. Savor the moment and enjoy the journey.

Remember Your Why

 Your “why” should be at the top of your list when preparing to leave for Mrs America week. I mean this in all sincerity. While you’re packing your bags remember why you’re doing all of this. All the time, all the preparation, all the sacrifice. Remember this as you arrive at Mrs America week and keep it at the forefront of your mind when making any and all decisions. 

Why do you want to be Mrs. America? 

Why do you want this National platform? 

What is your goal at Mrs America?

 These are all of the things that you need to consider before stepping foot on that competition stage. Your “why” is going to be the driving force behind your performance at Mrs America. 

You do not want to come home with any regrets about your personal interviews or the opportunities that passed you by. You want to remain steadfast in your reasoning for competing as well as maintaining a level head while going through this journey. It can be quite  easy to get wrapped up and all of the gossip and drama that may or may not go on around you. I’m happy to say I did not experience any of this during my time at Mrs America however sometimes emotions have a way of changing the dynamic of competition. Don’t sweat the small stuff and allow other people’s personal emotions or problems to invade your mind. With any journey it’s never how you start it’s always how you finish your “why” I will keep you on track.

I hope this tips and suggestions have helped you as you prepare to compete at Mrs. America or any pageant for that matter. This journey is so rewarding in so many ways and my hope for you is that you enjoy every second of it. 

I’m going to show you why Tubebuddy is the best tool to get more views, increase watch time, gain subscribers, and make you money FAST on YouTube! I know that growing on YouTube is important, and I want to show you how you can use TubeBuddy for FREE to get more views on YouTube and make that money honey! Remember, in order to make money on Youtube you have to have to be monetized. This requires 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time hours. In order to reach these requirements fast, I also have some other articles to help you. View them HERE and HERE. Today we are going to discuss this software and how it helped me make thousands on YouTube.

Can TubeBuddy help you earn income? Yes, it can, and I’m going to tell you exactly the features that you need to start focusing on when it comes to using TubeBuddy. Specifically to help you grow your YouTube channel.

KeyWord Planner

The very first one is the TubeBuddy keyword planner.

If you’re trying to rank videos, it helps to know where you can compete. Let me explain, let’s say that you’re trying to get your video inside of YouTube search.

So if somebody is looking for a specific thing, you want your videos are gonna pop up.

The keyword planner is going to give you insight into what your chances are for ranking for a specific term. This is based on the competition, based on what’s happening on your channel, and so on.

If I use the Keyword Explorer for the keyword Tubebuddy,

1. It’s gonna show me my chances of ranking for that search term. 

2. It’s also gonna show me the overall search volume, and how strong my competition for that term is.

3.  It’s gonna show me how optimized the results are for that term.

The keyword planner also shows you web searches and other video topics related to this phrase. So you can keep exploring ideas and you can take a peek at the current search results, see historical interests and so on.

So, this one helps you grow by making sure that you’re going for the right words or the right phrases that you have a better chance of ranking for. You can then make better decisions when you’re titling, writing the descriptions, writing your tags, or doing overall optimization for your video.

Get CLICKS On Your Videos

Next, is the AB testing feature for the thumbnails. This was the first thing I used and also why I upgraded my free trial. 

This one is amazing because it lets you compare two thumbnails against each other to see which one gets the best results. THIS has helped me make money using Tubebuddy.

LISTEN!

 Thumbnails and titles are the first thing that people see, it’s their first point of contact with that new piece of content.

Doesn’t matter if they’re a new viewer or if they’re a returning viewer, that thumbnail and the title, is the very first thing they see.

So, thumbnails are extremely important in helping you grow your channel.

For example, they’ll show you where people click the most.

So, if you’re targeting YouTube’s recommendation features and more people are clicking those, then you may wanna go whichever wins with that. But, if you’re targeting search, then go for the one that wins in search.

Or, you can just let TubeBuddy tell you which one has the best performance overall and go with that one.

In short, this one’s gonna help you grow because if people are not clicking on your thumbnails

• Then your view counts are gonna be lower. 
• If your view counts are lower, then your channel growth is gonna be slow. 

