The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 11. Whitney Bond on Working with Brands

Episode Date: March 1, 2022

Are you interesting in working with brands on your blog? Today’s guest is here talking all about working with brands. Whitney Bond has been blogging since 2011. We chat about her journey to blogging, how she got her brand partnerships, connecting with your audience, the things you need to reach out to brands, and staying authentic to yourself when finding these brands. Whitney shares a lot of valuable tips and even a few funny stories that led her to where she is today. Be sure to tune in!Let us know what you thought of this episode on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsInterested in starting a blog? Join our waitlist for the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode11

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Today, we're going to be talking to Whitney. She is a blogger that I actually met several years ago when we were sort of unknowingly pitted against each other as competition in a sponsored post campaign that we were both working on. It's kind of a funny story. So we'll jump into that soon. But we wanted to welcome Whitney today and talk to her about her blogging journey and about working with brands beyond just the one that we worked on together. So welcome, Whitney. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, we're excited. We thought we would just jump in maybe and start with you telling us a little bit about yourself and how you decided to become a blogger and how long you've been blogging. right now. It's so crazy. It's been over a decade of this journey, but I actually kind of fell into blogging as most of us old school bloggers did. Just by chance, I had closed up a business

slash business went under when the economy crashed in 07, 08. And I went back to school for broadcast journalism. And I decided that I would start a blog. My life was kind of crazy going from closing up a business to being in my 20s and going back to college. And I moved to LA. So I decided I would kind of tell all my stories on this blog. And I was known by my friends as the girl that cooked. I just, I grew up in Oklahoma, And I was known by my friends as the girl that cooked. I grew up in Oklahoma, and I moved to California, and I missed home cooking. So I cooked all the time. So people would ask for my recipes, and I just made up stuff. So I started putting them on the blog. And then that's kind of what resonated with people. So within six months or less of starting

my blog back in 2011, I went from writing about anything and everything literally to just recipes. And ever since then, it's been just recipes. So was that an easy transition for you then since that's what people were really connecting with to move just to recipes then? Yeah. I think when I realized that I could potentially turn this into a business because I had owned a business before. And so my mind started going in that direction. I knew that I had to focus on something that more people were interested in than just my stories about taking care of my friend's dogs and taking them on walks. There was literally a blog post about that. There was still one of my favorite posts and you can, I know indexed

it with Google, but I never deleted it because it's so hilarious. It's called the spaghetti sauce incident of 2011. I was living in LA right next to Beverly Hills at the time. I went to Target. I got just like a little basket, which we all know we're just lying to ourselves. We get the basket at Target. We're going to need the cart. And of course I filled it up and a spaghetti sauce jar fell off the top, cracked. I slipped in it. I fell on my face. My knee was bruised. I looked like I was bleeding because I was covered in spaghetti sauce.

And it's LA. So people were literally just like stepping over me. Like nobody stopped to help, just like stepping over me, walking along. And so I thought this was so hilarious. And I finally, like someone from the store comes help me. I go to the bathroom, no paper towels. It's LA, right? Hand dryers only. So I'm sitting there like soaking myself, trying to like wash off the spaghetti sauce and then like standing under this dryer, trying to like dry out out so I wrote a blog post about that and I am not an artistic person by any means my drawing skills are like the bottom of the

barrel and so I went into Microsoft Paint at the time and I drew a little stick figure of me laying in what's supposed to be spaghetti sauce and it it just looks like a crime scene. And I put this on the blog post. Anyway, it's hilarious. So I was like, I just can't ever delete this because it brings joy of my like beginning blogging days. But I realized quickly that my friends and family would think that was entertaining. And maybe now people that have followed me on the blog for a while would think that's entertaining. But in general, it's not that entertaining to like a million people that come to my blog each month. So that is hilarious. I love that you have like that still on your blog, even though you know, indexed it because I think that like where we start and those things that happen in the

beginning are really important to like not let go of. So yeah, absolutely. I'm gonna have to go read it now. I think I'm gonna have to go back. It's been years since I've read it. But it's so funny. That is so funny. So when you started blogging, then did you know you wanted to make it your full time income? Or, or what was that kind of like after you went to school? So you went to school for broadcasting? Did you want to like work in the news or something? Was that what you were thinking? Yeah. So my initial thought was sports broadcasting. I love sports, but then I realized that I enjoyed cooking and watching sports at home and having a beer with my friends more so than talking about it. And it's like, you don't get to start with like college football, right? You're like covering like a squash match in like inland LA for like $30,000 a year. And I was like, Oh, I don't want to do that. Like I'm

already like too old. Like I don't want to start this career and take like 10 years before I ever get anywhere that I want to be. So I realized that wasn't for me. So I was really just trying to figure it out. And so blogging just came at the right time for me and it was kind of right when people were starting to I feel like make money it was like you know pennies like if anyone started back then you know you put google ads on and you literally made like a few cents a day but my business mind just started thinking like when I started having visitors that I didn't know to my blog, because you have to think about back then

there was no Pinterest, there was no Instagram, there was no Facebook for business. Like people didn't even use Google search like they do today, right? So it was, I was relying on mostly like word of mouth from friends and family, but I started getting comments from people

that found me elsewhere. And I, that's really when it triggered that like, okay, I, my first degree was in marketing. So I was like, okay, look, marketing journalism, I can write, I've got eyeballs on it. Maybe I can sell this. Right. And so I took a job working part-time for a digital marketing company doing social media management. And while I was there, they had an SEO department, they had the web dev department. Obviously, I was in the social department. And working with them, they honestly were so supportive of my blog and they were really what helped me transition to making it my full-time job. That's really awesome that you had that experience there and that they were willing to like come alongside you and support you instead of like squashing your dreams, you know? Yeah.

I remember the first time I was on Huffington Post. Huffington Post actually emailed me and they were going to feature, I had made these little Post actually emailed me and they were going to feature, I had made these little heart-shaped pies and they were going to feature them on a roundup for Valentine's Day. And I remember literally, it was a two-story office. I remember like running downstairs to tell like the WebDAO team. And I'm like, what are we going to do? I'm going to have all this traffic. And, you know, it's just freaking out. And I was so excited and everybody was so excited for me. And so it was a really great experience and I still appreciate everyone there that helped me along the way. That's really cool. That's cool. Yeah. So back in those days, were you doing all the work on your website, setting it up and maintaining it and running

the backend? Were you doing that all yourself? Yeah. So I hired one of the guys as a side gig that I worked with at the digital marketing company. I think I paid him like $500 to develop my whole website, which is insane to think about this time. Like, I'm like, thank you, Phil. Like I'll always owe you because he loved food and loved cooking. So we just like bonded over that. So he was totally willing to help me at like very basement, bottom basement, you know, pricing. But other than that, like I was doing, I had no money, like literally no money. And so I really like had to bootstrap everything and just get anyone that would help me and to help me and then just figure it all out on my own.

