1. What's your name?
Shifa Jiwani
2. What’s the name of your business and what products/services do you offer?
The name of my business is Sincerely Shifa and it’s a lifestyle blog I created to help millenial women learn life skills, further their creativity, inspire effortless, everyday outfit ideas, and everything in between! Recently, I’ve also been adding fun easy-to-make recipes which have been a hit!
3. Let's get to know you! Tell us 3 facts about yourself
Fact 1: I graduated college in May and I live in New York where I work full time at a management consulting firm and on my blog basically full time on the side! (Although recently, I’ve been staying at my parents’ place due to the Coronavirus).
Fact 2: I was born in India and moved to the US when I was 4 years old.
Fact 3: I am overly obsessed with Tik Tok and love to create on there and share funny videos with my friends / family (they get annoyed after 2-3 videos haha)! Follow me @sincerelyshifa for some fun!
4. What inspired you to start your own bizz?
I have always been interested in journalism and wanted to pursue that in college but was turned off after taking a media studies class. I realized I’ve always wanted to have a blog where I can have full creative power and share whatever I wanted from life hacks to beauty to my favorite outfits. One day (on New Years 2-ish years ago), I made a resolution to actually start this passion project and learn the ins and outs of blogging. It was a difficult process where I had to teach myself so many skills but ultimately I loved doing it. I loved answering the questions we all have around “which products are the best for my skin?” or “should I get this credit card?” or even “what’s an easy recipe I can make.” I love when people DM me and tell me that they want more information on something I shared because they want to purchase something or learn more about it. At the end of the day, I feel like I’m teaching someone something and that really and truly is pretty amazing to me. My goal for my blog is to deliver genuine and relatable content.
5. Where do you find your motivation?
I am all about organization so I have to stick to a schedule. I post a new blog post every Monday and send out a newsletter to all my subscribers Monday or Tuesday. I have an editorial calendar I created to help me stay on track and make sure I’m meeting deadlines I set for myself. It really helps and I love having a schedule. Because this is a passion project, I have to find that internal motivation within myself and inspiration usually hits me at random times. I’ll wonder something myself and think this would be a great blog post! My motivated hours are between 9PM-midnight because I am a total night owl. I also work on my blog while doing my actual job sometimes too. It never feels like work to me but just something fun I like to do. Getting responses and DMs from my readers also helps keep me motivated!
6. What do you do to feel more inspired/motivated on the days that can feel a little mundane?
Usually, on days like these, I will scroll through Pinterest and look at all the creativity. I’ll find some inspirational quotes I have saved and list out the activities I want to do that day. If I’m feeling creative, I’ll shoot some photos or edit pictures / Pinterest pins. If I feel like writing, I’ll dump out all my thoughts and edit later. I don’t push myself because I like to let the flow come naturally. I’ve found that putting extra pressure on myself results in content that’s done for the sake of being done. I like to put in 100% of my effort in everything I do and make it as perfect as I can (Yes, I am a Virgo)!
7. What are some daily revenue-generating activities that really move the needle in your bizz?
For me, revenue generating comes from brands that want to partner on certain projects or Google Ad-Sense and affiliate links. In the beginning, it was pretty slow as I started to build a community who trusts me but as I’ve become more consistent, I’ve seen a growth. There has been a growth in my monthly page views and all of my social media. It feels like hard work pays off and I’m excited for Sincerely Shifa to keep growing!
8. What kind of tasks are better to automate vs manually do each day/week?
I automate my blog posts weekly as well as my newsletter. That takes the burden off of having to do it weekly. I do one blog post a week and schedule a month’s worth a few weeks ahead of time. I tried to automate Instagram posts but I’m starting to get picky about my feed so I prefer to do it manually and pay attention to details.
9. If you could give advice to another woman starting her own bizz in the same industry/field, what would it be?
This might be oversaid but it has never rang more true – JUST START. It’s super intimidating and honestly I’m still learning but starting is the first step. Share what you’re passionate about because I promise there are people who are willing to absorb and engage with the content you’re producing. Having a side hustle helps flex your creative side and the fruits of your labor will be more than abundant!
10. Share with our community where they can follow you and your bizz (website, socials, etc)
Blog: www.sincerelyshifa.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincerelyshifa
TikTok: @sincerelyshifa
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sincerelyshifa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sincerelyshifa
