A place for all the tips and tricks to best monetize your Collective Voice links.
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Every blogger has a story so we took some time to chat with ShopStyle influencer, Julia of Gal Meets Glam, to hear about how she got started, her experience with ShopStyle Collective, and advice she has for bloggers just starting out. Read on for the full interview:
Q: How did you get started with blogging?
A: I started Gal Meets Glam while I was a junior in college as a fun, creative, part-time outlet. It quickly grew into more than just a part-time hobby and I found myself wanting to spend more and more time creating content and capturing images to share and connect with others. I enjoyed every aspect of building the Gal Meets Glam community. Eventually, I left my job to focus on Gal Meets Glam full-time so that I could dedicate 100% of my time on sharing fashion, beauty and lifestyle tips and finds that seemed to be resonating with so many women.
Q: What are a couple of your career highlights?
A: I would start with when Thomas joined me full-time on Gal Meets Glam, which was a game changer. It allowed us to really develop as a brand, exploring new ideas and opportunities while accomplishing so much more as a team!
Gal Meets Glam Collection has been a labor of love and is definitely an amalgam of all that we’ve worked towards and hoped for with Gal Meets Glam. The Collection has brought my career full circle to where I always dreamt of being. I absolutely love wearing dresses and wanted to create pieces that women would feel confident and beautiful in and would want to wear everyday. Each dress design has a personality of it’s own, with a unique signature name, inspired by the color, pattern and style. My hope is that women will be drawn to favorite pieces they feel good in and enjoy wearing for years to come.
Q: How do you use ShopStyle Collective to monetize your influence?
A: I love to tell stories and create experiences that paint a picture for others to enjoy. Shopstyle allows me to take the process one step further by sharing my favorite clothing, beauty and lifestyle products I use everyday with readers so they can shop them as well. I am able to earn a commission on the sales generated from the items I share this way.
Q: How has your style evolved over the years?
A: My style has definitely changed as I’ve matured and my role has evolved from student, to graduate and wife, to business owner and CEO, and most recently, designer. I continue to lean towards classic colors like blue, white, and blush, as well as feminine styles, but with more sophistication and a touch of elegance in the mix. I’m still all about everyday comfort and ease of wear, which is why I love wearing dresses they take the guesswork out of what to put on!
And I’ve always believed that finishing touches are essential, like pockets, bows, buttons and belts!
Q: Do you have any advice for someone just starting out with blogging?
A: Start with what you are already good at, come up with your own unique voice and style, and find your audience from there. Every blogger has their own reasons for wanting to share as well as varying levels of dedication to it, so determine what works best for you without comparing yourself to others. And make sure you have fun and love what you are doing along the way!
Stay tuned for more influencer interviews coming up! Read Mia Mia Mine’s interview here.
xo,
Courtney
The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is happening soon and we want to help you make the most of it! Now is the time to start thinking about how you will share content for one of the biggest sales of the year!
We’ve created cheat sheets so you can see what performed best at Nordstrom across ShopStyle Collective during last year’s Anniversary Sale & over the last three months at Nordstrom.
Click for PDF version of Cheat Sheets
Also be sure to check out our latest post, 15 Tips for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, to help you optimize your strategy for this massive earning period!
Every blogger has a story so we took some time to chat with ShopStyle influencer, Maria of Mia Mia Mine, to hear about how she got started, her experience with ShopStyle Collective, and advice she has for bloggers just starting out. Read on for the full interview:
Q: How did you get started with blogging?
A: I stumbled upon fashion blogs back in 2012 when I was working in Investment Banking in Los Angeles. I was a little bored of finance so I started a fashion blog merely as a creative outlet. I had no idea it would eventually turn into a career one day. I maintained my blog as a hobby until 2016 when I decided to take a leap of faith and make it my full-time career. At the time I was working as a Stock Analyst on Wall Street where I covered fashion, home and beauty companies. CEOs of the companies I covered were beginning to talk about how important influencers were becoming to their businesses so we poured a lot of resources into understanding the space – a task I was charged with. After I began more closely analyzing it, I realized so many of the influencers were just like me – girls with big dreams that took a leap of faith. The majority of the successful influencers that companies were focused on were self-made entrepreneurs. My paradigm kind of shifted at that point. I realized this little blog I did on the side could grow into something much bigger if I just poured time and resources into it. So I spoke with my boss (who fully supported me) and we planned an exit strategy for me. The transition from Wall Street to blogging full-time was a much smoother transition than I expected it to be. It helped that I had done tons of financial analyses and projections and came up with a business plan – which really helped guide me those first few months.
Q: What are a couple of your career highlights?
A: My very first career highlight was when I got a collaboration with Nordstrom. I covered the company closely while I worked on Wall Street so to work with them again on the creative side was really fun.
Another highlight came when the Investment Bank that I worked for asked me to be a keynote speaker at their annual investor conference a year after I left. That’s when it kind of hit me that I had successfully established a new career path for myself. I was there as Maria the Digital Influencer not Maria the Stock Analyst. Being able to share insights into what I do and why it matters to the stock market was really an honor. It also made me appreciate what we as Influencers do collectively. To see investors and companies so fascinated by our collective influence really helped validate the longer-term outlook of our industry.
Another big milestone for me was when I secured management. That really helped transform my career path and work towards bigger goals.
Q: How do you use ShopStyle Collective to monetize your influence?
A: At the end of the day I know my audience just wants to be able to shop the products that I share. I link everything I feature both on my blog and through Looks & Collections right when I publish each photo. I use ShopStyle Collective to not only search for new products and track when they go on sale, but I also spend a lot of time diving into my analytics. I love being able to see exactly what items people are clicking on versus purchasing – which helps guide the type of content that I share.
Q: How has your style evolved over the years?
A: I lived in LA for a number of years in my 20’s and back then my style gravitated towards more bohemian looks. When I moved back to Minnesota (where I grew up), my style got a little more polished – especially since I worked in a more professional setting at an Investment Bank. When I started blogging full-time and working from home more, my style got a little more casual and denim became my go-to. Now that I’m in my 30’s, I’m much more focused on maintaining a well-edited closet with pieces that I can get wear out of. I’m all about investing in a few key pieces to anchor my wardrobe and I think my readers really value that I wear a lot of my pieces and show them how to get mileage out of their own wardrobes too.
Q: Do you have any advice for someone just starting out with blogging?
A: The biggest piece of advice I have to identify your niche. Blogging has very few barriers to entry so there will always be a plethora of people giving it a try. In order to set yourself apart, you really have to bring something different to the table. Whether it’s really professional photos, inspiring travel content or just great affordable fashion finds – make sure your audience has something to gain by tuning into your social channels or blog. The business side of me will always say to make a business plan. Treat your blog as a business from the get-go even if you aren’t making money right away.
Stay tuned for more influencer interviews coming up!
xo,
Courtney
All the sales to blog about this week.