I love that you like saw the opportunity. And like you just said, a lot of people, I think, you know, the money and time kind of hold them back from starting a blog. But I love that you saw the opportunity there and you, like you said, bootstrapped it. And we're like, I'm just going to do this. Like, I'm not going to give up. I see you saw potential and you went after it. And we're like, I'm just going to do this. Like, I'm not going to give up. I see you saw potential and you went after it. So I think that's really inspiring to everyone listening, especially if they don't have a blog yet, because now, you know, 11 years later, you're obviously

incredibly successful. And I just think it would be interesting, you know, if you knew, if you knew then what you knew now, like, would you ever imagine yourself getting to where you've gotten? Did you ever imagine that getting to where you've gotten? Did you ever imagine that? Absolutely not. And I can tell you two other people that never thought I'd make a dollar off blogging would be my parents. My dad still to this day, when he comes to visit, I have a beautiful house in San Diego. I'm so grateful. We're having some like renovations done at the moment. And you know, every time my dad gets a visit, I just can't believe you made enough money off of a food blog by this house. It's great. It's hilarious. I mean, we're from a small town in Oklahoma. Like

my dad grew up very, very just like salt of the earth. My grandparents are the sweetest people in the world. I mean, that's who I grew up cooking with. My dad loves to cook and it just blows his mind that this can be a business. And I think for anyone that's overwhelmed at the thought of the time and the money to start it, I know that for me, one of the hardest things was I was single. one of the hardest things was I was single. I lived in a very expensive city and I had no one else helping me. Whereas a lot of the other bloggers that I met in the early days, they were stay at home moms that had a husband that had a full-time job and like paid all the bills. So if they made a few dollars off their blog, they were excited about that. Whereas me, I had to make enough to like pay my rent. If I wanted to do it full time, like I had to pay all my bills on my own. I had no one

supporting me. And so that was really frustrating. But I think for anyone else that's in that position, just know like there are other people that had to start it without anything else. And I mean, I did any kind of side gig I could to not have to go back to working for someone else. So I was living in a condo at the time and they had like a little like rec room and they let me bring it out for $50 and I threw supper club dinners in there and I charged admission. And I had a friend that was starting a little winery and he would bring the wine and I would make food up in my tiny tiny apartment kitchen and bring it down to this rec room and serve like three course dinners I bought like all the the like table scape stuff at Ikea

for you know like 50 bucks like decorated it. It was super cute. And cause my friends wanted to help. And they were like, how can we help you? Like, we're super excited for you. And it was like, they're like, can we like donate on your site? And I know that's a lot more prevalent these days. Like Instagram just announced the subscribe button where people can pay to get like content for Instagram stories and Instagram lives that not everyone gets unless you subscribe and pay for their channel, which is so interesting. But at the time, like I was like, I don't want to just take money from my friends, right? Like I want to do something for it. So I had this idea for the supper club

and my friends were super supportive and they all came. And so I catered like birthday parties, graduation parties for like 200 bucks, 500 bucks, just like whatever anyone could pay me, just like trying to get those bills paid. I love that. So you really were committed to this, which is amazing. And like willing to think outside the box, which I think is really important. And I think that that's also a huge part of blogging is that there's not just one way to make an income and there's all these avenues that we can make an income, you know, it's not just one way. And so that's, that's promising too. If one way

doesn't feel like good, you know, there's all these other ways that you can generate income. So, yeah, I mean, I think that is probably the most amazing thing about what we do is that I have so many friends in the blogging, you know, arena, some that are in fitness, some that are in food and just the different ways that everyone is found that to make money doing the things that they enjoy, right? Like maybe you're not a high traffic site that can make a full-time income off ad revenue, but maybe you are really good at affiliate marketing, right? Like maybe you have like just a few products that you love and you have a very niche site. I think that's one of the cool things about if you're very niche is that you can like grab on to these products that you love and you want to promote anyway and get some consistent affiliate

income coming from that by just continually promoting I've never been big on the affiliate marketing because obviously like what I do is food right so like sure sure, I promote some of the appliances that I like, but for me, partnering with brands made more sense because if someone goes and buys a spice on Amazon that I recommend, I make two cents. Right. But that spice brand, if I'm promoting their spices anyway, they're probably going to pay me a lot more to do a dedicated post that, you know, really talks about and promotes their spices. Yeah. I think that's the area that we really want to dive in with you today. So we know that you have worked with a ton of different brands. And so we want to kind of highlight that way of generating revenue. So when did you start working with brands and what did that process kind of look like in the beginning? Yeah.

So as all my stories, as you'll find pretty funny, never traditional would be never traditional. But when I was working part-time and I needed to make money off the blog and I knew if I wanted to take it full-time, like that was where I was going to have to go with it was working with brands. Because at the time, And I had worked with brands in my first career, which I was hiring promotional and trade show models and then doing like kind of event management stuff. So I had worked with brands and like I understood how it worked. So what I did was I created a media kit, which Googling and trying to figure out how to make a media kit back in like 2012 was interesting i stapled my little business card on it and i like had stacks of them put them in my little bag and i went to the natural food expo in anaheim and i did that you haven't did yes yeah There's a ton of brands there. Like literally thousands of brands. Yeah. So I got

accepted as media and I just went and like started, I like made a list of all the brands whose products I already used in recipes. And I basically just went and started pitching myself and was like, Hey, I have this blog. It gets a lot of traffic. Like I already love your products. I've used them in these recipes. I feel like we can make a deal. So to be fully transparent, I was doing three blog posts a month for $500 in the beginning, because I knew if I could get at least three clients that at $1,500 a month, plus my like measly ad revenue, I could pay my rent. I could pay my cell phone bill and I could buy some groceries. So that was three, was that three blog posts? So one blog post per brand.

