How I sorta became an Instagram Influencer.
Welcome to My Blog
My Story
Why I became an influencer and other random thoughts.
Influencer Insider Tips
Things I’ve learned over the past while.
Meet The Bloggers
Things I’ve learned about the blogging community.
#WFH
A special series devoted to our circumstances during the COVID-19 crisis.
Social Justice
A special series devoted to social justice issues.
Creator 101: E-Book Launch! 📕 ♥️ 💌
Recently, this well-known Chinese proverb has often come to mind: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” While brainstorming a way to restart my blog after an unexpected hiatus of 2 years, I realized that I needed to stop overthinking it and just start writing again — without the self-imposed expectations that usually hinder my progress.
Influencer 101: How I Earned $17,000 for Q1 2022
Greetings everyone! Now that April is almost over, I thought it would be a good idea to summarize how the first quarter of 2022 has gone in terms of brand partnerships. While I had low expectations for the first three months of the year (especially since I only earned $3,300 in Q1 2021), I was pleasantly surprised to secure more than $17,000 in paid campaigns. As well, I managed to secure four more partnerships over the last week for the new quarter— which will result in my projected earnings totalling to $23,000 so far!
Influencer 101: How to Set Your Rates as a Micro-Influencer
As the influencer marketing industry continues to grow and become recognized as a legitimate form of employment, there are more exciting paid opportunities than ever for content creators who want to pursue this profession both part-time or full-time. While social media trend reports for 2022 state that many brands will be increasing their budget for social media campaigns, many influencers are still underpaid when they sign contracts for paid partnerships.
My Top Highlights from My First Year as a Full-Time Content Creator
Happy New Year, everyone! Since January is not over yet, I thought I would rip the bandaid off of my mini-goal to start blogging again at least once a month. In order to ensure that I write posts regularly, I will be attempting to write shorter posts more frequently. However, knowing my long-winded self, this will be a difficult task to accomplish!
To start things off, I thought I would go over the top highlights of my first year as a full-time content creator. If you don’t occasionally look back and reflect on your past accomplishments (both big and small), I highly recommend that you start as it really helps you realize how much you’ve grown over a certain period of time!
Writing out a list of my top 2021 accomplishments had a big impact on me as it became clear that this was a year of many “firsts.” While not all of these were positive experiences, I am very proud of how I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to grow both as an individual and in my career.
Why I’m Starting an Instagram Mentorship
When I began my journey as a full-time content creator in January 2021, I knew that I would face a lot of skepticism about whether I could make a viable income from this new career path in the very new industry of influencer marketing. In fact, coming from a typical conservative Asian-Canadian family, I held back from telling my parents about my decision until I started making a decent living. Despite the odds and the naysayers, I had a strange sense of intuition and faith in myself that things would work out— that I was on the right path.
Pinterest 101: How I Gained 2 Million Views in One Month
To be very honest, sometimes the stifling Instagram algorithm gets super frustrating and forces you to realize that it’s time to try something new. While most sponsored collaborations are still heavily focused on Instagram content, I’ve recently found that it’s been amazing for my creative juices to produce content for new platforms where the algorithms are more encouraging. While I’ve been dabbling lightly in TikTok, I feel as if I’ve made my second home on the Pinterest platform. Over the space of one month, I managed to grow by over 500 followers and increase my impressions from 221 monthly views to over TWO MILLION.
What It’s Honestly Like to Work with a Quality Brand (The Ups and Downs of Content Creator Life)
Let’s talk imposter syndrome. Four months into my journey as a full-time content creator, it’s tempting to question my choice to quit a cushy job with great benefits in the relatively stable corporate finance sector. I still feel weird whenever I tell someone (outside of the social media world) that I am a full-time “influencer” now. However, every time I feel doubt start to creep into my mind regarding this particular career change, I receive a sign that this was indeed the right decision to make at this point in my life.
