The Blogist Podcast

Ever wanted to know what brands look for when it comes to selecting influencers to work with? We’re hearing from the brand side on the do’s and don’ts of pitching. Brands look for metrics and engagement but there is more to pitching than the numbers.

Have you ever wanted to start a podcast? If the answer is yes, then this episode is for you! Podcasts are super popular right now and many brands are finding amazing success when it comes to utilizing podcasts to grow their business.

Another week, another podcast - welcome back to Season 3, Episode 6 of The Blogist Podcast! Have you ever participated in a loop giveaway, bought followers, or thought about buying followers? If you answered yes to any of those, today’s episode is for you!

Today's guest is a former member of the Blogist Team, Becky Feigin. Becky is what we like to call, a TRUE Instagram Master, who has built an amazing business of her own.

We wanted Becky to join us on today's episode to speak on a couple things that you as an influencer and business owner may have done in the past:

• "I have bought followers in the past, how can I fix this so it doesn't hender my Instagram engagement / brand?"
  
• "I have participated in loop giveaways in the past where some followers weren't real or don't align with my brand, what do I do now?"
  
• "I am not growing the way I want to be or should be, should I buy followers?"
  

While it's NEVER okay to buy followers, in today's episode we break down what to do if you did make this mistake in the past. We'll cover how to get past this and how to build a brand full of engaging and loyal community members and the best audience that aligns with your brand.

Welcome back to The Blogist Podcast - Season 3, Episode 5! Today is our BIGGEST LAUNCH ever. We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new Casting Agency here at Blogist! In this episode, Julian and Haley Denisoff (Head of Agency) talk about the launch and what this means for brands.

The launch of the Blogist Agency has been a long-awaited milestone in our business model. We are excited to be able to offer a full-service agency for brands who are looking to connect with like-minded influencers and build impactful brand partnerships.

In today’s episode we answer:

• What does this mean for brands?
  
• Why did we create this agency?
  
• What campaigns/brands have the agency worked with so far?
  
• As a brand, how do I get in contact with your Head of Agency, Haley?
  

Welcome back to The Blogist Podcast - Season 3, Episode 3! Today we are doing things a bit different. We're taking some time to really dive into the why behind Blogist, what we do, and how our team can help you grow your business to its fullest potential in 2021. The true purpose of The Blogist Podcast is meant to inspire and educate influencers and brands about the industry at large and connect the two together. There are not enough resources for marketers to really learn about what works on the influencer side of things or for influencers to learn the ins and outs of what's happening on the agency side.

Welcome back to season 3 of The Blogist Podcast! Here's what to expect this season:

• A whole lot of candid discussions on how to best set your business up for success in 2021
  
• The influencer marketing industry is here to stay. Why? We'll be diving into this ALL season 3.
  
• A TON of amazing guests who are leaders in the influencer industry such as: @midmodernmama, @beckyfeigin, @ruthieridleyblog, @fromheadtocurve
  

In this episode we talk a great deal of why it's so important for our community to find their tribe. We talk a lot of why Instagram has been such a powerful platform, but as we all know there are other platforms out there that are just as impactful. It's so important for you as a business owner to think about “who is my tribe / community? Where does my audience ingest content from the most?” This is such a crucial part to growing your influencer content strategy - finding your tribe, speaking to them, and strategically building content so that they can find your content and interact with it.

In today’s episode, we are so excited to introduce you to Katie Crenshaw. Katie is a member of the Blogist Community and a 30-something mom of three based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her emotional content surrounding mental health, body image, and re-defining beauty has gone viral numerous times and reached audiences all over the world by way of Good Morning America, CNN, Inside Edition, and more. In 2019, she took her love of the human experience to new heights and produced a podcast series called, “If I’m Being Honest,” with a mission to be a voice of the voiceless by humanizing marginal lifestyles and experiences. In 2020, Katie released her first children’s book titled, “Her Body Can,” which became an immediate bestseller. She shares everything from motherhood, truths, travel tips, female empowerment to style suggestions all delivered through authentic content and a healthy dose of sarcasm.

In this episode we dive into:

• The power of utilizing your platform for good.
  
• Ways to find inspiration when creating your content calendar., (hint these are some out of the box ideas you wouldn’t normally think about)
  
• One of her incredible awards that she was nominated for and ways you can utilize your platforms to build dynamic brand relationships.
  
• Utilizing brand narratives and brand relationships to do good and tell stories that will truly make an impact.
  

Make sure to sign up for our email list so you never miss a new podcast episode or blog post - blogist.co.

In today’s episode, we are so excited to introduce you to Chelsea Leibow. She is someone who has been a very incredible part of our community and has worked with some of our amazing content creators.

Chelsea is a PR and social media content/influencer marketing powerhouse. Her business, Chelsea Leibow Consulting is invigorating the sexual and health wellness startup space. Chelsea has had the opportunity to work on brand partnerships with a ton of incredible thought-provoking brands.

Through the brands she works with, she strives to create welcoming spaces for people of all races, gender, sizes, and abilities. She believes that everyone has the right to see themselves reflected in the wellness industry, lives to tell compelling stories, and sees being a jill of all trades when it comes to communication strategies as the future of the industry.