Well, three blog posts for one brand for $500. Oh, wow. Okay. Oh, wow. Now, granted, these blog posts were minimal, right? Like it was like three or four paragraphs, the recipe and you know, a few photos, very different than what blog posts look like today. So it took a lot less time to write them. Most of my time back then was spent developing the recipe and then photographing. I can photograph a recipe now in like five minutes or less usually. Whereas back then I would be spending, I mean, food was cold, like cold, cold by the time I ate it. It was, there were no warm meals in my house. Like it was an hour at least. Cause I had no idea what I was doing. Like I really had to learn photography and using the camera. And I thought I had to photograph it on four

different plates. Now it's like, you know, right? Like just anything you do more, you start to like, no, right. You're like, I know that this is going to look good in this, right? I photographed thousands of recipes at this point, but back then that took forever. So, but I just knew I was like, I've got to make them an offer they can't refuse so that I can start bringing in income and I can pay my bills and buy groceries to keep this food blog afloat. Oh my gosh. How long was it like that before you finally were like, okay, I think I can start.

I'm obviously performing well for these brands. I'm generating revenue for them, traffic to my own site. And so when did you feel confident enough to kind of up your game? Because you then went on to like do TV and things like that with it, correct? Right. So I think that's where I started to be a lot more successful. I took my degree in broadcast journalism and thought I could use this. Right. So I started basically just pitching local news stations in San Diego. I went on LinkedIn and I found the booking producers and I reached out to them.

Like I've been a cold calling machine or cold emailing, cold LinkedIn messaging, whatever you want to call it, cold Instagram, dropping your DMs. Like I'll send a message to anyone that I'm interested in working with. So I sent just a LinkedIn message to the guy. Luckily, we went to the same college. We both went to San Diego State. So we had like the alumni connection. And then two days later, I remember, I like literally remember this to a T.

I'd had a hot dog for lunch. This actually does apply to the story. I was like broke, very broke, very upset, was in the car talking to my mom. So just like, what am I doing with my life? And someone beeps in. I'm like, mom, hold on. I gotta take this. It's someone beeping in. I don't know the number. Hold on. So I beep over. I'm like, mom, hold on. I gotta take this. It's someone beeping in.

I don't know the number. Hold on. So I beep over. I'm like, hello. Hi, this is Nate, the booking producer for San Diego Six. I'm like, oh, hi. And he's like, yeah, can you come do a segment on low sodium foods on Thursday?

I just ate my hot dog, okay. I'm like, low sodium. Don't even know. Never even thought about sodium. I'm like low sodium. Don't even know. Never made it. Never even thought about sodium. I was like, yes. And this was Tuesday. And he's like, I need three, like need you to do like three recipes, whatever. Well, I obviously wanted these recipes to be on my blog before I go on the news. So my first ever news segment, the day before I'm making up these recipes, I'm trying, I don't, I'm researching low sodium. Like I don't even know anything about low sodium cooking,

but I figured it out. I photographed them. I wrote three blog posts that night, got up at 5 AM the next day, got ready. And they were like, you can prep everything here. You'll have plenty of time. I was like, okay. So I literally nothing was prepped whatsoever. I took it all in. I'm just like over there in the studio while the news is going on in the background, just like dicing and did it on. They're like, okay, you're on in five. I had like one recipe prepared. I literally threw a knife and cutting board off the camera. The minute they said three, two, one, threw it off. And then I was just like, hi, hi I'm Whitney here are my low sodium recipes and they were like you were amazing they're like can you come back every week and I was like sure can and you tell the best stories you've had the most interesting vlogging journey I could listen

to your stories forever like this is amazing well you. It's it is when I tell people it's been a journey. I'm like, they're like, Oh, like how so? I'm like, how much time you got? So how long did you work for that specific station then? So I was just coming on as a guest. So I was not getting paid. Like when you do news segments, you're not getting paid unless you're getting paid by a brand. So there are basically like two different kinds of news segments that you can get paid for by a brand sponsored and editorial. So editorial basically means I'm going on, I'm booking a segment just like I would. And then I'm featuring your product in it. Right. But I'm not, it's not sponsored. I'm not like nailing you in

the head with this product, right? And then there's sponsored where the brand is paying for the segment and you'll see it. If you're like watching the show, it'll say like this, you know, segment is sponsored by Pillsbury or whatever. Right. And so, but because I had so much experience working at San Diego six, doing the new segments, brands started hiring me to do both, like either to place their products in my editorial segments or to do sponsored segments. And then I was doing them all over. And then I started doing satellite media tours. This is a good story too.

This one's pretty quick. I was on Twitter and this is, I always tell people whenever I do, like I speak on, on blogging and people always ask, like, there's so many social channels, right? Like, do I need to be on all of them? And I always say, yes, at least have a minimal presence, right? On all of them. So like Twitter, for example, I never used Twitter, but I'm on it. Right. And if someone wanted to contact me on there, they could. So last minute, someone had a cancellation for a satellite media tour. And for those that don't know what that is, you basically go into a very small room in New York City or L.A. and at like five in the morning and you do news segments to about 30 different news stations all across the country. So you have an ear button. Now it wouldn't sound so weird because we've been doing virtual for so long.

But back then it was kind of weird. You would hear the, you know, broadcaster on the other end, but you would never see them. And you would basically just go through the same spiel. It's usually sponsored by three or four brands. And you just do that same spiel. It's usually sponsored by three or four brands. And you just do that same spiel 30 to 40 times. Yeah. By the end of the day. So you're it, well, you're usually there from like 5am till like noon, because it's all morning segments. So you go from East coast to West coast. So when you do it in New York city, it's not that bad

because you're starting on the East coast. When you do it on the West City, it's not that bad because you're starting on the East Coast. When you do it on the West Coast, you're up at 2 a.m. in hair and makeup at 2.30. You're starting on camera at like 4 in the morning because it's 7 a.m. Funny story. I did one in L.A. A homeless man somehow got into the studio and was screaming while I'm on camera talking about national salad month. And I just had to like, keep going. And I was like, these nature's sweet tomatoes are really great. I'm like, is this guy going to start shooting? That's terrifying. Got him out and the salad shoot went on.

