Merry Merry. Merry Merry.
Who is panic wrapping??? Who is panic wrapping???
If it’s going to be 80 degrees for Christmas I’m a If it’s going to be 80 degrees for Christmas I’m asking Santa for a spray tan gift card in my stocking.
As my boys have gotten older there is almost alway As my boys have gotten older there is almost always a friend eating dinner at my house or spending the night. The weekends are reserved for a driveway full of bikes and basketball. This year, in my haste to make my @shutterfly card I accidentally added a picture with one of my bonus kids in it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #themorethemerrier
You are not shadow banned. Your content is not bei You are not shadow banned. Your content is not being hidden. Most of the time, it simply is not resonating with your audience anymore, especially if you are using the app correctly, which I will explain at the end.

People blame “shadow banning” when they see a drop in engagement, but when I look at their metrics, I can usually see small declines long before they noticed them. Social media platforms have millions of users. They are not punishing you because you took a week off.

What actually happens is this. Your audience stopped engaging with your content, and when you took a break, they filled that space with other creators. When you returned, the algorithm showed them the accounts they interacted with most, which was not you. They were not looking for your content because it was not relevant to them anymore. I see this over and over.

There is one real caveat. How you are using the app. If you upload unlicensed music, follow and unfollow in large numbers, run giveaways that break platform rules or respond to comments in negative ways, you can hurt your reach. That is not a shadow ban. That is violating the service agreement.

A case study. Someone told me they was shadow banned. When I looked at their account, a few things stood out.

1. There was no aspirational layer to the content. It was a business that relied on people physically coming in, yet nothing showcased a luxury experience, or a story people could connect with. Photos were blurry, captions were minimal and there was no searchable language to help people discover her business.

2. There was no engagement back to the audience. Not responding to comments is one of the fastest ways to lose your community. People want acknowledgment. If they do not get it from you, they will give their attention to someone else.

3. They were not using the app like a real user.  Instagram and TikTok know you are a business, but they still reward accounts that behave like humans.  Comment, watch stories and sending DMs. That signals genuine activity and community building.

Most of the time the issue is not a shadow ban. It is content, connection and consistency. And the good news is all of that can be improved.
Candy cane bow tutorial!! #chrismas #christmasbaki Candy cane bow tutorial!! #chrismas #christmasbaking #christmascake #christmastreat #holiday #holidaytreats #coquettechristmas #twee #coquetteholiday
Coffee with my favorite collaborator… Coffee with my favorite collaborator…
Shop local gift guide @shopstelladallas!! Shop local gift guide @shopstelladallas!!
Last Christmas, we took the Annual King Cookie Par Last Christmas, we took the Annual King Cookie Party in a whole new direction and it ended up being one of my favorite versions yet. I invited some of my closest friends to Kismet Cosmetics, decorated gingerbread houses, and made our own lip gloss and face glitter. It was such a fun way to reconnect with my friends during the busiest time of year. The full recap is on the blog now. Link in bio.
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At Home, Fun, Halloween, Holiday, Kids, Life · October 31, 2019

We Five King’s Family Halloween Costume

We wanted to have some extra fun with our Family Halloween costume this year and fun we had….

Jurassic Park Family Picture
Jurassic Park Family Picture
Jurassic Park Family Halloween Costumes
Jurassic Park Family Halloween Costumes
Boys dressed as velociraptors from Jurassic Park

Each year it gets a little harder to do family costumes. The boys are getting older and they all have opinions about what they want to be as well as having favorite movies and characters. I originally wanted us to do Game of Thrones and I was going to be the Mother of Dragons of course but they vetoed that with a quickness.

When I first mentioned Jurassic Park they said no. Then I told them that I would get the blow up costumes and they were intrigued. Then I actually bought them the costumes so they could try it on and bam… SOLD.

We can venture to say I’m a… Clever Girl. (If you know, you know and if you don’t this costume is probably lost on you anyway.)

When I originally called our photographer Melissa to help me with this shoot I thought we would be just shooting the running pictures with the smoke bombs. When we got to her house she had brought out this little step stool to help her get pictures from above and it hit us both how funny it would be to do posed family pictures.

This is 100% going to be our Christmas Card picture this year…

Jurassic Park Family Halloween Costumes posed family picture
Jurassic Park Family Halloween Costumes posed family picture
Little boy dressed as a velociraptor from Jurassic Park

Using the Shutter Bombs…

I had zero idea where to get the smoke bombs from when we initially started talking about this. I reached out to a blogger networking group I am in and asked them if anyone had used them before. Gracefully Taylored had all the answers and pointed me to the Shutter Bomb website.

I ordered the original bombs in gray. When the website says they act fast and to be ready believe them. They are quick and depending on the wind they discippate quickly. I thought we would be good since we were in a little alcove of trees but it was still a little too windy.

A few things you should know. Pulling the pin on the bomb is harder than it looks. There is a spark initially when they bomb ignites. They stink really bad, produce a thick smoke that will burn your eyes and if you get too close it will stain your clothing. You also need to plan an exit strategy because the bombs are very hot when you finish with them so bring something (non-flammable) to carry them in after you finish. One last thing, on their website they encourage you to buy more than you need. I bought two and I wish I had purchased four.

This was Melissa and my first time working with the smoke and I am really happy with the results.

The more you know!