In this episode we answer:

• What You Should Be Doing When It Comes To Your Business
  
• Creating an Influencer Strategy - The ways influencers should be aligning themselves with brands that completely align with your brand and you as a person.
  
• Pitch Strategies - Chelsea touches on things that she has seen from influencers when they have pitched to her that have raised some red flags
  
• Brand Partnerships - Chelsea shares a lot of insight around what you could be doing to actively pitch yourself and what you could be doing to build the most meaningful relationships with brands.
  

To learn more about Chelsea, follow along with her on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website:

In today’s episode, we wanted to take some time to speak about why the key to success is having your story. Understanding your why is what will ultimately set you apart from the others. We get asked all the time, “Okay, I want to build an online community, but what am I going to talk about?” So, if there is one thing you learn from this episode, take the time to identify one thing that makes you a credible source and helps further your influencer strategy.

When you take the time to understand your story, it shows your followers and brands that you are truly passionate about what you do and that there is a why behind your brand. It gives your followers a reason to follow you and brands a reason to partner with you.

Continuing to tell your story over and over again is how you’ll ultimately build an engaging community that converts. The reason every successful business becomes what it is is because there is a story behind it.

In today’s 4th social media insights episode, Julian focuses on why you should think about your follower as your customer and in return increasing your conversion rate. Through that, we’ll discuss how it can be instrumental in terms of your long term success as an entrepreneur.

Today’s episode is a very important one. The past three months have been critical in terms of so many things really coming to light, one of those being the lack of inclusivity and diversity specifically when it comes to brands working with black creators. No matter if you are a black or white creator or a brand, it’s very important to take the time to listen to this amazing interview. We had the privilege of sitting down with Chardline Chanel, an influencer who has built her business around celebrating inclusivity and diversity.

A little bit about Chardline - she is a style, beauty, and travel digital content creator. Her blog curates fashion and beauty trends. She engages her audience in her fitness and health journey and gives interactive updates on her travels around the globe while she promotes body positivity specifically spaces that welcome the body positive community. Realizing the strength and breadth of her voice, she actively works to bring awareness to the underrepresentation of plus size fashion in mainstream media and focuses on advocating for plus size women.

In this episode Chardline speaks on:

• How to build a business while working as full time
  
• The lack of diversity in the Influencer Industry and what we can all do to change that
  
• What we can do as individuals to make a specific change
  

To learn more about Chardline, follow along with her on Instagram and blog:

In today’s episode, we’re talking with Erica Lauren. She is a bi-coastal plus-size model and social media influencer with a background in music and corporate diversity. In a few short years, Erica has established herself in the fashion industry modeling campaigns for numerous brands, such as Lane Bryant, Torrid, Skims, Walmart. She has also collaborated with various social media partners such as Stitch Fix, Good American, and Fabletics. It’s safe to say that she has a ton of incredible brands under her belt and built an amazing business around staying true to her brand.

For many clients, Erica has found that she is the first size 18 model that they work with, contributing to a great size inclusivity and representation conversation in the industry. Through sharing her journey online, Erica aims to inspire women to figuratively and literally stop clinging to their sweaters, bare their arms, and find their inner model earlier in life.

Erica is such an incredible and inspiring person to follow and in our episode, we dive deep into how to build a brand as an influencer that can also help your modeling career in the long run.

In this episode you’ll find out about:

• How to build an incredibly established brand
  
• Monetizing your business as a model and social media influencer
  
• Where Erica sees the modeling / fashion industry going due to COVID-19
  

To learn more about Erica, follow along with her on Instagram and website:

In today’s episode, we are taking the time to answer a question that we get asked all the time - “how do I grow my Instagram genuinely to create an impactful and engaging community of real people?”

This is super important to understand because, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how large or small your following is. What matters is how engaged your community members are with you and your brand.

In this episode, you’ll find out how to grow your community authentically, understanding who you are as a business owner and the value you’re providing, and how to collaborate with other influencers to help one another grow.

In today’s episode, we talk with Corinne Travis. She is an experienced director of influencer marketing and brand partnerships at CJ Affiliate, where she helps influencers and media sites maximize monetization through affiliate marketing and truly demystifies the world of contextual commerce for top tier brands.

After noticing that brands and influencers were consistently looking for ways to create long term, impactful partnerships, she created and now leads the successful VIP marketing influencer service division at CJ Affiliate.

Corinne has spoken in front of many brands and influencers on topics about monetization and influencer campaign strategy. She was recognized as a Top 50 influencer marketing employer by Talking Influence in December of 2019.

Needless to say, Corinne truly is a force in this industry and has so much to share when it comes to best understanding affiliate marketing to drive your business forward.

Today we’ll cover the steps to creating a strong affiliate marketing strategy, multiple ways that you as an influencer can truly hone your affiliate marketing strategy so you can make money from the community that you have worked so hard to create, and why it is important to show brands that you have a powerful conversion rate to ultimately leverage getting you more money when it comes to brand partnerships.