But how I got the initial satellite media tour was someone put it out on Twitter. A producer in New York City said, I need someone that's a millennial age to do this millennial cooking satellite media tour that has on-camera experience. And a girl that was in a class at San Diego State that I had spoke to about blogging, followed this producer and tagged me and said, you should check out Whitney Bond. Within less than 30 minutes, I had responded to her. We got on a call. I had to Google what a satellite media tour was. I just said, yes. I had no idea. I was like, yep, I'll do it. Like for what they were paying, I was like, yep, done. Like she had booked me a flight to New York City. And I was scrambling to find clothes to wear because it was January and I live in San Diego and it was like 14 degrees in New York City. I had no money. So I had to go borrow clothes from my friend that used to live on the East Coast. She let me like borrow a coat and gloves and whatever. Within five minutes of getting to New York city. I had lost one of her gloves already. I got taken by one of those cabs that like, is that a real cab that they have the signs all over the airport. And it's like, don't, if someone solicits you, but it was like

really late. And I was so tired and this guy's like, do you need a ride? I was like, I do. And you guys, there was no Uber back then. There was a time. What happened in the cab oh well he was fine but once we got there he was like oh yeah it's 200 and i was like i don't and so here i am my credit card's not even gonna go through for 200 and i'm just like i don't know what to do so i i pay it it went through but i definitely didn't have enough funds and then i go to check in at the hotel and they're like oh yeah we need like they were supposed to like set everything up and they're like oh they didn't they didn't put down a card you need to put down the card for like incidentals and it wouldn't go through oh no and so now I'm sitting here I have to be up at five in the morning to be on camera and I'm crying in a hotel lobby in New York City by myself with one glove and like trying to figure out where I'm going to sleep that night to then have to get up in like five hours and be on camera all day.

day. So finally I got a hold of the girl that was booking everything. She called the hotel. She like put down the credit card. They let me up into my room at like midnight. I slept for like a few hours and then I made like post-it notes of all the stuff I was supposed to talk about. I put them all over the mirror. And as I was getting ready, I just like practiced all morning. This script. Oh my gosh, Whitney. But then I got hired by that company for several more satellite media tours after that. So like getting on camera, just open my opportunities up to work with so many more brands because at, by this point, like brands were working with bloggers. They weren't paying very much, but just to write blog posts, right? Like there was no Instagram influencers or TikTok influencers or whatever, like all they were getting. And I had a different paying very much, but just to write blog posts, right? Like there was no Instagram influencers

or TikTok influencers or whatever, like all they were getting. And I had a different offering, right? I was like, I could do a blog post and create a recipe for you. And then I can take it on the news. And so I think that was an appeal to brands that other bloggers didn't have. Right. So you basically used your gifts in a way that was very attractive to brands because it was different at the time than what anybody else was doing. And I think that can still apply to so many people because we all have different experiences with things that we would be comfortable with. Like, I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel on the news, you know, but that was like a comfortable space for you. Right. And you're

kind of an entertainer, if I can be honest. I mean, you always entertain me. You know, you know, they always say, right, like any interesting person has had an interesting life. Yeah. It's been crazy, but I've got good stories to tell. So I love it. Have you ever wanted to start a blog, but had no idea where to begin, or maybe you have a blog that you'd like to update and want some help to make it the best it can be. We know that there are many people out there who have big dreams for their own blog that never happened because they simply feel stuck. The ultimate blog bootcamp is an eight week course designed to help you create a solid blogging foundation by teaching you how to treat your

blog as a business, find your audience, design a website that is optimized for SEO, all while providing support via online coaching calls each week of the course. There is a private Slack channel for students as well, so questions will never go unanswered. The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp will give you the tools and support to create a blog that has the potential to turn into a profitable business. We are committed to helping each and every student feel empowered and confident with the foundational principles of blogging and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into it. If you don't want to blog alone, we can help. We keep each round small in order to provide each student the attention and support we believe you deserve during this process. Since space is limited, get on the

waitlist today so we can help you with your blog. The link to join the waitlist is in our show notes or go to sparkmediaconcepts.com and click on the ultimate blog bootcamp. or go to sparkmediaconcepts.com and click on the ultimate blog bootcamp. So are you still doing those new segments and things like that? Or how does it fit into your business now working with brands? Yeah. So I think, you know, it's just so interesting how things have evolved over the last decade in the blogging world. Right. And I think one of the hardest things I would assume, especially for a new blogger is, oh my God, how do I spread my time? I have to get on TikTok and make these videos. And then I have to get on Instagram and make reels. And then I have to write blog posts that are 5,000 words, SEO research,

keyword research. And I have to take immaculate photos. Every recipe needs a video. You're like, I'm one human, right? When you don't have the funds to be able to pay people, you really have to be like, okay, where should I focus my time? And I think, I mean, that's something that I revisit at least every six months, if not less. Where am I spending my time? Is it bringing joy to my life? And is it making me money, right? Is this where I should be spending my time?

I can't remember. Oh, it was, oh, Love and Lemons, I think. What's her name? She spoke at a Liz, I think. She spoke at a conference and she said, basically, like make a list of everything you do, every single thing, like down to the little things, right? Everything you do. And then say, like, what do I absolutely have to do? Right. What do I like to do? And then what can I give away? And I did that.

And I feel like I continue to like revisit that list as new things are added. I'm like, okay, what, what do I absolutely have to do? What do I still enjoy doing? What could I give someone else to do? Right. So like, I still write my blog posts for WhitneyBond.com. Back in 2020, I started a second blog called Bowls of the New Plates. And my assistant pretty much runs that blog. She writes the blog posts, she does all the social posts. I just don't have time. I started it

and then my main blog, WhitneyBond.com, like really like took off and has been doing so well that I want to focus my attention there. So that's made sense because it does generate enough traffic to make ad revenue to where I can pay her. Right now, it's pretty much breaking even. But for me, it's kind of like those long-term goals, right? I think once you've been blogging for a little while, you're like, okay, what's the end goal here, right? And obviously, none of us knows what's going to happen with blogging or social media or what Google's going to do tomorrow.

