Tag Archives: Blogger Outreach

Managing your money as a freelancer

June 28, 2020 By in Blogging Tips, Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

I have been freelancing for almost 7 years now and I had to learn on the job. The many articles I read before and while on the freelancing journey did give me tips and tricks to help me as a freelancer, but none of them really prepared me for how to manage my money as a freelancer. When it comes to managing your money as a freelancer, you need to have your numbers head screwed on tight and quick or risk losing the plot. The life of a business owner can be a rollercoaster. You have to be prepared for the busy times as well as the not so busy times.

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Here are a few tips that should help in managing your money as a freelancer –

Set your prices

One of the first things I did was to set my prices. I have a fixed price for every service I offer. That way I don’t have to research or think about what price to give a client for a job. I know what I am worth and I do market research every now and again to make sure my prices are competitive.

Send out invoices

I know many freelancers don’t send out invoices to clients for various reasons but I always make sure my clients receive an invoice for every job. That way I have a trail of all my jobs, clients, and prices. It also makes submitting my tax returns easy since I have all the records in one place.

Take payment in advance

I like to take payment in advance where possible. That way I don’t have to chase payments (that is a job in itself). I appreciate clients that pay quickly and in advance. Going forward, I will be requesting to take more payment in advance. It saves time and effort.

Save for the rainy day

Most freelancers will know all about how busy work can be in some months and how quiet it can be in other months. I have been freelancing for a few years now and I know the pattern. My advice to not just the freelancers but every business owner is to save some money for the rainy day. Don’t spend all your earn, stash some away for when work is quiet.

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Don’t work for free

These days, I thankfully don’t have people asking me to work for free anymore. My work pays my bills and more, so working for free isn’t really an option. I know my worth and I am very quick to ignore anyone who questions it by asking me to work for free or for a ridiculous fee. I manage my money by not working for free.

At the end of the day, we are all different and we will manage our money in our own way. These are some of the ways I make it work for me. Being able to work for me for this long is a dream come true. It has completely changed my life for the better and I am grateful to be able to do all that I do. Apart from this blog which is my main source of income, I am also a Content Writer, Blogger Outreach Consultant, Social Media Manager, Blog Coach, Authour, and Vlogger.

How do you manage your money as a freelancer/business owner?

What is Blogger Outreach

February 11, 2018 By in Blogging Tips, Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments

I feel so attached to my readers. Which is why I have made it a priority to make sure that I deliver value every time I publish a post. Of course, I did other things like consistently promoting my blog, connecting with other bloggers and openly letting those I meet know that I own a blog. Just like me, other bloggers have been able to build their reader-base to hundreds and thousands. Their readers are so dedicated that they read every post published. This is what makes them an influencer and where blogger outreach comes in.

 

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What is Blogger Outreach?

Companies have caught on to the amazing potential bloggers have as influencers. So, they came up with the idea of leveraging on bloggers’ influencer status to promote their products and services. This whole process is called blogger outreach.

Blogger outreach is a branch of influencer marketing. This branch of influencer marketing is where businesses or reach out to bloggers with a fairly to promote their products or services. Although there are some controversies with this kind of marketing tactic, this is by far one of the most effective ways to put the word out there today.

 

How does Blogger Outreach work?

Let’s assume that you are somewhat of an influencer. You have a very good reader-base and you write about fashion and beauty. A makeup brand approaches you with their new makeup line and sends you a set of matte lipsticks. You try out the lipsticks, love them and tell your readers about them in an article reviewing that makeup company’s new line of matte lipsticks. You could also promote the products on social media. Your article and social media promotion will give that makeup company the needed exposure to boost their sales.

 

Who pitches first?

Usually in blogger outreach, the company is the one who does the reaching out. But confident bloggers with a decent following can also approach the companies.

 

How to get visible as a blogger

One way to get started is to think of all the products and services you paid for and write a review on those products and services. That is how I started and I still feature many products and services I pay for.