Five Reasons Why Conscious Fashion is Awesome for Me (and You Too)
At the start of my conscious fashion journey, a few acquaintances of mine expressed their doubts over my ability to stick with this life-changing resolution. To be frank, I had my own misgivings at the beginning about cutting myself off from the convenience and easy indulgences of fast fashion. However, more than half a year later, I’m happy to report that this commitment might be one of the best decisions I’ve made in recent memory (other than quitting my job to pursue a career I actually love).
#WFH Series: Balancing Self Care and Productivity as a Content Creator
In the process of becoming a full time content creator, I’ve had the amazing freedom to create a brand new routine based entirely on my values, principles, goals, and intentions. After working full-time for the past six years, it felt amazing to take charge of my schedule and create one that was suited for one person— myself.
How I’ve Increased Engagement on My IG Content in 2021
Since becoming a full time content creator, it’s become a bigger priority for me to increase engagement on the various forms of content I post on Instagram. However, on this often fickle and never-transparent social media platform, the matter of engagement is a constant source of speculation, experimentation, and rollercoaster-like progress.
Getting Paid: Negotiating Brand Collaborations for Instagram Influencers
As an Instagram influencer, the ability to obtain regular paid collaborations is a sign that you have become confident in your branding and skills as a content creator.
How To Gain An Engaged Following on Instagram
When I connect with newer content creators on Instagram, I often am asked the question: “What are your tips for growing my platform?” While I believe that this is a great question, I believe that newer bloggers also should be asking themselves: “How do I grow my platform and who should I be growing it for?”
How To Create An Aesthetic Theme
Creating an aesthetic Instagram feed is a necessary task for influencers who are seeking to attract quality brand partnerships and engaged followers. Just like how we judge books by their covers (even though we pretend not to), a beautiful theme is integral in setting your Instagram page apart from the rest of the pack.
Why I Quit My Corporate Job (And What’s Next For Me)
After working hard on my Instagram platform for the past three years, I have been blessed enough to have built an amazing community of over 19,000 followers, create connections with amazing people in the blogging community, and receive many wonderful sponsorship opportunities.
While the aforementioned things were wonderful to achieve, I previously would never have entertained the thought of quitting without another job lined up. So then, what were the exact factors that encouraged me to take the leap of faith into the unknown?
Diary of a Skincare Addict: How Using Serums Saved My Skin (Ft. Olay Deep Hydration Serum)
Like Prince Charming searching all over the kingdom for Cinderella, it’s taken me quite a few tries to find the serum that’s the perfect fit for my skin and budget.
Why I’m Choosing Conscious Fashion
While 2020 has been a year of turmoil and fear, I am genuinely grateful for how it has forced me to open my eyes and acknowledge ugly realities which I had long ignored out of convenience.
How to Win Quality Sponsorships
In order to lure brands into an attractive web of sponsorships (especially paid ones), you should try your best to nail down several key aspects of content creation: quality content, quality engagement, and a clear niche.
How To Grow Authentic Engagement on Instagram (a.k.a. How I Get So Many Comments)
Within this post, I wanted to specifically address the topic of authentic engagement— which may manifest as high engagement with posts in terms of likes, comments, and saves. After getting a ton of DMs asking how I manage to get so many genuine comments on my Instagram posts, I thought that I would write a more detailed blog post on the matter.
How 2020 Was My Wake Up Call: #BLM and #IdleNoMore
Have you ever looked back on your life and wondered how you stopped pursuing an important dream or passion of yours? Recently, I realized that, over the last five years of my life, I started focusing on creating a career for myself instead of pursuing goals that aligned with my principles and values. However, after the events of the past few weeks, I felt like I have woken up from a dream that had blinded me from truly important matters.
The Shoot: How To Plan The Perfect Summer Shoot
Now that B.C. is cautiously allowing its residents to enjoy some freedom, it’s becoming safer to venture outside in small groups for fresh air and exercise. For bloggers, it means that we can finally stop shooting in front of bedsheets inside our homes and start adding some variety to our outfit backdrops.
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