My Journey as a Content Creator
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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!
I’ll see you on Instagram soon! 🤗❤️
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! 🤗❤️
It’s funny how we end up traveling the roads that we didn’t think we’d walk down!
I am now an Official BIGO LIVE Host! Anyone can Livestream on BIGO, but “Hosts” must be recruited by an agency through BIGO, and pass an audition in order to become an Official Host. The difference? Hosts make money, while regular Livestreamers do not, since we technically work for BIGO LIVE. Plus, we have quotas to meet, including a lot of Livestreaming hours, so I’ll be doing a lot of Live Broadcasts that you should totally come watch!
That’s the short version of the story for now!
If you’re reading this, then I’d like to invite you to stop by my Livestream tonight! I’m scheduled to go Live at 6:00 P.M. EST, but I may be on a bit earlier, which would be between 5:30 and 5:45 P.M.
My user name is KateExperience. Come find my profile OR here’s a handy little link that will take you directly to my profile. And don’t worry: signing up is free, so don’t forget to sign up, so you can watch!!!
I hope to see you tonight! If not tonight, then find me, KateExperience, on BIGO LIVE, and my posts will tell you when I’m going Live next!
See you tonight!!!
Watch my Livestream at 6:00 P.M. EST tonight! ——–> https://slink.bigovideo.tv/8cNeG3
Have you ever been SO riddled with anxiety, had a TON of things to get done on a deadline, and become so overwhelmed that you end up doing NONE of it? That’s my Saturday in a nutshell.
I hope you’re all having a great weekend, and if you celebrate Halloween, then I hope you have a blast! What am I doing this weekend, you ask? Well, I’ll be doing EVERYTHING, naturally!
I found out a week ago from my landlord that the Township Inspector is coming on Monday to check the fire alarms and all of that fun stuff. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue. However, it seems that I’ve accumulated far more things than my apartment is equipped to store, and it looks as though a tornado had ripped through my home, scattering about everything that I own, which is too much, apparently. Can I still use COVID as an excuse for things?
A few days ago, I spoke with a really awesome K-Beauty skincare brand that I create content for each month called PlumpShop. They let me know that they’d extended my deadline to submit the 4 (or more) pieces of content and this month’s PlumpShop Skincare Box review form that I must complete, as a PlumpShop Ambassador! That’s great news, because I was afraid I would miss out on receiving next month’s Beauty Box, and for a Sinatra freak like me, that would be just heartbreaking!
I’m SO grateful that I was granted an extension in until Monday to submit all of my work to PlumpShop, but I’d be lying if I said that’s I wasn’t having a full-blown internal freakout. Sometimes, my anxiety gets the best of me, which is usually when I have a lot more to do all at once, on a deadline, and with only 2 1/2 days remaining. Hopefully, they won’t make me submit by the time it’s due in Korea! That would throw a monkey wrench into my plans!
On Monday, November 1, 2021, I will also be hearing back from Coursera with their decision on whether or not to grant me the Financial Aid that I’ve applied for. I’m planning on taking a Social Media Marketing Specialization 6 Course Certification, which is accredited and from both Coursera AND Facebook. As someone that’s entirely self-taught in the field and not having the perfect degree or any really great, accredited Certifications like this one. I have a feeling that by obtaining this Certificate from Coursera and Facebook, I’ll have something substantial on paper that will give me a pretty nice edge ahead of my competition AKA my fellow Aspiring Social Media Marketing ladies and gents.
Many snoozed Calendar Reminders into this evening, and I’ve still not gotten down to the nitty gritty. I’ve done a bit of brainstorming, but that’s just not enough. It’s now the evening. I’m a total night owl, so this isn’t usually a problem for me. I have no qualms with creating content and doing the heavy duty cleaning that my apartment requires before Monday. But of course, there’s always a but! Because my anxiety has been at its current elevated level, I was unable to sleep last night, and I’m kind of notorious for falling asleep at all times but the appropriate ones.
I’ll be putting off the content creation of my incredibly awesome PlumpShop Products until tomorrow tomorrow after I rest my creative brain, because, well, it’s NEVER a good idea to rush content, and I do subpar work when I’m sleep-deprived. That leaves the grunt work for tonight. Although it is already 7:00 p.m., I think that I may take a “power nap.” This is very risky for me. I will either wake up after a quick few hours of shut eye, or I will wake up sometime later tomorrow. I can’t afford to chance it this time, so I’m going to whip myself into gear and start tackling some of this cleaning!