Thus it’s gonna take you a lot longer to get to where it is that you’re trying to go.

But, if they are clicking on your thumbnails like crazy because you’ve figured out which thumbnails they click on the most, then you’re gonna get more views.

When you get more views, then that’s gonna give you more chances to get more watch time, which is gonna help you grow authority on your channel.

It’s gonna help you get more subscribers because you’re getting more views and so on. So, if you haven’t picked up what I’m trying to say here, making sure that your thumbnails are effective is extremely important.

Add Those Tags

Another one is their suggested tag feature. Now, with their suggested tag feature, when you are uploading your videos into YouTube, and you are optimizing that video for search, basically what I mean by that is,

• You’re writing your titles.
• Creating writing your descriptions.
• Putting your tags together.
• Getting all the stuff together to make sure that you are giving YouTube the best idea of what your video is about.

With the suggested tags, what’s gonna happen is it’s gonna say, okay, 

• this is the title that they’re using,
• this is the description that they’re using.

So, it will determine that these are the tags that they should be using in their videos. Or these are the options of tags that they should be using in their videos so that

they can also be connected to additional search terms. 

It allows you the chance of ranking for those terms or being suggested next to other content that is also using those tags.

What’s really dope about it is, it will show you suggestions and you’ll see some of those suggestions and you’re like, why didn’t I think of that? I like to also use the suggested tags for more video ideas related to my niche. Another way to make money using TubeBuddy!

Now, real quick, I wanna put a disclaimer here,YouTube has stated that they don’t rely solely on the proper tags used to suggest your videos to its platform. I find that tags help Youtube categorize your content. Also, as mentioned above it helps me understand what people on YouTube are searching for. 

Even if you have the perfect title,a good description, and all of your tags, if people are not watching your video for an extended period of time, YouTube is going to demote that video.

So, if they’re not watching it or if people are not engaging in your content, then that can hurt your rankings.

So, it’s really important to make sure that even if you’re optimizing your video properly, that you’re not solely relying on just making good titles, and just optimizing your tags, just optimizing your descriptions. You wanna make sure that you’re doing all of the things, so to speak, to make sure that once you get in those search positions, that you can own those search positions, or that you can stay there for a long time and use those as a long-term source of traffic to your channel.

And the same exact thing applies to the suggested videos. If you are getting connected to another video and you’re getting a lot of traffic from that video because people are clicking on your thumbs and things like that, initially, but you’re not keeping people watching your content, then what’s gonna happen is the people that are making videos where when people watch their content, they’re watching it for an extended period of time, those videos will end up beating out your videos. So, it’s really important to make sure that you’re doing all of the things, and not just saying oh, well I have good tags. Because it’s a lot more than that but TubeBuddy is gonna help you do that as well as a bunch of other stuff.

So, make sure that you go ahead and get it.

I really recommend that you go ahead and install the FREE version of TubeBuddy through the link HERE. It’s the number one tool for YouTubers for a reason.

Because it’s works.

Tubebuddy is software installed into your YouTube channel that can help you grow and optimize your channel.  In today’s post, I’m gonna take a deeper look into how I use TubeBuddy to make thousands of dollars each month on Youtube. Tubebuddy is the most important tool for any YouTuber who wants to be more serious on YouTube. Although I have the paid version of Tubebuddy however in this post I’m sharing with you can be done with the FREE version of the software as well as the upgraded software. 

What Is TubeBuddy

Tubebuddy is a FREE browser extension and if you want to download – Tubebuddy for free and help me out you can use my affiliate link – HERE . Did I mention it’s free!

You can install Tubebuddy to either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple’s Safari there are paid versions of Tubebuddy, but everything we are going over today is free. 

Once installed head over to YouTube and sign in once you link your account and read through the permissions you’re good to go.

Is TubeBuddy Safe

Since a lot of people aren’t familiar with Tubebuddy here is the answer my coaching clients ask me all the time. Is Tubebuddy safe?

