Today we’d like to introduce you to Lillia Whittington.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lillia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The D. Diaries was originally thought of when I was in college, where I was pursuing a fashion design degree. My goal was to be the #1 Dallas blogger by sharing all things fashion, lifestyle, and events. As I started blogging, I realized that the market for bloggers here is really saturated. Being the top lifestyle blogger location in the US, DFW has a lot of bloggers from all backgrounds.
After I got married, I changed my mindset and my niche. Partially because I wanted to spend more time with my husband as a newlywed and driving from Denton to Dallas almost every night and weekend was hard. That’s when I changed my mindset to focusing on what my home town of Denton has to offer with its small businesses and unique community lifestyle. It’s there that I discovered that Denton is such a cool and hip place, but has little to no representation in the blogging world. My goal shifted in my blogging journey to be the #1 Denton blogger. By the fall of 2018, I had achieved my goal! Now I host a radio show, we are on regular rotation with local restaurants and boutiques, and have partnered with businesses to curate events. My goal in 2020 is to put Denton on the map as the lifestyle capitol for young adults living in Texas.
Fast forward to the end of 2019 and I started a Social Media Marketing firm that specializes in Small Business Marketing. We specialize in product merchandising, social media planning, website development, and are the only place where small businesses can connect to influencers who share a love of supporting local. Our goal with The D. Diaries Social Media Marketing is to bring you an engaged community that supports your products and growth! With clients from Denton to New York City, we here at The D. Diaries see your business as a family and vow to treat you like our own. It’s been a wild ride these past three years, but overall, I am so blessed and excited to see my business and now other businesses grow to achieve their dreams.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road to success is never an easy one. With struggles ranging from financial, to “How do I even start a marketing agency…?!” I’ve done quite a bit of research and hitting the books. Even from day one, I’ve been a self-starter. I coded my first website using YouTube videos and trial and error! When I finally needed some technical support, I reached out to a friend and his response was, “Well if your day job fails, you have a promising career in tech!” All jokes aside, it was not an easy task.
A year after the initial website launch, a deadly virus attached to my site through the theme code and was sending out malicious dictionary code, it’s basically spamming other sites claiming to be me. At that point, I had to make my first big financial choice, wipe the site and start over and lose a whole year’s worth of posts, or buy into a big girl hosting package. Needless to say, I bought into the hosting package and it’s been (semi) smooth sailing from there! I still code almost all of my own website, but thankfully have an amazing tech team to guide me through my DIY projects on my website!
Another challenge we faced was, at what time to you dive headfirst into the world of making your business an LLC or S Corp?! Amazingly, when I reached out to my first business advisor, it was a perfect match! But, God’s timing is everything and he smacked me in the face with “It’s not time” by hitting me with holiday hustle and bustle, I just didn’t have time between my day job, my blog, and formulating the marketing agency to sit and ask my million questions on “what next?” When we did finally meet in early January, everything fell into place so quickly and efficiently. It was a dream come true!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The D. Diaries – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Here at The D. Diaries, we specialize in a wide variety of things! If you’re looking to get connected to our OG blog for partnerships and promotional material, we offer a wide range of options! From Instagram posts, IGTV/YouTube video curation, Blog posts, Facebook and Pinterest posts, or just overall photo merchandising, we can do that. With over 100 brands and companies ranging from Rent The Runway to Clorox on the resume, your content creation goals can be met by our team at The D. Diaries Blog!
With The D. Diaries Social Media Marketing side, you dream it, and we make it happen. We know as a small business owner, your time is money and spending all day figuring out how to style edit and post on social media means money you’re not earning! That’s where we come in. Whether you choose an in-store photo merchandising session or virtual feed curation, our team is here to make your small business goals a reality. One thing that we offer that is different than any marketing firm is influencer connections. We have a library of vetted influencers that all stand for the same thing, helping small businesses grow! When you choose to add on the influencer package, we connect you to likeminded influencers so you don’t have to spend hours cold calling influencers who may charge you $$$ for sub-par quality.
My goal with both of my businesses is to ensure small business voices are heard through the beautiful curation of content. I want to make you say “wow!” when you see the content we have created for you.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Denton has a unique culture that is unlike any city I have ever stepped foot in. We value connections here, so much so I have made it a point to do weekly walk in’s with my businesses I partner with. I just pop in and chat to see how you’re doing, how your kids are doing, and to just make sure you know I am here for you. It makes working with small businesses that much more fun. Our nightlife here is so different! From Glitterbomb to outdoor concerts at Harvest House to smooth Jazz at Paschall’s. Everything is different, and that’s how we like it.
Because Denton has such a unique cultural niche, sometimes newness is scary. I remember in high school, a Subway shop opened on the square, and the city boycotted it. So much so that it closed in 3 weeks. No one, and I mean no one, went in to buy a lick of food. I was flabbergasted at the speed that it went up and then was just gone! Not that this is a bad thing, but it does go to show how much Denton as a whole value and caters to small businesses.
Pricing:
- L I L ‘ D P A C K A G E – $ 3 0 0/M O N T H This package is for those starting out, or for those who want to test the waters with a social media manager. If you are a business looking to build a small catalog of content to post yourself, this is a great package to start with.
- # D O I T D E N T O N P A C K A G E – $ 3 5 0/M O N T H You’ve got an established audience, and you are looking to step up your website and social media game! This package is for those who already have a social site going and want to upgrade their content for social media customers.
- D E N T O N ‘ S # 1 P A C K A G E – $ 4 7 5/M O N T H You’re ready to be a house hold name in your area! With the power of creative content, e-commerce, and our social media expertise on your side, you will be there in no time! This package is for those who are ready to dive head first into the world of social media marketing and create top notch content of current products to drive sales that influence customers to buy online, and visit in store!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theddiariesblog.com
- Email: hello@theddiariesblog.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thed.diaries
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thed.diariesblog
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