I just had a reader reach out via email with a good little bundle of questions. I thought since she was curios maybe you all were too so here ya go: copy and pasted straight from the email. Let me know if you have any other questions! Interested to hear what you all are curious about. XO

 What are the best practices/steps that a blogger should take in order to start gaining consistent work with brands? What has brought you to landing those consistent jobs?

My posts for Wildfox are different than they are for Free People because the goal is good, useable content that not only shows your style but also coincides with theirs. You want them to be able to use the content as well. For me getting reposted by these big accounts is the quickest way my blog has grown. In terms of landing these jobs consistently it’s all about the relationship. I make sure they’re benefiting from working with me just as much if not more than I am from them. It’s also important to ask questions and find out their goal. Are they looking for content, sales, followers, etc. The end goal is different for each brand. 

 If looking to turn a blog into a full-time career, what should a blogger look to accomplish in their first year?

Brand identity and relationships. Don’t even attempt to make money your first year. Fully barter and just help these brands that are willing to work with you the best you can. These are the ones that believed in you before your following so be good to them and they’ll continue to be good to you. 

Do you work with any PR firms on a consistent basis, or do you mostly coordinate/land all brand collaborations yourself?

Both! Some brands have their PR in-house and some use agencies. My biggest advice on this is to reach out to all of the PR companies in your area. It doesn’t have to be formal just a “hey my name is Kristen and I’m the founder of High End Hippie and I simply wanted to reach out to get on your radar”. You don’t have to ask for anything in return just let them know you’re there and you want to be involved in what they have going on and most of the time they’ll add you to their list of contacts for upcoming events and collabs. 

What influencer networks do you work with/would you recommend?

Rewardstyle, Fohr card, and Collectively are the top 3 I get collabs from but honestly I sign up for every platform I come across because you never know! I get one-offs all the time. 

Any advice on how to organically grow your follower base? (I know this is an over asked question in the blogging world, but any personal experiences or success you are willing to share would be amazing).

No not over-asked at all because I feel like people these days are just trying to grow their following anyway they can. It’s rare for people to care about it being organic so I really appreciate you wanting that! My biggest advice is getting reposted!!! Like I said creating content that is not only true to your style but true to the brands. I am all about my organic following and I can tell you personally that you do not need these massive followings to get amazing partnerships. Be true to your style and send a very consistent message and the brands that fall into that will flock. It’ll take time (I’m on year 4) but it will be an organic trusted following that you can be proud of.