To learn more about Corinne, follow her on Instagram or LinkedIn:

Today we have the pleasure to sit down with Alexandra Lawrence to talk about building your personal brand. Something I know many of us know we need to think about more deeply. Alex has worked in social media and influencer marketing for quite some time now. She began her career working on the brand side of luxury brands such as Hermes and Stuart Weitzman. She eventually branched out on her own to start her freelance consulting business when she realized she had value to offer small brands and influencers in a way that no one else is doing. Today she is based in Boston and runs a digital training course called Digital Brand Stylist, where she helps brands and influencers pinpoint their purpose, vision, & voice and create a one of a kind brand strategy to implement on social media. In addition to running her consulting business, she is also a Senior Talent Manager over our team. I’m sure some of you listening have been able to work directly with Alex. She is an incredible light and we are so grateful to have her on our team.

In today’s episode, we talk about why the secret to success when it comes to growth is having something that you want to be known for, why curated feeds are not the recipe for success and being authentic, real, and yourself will set you apart from the rest. Alex also talks about why you should constantly go back to your vision and mood board.

At the end of the episode, we dive into Alex’s approach to defining your brand so you can grow yours exponentially this year.

To learn more about Alex, follow her on Instagram or her blog:

instagram.com/etreinspire/

instagram.com/digitalbrandstylist/

etreinspire.com

For information about Blogist:

In today’s episode, we speak with Norah Murphy, who is a part of Who What Wear’s influencer marketing team. We talk about why relationships truly are the recipe for success when it comes to creating campaigns that are actually impactful. We dive into what makes an influencer stand out to the Who What Wear team. This episode is a must listen for influencers and marketers as Norah breaks down what all influencers should know when it comes to being considered for a campaign with some of the leading retailers Who What Wear works with. Norah also breaks down how they measure the return on their investment when it comes to influencer marketing. Something we believe so many marketers really need to listen to. 

Kelly Augustine is a 32-year-old, born & raised New Yorker. She is one of our first clients and so close to our team’s heart. It has been incredible to see her tremendous growth since joining Blogist. She loves to live life and share her personal experiences. Specifically about personal style, plus size fashion, cosmetics, and NYC lifestyle. She is truly #vibes. In today’s episode, we talk about the ups and downs of truly growing a business that is closely tied to your brand. From there we touch more on how Kelly has seen the blogger community evolve over the past 10 years and the two things Kelly believes you need to understand to succeed in this industry. At the end of this episode, we have a very exciting announcement about a free guide we are offering to all of you. It’s going to really change the game for your business. 

In this episode, our Co-Founder Julian sits down for a shorter episode to discuss what being "good" at social media looks like. Julian also describes the way in which we share things on social media adds value to your following and your personal growth. She reminds us that being present for your community each and everyday is how you organically grow your business. We talk with our clients each day about the daunting responsibility of “what am I going to post today?” We remind our clients and ourselves to stay mindful and consider what you want to be known for online. In just 15 minutes Julian will give you insight on how to optimize your online presence in this week's episode!

For information about Blogist:

Tracy Campoli is the creator of the fitness membership Total Body Transformation which helps women get fit in just 30 minutes a day...from their living room!  And she is the woman behind Your Hottest Body Ever, the three step system to create diet-free weight loss...without calorie counting, macro tracking or any dumb diets. In the episode we talk about how to even begin a YouTube channel. Tracy explains how to produce great content by creating a dialogue with your audience and asking what they want. We also discuss the value in taking the time to listen to your audience as much as they listen to you in order to produce successful content and move the needle on number of subscribers and views. We all know that business is difficult and Tracy shares with us that you can also prepare and develop your audience, but when you experiment with things and use your data that is when a real shift occurs. At the end of the episode we talk about how you can make a VERY high earning salary without even making money through brand sponsorships.

We all have the chance to own our own website so let’s optimize how many people actually see it. Kyle Eng of Red Ventures is breaking down the black box of Google and educating us on all things SEO. As a marketer for new customer acquisition, Kyle explains to us how to use data to advance the connection between brands and customers. Kyle breaks down how to add value to your content by linking to outside websites and using keywords to make Google prioritize your posts. We will discuss how Google is integrating new user experiences for consumers and how to break into those spaces. Kyle lists several tools that can help you break into SEO and understand all of the complexities of Google.  At the end of the episode, you’ll understand why SEO is the way to go when it comes to growing YOUR brand from the ground up.

A good resource for beginners using SEO is Keywords Everywhere.

Maree Sye is the Founder of A Little Bit Etc, a personal style and experiential beauty blog that seeks to be a resource for those looking for both luxury and affordable products. After spending more than a decade in the luxury cosmetics industry, Maree Sye created her blog as a way to further explore and expand her love of fashion and beauty. Over the past 7 years, A Little Bit etc. has grown to include lifestyle, motherhood and travel features as well as a successful YouTube channel. In this episode we talk about the hardships of building a business, showing up for your community each and every day and how you CAN make a full time salary off of affiliate links alone. At the end of the episode we talk about finding a purpose online, how YOU as a listener can make a strong income and support system from your community and why it is important to treat your blog as a business from day one.

To learn more about Maree, follow her on Instagram or her blog: