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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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! 🤗❤️
The Kate Experience 