When you do this, it lets people know that you’re open to collaborations and this may generate interest amongst the PRs. However, you need to be extremely cautious once you go down this route. As a blogger, integrity is gold! Never compromise integrity for anything! Honesty is always the best policy, and it’s all about giving value. Let value be your focus.

 

I offer blogger outreach services, so if you are a business in need of bloggers to promote your brand/campaign, do get in touch via email – fashionandstylepolice@gmail.com

 

 

The Problem with Blogging is Bloggers

January 10, 2018 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , 34 Comments

I have been wanting to write this post for some time now but the words were just not flowing. However, in the middle of dealing with household chores, it came. I am happy I finally got the words to flow on this sweet day. Now this topic – The problem with Blogging is Bloggers, may surprise you. But if you have been around the Blogosphere for a bit, you would agree with me to a large extent that we are the problem the blogging world has.

Yes, us bloggers are the problem we grumble and complain about, all day everyday, to anyone who cares enough to listen. We just need to look in the mirror to find the problem.

 

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How did we get here?

I have been blogging for over 5 years now. The first post on Fashion and Style Police went live on a sweet October day in 2012, and I have never looked back. Blogging has open so many doors of opportunities. I get to make a living, earning a living wage through Fashion and Style Police, freelance writing and by proving blogger outreach services. It has been a very long journey; taken me years to get to this point of earning full-time regular income and I am so grateful. But then again, I work extremely hard for every penny I earn. I work an average of 40 hours a week, including weekends. And I have done so for years, so the blog you are now reading did not achieve an overnight success. I am not even close to where I want to be but I am getting there.

I take my job very seriously. So this is not a joke to me or a side gig. It is literally my life. We bloggers complain about all sorts but usually most complaints are entered around not being paid enough. That is one major issue every professional blogger should be able to relate with. Being paid enough means different things to different people regardless of our profession. Having said that, I believe we bloggers are the reason why we don’t earn enough. The earlier we start putting our foot down and start demanding at least a minimum wage for our efforts, the better for our blogging career.

 

No budget line

How did we get here? I keep receiving emails from PRs, well established PRS, telling me they have no budget for a job they want me to do. I have had a couple this year already stating that even though they had a budget to pay bloggers last year. The budget has miraculously disappeared this year and they want something for nothing. Because other bloggers are accepting to work for nothing.

 

The £20 gang!

I have lost count of the companies looking to pay a whole £20 for a blog post. The funniest part is that I have had these same companies pay me a lot more than £20 some months/years ago. Why they keep reducing their budgets and offering peanuts is because certain bloggers are accepting them and they can’t believe their luck and profits, that they try to get everyone else to accept it. They better give up trying because they are wasting their time with me.

 

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I don’t offer that

Like I mentioned earlier, I handle blogger outreach for many clients so I am on both sides of the fence. I would never offer bloggers a fee I won’t be able to accept myself. Some bloggers may still find the fee low but it is nowhere close to what I have been offered lately. And those I have worked with can confirm that. Unfortunately, no one has the right or the power to tell someone else want to charge. So apart from raising awareness and talking these payment issues, there is not much anyone can do.

What I plan to do is to carry on as I am already by not accepting anything less than my worth. I know what I am worth and that is all that really matters. My first sponsored post in 2013 was £25, and I only started blogging a few months when I got that offer. So that was amazing for me then. But 5 years in the game, with my stats, I am not on their level anymore. I wrote a lot more about my blogging journey in my book – How to Cash In as a Blogger, so go have a read.

 

Going forward

I plan to carry as normal, charging what I believe is my worth Also, one of my many goals is to ensure I stand out from the pack significantly. So if everyone is writing about Brand A, I will be writing about Brand B or write about Brand A in a different way, with a twist. I need to ensure Fashion and Style Police stands out from the rest in a fabulous way. That is the only way up!

What are your thoughts on this? Please share in the comments section.

Thanks for reading.

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