Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
I love making little lists. So why not look back at the mistakes I've made as a blogger over the years?
Some of the points are a bit more serious than others where I'm just kind of laughing at the things I used to do.
I'm definitely STILL making mistakes. I'm far from perfect, but I love the process of learning and evolving along the way.
1. Not knowing my worth
I still struggle with fighting for my worth. I wrote more in depth about this topic in this article.
When I started I felt many brands took advantage of me. I was creating content for free and I was making sales for third partes without receiving a dime. For example: a local brand only let me borrow their clothes (meaning I didn't receive merchandise as payment either), I was never paid for brand awareness, I know the owner sold many pieces because of me but I never received a commission, I was reposted in their account (meaning they thought they had some rights to my content somehow), etc.
There is so much work involved in what we do, we have to put our foot down and make sure we know that your worth is more the number on your profile, it's your time, effort, talent, and creativity. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
2. Not Dressing for the Job I wanted
 |
| Wearing the bags I was called on. |
There was, and maybe still is, a website/forum where people would dedicate a lot of time to trash bloggers. I'm not going to name it because it doesn't need any publicity and you girls do not need that type of negativity in your life. Thankfully, I was talked about there just once and they accused me of wearing fake bags.
I never wore fake bags. I wore designer inspired bags in 2011-2012. They were from an online boutique that never claimed them to be designer bags (and neither did I). If you have been following me, you might remember them. They were Hermes, Chloe, and Balenciaga lookalikes.
However, seeing my name on that site for that specific reason made me open my eyes. If I wanted to be taken seriously in the industry, I had to stop promoting sites with obvious knockoffs of designer clothes, bags, and accessories.
They say you have to dress for the job you want, not the job you have...and it's absolutely true! I'm not saying you should go ahead and get a $100k loan to dress in Valentino so Valentino will contact you to collaborate. BTW, BryanBoy once said that he did exactly that. He got a loan and invested in designer clothes so he would work with high-end designer. This absolutely worked for him. But I don't recommend it!
Slowly I started investing in pieces; a few designer bags and shoes, and middle-range clothes. Guess what? Those knockoff brands stopped reaching out and now I was talking with that middle-price-point I was happy with.
3. Not Knowing How To Say No
At the beginning, I was so grateful with every opportunity I got that I would say YES to everything. It wasn't because of the money, it was because I felt extremely grateful to be considered for all these things, for turning a little hobby into a job.
But you know what happens when you don't say "no"? You start losing yourself. And again, if you are not doing things that are 100% you, you are not connecting 100% with your audience and you will continue to attract brands and people that are not truly YOU.
I know it's hard; maybe you need to pay your bills, maybe you are like me and just get excited about any work opportunity. But saying YES to things that align with your work, aesthetics, values will only bring more, I promise.
4. Not Connecting With The Audience.
I think the biggest mistake a blogger can make is looking at their audience as followers instead of a community. This industry is a two-way communication system, we are not celebrities and you, as a "reader" shouldn't just listen to what we say or do.
Nowadays, I take a lot of time to make sure I answer as many comments as I can and that I go to other people's profiles and check them out, stalk them, & give them love. But there was a time I didn't do this, at least not as frequent as I should have- and that was a BIG mistake.
5. Not Showing My True Self
When I started blogging, I would put on this " fashion mask". I'm not saying I was "fake" but I thought people would ONLY care about what I had to say as a fashion blogger. This lead to only writing about fashion and not fully showing who I was. People knew where I was going with that look, and what I did- but the true NANY and her feelings were still kind of a mystery.
I still struggle to show a lot of me. I don't know how silly I can be. I have a sarcastic type of humor that a lot of people do not understand- I have twitter for letting all my sarcastic self out. I'm not an extrovert so getting off my shell was, and will always be, definitely hard.
6. Shooting in random places
Like I've said, I've always being a shy person. So imagine this situation, it's 2010, nobody knows what blogging is and I'm in the middle of the street with a dressier outfit than the regular gal: EVERYONE WOULD STARE.