So you kind of have to just be willing to ride the roller coaster and kind of do whatever works at the time. But, you know, something that obviously a lot of bloggers have done in interest of me is potentially selling a blog down the road that you've built and is successful. And so that's kind of bowls in the new plates for me. I'll never sell what you've on.com. I mean, it's my name and it's my baby. And I just, I couldn't imagine someone else taking it over. And I don't want anyone else writing blog posts for it. So I still write the blog posts for that. I still do all my own recipe development and photography because at the end of the day,

like that's where this started for me, right? Is the recipes and creating recipes for my friends out of whatever I had in my kitchen. Right. And so I still enjoy that process. And now that I've become a lot more proficient photographer, I actually enjoy that process too. Right. But like social media, I haven't been on Facebook in like a year. So my assistant does all of my Facebook posts. I only get on there if I have to post something for a brand. I don't have it on my phone. Like I just think like it was a good break breakup for me. And so I have a producer that shoots all my videos here at my house. It was very interesting during COVID. I was shooting by myself and I, oh my gosh,

I value them even more now than ever. And then I was shooting by myself and I, oh my gosh, I value them even more now than ever. And then I was sending him everything and he was editing them, but I, you know, I don't enjoy that. I do not enjoy editing video whatsoever. It takes me forever. It's way better for, for me, for my, my joy and my time and my money to give that to him. But as far as working with brands, you know, one of the great things about growing and, you know, making more money off ad revenue and things like that is that I've been able to shift. And in 2019, thankfully I decided to quit traveling for news segments. It's honestly so much work. Like I don't know. And I don't think anyone knows that

like you literally bring everything with you. Like this isn't the today show when you're on like a local TV station, I'm literally loading up like suitcases when I would travel. Another good story for you. Went to Sacramento one time, this lovely little PR girl is like, Went to Sacramento one time. This lovely little PR girl is like, it was for Smithfield pork. And she's like, you're making ribs in the crock pot. So I had to pack my crock pot in a suitcase. Only took Southwest so I could get my two free bags every time.

Because one bag would be full of food and cooking appliances. So if you've ever seen a dent in my slow cooker on the blog, you know where that came from, Sacramento. So if you, if you've ever seen a dent in my slow cooker on the blog, you know where that came from Sacramento. So I go and there was one of the, what are those like extended stay motels right across from the news station. And I was like, you know what? That's so convenient. It has a kitchen, you know, whatever I roll up, there's literally a lady standing outside with a shopping cart, like seven chihuahuas in it. I'm like, does she live here? Is she trying to sell these? Like, I don't know what's happening, but it's already an odd first impression. It smells. I don't know what the smell was. It was not good. It really, I was like, okay, I got a, I got a rental car.

I got a Dodge Charger is what they gave me. I don't know if you guys know what this is, but I'm like, Vrooming in my Dodge Charger around Sacramento. And this sweet PR girl is like, yeah, the Walmart in Sacramento said they're going to hold these ribs for you. I'm like, look, lady, I've been around the block. I'm going to walk into that Walmart and they're going to laugh in my face. So sure enough, go up to the customer service desk at Walmart, my Dodge Charger. And I say to this lady, they're supposed to be holding some ribs for me. And she's like, what? And I'm like, yeah, this PR girl. She's like, what girl? I was like, public relations. She's like, Tom, Tom, you know anything about some ribs?

And I'm like, oh God, oh God. Tom doesn't know anything about the ribs. So then Brenda, Brenda, this girl's looking for some ribs. Some girl is supposed to be talking to me. We're going to call the manager. We need a manager to the front about some rants. Oh my gosh. I'm like mortified.

I'm like, I could just like go to the back and maybe see if they just like have them. They don't. Three Walmarts later. Oh no. This lovely man at Walmart goes in the back and finds some rants for me. They're frozen. Like I'm talking, you could break someone's head so frozen I'm on the news the next morning by this point it's like 7 p.m and I'm in Sacramento I've never even been

to Sacramento I'm like driving all these bar I got these frozen ribs I put them on the dashboard of my Dodge Charger and I went to the nearest bar which happened to be a BJ's restaurant in a strip mall and I sat there and had a glass of wine and defrosted my ribs in the Dodge Charger got back to my extended stay motel with all the chihuahuas put my ribs in the slow cooker let them cook overnight next morning did the new segment afterwards some of the crew was like oh those ribs look good I was like don't eat the ribs these were not thought properly so that was not the that was actually not the worst experience I had that broke the the camel's back I was doing a segment, we won't name the brand, but basically

they were very difficult. They make coffee machines and this particular coffee machine was supposed to make foam and it was not working. And so I was doing a segment in Phoenix. It was 116 degrees outside. Their publicist told me to run half a mile down to a Starbucks and get a cup of foam and run back so one mile round trip 116 degrees right before I'm going to be on camera in heels to go get this phone and I said absolutely not I said they don't have to pay me I am not doing this this is ridiculous and after that I was like okay that's that's it. I'm done. I'm like, these are so stressful. At this point, I was doing so many that it was honestly taking away from the blog. I didn't have time to create new recipes. I was missing, you know, writing blog posts.

And I just said, this brings me no joy. And honestly, it's a one-time paycheck, right? And I think the goal for every blogger is long-term income, right? That from ad revenue or affiliate income or selling a course or whatever it is that you have this passive income. And I'm like, I'm not increasing my passive income. If anything, I'm decreasing it because I'm putting less content out there. Yes, I'm getting paid well to do one segment, but that's one time. That's a one-time paycheck. And so it was almost half of my income and I gave it up and it was terrifying. I was like, how am I going to make up this revenue? I'm like, I got to get after it and either get more sponsored posts on the blog or, you know, get more ad revenue, get more traffic. And that was 2019. And then obviously we all know what happened in 2020. And I was just like, oh my gosh, this really worked out well because

