Hey, everyone! I hope you’ve all had a great weekend! I wanted to stop by to throw up a random blog post! I’ll be doing that a lot more starting ASAP!
As you may already know, I’m a Content Creator that focuses her posted content primarily on Instagram. If you are new here, and you did not know that about me, then I welcome you to my website! Pull up a chair! Stay a while!
I’d really love it if you’d check out my most recent Carousel Photo Post for the absolute cutest pepper spray you’ve that ever seen by a brand called Blingsting, fully equipped with a thorough, honest, and detailed review! Yep, cute pepper spray. Don’t believe me? See it for yourself! If you enjoy my content, then I encourage you to please engage! Your likes, saves, comments, and shares help me immensely! I’m always trying to raise the ol’ engagement rate!
If you enjoy any of my writing in even the slightest bit, then you may just enjoy the captions that I write to go with my photos and videos on Instagram. I tend to write my reviews in more of a short story or even a short essay style, but that’s just the way I write, I suppose. It certainly serves its purpose.
Well, here she is! Please take a moment to visit my Instagram page, so you can interact with my post(s)! Likes, saves, comments, and shares are encouraged and greatly appreciated!
I hope you enjoy, and I hope to read and respond to your comments!
Don’t forget to follow my Instagram page! I’ve got a TON of new content that’s about to be posted, and I’d love for you to hang out with me for a while and enjoy the content! I’ll follow you back, too! And don’t be a stranger! Feel free to shoot me a message anytime! I’m always down to meet new friends and chat!
When we last met, I was tired. Very tired. I was tired of working for free, and I was tired of being tired from staying up too late working for free. I knew that I had to do something: no longer accept unpaid work. I’d created a Media Kit and Rate Card that I posted here on this website. I also linked to my Media Kit through my Link in Bio that I use primarily on Instagram, since they only allow you the one link (for now). Well, it’s turned out to be the absolute best thing that I could’ve possibly done for the progression of my Content Creation journey!
How I have been feeling about working lately.
In that Link in Bio, which brings in lots of collaboration requests from brands and marketing companies each month, I placed the “My Media Kit and Rate Card” link as close to the top of the list as I could while not hiding away links from current or recent collaborations. This past month, since posting my Media Kit and Rate Card, I brought in at least as many jobs as I normally do through my Link in Bio, if not more, but this month was different. Well, it’s the same, but it’s different. The difference? The majority of the offers that I’m getting now either offer a paid rate, or they at least seem to acknowledge that I’ll be expecting the collaboration to be paid, and we move on to negotiations. Sure, a few certainly have no intention of paying for my work, and I move on from those offers. I’ve had to turn down a lot of jobs this month because they were unpaid, and some were just not a good fit. It’s typical for me to have to turn down jobs in any given month for the reasons given, but it’s only increased since I’ve made this promise to myself. I can’t do my best on the pretty big (and also paid) workload I’ve got now if I’m adding on collaborations that don’t pay. I could instead add more paid jobs. You get the idea here.
At the beep, the time will be…
Now, this next part is brand new for me, and boy, is it welcome! Before posting my Media Kit where anyone could access it, I would rarely be offered to be paid for my work. I’ve always had to ask. I’m not talking about negotiating. What I’m referring to is asking something, such as, “Do you have a budget for Creators,” or something to that effect. Sure, I tried and at times succeeded in being paid despite this, but the expectations were mostly that I wouldn’t request compensation. There’s a pretty big reason for this, and I’d like to dedicate a blog post to the topic soon. It’s because there are so many Creators out there that will work for free and all no questions, and this is a pretty big problem for the Creator economy as a whole. (Bookmark this website, and stay tuned for a post about this and more about the Creator economy!) Thankfully, things seem to have changed for me for the good, and I’m hoping they continue to get better. Simply put, I need to be paid for my work if I’m going to work full-time as a Creator, which is the only thing that I want to do and have been working toward for the past 5 years or so. I’m 38 years old, I’m unmarried, and I take care of myself, so there’s no one out here paying my bills. I have to do that myself, and I can’t pay my bills by working pro bono forever. If I knew that things would change so drastically and so quickly by simply posting my Media Kit where it can be accessed by brands for potential collaborations, then I’d have taken it more seriously and done it long ago! That’s alright. I like to think that things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and now is the time!