Our solution? Go to an empty street that literally had cows and horses around and shoot there- that's where the above pictures where taken in 2012. I would stand in the middle of the street with sequins on. I cringe now but I thought I was killing it by then.
Fastforward to 2018 and now I think it's very important that the look you are wearing matches the place were you are taking the picture (unless you are a Vogue type of editorial blogger...but most of us aren't). For example, if you are wearing a gown: don't shoot in the train tracks or in a zoo. It simply does not make sense. Let's keep it real.
7. Comparing Yourself to Other Girls in The Industry.
This one is really hard because, even if you know the theory, we are humans and we overanalyze what our peers are doing. I've seen many girls that started at the same time than I did hit the 1 million followers like it was nothing. I do feel stuck sometimes and I start to wonder "WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?". This also applies to comparing outfits, designer stuff, fab trips, etc.
This question can lead to stress and envy- but most important it can lead to a place where you stop enjoying what you do...and that's when trouble begins. At this moment, you start to think there is a formula to success. And it's happening, I go to my IG and I see girls doing the same thing over and over because they think that's what will make them rise.
Remember to always stay authentic!
8. Not Collaborating With Other Peers
 |
| Stronger together. With Andrea Eraso (@ErasoAndrea), Valentina Tamayo (@MVTrends), and Gaby Aleixandre (@VoguishdDiet) |
Ok I said not to compare yourself but that doesn't mean not acknowledging your collages. YOU ARE NOT COMPETITION. Each one has something unique to offer if you stay authentic.
I get along with my fellow bloggers. I've bonded with a lot of them and consider them FRIENDS and CLOSE FRIENDS. But it wasn't until recently that I started collaborating with them in different ways.
I started the "10 Questions With"- which I want to continue doing as soon as the baby is here. There I shot with friends and I asked them fun questions about their blog. Also I love sharing my experiences and making them sure they don't make the mistakes I've made.
Why not work together? I truly believe we are stronger together in this industry.
9. Not Looking Carefully at the Legal Side of the Industry (Taxes, Contracts, Rights, etc).
When you start making money, you start getting contracts. This means a lot of LEGAL TALK. If you are not sure about something, have someone look at your contract. It can be a friend, family, family friend, you get the drill. Contracts can be very lengthy and complicated, and BIG things can be hidden in ways you will never expect.
This probably deserves another post but make sure to look into the Rights. Are you giving them fully rights of your content? Worldwide rights? Digital? for 6 months? for a year? indefinitely? All of this has a substantial weight in the cost of your content.
Also look at exclusivity closely, terms of payment, usage of your image and likeness, and termination clauses.
Never, EVER, sign anything without fully reading it and understanding it.
Also, taxes for freelance bloggers are confusing and complicated. Don't be afraid to hire an accountant, that peace of mind is simply priceless.
10. Not Delegating
As bloggers we start by doing it all; and as we continue to grow, we might become overwhelmed with the amount of work in the different areas.
As humans, we have to accept we are not the best at everything. It's ok to ask for help AND hire people that are specialists in other areas.
Like I've mentioned before, it is okay to delegate the legal side to lawyers; to hire an account for taxes and bookkeeping; to hire a web designer to take your blog to the next level; to a hire photographers; to hire an intern for overall assistance...invest in your blog!
So now it's your turn to share YOUR MISTAKES WITH ME! Let's laugh them out, move on, and learn from each other!
I'm going to start with the cliché (just in case you found me recently, or even through this article) I started blogging way too long ago (2009) , I've learned A LOT by making several mistakes, AND I've seen the blogging industry changed in all ways possible. I'm finishing an article with the 10 mistakes I made as a new blogger, and not knowing my worth was definitely one of them. So let's get started!
Because of my "OG" status, as some name it, many blogger friends that are relatively new to the industry always come up to me asking me if they should charge for X, Y, or Z. And the answer, no matter what, is YES! YES! and 100 times YES!