I would have been forced to quit doing them in 2020. Right. And it's a way better decision. It's way better to have it be your decision, right. Then like forced upon you. Right. So then kind of after that, it's been like, as, as traffic has grown over the last couple of years and ad revenues increased, you know, I've limited the brands I work with. So I work with brands mostly now that I've worked for years. Like I very rarely take on new brands and I mostly now that I've worked for years. Like I very rarely take on new brands and I very rarely do just like one sponsored post because I just think there's such, you know, it's like dating really. Like when you start working with a new brand, like you don't

know exactly what they want the first go around, right. You're still getting to know them, what their goals are, like what they like from you, whatever. And so for just one post, it's a lot more work to work with a new brand versus my clients I've had forever. I know exactly what's important to them. I know what metrics are important to them, what they want, what they want to see from me. I can do one of their recipes and it'll be perfect. And I know they'll be super happy with it every time. So it's, you know, that if there's, if I see that there's an opportunity for a long-term partnership with a brand, that's different, obviously. And if it's a brand I love, like that's different, but you know, I used to work with a lot of the like agencies that would,

you know, which I think is great for anyone is great for anyone that's starting out. I know that a lot of the agencies will work with the more smaller bloggers, niche bloggers, because they have more niche clients that are looking for a certain niche to promote their products. So I think that's a great place to start, especially if you're not comfortable reaching out to brands. So I think probably the one thing people want to know is like, how did I get these brand partnerships? Yeah. Yeah. Right. And I've had this conversation with so many people over the years. Honestly, it's, I just go online and use, you know, LinkedIn or I'll Google search a brand press release and see if they have a press contact on there. Now,

it's so different than like six years ago. Almost every brand is going to have an in-house social media manager. And they might even have a partnership manager, right? Whereas those used to not be things. You would just look for their publicist or marketing. And I worked some directly with brands, still work through some like PR agencies. But for the most part, I work directly with the brands that I work with because I've worked with them for so long now. But there are some exceptions for some bigger brands

that I work with PR agencies. But I think just following on social media, right? Like I always recommend, like if there's a brand that you love and you want to work with, like it's the, it's once again, it's like the dating thing, right? Like court them, like follow them on social media, leave comments, like let them know that you're like a fan, right? Tag, if you're using their product in a post, if it's not sponsored, like definitely you should be tagging them, right? Like tag them every time. And then they may even come to you and be like, we love what you're doing with our products. We'd love to work with you. Right. But then once you've kind of

formed that relationship and at least someone on Instagram knows you, right. Cause you've been commenting and they've seen your name, then sending them a direct message and saying like, I'd love to work with you is much less abrupt than just like, you know, going up to someone in a bar and being like, Hey, let me take you out. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Get to know someone a little bit, you know what I mean? Like show that you're interested in working with them.

And I think one of the mistakes I made at the beginning is I was just like, I work with any brand. I just need money. And I don't really get that. And that may still be the case. But I think you'll waste a lot less time if you're reaching out to brands that aren't really as good of a fit. Find brands that are actually a really good fit for what you're writing about. And they're going to be a lot more interested than if you like really try to stretch and reach out to someone that like doesn't make sense. Like, sure, I would love to have a brand like sponsor my pool, remodel. But why would they do that?

I'm a food blogger, right? It doesn't make sense. Right. Just stay authentic with your brand and what you're talking about. And we talk about that a lot with our students and stuff too, that you want to be authentic. So you could take a lot of different opportunities

because once you start blogging, opportunities do kind of present themselves, but make sure it is really authentic because your readers also, they trust you. And so you want to be pretty picky about who you're working with, because if you promote a brand that, you know, the coffee maker, whatever that you're talking about, like you probably wouldn't, you probably wouldn't share that brand because it wouldn't be,

you want your readers to continue to trust you. And if they can't continue to trust you, it looks bad on you too. So that's really important. You know, I think that's good advice. Yeah. I mean, if someone buys something that I promote and then it's terrible or doesn't work for them, like I would feel awful, especially if it's like a appliance or something that's expensive. Right. Like if I recommend a spice of $3 and you don't like it, like, I mean, like I liked it, whatever, you know, like people have different tastes, but if I'm recommending like a sous vide or an air fryer, like I'm recommending it because I've been using it and I love it. Right. Like that's why as food bloggers, we own like five of each appliance and all our friends get appliances for Christmas.

You got to try them. Right. And like, make sure you like them versus just like picking one on Amazon and linking to it that you've never actually even used. like picking one on Amazon and linking to it that you've never actually even used. I think the thing I will say after 11 years of blogging is I have people that have literally followed me for 11 years. Those people have made my recipes. They still comment. They share stuff with their friends. Those are going to be your loyal followers. And if you lose them along the way, don't think of it as like, oh, I lost like five followers because I posted out something that was like, not authentic to my brand. Oh, well, those could have been five followers that have been following you for five years that tell people about your blog all the time. And then all of a sudden, they're offended, right? Or like, you mean, this is obviously a like terrible topic, but like, like posting about what's relevant to you. So like, if you're not a political blogger, like maybe just don't post that. Right. Like, I don't share that stuff on my food because I know people come to me for fun and food and like home and, you know, it's just not appropriate. Right. And you're going to lose followers. And maybe it's important enough to you to take a stand about something and you don't mind losing those followers. But I think you really have to like make those personal choices of what kind of blogger or influencer you're going to be. Right. And for me, it's always been like,

or you're going to be right. And for me, it's always been like, I'm here to share recipes. Like I want to bring joy to people's kitchens. So their lives by making these recipes that are easy, accessible, fun, and most importantly, obviously delicious. So that's, that's the content that I'm sharing. Right. And so if someone doesn't like my buffalo chicken dip and they unfollow me, okay, that's, I'm okay with that because I mean, it's buffalo chicken dip. It's delicious. And that's very authentic to me. It's hilarious. I think that's a good point. Cause I mean, I think a lot of times right now, you know, we want to be able to go somewhere and get that. And I love that, you know, exactly who you are and what you want people to feel when they come to your site and follow you on social and that. I think that's really inspiring that you're very confident in what vibe you're releasing out

into the world and what, you know, people are going to get when they come to you. And you want to stay true to that. Like, you know, that the world's a heavy, dark place right now. And you're like, but come to Whitney bond and we're going to have some fun. Yeah. That's amazing. So yeah, absolutely. I think, yeah, I think it's, I mean, it's obviously like changed so much with social media and just like, you know, obviously everything, you know, going on in the world. But I think, you know, for anyone that's new, I think it's just important to figure out who your audience is, right? Like, I know that that's like a common practice for like newer bloggers is like, you know, after you've been blogging for a month or two or whatever, like try and make that persona, right? Who is my person? Like, is my person a 20 something woman? Is it a teenage kid? Is it a 60 year old man? Right? Like you need to kind of know, because then obviously you gear your content towards that

person and not, you know, I think back in the day, people just posted whatever, right? Like we all did that. Anybody that was blogging 10 years ago was just like, oh yeah, I like this and I like this and here's some of this. And, you know, I was just like, oh, I've got a whole orchard of trees. Like pick whichever one you like. What fruit do you want today?

