The Creative Edition Podcast

Today, we’re going to be sharing how to NOT leave any money on the table on your brand partnerships. If you’re starting to work with brands or have hopes of working with brands in the future, these tips are for you.

Tip #1: Raise your rates

 Before you even talk or negotiate with a brand, one thing you need to do (if you haven’t done it yet), is raise your rates. If you haven’t raised your rates this year or this quarter, you are leaving money on the table.

 WHY is it important to raise your rates? 

·      Whether you’re doing this as a side-hustle or you’re doing this full-time, you have to see yourself as a brand and business. 

·      You’ve grown in your experience, you’ve grown your audience, and maybe you’ve even grown your engagement rate. If you aren’t sure where to start, start with a percentage. 

·      Raise your rates by 10% or by 20% and see what brands say to your rate.

Tip #2: Charge for every single deliverable 

 If a brand is asking you to produce one reel, two Instagram posts, two Instagram stories with a total of 6 frames, and two TikTok Videos, price every single deliverable out. 

While it can be tempting to just give an estimated lump sum quote, you can maximize your earnings through brand partnerships by pricing each deliverable out.

 WHY should you charge for each deliverable? 

·      Each deliverable, each photo, each video, takes time, effort, and creativity. 

·      As a creator, you need to factor your time into producing each piece of content.
 
Tune in for the next two tips!

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In today’s minisode, we’re sharing 3 things to focus on instead of that following number. Whether you’re looking at the number of YouTube subscribers, Instagram followers, TikTok followers, and more, it can get really frustrating just being focused on the numbers. 

#1 Instead of focus on the number of followers, focus on: Creating Content

·      Are you happy with the photos, the blog posts, and the videos you create? 
·      Do you love taking or posing photos, writing the blog posts, or shooting and editing the videos? 
·      Are you creating content that’s aligned with your brand and resonating with your audience?

If you’re excited about the content you create and you love the process of creating content, then you’re at a great place. If not, you should ask yourself why you aren’t producing the content you want to produce.

Remember, what you create is in your creative control. If you aren’t happy with your content, reflect on what you can be doing to create content you love.

Tune into 2 more things to focus on instead of the following number!

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Today we’re going to be discussing media kits and what things to include on your media kit. If you’ve never heard of a media kit before or you’re looking to revamp your media kit, this episode is for you.

What is a media kit?
A media kit is essentially a resume for your blog, Instagram, TikTok, and online presence. Your photo, contact info, and what your blog is about all go on your media kit. You can also share to brands, public relations firms, and other influencer organizations what services you offer to them.

A media kit can range from 1-2 pages to 3+ pages, depending on how long you’ve been blogging for and how establish your brand is.

Why do you need a media kit?
If your goal is to work with brands or pitch to publications, you absolutely need one. A media kit shows people that you’re serious about your blog, TikTok, YouTube channel, and/or Instagram. A media kit helps sums up the value you can bring to brands in a succinct way.

What are three essential things to include in your media kit?
A professional photo of you.
Your logo and your contact information.
An About Me section.

Tune in to hear 5 more things to include on your media kit!

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On today’s mini-sode, we’re sharing 3 ways to drive engagement on Instagram. If you’re looking to change up your content strategy and improve your engagement rate, this podcast episode is for you!

Tip #1: Create save-able content

·      Savable content is any photo or video that has been saved by your audience.

·      You know if your audience is saving your content by looking at the analytics of each posts. 

Examples of savable content:

·       Sharing a review or recommendations

·       Sharing a healthy snack recipe with the list of ingredients + steps

·       Sharing instructional workout routines you can do at home

Tune in for the next two tips!

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

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Today we’re going to be sharing 5 tips to help you determine and validate whether or not you’re getting a brand partnership in your inbox or a SCAM.

Have you ever received an email from a brand asking to collaborate with you, but you aren’t sure whether or not it’s a scam?