There’s no time like the present.
A lot of my previous paid work was mostly posted on Instagram. That’s changed. A good bit of the work I’m currently doing seems to be mostly away from Instagram, although that’s generally where I’m being found and contacted by brands or companies. Things seem to be changing a bit more, though. Since my last post, I’ve gotten more paid offers than I can handle. Some of these offers have been really awesome, and some not so great, but that’s totally normal. The point is: they’re paid offers. I’ve still got a few “free posts” that I’m working on, but these were already established relationships. I haven’t taken on any new work that isn’t paid. I honestly don’t have any time in my schedule for any more work at this moment, especially if it’s unpaid work. This is going to be a crazy busy month, and I’m more than ok with that!
The work never ends. That’s why I’m no longer doing work for free.
In addition to my Freelance Creator endeavors, I’ve applied to a few Social Media Creator positions through LinkedIn, one of which I’ve got a seriously good feeling about. My “pre-interview call,” as I call it, was nothing short of great! The person from the company that called me was insanely cool, easy to talk to, and she had lots to talk about. Her outgoing personality successfully removed all nervousness from my mind. Needless to say, we hit it off immediately, and we had a really awesome conversation. I feel good vibes and a good energy about the whole thing, so we’ll see how things go this next week! Wish me luck! I’ll be sure to update you on what happened, so make sure to bookmark my site, so you’ll never miss a thing!
I’ve got my fingers crossed!
This is all one huge step in the right direction, and I couldn’t be happier! I’m happy that I’m finally being paid for my hard work because I decided to make the move toward only paid work. It’s working out greater than I’d expected in this short amount of time, and I’m grateful for that. I’m also feeling great about the job that I had the pre-interview call with! It’s an amazing position. I won’t tell you too much about it now, but let’s just say that if I got this job, it would change my life and my father’s for the best. Here’s to things only getting better!
I’ll talk to you again soon to update you on all of these awesome collaborations that I’m working on, the results of my job interview (hopefully), and anything else that happens between now and then! Until then, come over and hang out with me on my Instagram page! That’s where I always am, and I’d love to talk to you! 🤗❤️
Bookmark my site, so you can easily check out all of my New Posts!
Unfortunately, due to unsavory activities by the company with which I took on the Internship mentioned in my last post, I, as well as the rest of the Internship staff, have decided to part ways.
This means I’m back to job hunting. Except I’ve decided to not only hunt for a career but to also pursue some Professional Certifications while I’m hunting.
In 7 days from now, I’ll receive word from Coursera that will let me know whether or not I’ll be receiving Financial Aid. I applied for aid for the first in six courses in the Social Media Marketing specialization that will help me to obtain a Professional Certification from both Coursera and Facebook.
In the meantime, I’ve taken up management with FamePick for my Content Creation, which I’ll be getting back into very shortly! I hope to work with some very cool brands. It should be interesting to see how it is to have an agent! I’ll be sure to write about this separately! 😘
For now, I’m studying as many LinkedIn Learning Certificate courses as I can while I keep my fingers crossed. I’ll let you know what happens! Until then, my friends.
I did it! I just landed my very first PAID Influencer job!
Since my last entry, I’ve been having issues with my video equipment and other technical problems, which led me to invest in a few greatly needed upgrades. This has delayed my first YouTube videos from being recorded.