And I think now like you need to niche down, you know, a little bit more so that people know, you know, what they're coming for. And especially on social, maybe not as much for like a food blog, but on, what they're coming for. And especially on social, maybe not as much for like a food blog, but on social people follow people for people, right? Like you really do have to show your face. And I know that there's a lot of bloggers that are apprehensive about that. And there are some bigger bloggers that have been around for a long time that can just post recipes

and it's fine. But I think for anyone that's starting out, like you have to at least show some of your personality because anybody can, I mean, obviously there's thousands of food blogs out there. There's probably millions of food accounts on Instagram. So like, why are they going to follow you? Like, yes, your recipes may be great, but at the end of the day, so many people,

I mean, I have, I don't know, 28,000 followers on Instagram. I guarantee you, I can almost guarantee you that like 10% or less of those people have ever made one of my recipes. Yeah. So why are they following me? Right. Because hopefully they like me. I don't know if they like pretty pictures of food or one day they're going to make one,

you know, like I made a beef Wellington for Christmas this year. I had to make this thing four times. If anyone has ever made a beef Wellington, you know, it is a labor of love. Oh, dear God. It takes a very long time. And I made the most detailed post photos video I've ever made. And I had so many people tell me, me oh it was so lovely to like watch I really enjoyed I'll never make one but I really enjoyed watching you make it right it's like those

great British bake-off shows right yeah I don't even know what they're saying most of the time I have no idea what like 90% of these ingredients are what these tools they're using are. But everyone likes to watch it, right? I'm never going to make one of those cakes, but it's still fun to watch them make it. That's hilarious. I've never looked into what it takes to make a beef wellington. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work.

And it would be hard to make gluten-free without the puff pastry crust. Oh, yeah. Then you're kind of like just having a beef tenderloin oh okay i can do that yeah that's easier yeah do that just do that people want it it's delicious and if anyone wants a recipe you know whitneybond.com i'll show you in a 17 minute video like most of my videos are like, even, even the full length videos, like five minutes, 17 minutes. And that's like, we cut it down as much as we could 17 minutes, but you know, you could see, but still, I mean, that's something that somebody is going to want to know how to do. And you provided a very detailed explanation. And if somebody like me, like, if I were to decide

to make that, like, I would want someone to like have the video and show me all the steps that would be very helpful to me. So yeah, this is something you just like go into the kitchen. Like, I think I'll make a beef long dip for dinner. Never made one. Like, we'll just see what happens. No, take some research. That's so funny.

I think you've offered so much good advice, like in terms of like connecting with your audience, finding out what they really want, and then being able to connect that with the brands that you work with, so that you're really providing such a good experience for your readers. And I just I think it would be cool to talk a little bit about, you know, you're you've talked about your journey from like, taking anything and everything and working with any brand just to make ends meet. And now I would see if you can be a little more selective in that. And that you also understand a little bit more about how to negotiate with those brands. And personally, I would like to know a little bit more about this too, because this is just not something that, that I do. I don't work with a lot of brands, but I know it can be such a great way to diversify the income on your blog. And a lot

of our readers who don't qualify for an ad network yet, that may be a great way to diversify the income on your blog. And a lot of our readers who don't qualify for an ad network yet, that may be a great option for them is to figure out like, how do they present themselves to brands in a good light? How do they negotiate, you know, and hopefully they don't have the experience that that I had when I was approached by a brand, and you were approached by the same brand for the same campaign. And I didn't really know what I was doing then. So I was just like, okay, I'll throw out, I'll do whatever it was, three blog posts for X amount of dollars. And in the meantime, they're going back and forth between us. And they're telling you, this other blogger will do it for cheaper.

And they're telling me, well, she's writing this other, she's doing these three recipes in a different way than you're doing them. And it was just such a weird situation to be in. And I, it was, it was funny because that's ultimately what ended up bringing us together. And I think being a part of a community is going to be so helpful to anybody who is wanting to work with brands, because then you can start talking to each other and, you know, sharing a little bit about how much you're charging or how much you're getting paid or how you're doing these negotiations so that you don't end up in a situation where you feel like you're, you're being taken advantage of, or that, you

know, vice versa, you're, you're not providing good feedback or metrics or things to the brand. So for anybody who's just getting started, what would you recommend in terms of knowing how much to charge or what to ask for in contracts? Should they just take what the brand offers? Or is there usually negotiating room in there? Yeah, so I think one of the biggest mistakes that I made in the beginning was not having blogger friends, right? Like I was still in my like mid twenties, I was single. I didn't have any kids and all the bloggers I knew were pretty much like moms with kids. And there wasn't really anyone in like San Diego that I knew that was a

blogger. So I just kind of was like, I'm not going to go to these blogger conferences. Like I'm not going to have anything in common with anyone, like, you know, whatever. And then you realize that you do have like the main thing in common, right? Like your career, right? Like your blog. And now like some of my best friends obviously are like you girls and my blogger friends. And I mean, that is an invaluable resource to be able to like ask questions to your blogging friends, be like transparent about rates and things like that. I think if you're just getting started out, and especially now, because there's not as many like in person

events or conferences right now, join Facebook groups, right? Like the like, obviously, I'm with the ad thrive Facebook group. So you know, if you're if you're with ad thrive, and you're not in the Facebook group, like definitely join it. But if I know Mediavine, they have one too. But if you're not with an ad, big ad network right now, I think there's still Google AdWords Central. I am not on Facebook nearly as much as I used to be, but I still use those. Like every once in a while, like I'll have either a tech question or I can't remember. I was searching within the groups for like hosting companies. I was a little my hosting company about a month ago. And so I went and looked to see if anyone was recommending new things, but you can find so many groups on there and then search within the group.

And you can find like an insane amount of information. And it's amazing how much people are willing to help because I think, you know, there's going to be, you know, a great divide within the group of like people have been blogging for 10 years, for five years, for one week. Right. But the people that have been doing it for a long time, I feel like we feel like we kind of owe it to the community. Right. Like I want to like pay it back anytime that I can help someone or speak on blogging to like, you know, a college class or whatever. Like I will, because I'm like, there are so many people that helped me along the way and gave me advice and talked through things with me. So I think that's definitely a great place to start there. I know that there are like branding, like working with brands, like courses and stuff. I haven't personally taken any of them. I think immediately you need a media kit.