Want to see more of our Halloween content…

https://wefivekings.blog/2019/09/16/4-halloween-outfits-for-when-you-arent-feeling-a-costume/
https://wefivekings.blog/2019/09/15/11-family-halloween-costume-ideas-for-big-ish-families/
Halloween Recap

In: At Home, Fun, Halloween, Holiday, Kids, Life · Tagged: christmas card shoot, fall, fall events, fall holidays, family costumes for boys, family costumes with young kids, family fun, family photo shoot, famiy costumes, Fun group costumes, group costumes, halloween, halloween costunes, Halloween for families, jurassic park, jurassic park costumes, October, shutter bombs, unconventional family pictures

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I'm Tiffany. Although some of my favorite people call me Tippy. My favorite color is pattern. Seriously, I've never met a pattern I didn't like. My style is as bold as my personality and you should never trust my hair color. I am all about size inclusive style on a Nordstrom Sale budget.
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Merry Merry. Merry Merry.
Who is panic wrapping??? Who is panic wrapping???
If it’s going to be 80 degrees for Christmas I’m a If it’s going to be 80 degrees for Christmas I’m asking Santa for a spray tan gift card in my stocking.
As my boys have gotten older there is almost alway As my boys have gotten older there is almost always a friend eating dinner at my house or spending the night. The weekends are reserved for a driveway full of bikes and basketball. This year, in my haste to make my @shutterfly card I accidentally added a picture with one of my bonus kids in it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #themorethemerrier
You are not shadow banned. Your content is not bei You are not shadow banned. Your content is not being hidden. Most of the time, it simply is not resonating with your audience anymore, especially if you are using the app correctly, which I will explain at the end.

People blame “shadow banning” when they see a drop in engagement, but when I look at their metrics, I can usually see small declines long before they noticed them. Social media platforms have millions of users. They are not punishing you because you took a week off.

What actually happens is this. Your audience stopped engaging with your content, and when you took a break, they filled that space with other creators. When you returned, the algorithm showed them the accounts they interacted with most, which was not you. They were not looking for your content because it was not relevant to them anymore. I see this over and over.

There is one real caveat. How you are using the app. If you upload unlicensed music, follow and unfollow in large numbers, run giveaways that break platform rules or respond to comments in negative ways, you can hurt your reach. That is not a shadow ban. That is violating the service agreement.

A case study. Someone told me they was shadow banned. When I looked at their account, a few things stood out.

1. There was no aspirational layer to the content. It was a business that relied on people physically coming in, yet nothing showcased a luxury experience, or a story people could connect with. Photos were blurry, captions were minimal and there was no searchable language to help people discover her business.

2. There was no engagement back to the audience. Not responding to comments is one of the fastest ways to lose your community. People want acknowledgment. If they do not get it from you, they will give their attention to someone else.

3. They were not using the app like a real user.  Instagram and TikTok know you are a business, but they still reward accounts that behave like humans.  Comment, watch stories and sending DMs. That signals genuine activity and community building.

Most of the time the issue is not a shadow ban. It is content, connection and consistency. And the good news is all of that can be improved.
Candy cane bow tutorial!! #chrismas #christmasbaki Candy cane bow tutorial!! #chrismas #christmasbaking #christmascake #christmastreat #holiday #holidaytreats #coquettechristmas #twee #coquetteholiday
Coffee with my favorite collaborator… Coffee with my favorite collaborator…
Shop local gift guide @shopstelladallas!! Shop local gift guide @shopstelladallas!!
Last Christmas, we took the Annual King Cookie Par Last Christmas, we took the Annual King Cookie Party in a whole new direction and it ended up being one of my favorite versions yet. I invited some of my closest friends to Kismet Cosmetics, decorated gingerbread houses, and made our own lip gloss and face glitter. It was such a fun way to reconnect with my friends during the busiest time of year. The full recap is on the blog now. Link in bio.
I have been creating online for almost a decade, a I have been creating online for almost a decade, and the landscape has shifted in major ways. These are the changes that matter right now.

1. People don’t want to be influenced. They want to be educated. Audiences want content that improves their life, solves a problem or teaches them something useful. Value builds trust and trust builds connection.
2. Organic engagement is no longer the only metric. Paid reach is a smart tool when you know your audience and use the right placements. Sometimes your best content needs a push to reach the right people.
3. Community requires evolution. As you grow, your audience grows. Their needs change. Listening to what they save, ask for and respond to is how you stay connected.
4. Personality is the new niche. People follow people. Your voice, humor and perspective are what separate you from everyone else in your category.
5. Consistency matters, but sustainability matters more. Batching, content silos and systems help you show up without burning out.
6. Social SEO is essential. People use Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest like search engines. Keyword dense captions, clear hooks and intentional hashtags help your content get discovered long after posting.
7. Community is more important than virality. Viral moments fade. A loyal audience stays, engages and converts.
8. Creators are becoming brands and brands are becoming creators. Storytelling, personality and real time content now matter more than being perfectly polished.
9. AI isn’t replacing creators. It supports them. It frees up time so you can focus on creativity, connection and strategy.
10. Transparency matters more than perfection. And transparency isn’t the same as authenticity. Transparency means not gatekeeping and letting people into the process so they feel empowered.
11. Growth isn’t just about new followers. It’s about nurturing the audience you already have. Engagement and trust will take you farther than any number at the top of your profile.

The creator space is evolving and so are we. Staying curious, adaptable and connected to your community is how you grow long term.

#personalbranding #contentcreatortips

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