Behind the Scenes of P.S. by Macaron Hoarder’s Blog Rebrand

P.S. by Macaron Hoarder has been my digital baby for nearly six years.

When I was a teenager, I initially started a blog to share my Polyvore collages. The original name of the blog was Penser Souvent (pronounced pon-say sue-vohn), which means “to think often.”

In 2012, my blog took a turn when I started blogging every day of my study abroad trip in Oxford, England. I figured out that my blog could be a place for me to document my travels and everyday thoughts… Nothing that remarkable for a while, really,  until I studied abroad again in Paris, France for a short winter term in January 2014.

I did make some small changes over the years. I played around with themes, added social media widgets and stopped creating less “Dear Diary” types of posts. I changed the name a few years ago because I wanted something more playful—I also came to grips with the fact that Penser Souvent an impossible name for the average English speaker to pronounce. *sigh*

I never focused on trying to earn money or get recognition—my main concern has always been sharing things and places that have genuinely interested me. I never thought to monetize, create sponsored posts or engage in affiliate marketing. Granted, if I did those things a few years ago, it’s possible that P.S. by Macaron Hoarder would be more of an established brand…

Taking the blog to the next level

When I returned from visiting Paris, France earlier in 2017 and realized that I would be moving to the city by the summer, I decided it was time to give P.S. by Macaron Hoarder a much-needed makeover.

Fact: setting up your blog the right way requires a real investment of time and money—it’s hard to meet the latter part of the equation as a recent college graduate living on an entry level salary with little coding skills and Photoshop skills.

Sure, I was still working full-time through June and still didn’t have disposable thousands of dollars, but it was time to end the excuses. It had to happen.

These are the major changes I’ve made so far this year:

• Scheduled a professional photo shoot specifically for rebranding the site
• Transferred my blog from Blogger to WordPress
• Bought my domain name from SiteGround
• Upgraded to the WordPress Premium “Personal” package (not ready to do self-hosting at the moment)
• Engaging with bloggers in travel, lifestyle and digital entrepreneurship via Facebook groups
• Organically grew my Instagram following (nearly at 1K!)
• Guest blogging for other lifestyle, travel and Millennial blogs

The Biggest Change of the Blog Makeover

Out of all the things I’ve accomplished for P.S. by Macaron Hoarder, the most impactful change was finally getting a logo. It definitely helps to have an official digital presence!

I worked with Kayla Batista of Batista Graphic Design who I found through The Rising Tide Society, a creative digital entrepreneur network. We communicated well throughout the design process—both of us were in the process of big moves—and I am thrilled with the results of her hard work.

I selected the Oro Branding Suite, which includes a primary logo, secondary logo, business card and social media banners. Kayla really listened to my needs (I want my square logo to look nice on a macaron) and providing different color iterations of my logos.

 

Primary Logo

Secondary Logo

With all of these fresh and new features, I feel more confident pursuing more projects with P.S. by Macaron Hoarder. Looking forward to seeing what I can do over the next six years!