Yes, Tubebuddy is a YouTube certified company that works directly with YouTube’s API. Buddy has to go through rounds of compliance checks monthly to make sure YouTube is happy with the services they are providing. YouTube recommends this service, however, like any tool you are using at your own risk. 

Top Five Ways To Use TubeBuddy

1. Videolytics – Free Videolytics is a great feature that lets you see how other successful content creators have tagged and shared their content. This is useful because it can give you a better understanding of what another creator in your niche is targeting in YouTube search, and since you are in a similar niche, it can help you find places that the creator isn’t targeting. Finding a place that the creator isn’t targeting, gives you a chance in search to stand out!

Another great thing to do is to take a look at the Social Monitor to see where their content was shared. Looking at Twitter for an example, it lets you engage with fans of that creator on another platform, and gives you an opportunity to interact with them. These are fans that have chosen to share out the content, so they’re more engaged than just your standard youtube commenter. This can you broaden your community, and lets you know what content their most dedicated fans are sharing from that content creator.

2. Keyword Explorer – Free

The TubeBuddy Keyword explorer is an expansive tool that helps you research what people are looking for around a topic! Keyword Explorer is available to free users but will have limited results, compared to paid users. If you were to look up “how to get more views on YouTube”, we can see how many people are looking for this on YouTube per month, how many videos there are for this topic, a general unweighted score, and for paid members, a personalized weighted score using YOUR channel data.

The score is like a stoplight – red means STOP and consider another keyword to use, yellow is to be cautious about that keyword, and green means you’re good to go. However, make sure to look at the other factors within keyword explorer! We know Keyword explorer can be confusing, so we created a playlist on how to use keyword explorer in depth from start to finish and what all the sections mean! You can click that card on the screen, but we recommend sticking around to see more ways to get views!

3. Playlist Organizer – Pro Version

Playlists are important on YouTube, and they help make your videos easy to watch one video after the other! With this TubeBuddy tool, we’ll help your playlists be even better! By heading to the playlist page, we let you organize your playlists’ by clicking on a playlist, and then hitting the “TubeBuddy Action icon” We let you sort for free by Standard metrics, such as what’s most popular or newest. Or by Misc. options, such as alphabetical or if in a group playlist. You can sort your videos first, or in random order. For paid users, we let you sort by: Which videos get you the most subscribers, which videos have the highest average view duration, which videos get the most likes, comments, or shares, or watch percentage.

This is useful because if you want to earn more subscribers, having a playlist that converts people to subscribe to you, is the way to do that. You could call this something like “Your channel names best videos” so for us “TubeBuddy’s fan-favorite tools.” That way the playlist is more searchable and gives people an idea of what the playlist is about. This helps more people watch a playlist with your videos, helping you get more views, subscribers, shares, etc.

 4.Retention Analyzer – Legend Version

Knowing when people stop watching your content is important to get more views, because if most people leave before the end, they may not be suggested in another video. With a retention analyzer, we look at your 25 most popular videos. Your 25 most recent videos to find the average view duration. Then you can know at what point people are leaving. So you can add a card to try to engage them, or more importantly, make additional changes so those drops don’t happen in your future YouTube videos! If you do add a card, you are likely to get more views. It helps encourage people to watch more of your content, instead of clicking away and watching something else.

5. Bulk add Cards & End Screens – Star Version

You can use your existing videos to push to your most recent video! To do this, head to the my videos page, and bulk edit either cards or endscreens. It will show you how to bulk edit cards, but it works the same for endscreens. Using the time information we got from the retention analyzer, place a card on a video at that time. Then follow the on screen instructions and you can add that element to ALL of the videos that have a common drop off at that point.

This is a great way to get them to watch more of your content. On the end screens, you can just select “Best for viewer” which is YT automatically suggesting something that is good for that specific viewer. It’s important you add a card right before the viewer drop off point. This is because if people click off your video before the end, it won’t matter that you have end screen elements if no one in the video makes it that far.

Adding cards to your videos allows you to increase watch time to your channel which will increase your monthly views and revenue.

