1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,160 Okay, a lot of people love social media and a lot of people want to be on social media 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:20,080 beat. Influencers or content creators, well today on YQG In Bloom I have a good friend 3 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:28,360 of mine, Josie Elysia, and hi, how you doing? Hi, I'm so good. Awesome. And my name is Tracy 4 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:34,760 Martens if you haven't watched my program yet. We're going to talk about this phenomenon of 5 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:43,640 the UGC and how to get into becoming an influencer because there's a lot of kids that they have these 6 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:48,320 grandiose ideas, oh I'm going to get on Snapchat or I'm going to get on TikTok and I'm going to 7 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:56,920 have a million views. And they don't realize that you work at it. She has, I just checked 40,000 8 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:03,880 followers on Instagram. Now how hard was it to get that type of a following? I wouldn't say it's 9 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:10,560 hard per se. I think that there does take a certain amount of discipline and consistency, 10 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:15,400 but I don't know if I want to use the word hard because I love what I do so much that even though 11 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:23,640 I do so much every single day and that might be hard work for some people, I love it. I love it 12 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,280 because it really was just a passion project that turned into sort of more of a hobby and now I'm 13 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:33,320 actually making money out of it so it's like a little part time job. About nine months ago I did an 14 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:38,960 interview with Josie and it was great and that's when I found out that you started this during 15 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:45,200 COVID because you couldn't work. Yeah, it was so interesting because I mean I feel like I grew up 16 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,560 with social media. I had like my, well even before MySpace there was like this weird little website 17 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,720 called PIXTO which doesn't even exist anymore. Oh my god, I've never heard of it. Yeah, I tried to 18 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,360 find my website and I'm like, oh it'd be so cool to see myself in the past, all my friends. No, 19 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:05,040 they sold the website to someone else, what's completely different. But I was never a stranger 20 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:10,080 to social media but I always just kind of used it, I think as most people do, like a personal 21 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,320 diary. You're just kind of like throwing bits of yourself out to the world and helping your 22 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:21,960 friends see it, maybe you've got some cryptic messages, whatever. But yeah, during COVID I was 23 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:27,080 working at the hospital or actually for I guess a subsidiary of the hospital and I ended up losing 24 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:32,360 my job because a lot of the funds were redirected to the front line, you know, made sense at the time. 25 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:40,000 Of course. And I was stuck at home just doing nothing, not allowed to see anybody, not allowed 26 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,560 to go out and do the things I love to do. And you're a pupil person. I'm very much a 27 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:49,360 people person. Like I need to feel like an energy vampire. Like I got to go out and like 28 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,120 suck the energy so like I feel good because if I just sit by myself I'm like, I'm just 29 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,960 draining, I'm just like, oh this sucks, I get depressed, I get anxious, it's terrible. And so 30 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:05,920 that's kind of what COVID was for me was just being stuck inside and being the shell of myself. 31 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:11,560 And I don't know if it was my mother, she might have told me about this first, she's always 32 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:18,560 putting me on to like different things. But she told me about this live streaming application 33 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,920 that was hiring people and they were going to pay them a base pay, which was nothing we'd 34 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:26,920 ever seen before, nothing I've ever heard of before. And I was like, you know what? It's 35 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:31,000 kind of weird, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Why not? Right? I'm at home, 36 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:37,440 I'm doing nothing. Let's try it out. So it turns out this app was very, very popular in Asia and 37 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:42,600 with COVID they wanted to get into the American market. And so that's why they were paying people. 38 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,600 Smerk. Yeah, they're like people are at home, people want to do something, they need things to 39 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,760 watch. We're going to pay people to be entertaining and interesting online so that we can get more 40 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:59,560 eyes. So it worked because so many people joined, myself included. And I guess to keep your audience 41 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,200 kind of captivated you need to have a skill of some sort or you didn't and you just showed a lot 42 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:11,240 of skin, but I wasn't really into that part of it. I'm like, what talents do I have? So I'm like, 43 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,240 I can play music and I can sort of do makeup. It wasn't very good, but I'm like, I can, you know, 44 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,240 put on my face, I have some at home. And so that's what my my live streams were primarily about. It 45 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,440 was, you know, we're going to do like a little makeup tutorial or I'm going to do my makeup and 46 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,760 talk to you about my day, ask you about your day, just like interacting with people really and