 Tip # 1: Before you hit reply, make sure the brand is a real company

Step 1 in figuring out whether or not it’s a brand collaboration or a scam is to verify that it’s coming from a real company. Here are a few easy ways to determine if it’s a real company or not:

1.     Ask yourself if you’ve personally heard of this company before? There are new brands and businesses emerging every day. If you’ve seen on a Hulu commercial or heard them on a podcast ad, the brand is probably legitimate. You should continue to do checks to see if this is a real brand or not.

2.     Do a Google Search. By doing a simple Google Search, you’ll find the company’s website, LinkedIn page, social channels, and any news articles if they’ve been written about or mentioned in media. 

3.     Check the brand on social media channels. If this is truly a new brand looking to build their business, they would have at least one social media channel. Check to see if they have a Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Tip #2 Make sure the email is coming from a real person

If you aren’t sure whether or not this person emailing you is real, you can look the person up on LinkedIn or do a quick Google search on their name. You might also be able to find them on social media. 

Additionally, if the person or company emailing you has tons of spelling errors and grammatically mistakes, this is a huge red flag.

Tune in for the last 3 tips!

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

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Today, we’ll be sharing 3 quick tips to help you set and accomplish your goals. We’re approaching the halfway point of 2021, and it’s a great time to check in with your goals or even set new ones if you’re feeling inspired.

Tip #1 on Goal Setting: Make sure you’re focusing on your actual goals, and not a place of lack

 It can be really easy to focus on the reasons why we can’t achieve our goals, the barriers, and the constraints like:

·      The Instagram algorithm

·      The influencer industry being overly saturated

·      Not having enough time

·      Not having the right equipment 

 If you find that you need to shift your mindset, here are other things to focus on to help you achieve your goals:

·      The reasons why you want to achieve your goals. You can write out the reasons why you want to hit your financial revenue target or why you want to start making money as a creator.

·      The lessons you’ve learned. You know more today than you did a month ago, three months ago, and a year ago. If you take the time to acknowledge what you’ve learned, you’ll feel better about your path.

·      The daily or weekly wins. If you’re working towards a long-term goal, don’t be afraid to celebrate weekly or daily wins to help motivate you along the way. If you’re working on posting consistently, acknowledge and give yourself some credit for showing up on Instagram or your social platform 3 times this week.

Tune in for the next 2 tips to help you achieve your goals!

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

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Today, we’re sharing a course preview of Emma’s upcoming course: Build an Engaged Audience with Your Content Plan & Strategy. If you’re ready to learn how to build an engaged community online with your own plan and strategy, this podcast episode and upcoming course is for you.

I think one thing we can all relate to as a content creators and influencers is the struggle, the confusion, and sometimes the anguish of building your community online. Especially when you’re first starting out. 

But the truth is, figuring out how to build a community and set a strategy and a content plan for your blog, TikTok, YouTube Channel, Instagram, and other social platforms is hard.

When you’re first starting out, you don’t know:

• Who you’re trying to attract
• How you’re supposed to attract them
• How to build an audience with meaningful content
• What content you should be creating 
• What content your audience wants to see

Build an Engaged Audience with Your Content Plan & Strategy is here to help you learn how to consistently create great content that builds your audience. 

 Who is this course for?

 This course is primarily for influencers, content creators, and small business owners trying to figure out how to build an engaged community online.

•  If you’re feeling lost about who you should be attracting for your audience…
• If you’re feeling confused about what type of content to attract your community…
• If you’re feeling ready to build your audience and get clear about your plan and strategy…

This course is for you!

Listen in to learn how this course will help you build your engaged audience!

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

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On today’s mini-sode, we’re sharing a few critical elements that your Instagram bio needs to have.

#1 Your Name
If you don’t want people to just call you by your Instagram handle, we recommend including your name in your bio. 

#2 Your purpose or shortened version of your mission statement
It’s really important to give a brief description of what people can expect from your page. It’s also important to include what describes your page.