As for my Coursera Financial Aid decision also being on Monday: I may not have to do much but kick my feet up and wait for an email from Coursera, but my anxiety will make sure that I can’t rest because of that either. 😂
It looks like the remainder of my evening and well into the wee hours of the night, I’ll be packing up bins full of my possessions and lugging them down to the basement. That is the plan…if I can stay awake long enough.
If I call asleep hard before getting much done, then hey, there’s always one more day to clean, and a little more than a day to create my content! At least I’ve got my goals lined up, and I’m ready to hit them like a champ!
I’ll most definitely be posting about my oh so fun Monday after the Township Inspector and my dreadful, dreadful Landlord invade my home, I’ve finished and posted all of my due content, and I’ve gotten word back from Coursera about my Financial Aid decision. And hey, I’m sure things will go every way besides according to plan, so I think I’ll have lots to talk about in my next blog post. I’ll keep you posted!
While you’re here…
As a self-proclaimed Lifelong Learner, I’m always anticipating changes in both my life and within myself. I came to the realization a while back that I wanted to do something more with the skills and experience in Content Creation, Social Media Marketing, and Communication that I’ve been constantly honing for nearly 5 years.
What began as a simple journey many years ago, spurred on by a powerful curiosity and extreme passion, of dialing into my creative side by finally finding the best mediums in which to express that creativity, ended up becoming a very important trail of new experiences that I believe have changed my life.
During some standard daydreaming, which I find to be very important, especially when working in a creative and often ambiguous field, I asked myself a random question today that I’d never had a good answer for. I had an answer today. That question I’ve been hearing since I was young was, “Where do you see yourself in 1 year from now,” which was a bit of a shocker coming from my brain, due to always having been stumped by these questions. I know the answer immediately: in 1 year, I see myself either looking for the job that I’m aiming for or to have already been in the position for a few months by that time.
I can’t believe I had an answer to that question. I’ve always found the query itself to be difficult for over reason or another, but I wasn’t entirely sure about what was so difficult about it, especially when in college, the younger kids always had very great answers, and I envied yet admired that they knew exactly what they wanted. My problem was that I never truly knew what I to do as far as a career, so I just couldn’t give a true answer. I wanted that clarity, but it turns out, for me at least, that only time and experience would bring me the vision that I needed.
I’ve tried so many different things over the past 5 or so years, including starting, owning, and operating my own small business, and being a Freelance Content Creator all the while. I thought I’d really narrowed it down once I began to get really involved in Content Creation. I love it, it’s the perfect way for me to express my creativity, and I’d always wanted to find that for myself. However, out took me a little bit more thought to realize what I was really good at and was super passionate about at the same time: Marketing – Social Media Marketing and Social Media Management, to be exact.
All along, I’ve been so close to finding out this piece of the puzzle that is my life, yet was always too far away to grasp it. The overwhelming passion that I have for Creating Content seemed to blind me, and I thought, “This is it! It’s the piece that’s been missing,” but that passion opened my eyes to what my true passion was, which was Marketing.
In retrospect, I should’ve noticed the signs throughout my life, and not just since I’d created my own business. That’s just where I was first able to apply this skill (that seemed to come so naturally) in a professional way and a way I’d get credit for, as opposed to simply giving advice, for instance.
One of the biggest reasons that my business did not succeed ultimately is because I “accidentally” marketed myself, my business, and my products and services a little too well from the very start. How is that possible, right? Well, when it’s only you juggling all aspects of a company, and you aren’t aware that you excel that much at marketing, you may just become completely bombarded by your very first day of business (the launch), and it can be quite the ditch to dig yourself out of, especially without being able to hire any help to help you out of the hole.
My self-made business may have ultimately failed, but as a Lifelong Learner, I’ve never discontinued learning more about all aspects of business, but it eventually became narrowed down to Marketing, especially with a focus on Digital/Social Media Marketing and Management.
Management has always been something that I’d known that I excelled at, but I was never really given the chance, due to the types of jobs that I kept settling for, which is a partial reason for the creation of my first startup business. I credit my Father with my natural business acumen and leadership skills. They just seem to run in my family, specifically on his side. Almost everyone in my very large family is or has been in management to some degree and/or owned their own businesses, some now defunct and some thriving quite successfully. If they didn’t have their own business, they were in management at their jobs. I’m not sure that this is even something that is genetic in any way, but it sure seems that way.