In the meantime, I’ve been hustling to get more jobs. I’m very happy to say that I’ve landed quite a few jobs. They’re all jobs that require my review and promotion in exchange for their product(s). I’ll have lots of videos on my YouTube Channel and product photos and reviews on my Instagram page. Keep an eye out for all of the new content I’ve got coming. Once I start to post these upcoming product review photos and videos, they’re going to become consistent, so I’ll be pumping them out!
Some of these “product in exchange for review” jobs that I’ve gotten include several skincare products, several haircare products, a couple of fashionable apparel and accessory jobs (I’m very excited to start doing these), hair supplements, CBD products, plus more that I’m surely forgetting off the top of my head. If you’re following me on Instagram and YouTube, then you’ll be seeing a lot of new content from these jobs (and unsponsored content) very soon.
Yesterday, I received an email from one of the Influencer marketing websites that I’m a member of, and they introduced and connected me with the owner of a company that I’ve pitched to recently. When I checked my email this afternoon, I’d recieved an email directly from the owner of this company. They want to work with me, too, which is great. I’ll tell you all about them and my new job in my next entry after we’ve officially sealed the deal!
The job is a lot like all of the other jobs that I have right now: receive a few product, promote the brand and their products, and work for commission. I’ll be working as an affiliate with them, as I do with several of the other companies that I’ll be promoting. Of course, I’ll try my hardest to promote the brands and their products, create the very best content that I can for them, and if I’m lucky, I’ll make some commission. I’m just happy to be getting so much experience!
There’s one difference with this new job: I’m going to be paid for my posts! This may not sound all that exciting to you, and I would understand that. The thing is that I’ve just reached one of my goals! Up until now, I’ve only been receiving products from brands as my payment, which I’m very grateful for, as it gives me lots of experience, and I get to try a lot of new products. Now, I’m on Cloud Nine because I’ve reached one of my goals sooner than I’d expected!
To say that I’m excited would be an understatement. Sure, I’m excited to be paid for my content, but it feels bigger than that. I’ve just reached a goal that I’ve had, and I’ve reached it much sooner that I’d expected. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment. It’s a lot of work just looking for Influencer jobs, and it’s even more work once you get jobs. It can get a little discouraging at times, especially when you’re flat broke. To finally get a paying Influencer job means that all of this hustling that I’ve been doing is really working, and it’s actually paying off – literally. It’s not a lot of money, by any means, but this is just the start of the next chapter in my journey. I’m strapped in for the ride, and I’m ready to go!
Stay tuned, because I’ll certainly be keeping you all updated on my journey! I’ll tell you more about the job itself as soon as I’ve signed my paperwork and made it official! I can’t wait to tell you more, because the product is extremely unique. It’s very cool!
Come back to visit my blog to hear more about this new chapter of my journey! You can also find me (and my upcoming content) on Instagram and YouTube. I hope to see and talk to you soon on my main accounts! ❤
I’ve been trying to record these first videos for my YouTube Channel for a while now and telling you that they’re coming. Well, I’ve been having tech issue after tech issue (can you tell how new I am to this lol).
I’m happy to say that I’m 99.9% positive that I’ve fixed everything, propped everything up right, got my settings right, and learned A LOT about making YouTube videos in the process!!
With that being said, I’m gonna record 1 or 2 videos early today. However, I’ve yet to try to tackle video editing software…ever. lol. That’s alright! I WILL get at least 1 video up today if it’s the last thing that I do!!!!
I’ll post again when it’s finally a wrap and recorded, edited, and uploaded onto my brand NEW YouTube Channel!!! Keep an eye out for my next blog entry! Love you all! ❤
Don’t forget: I still have an announcement for you! Tune in to find out what it is! 😘
Subscribe Now! I’ve got a TON of videos on my schedule to be recorded, and I’m constantly adding more. If you enjoy Beauty, Lifestyle, and Wellness content, then this is the YouTube Channel for you! My Channel is going to be highly active, and I’ll be consistently uploading new content! Expect to see at least a few new videos every week! So go ahead and Subscribe! You’re not going to want to miss a thing!
The Kate Experience 