And now if you Google media kit, you can find plenty of templates out there, plenty of examples, but it basically just has like your stats, a little bit about you and then your rate sheet, right? And I think the main thing would be like highlight your, you know, whatever it is, like if you have a huge Instagram following, highlight that and don't necessarily like focus on the fact that you don't get a lot of page views. Right. Like if you have a great like niche market, right. If you do, we'll just say keto recipes and you have this super loyal keto following, like you only have 3000 followers on Instagram, but you get like 20 comments on every, you know, you have huge engagement rates and everybody talks about keto, you know, then you highlight that when you reach out to them. So like I am right now and pitching a company to do my outdoor kitchen. And they I went and did a lot of research, like they provide very high end appliances for kitchen, bath and outdoor. And I went to see like, what, what are they doing on

social? Right? What are they and I noticed they they were doing a ton of new segments and a lot of video content. So when I pitched them, I didn't pitch like I'll do five blog posts with recipes featuring your appliances because I don't think that's going to appeal to them. Right. Like obviously video content, the fact that I've done new segments, I have contacts there. I could bring in some press for them, like that obviously would appeal to them. So that's what I pitched them. So I mean, I think the thing is, if you want to develop a good relationship with a brand, you need to do a little research on them, right? And it goes back to the whole dating thing, right? If you're really interested in someone, you're going to get to know them and you're going to pitch something that's relevant to them. So if you see that this keto brand that

you work with, they post a dozen reels a week or something. Okay. They're obviously into reels. So if you're not already making reels, you better start making some reels before you pitch them. And then part of your pitch should be creating a reel for them and go to your, your most popular reel. Like maybe you have one that does significantly better. And I promise you will because Instagram is a turkey, turkey beast like that. And they'll give you one and then who knows from there, but use those stats, one. And then who knows from there, but use those stats, right? Like use the stats from that one reel and just say like, you know, I've been producing reels and this reel, you know, did super well. It had, you know, high engagement rates, 10,000 views, whatever it is. Right. Like, I think people get so caught up in numbers, which obviously is important to brands, but you can spin it. Right. And and highlight the numbers that would appeal to them versus focusing on, oh, I know I don't have that many, you know, views to my blog, but I have a good Instagram following.

Like, don't even talk about your blog. right? Like talk about, focus on the Instagram portion. Maybe it's- I think that's really good advice to like meet the brand where they are. And because that's going to be more authentic that way. Yeah. And you're going to know, you're going to kind of have a leg up

to make sure that it's providing them something that they find valuable. And I think that from the get-go, that's going to give them some insight that you're willing to do and meet them with what they want versus kind of being coming in and being like, Nope, this is all I can offer. You know, because if we're honest, isn't that one of the most fun things about blogging is the creativity piece of it. And that's allowing you to maybe strengthen a muscle in an area of blogging that you might not otherwise strengthen

if you find a brand that you really want to work with. Yeah. Really great advice. Yeah. And once you get to know whoever you're working with at the brand, I feel like it's so much easier to then pitch them because like I have brands that I work with that I know they just want a blog post. They don't ever want a video. They don't ever want a news segment. They want a recipe and a blog post and that's it. And I've worked with them for so many years.

I know that. I'm like, cool, that's great. I'll do that, right? And then I have another brand I work with. I've done a podcast with them. I've done like video shoots on location. I've done news segments. I've done satellite media tours.

I've done in-person like IGTV, right? Like I just, they, they were asking me if I was going to do a Superbowl news segment. And I said, no, but instead of saying, no, I don't do news segments anymore. And that ended the conversation. I just said, no, I don't have any news segments coming up, but I said, you know, my Instagram engagement have any new segments coming up. But I said, you know, my Instagram engagement is great. Like what about doing an IGTV, but in new segment format. So it would just be like a five minute segment on Superbowl recipes made with your products. And it would be just like a new segment, but it would go to my Instagram followers. We could add you as the sponsor. You could post on your Instagram and then it would live there forever on my Instagram versus a new segment that people are only going to watch that morning.

They loved it. Boom. So I think that's also important is like, don't, don't just be like, no, I don't do that. Right. Like give them another option, right? Like maybe, maybe you don't have the capacity to shoot a video right now. Right. Like you don't have the capacity to shoot a video right now, right? Like you don't have the equipment or, you know, whatever it is. Don't just say like, oh no, I don't do video, right? Like maybe you can shoot a reel on your phone and then just spin it as, well, actually reels have been doing a lot better for me than video content on Instagram. So maybe would you like to try to do a reel together instead of a video and just see how that performs? It's like, don't just leave business, right? Like

I think that's, that's the mentality that I have since I had to hustle. Yeah. Don't leave money on the table for sure. You already have an interest in, and so make it work however you can right yeah good advice that's excellent yeah so yeah we've covered so much today i think that our listeners will find this so helpful and so inspiring if they are just getting started and they're wanting to work with brands you give them so much good advice hopefully they will maybe have a little smoother sailing in some areas and not have to haul any ribs through the airport or anything like that. But anyway, would you like to just remind everybody where they can find you, what platforms you're on, what the name of your blog is? Yeah. So my blog is WhitneyBond.com and I'm on Instagram as Whitney Bond and on Pinterest and Facebook as Whitney Bond blog.

I am on the TikTok. Don't worry, guys. Still posted no videos, but maybe someday I'll get around to it. You know, maybe come follow me. Maybe I'll just like start posting some random stuff. I don't even know. I feel super old every time I get on there. Yeah.

You know, I don't know there. Yeah. Anyway, we'll see. We'll see. Maybe come follow me. You know, I don't know there. Yeah. Anyway, we'll see. We'll see. You also have bowls are the new plates, right? Yes. Yes. I have my other blog bowls and new plates, healthy gluten-free bowl recipes.

So if you're looking for some, some healthy recipes, you can go check that out also. And yeah, if you have questions, feel free to send me a message on Instagram or, you know, if you found my stories funny, let me know. I've got more. I've got more. I can tell you more. I'll send you some 2011 blog posts with some real good stories in them. We could do this all day. We could for sure. Thank you, Whitney, for talking with us and sharing all of your advice and your stories and insight with our audience. Cause I think it's going to be really impactful for all of them. So appreciate you. Awesome. Well, also if anyone works with a brand after listening to this, please reach out and let me know what tactic you used or

how it worked out for you. I'd love to hear your success stories. Yes. Yeah. That'd be great. Yeah. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp.

The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.