No matter how I developed into the leadership type of person that I am and have always been, whether it be somehow genetic or simply through exposure to positive role models, I’m truly glad that I do possess these skills. I mean this not as a brag, by any means. It’s just fascinating how I’ve never been able to flex these skills, then when given the chance, I find out that they’re better than even I’d thought. Even as a child, I was always taking charge, despite being a bit of an introvert.
I’ve never been more happy in my life than I am now, and I know that this is partially due to having jumped into it and just started a business when I had nothing going on. By doing this, it’s led me down a path of self-discovery that’s taught me more about myself in the past 5 years than I’ve learned in the 15 prior. I’m all the richer for having taken a chance, and for once in my life, I can actually say that I know exactly what I want to do for my career, and attaining a position in that field is my ultimate goal.
Thank goodness I finally have this goal. As I’ve mentioned above, I’d always envied and admired younger people when I was also their age that knew what they wanted to do, what they were going to do to get there, and seemed to have it all together. I never had this – until recently. Sure, it took me a lot longer in my life to come to this realization myself, but I was growing more discouraged as time passed that I’d ever know the answer or have that ultimate goal. I can proudly say that I finally have that ultimate goal, and I know exactly what I’m going to do to achieve this goal. It’s one of the most wonderful feelings that I’ve ever felt inl my life. I’m one of the people that I used to admire so much, and hard, patience, and perseverance have gotten me here.
Never give up on your passions. They can often turn into goals, so be ready by preparing for life to happen at any moment! ❤️
Everything is beginning to fall into place, and with my realized goals and ways to attain said goals, I’m feeling very confident about where I am in life, in terms of my future and my career.
Some people are ready to go from a young age, but it takes others, like myself, to find something that will not only earn money, but that I can also use my creativity, passion, and I can be happy in my life, overall!
Can you relate to this blog post? I’d love to hear your story! If you can relate to anything that I’ve mentioned in my (hastily written and published) blog post, then I’d love for you to share your experience below in the comments!
I want to give a huge thank you to Steff for this post. She may not have shared her journey with us just to give people hope, but she gave me hope.
Our stories are quite similar, less the doctorate degree and educational work. I’m 36 years old, and I’m just now starting up my own YouTube Channel, which will also focus mainly on beauty of all sorts, and her story just spoke to me. I couldn’t have read this incredibly helpful blog entry at a better time. I’ve been feeling a little nervous, because my journey is so close to beginning, and it’s kind of had me in a funk. The closer I come to recording that first video and writing that first blog entry, the more nervous I become, which often leads me to “put it off” until I shake the jitters off. Well, after reading this entry, I know what I need to do: I need to dive right in and just do it!
The closest I’ve come to recording my first unboxing video was just today. I got showered, got myself ready, and tried setting up the video, all the while becoming more and more nervous. I say “tried” to set up the video because my ring light won’t stand up on its own. It seems I’ve lost a pretty important screw that holds the light up, which is crucial in keeping the ring light from toppling over. Without this screw, the ring light is nothing more than a bright paperweight. I’m just about certain my dog got to the screw. In other words, it’s gone. That’s alright, because I’ll find a way to prop it up! I’m very resilient, and I refuse to give up. I WILL record my first video, and I’ll do it ASAP!
I’m happy to have read this blog entry. It’s given me that extra little push that I needed! Now, thanks to the hope that this entry has instilled in me, I’m ready to roll! Heck, if my father weren’t sleeping in the next room of this small apartment, then I’d be recording videos right now instead of writing! Alas, I must wait just a bit longer.
I’m more than ready to get this YouTube and blogging journey started! I’m also going to begin blogging as I’m beginning to grow my YouTube Channel. I feel like it’s perfect to have their releases on or around the same time. I have so much to say and write about. I’ve esb been accepted into 2 collaborations in which I’ll be guest writing on others’ blogs/communities! I’m really happy about landing those gigs, because I think it’s not only perfect timing but also a great way to gain a bit of exposure. I definitely need more exposure, but I’ll be writing a blog entry specifically about that at another time.
This extra hope that I feel was the virtual kick in the butt that I needed, and I owe that to Steff! Had I not read this post at this very moment, I may not have felt as great about my upcoming journey as I do now.
Check out all of the amazing content that Steff has to offer! You can find all that you need on her website, https://www.steffsbeautystash.com ❤
The Kate Experience 