These are five TubeBuddy tools that can help you get more views on YouTube! This is only a small fraction of the ways I use Tubebuddy but these top five have helped me the most. I have incorporated them into my channel strategy and have seen great success. If you’d like the link to get a FREE trial click here NOW! Additionally if you want the key to creating content that makes you money forever, read my article here.

So you have been creating the content, writing the blog post, filming and editing the YouTube videos and now you are ready to make money. No matter which avenue you’ve chosen, brand collaborations and sponsorships are a wonderful way for you to generate additional income. So, why aren’t your favorite brands contacting you?  Well, the short answer is, they may not know that you exist. Let me teach you how to pitch to brands for sponsorships and collaborations. I know this may seem scary but trust me. This simple formula will have you well on your way to writing great emails that pitch to brands for sponsorships, collaborations, and much more.

I’m going to share with you guys what has taken me years of training, expensive courses, as well as combing through online resources, to create.

At the very least this formula will get you on the PR list. At best it will get you the brand deal you’re requesting. Now, all things considered, the content must be engaging, informative, and Evergreen. I have a blog post here where I talked about creating content that is Evergreen to attract brands as well as generate residual income. The key to learning to pitch to brands for sponsorships is being able to explain in a short email how much value to offer the brand.

Before You Send Out That First Email 

 There are a few steps you need to take prior to sending out that first pitch email. Do not mindlessly email the brand. You should first figure out what you’re trying to get out of this correspondence.  

• Is your goal to get on a PR list? 
• Or trying to get on an email list to get invited to an event?
• Are you soliciting a paid sponsorship? 

 This of course influences the subject line of your email.

Subject Line Of Email

You want your subject line to stand out and grab the reader’s attention. You can opt to place something like “Urgent Inquiry” in the subject line. This can be a bold yet effective move. This is sure to get your reader not only interested in your proposal but interested in you. 

Pitch Email Example

Here is an example of what you can include in a pitch email.   Depending on the type of collaboration you are pitching to the brand you will have to change the verbiage to suit your interest. 

Hello, (Insert direct contact name)

My name is Chimere Nicole I am a digital content creator as well as a brand strategist. Please visit my website for more information at your convenience.  I have also attached my media kit for my up to date analytics and more. 

Then Explain The Reason For The Email

I’m emailing you today because I’m inquiring about your PR list. As a beauty and lifestyle influencer, it would be an opportunity of a lifetime to create content from a brand I own and love. I could create great quality content in exchange for an affiliate link, paid collaboration, or free product. 

This again, will depend on the type of collaboration your looking for. 

Then you want to tell the brand why you are worth the rates you are charging for this collaboration. 

Why You Are Worth The Rate

This portion of the email will serve as a mini resume of previous collaborations you’ve done and an outline of your social media reach. This will help to establish brand trust and validity. 

 My content can be seen on Forbes and XM Radio. I’ve been featured in Peoples Magazine, Essence, and Vanity Fair.   

You only want a name drop for the companies and brands that align with the company you are sending the pitch too. 

Example: If I’m pitching to CVS I will talk about the campaigns I’ve done with Walgreens. 

Try to keep this portion a minimum of 2-3 sentences. 

Finish Strong

 Lastly,  you wanna end the email with a strong thank and call to action.

Here is an example.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my email. I trust that you will take the content of

my email and a serious consideration. Additionally, I

look forward to hearing from you at your

earliest convenience.

 Kind regards,

Chimere Nicole

(Insert your contact information)

Best Practices

Here are a few extra tips I want you to keep in mind when pitching brands for brand collaborations. 

• Create a Media Kit. This will be a PDF document that breaks down your niche, demographic, rates, and more. 
• Prepare to negotiate your collaboration terms. Be flexible but remain firm.
• All collaborations should be mutually beneficial. You and the brand should benefit from the sponsorship equally.
• Do NOT pitch to brands if you can’t provide value. Make sure your numbers and analytics are up to date.
• Keep your correspondents professional at all times. 

Make sure you check out my article on EVERGREEN content HERE. If you want to attract brands, you will need to position yourself as a creator that provides value. Evergreen content helps you to do that, FAST.