If a brand reaches out to YOU, they found some sort of value IN YOU. It might have been your amazing pictures. Maybe they liked your witty way of writing or they loved your product reviews. When a brand reaches out, it isn't by chance (or it shouldn't be by chance). They probably did their research and spent countless hours finding people that align with their brand and messaging.
A few months ago, a big-tier blogger discouraged "small" bloggers from not following their dreams because they might not have X amount of followers. She actually said NOT to charge if you had less than 100k. It just made my blood boil because that's simply not true.
you are never "too small" to charge on social media. Period
Let's break it down. Let's imagine you have ZERO followers (just to exaggerate, we all know that moms and aunts make great fans..so let's make it 3 followers), and a brand contacts you for content creation: IGNORE the number of followers in your profile and take all these things (and the hours they take) into consideration.
- PRE- PRODUCTION:
Inspiration board, buying props, location scouting, talent scouting, and equipment rental.
- PRODUCTION
Hair and makeup, photographer, gas and parking, and modeling
- POST PRODUCTION:
Editing, writing, proof-reading, and social media planning.
We are talking about a production that would cost the brand THOUSANDS of dollars. So why shouldn't YOU charge? Even with absolutely no followers.
Your worth is more the number on your profile, it's your time, effort, talent, and creativity. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
The other day I was talking with a blogger friend, Remly from The Little Venecia, and she was telling how much she loved my style in 2014...how natural I looked, how the outfits didn't look planned- how it was just me having fun.
The blogger industry keeps growing andhe competition to get that "perfect photo" has gotten crazy...and yes, I blame Instagram for all that. Before Instagram, each blogger had her own style and it really didn't matter what everyone else was doing. Now that we see it when we scroll we compare quality pictures, who has the new it bag, who traveled WHERE, who is working with what brand, etc.
And even though I love traveling and keeping up with trends. I want to go back to that, to have fun with the blog. I want to stop thinking that a look is missing something, or wearing something because it will get more likes on IG. I'm going back to being ME.T his look was not planned at all, I was heading to do some errands and to eat with my mom who was in town. Yes, my hair is longer here because this photo is from a few months back. Why haven't I posted it? Because the sunglasses I designed for Bonlook were not out for sale yet and I really wanted to share them when you could be able to buy and LOVE the sunglasses.
Who's with me? Let's make blogging fun again.
XOXO
El otro dÃa estaba hablando con una querida amiga y bloggers, Remly de The Little Venecia, y ella me estaba contando lo mucho que le gustaba mi blog en el 2014....que todo se veÃa tan natural y divertido, que nada se veÃa planeado, que la estaba pasando tan bien.
Y la realidad es que las cosas han cambiado mucho en los últimos años. El mundo blogger ha crecido y la competencia ha crecido aún más. Antes cada cual tenÃa su estilo y no nos comprábamos. Ahora es inevitable cuando en IG salimos una tras otra. Uno empieza a comparar calidad de fotos, quien tiene la nueva cartera de moda, quien ha viajado más que quien, quien está trabajando con quien, etc
Y aunque por esto no voy a dejar de viajar, ni de jugar con mi estilo; si quiero regresar a eso de divertirme al 100% con el blog. Quiero no pensar en que "al look le falta algo" para que sea un look con muchos likes. Quiero compartir mis looks reales, todas deberÃamos dejar de producirnos tanto...no estamos en Fashion Week todo el año.
Este es de un dÃa muy casual mientras mis papas visitaban en Miami. No lo habÃa publicado porque la colección de Bonlook todavÃa no habÃa salido y de verdad querÃa que tuviesen la oportunidad de comprarlos si les gustaban.
¿Quién me acompaña? Hagamos de esta industria lo divertida que solÃa ser.
¡BESOS!
DOLCE VITA nude booties
MICHAEL KORS bracelets
HUAWEII smart watch
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons