Yes, I spend a lot of time curating my Instagram feed to make it appear perfect, at least to say. But I am far from perfect. As a blogger and content creator, it is my job to look presentable to my followers and readers.
And most importantly, mind you guys that this job is not all glamorous at all. Especially now that I am a mom, I don’t look like that on the photos every day. I am usually in my hubby’s old shirt and lounge shorts, hair all messed up, busy taking care of my son whenever I am not in the office. Let me just say that motherhood has changed my blogging life.
Instagram Vs Reality (photo by Red Epic Productions)
Well, don’t get me, wrong guys, I am not pretending to be someone that I am not, nothing like that, no. It is really because it is a job, I always make it a point to be presentable to my audience. I think even if I am not a blogger, I will still make an effort to look good in order to feel good. I just want to share good vides and inspire everyone to be happy and spread love. I don’t want to give negative vibes whenever I feel not myself. That’s why it is really quite hard to balance my time now because when shooting for some content I need to plan it ahead and make time to fix myself like makeup and all, and most especially set a time and date on when I should shoot it because there are deadlines when it comes to these contents. I need to shoot during the daytime to get the best natural lighting as possible so I had to squeeze this in between the time I have with my son and with my office work, which is just not enough. I wish daytime is extended until 9 PM. It actually takes a more than a dozen if not hundreds of shots to get that one perfect money shot photo. Believe me, that’s true!
As a blogger, content creator, and as a mother, I am very careful and selective of the brands and products I work with. I don’t work with brands or endorse a product I don’t believe in or use for that matter. It has been three years since I started blogging, I blog about fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. And what started as just my mere escape to my previous depression and my way of de-stressing has turned into a job as brands took notice of my blog and believed in me thus worked with me. I am deeply humbled to say that I have never asked for any free products from any brands in exchange for a blog post. It has always been the brands who contacts me first and asks for a collaboration.
As some of you know, I had an online clothing line called Pinkaholic Clothing and have experienced numerous requests from bloggers and content creators asking for free clothes in exchange for a social media post. I always find it as a turn-off whenever bloggers do this. So I turned them down nicely and told them that Pinkaholic doesn’t have an ongoing social media campaign. Because as a blogger myself, I don’t do this job just to get free stuff, I do it because I love doing it. I know there are a lot of issues right now on matters like this about bloggers/influencers asking for free clothes, free food, free hotel accommodation. Well, maybe they have their reasons and maybe some brands and company would want that. But that is just a big no-no for me.
Collaborations
If you guys ever wonder how this collaboration thing works. It’s like this, and it usually is different from every brand. Some brands want to collaborate with me by sending me free products in exchange for a blog post or an Instagram post. If I see myself wearing or using that particular product and if I like and believe in the brand I would agree to collaborate. Let’s say for example clothes if it represents my style then I would gladly collaborate with the brand for free. But let’s say for example a beauty brand who requires specific posts and deliverables, this is where the job requires fees. Although I personally love the brand or use this product, the brand has to pay for the time and the amount of work being put on to produce this post. That why this is called a job, and for some famous bloggers/influencers, a full-time job for that matter.
That’s why I am very careful about choosing the brands I work with because I don’t want to mislead you guys. Just because a brand is willing to pay me doesn’t mean I will endorse or promote them. I have to believe in the brand or at least try the product first and let you guys know my honest review. Mind you that not everything in my blog or social media are given to me free or I was paid for. Most are actually being paid from my own pocket and just want to share with you guys the products/brands that I love and use. Hence I put a disclaimer on my posts.
Well, this has been quite a long talk guys. I hope you find this post helpful in understanding about how bloggers and influencers struggle about meeting with deadlines and is a job not all about having a glamorous life as it is perceived to be. If some of you want to try blogging and you think you got what it takes to be an influencer, and it is something you are passionate about, by all means, go ahead. You can be anything you want to be as long as you are willing to work hard for it. Good luck and God bless us all!