  #3 Your location
One thing to be mindful of is that when brands, influencer agencies, and PR companies cast influencers for campaigns, they look at location. Some influencer marketing campaigns are local (unique to your state or city), regional (like the West Coast or the Midwest), or national.

 When you put your city or state in your bio, you’re allowing brands to see if you could represent a region or a market. 

#4 Your email address

When brands or PR agencies are viewing your Instagram on desktop, there is NO email button. Put your email in your bio!

#5 Your website 

If you have a YouTube channel, blog, or outside website, make sure to link it in your bio so people know where else they can find you outside of Instagram.

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

Join the Content Creatives Podcast Facebook Group!

Follow us on Instagram: @creativeeditionpodcast

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Today we’ll be sharing some guiding questions to help you determine whether or not to accept a gifted brand collaboration. If you’ve been getting gifted partnership opportunities in your inbox and you don’t know if you should accept it, this episode is for you.

We share a few questions to ask yourself before you accept that gifted brand partnership:

Question 1: What’s the opportunity cost of accepting the brand collaboration?

If you’ve never heard of opportunity cost before, opportunity cost is “the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when alternative is chosen”

For example, if you choose to accept the gifted product to create (1) Instagram post + (3) Instagram story frames, this might take you two hours to do. Your time is your opportunity cost. 

Time is your biggest resource. Starting to shift your mindset that your time is worth something can help you evaluate whether or not it makes sense to accept a gifted brand partnership.

Question 2: Does the brand align with your brand?

You’ve probably heard us go on and on about having a purpose or mission statement as a content creator. When you’ve determined who you are as a brand, it’ll be really easy to answer this question.

If you and the brand have a similar mission, you should definitely consider working with the brand.

Question 3: Does the product or service the brand offers fit into your lifestyle?

 If you’re already using the brand’s product or service in your life, or using a similar brand’s product or service, it might make sense to accept that gifted partnership.

For example, when coffee companies come into my inbox, those partnerships make sense. We drink coffee everyday – sometimes we have multiple cups of coffee!

For the last 3 questions, tune in!
Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

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Follow us on Instagram: @creativeeditionpodcast

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On today’s mini-sode, we’ll be defining what is whitelisting and we’ll be sharing our opinions about whitelisting for content creators and brands.

Definition: Whitelisting means an influencer grants a brand partner advertising permission to your Facebook Page or Instagram account.

Brands can create and pay for Facebook and Instagram ads that run from the Instagram’s handle.

Why would brands want to whitelisting influencer content?

·      Whitelisting allows brands further influencer content. Instead of an influencer’s post being seen on the feed just 24-48 hours, a brand can put paid dollars behind that photo, video, or story to be seen past when the piece of content goes live.

·      Brands can target the post to people who don’t even follow the influencer. 

·      Brands can also make minor edits to the influencer’s post – so adjusting the copy (or caption) for example is something a brand can choose to do.

·      Brands can use the influencer’s authentic voice – to further connect with potential audiences or customers.

Why would influencers be open to whitelisting?

·      You can charge more. You can increase your base rate if the brand asks you for one month, 3 months, 6 months, or more to whitelisting your content. In our previous podcast episode about the Collectively report, about 50% of marketers spend less than $10,000 per month to amplify content. 

·      You may benefit from extended reach. Since whitelisting helps brands tap into wider audiences, your account may show up on other people’s newsfeeds who aren’t following you. 

·      You develop relationships with the brand/team. Think about it, a brand team thinks your face, your personality, your brand can represent their brand and business. That’s huge. A brand sees you as more than someone who can post a photo. A brand knows you can deliver high quality content that can be used for ads.

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

Follow Maddy on Instagram: @madcrayy | Pinterest: @madcrayy

Follow the Content Creatives Podcast: @contentcreativespodcast

Join the Content Creatives Podcast Facebook Group!

Follow us on Instagram: @creativeeditionpodcast

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmasedition | Pinterest: @emmasedition

And sign up for our email newsletter.