truly 47 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:34,560 or karaoke where I would play my guitar and I was still pretty bad at this point. But well, 48 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:42,800 you're pretty darn good now. I'm okay. I'm okay. But people would essentially just tune in and watch 49 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,240 you for your personality and like the fun things that you were doing. And if they wanted to gift 50 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:52,320 you, which was like always the, I guess the ideal thing, right? They you want them spending money 51 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,120 because then you get money, more money anyways, you could have like requests. So for example, 52 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,000 like what color eyeshadow should I be wearing? And if someone wants to comment, they're saying 53 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,880 green. I'm like, okay, well, I could do green, but throw something at me being a gift. Yeah, 54 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:14,640 exactly. So it became kind of like a game that was lucrative and fun. But to, I guess promote 55 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,880 these streams because you know, you want to tell people when you're going to be online. I would 56 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:24,320 always have to have like a full face of makeup, hair done, outfits on, take some pictures, whatever, 57 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,680 make a little graphic in Canva and then post it up on social media. So I was trying to get those 58 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:35,040 people to also come to the app and be like, Hey, like, this is cool thing, whatever. And I want 59 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:41,160 to say I did that for about a year. And then I got sick of it. But I still liked putting on makeup 60 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:46,600 every day. So I was like, you know what, why don't we just do videos on like Instagram or whatever 61 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,280 about my makeup and like different products I have and like how to do like these simple tutorials. 62 00:05:51,280 --> 00:06:00,720 And that's really where it all started was just in that. How often are you posting makeup tutorials? 63 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:08,160 Because I know you have so many different interests in that is a fair question. I do not do makeup 64 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:14,160 tutorials on the daily anymore. I used to do makeup every single day. And then it started to go to 65 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:19,120 about every third day. And I had like a little pattern going on in my fee where like I'd have a 66 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,880 close up of my eyes was always like intricate make it it took so long. It took so long. And 67 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:30,080 eventually I was like, I don't want to spend like four hours doing my makeup like I do want to like 68 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,320 spend some time with my family. I do want to like go out and do things. And I think that's kind of why 69 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:41,280 I tapered off of the intricate kind of makeup and got more into fashion because I mean dressing up 70 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:46,560 is fun. It's a lot faster or like doing unboxings again, I'm just showcasing things or like product 71 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,240 reviews, that sort of thing. And then I realized, you know, why can't I just encompass all things 72 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:58,000 beauty? Right? So I know beauty generally when you refer to the term, it's like makeup, skincare. 73 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,560 But I'm like, there's so many other ways you can beautify your life by like dressing up your body. 74 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,640 Maybe it has to do with wellness because now you're feeling beautiful on the inside or like your 75 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,880 hair. I really tried to like expand that term because I'm like, I want to do all these different 76 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:17,760 things. And she honestly, she really does. You do your makeup and you do the clothing. And then you 77 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:24,800 tried that it wasn't Ozempic. Oh, yes. Okay. It's a peptide that's very similar to Ozempic. So 78 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,520 Ozempic is the biggest one. It's the one that everybody knows and it works on, I believe one 79 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:35,600 receptor. I'm not a doctor, don't quote me. Terzapotide, which is what I was trying for a month 80 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,240 there through kind of promotion, that kind of thing. It works on two different receptors. 81 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,560 There is now an even newer one. I want to say it's called retroglutide. It's something weird 82 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:49,200 stress with an R. Works on three different receptors. So each one that they're coming out with is 83 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,800 supposed to be more effective than the last and have less side effects. Okay. Essentially. I mean, 84 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,520 everyone's heard about Ozempic by now, right? Like everyone's on L. The celebrities are just like 85 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,120 super skinny now. We're like, Oh my God, let's go crazy. And they're like, Oh, it's Ozempic. 86 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:09,200 And as everyday people to actually obtain something like that is very expensive, or you have to have, 87 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,920 you know, certain health conditions, a certain BMI, different comorbidities, whatever it is, 88 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,880 it worked on you. Yeah, it was, it was an interesting one because I did a little research 89 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:24,560 on it beforehand because I had the option to either request Ozempic or this new one, Terzapotide. 90 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,880 And I've read like a bunch of things and people were saying, you know, you kind of get nauseous on 91 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,840 both. Like I got like really sick on Ozempic or like it really spit out my heart rate, like things 92 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:39,920 like that. And I was like, Oh, okay. Weird. I'm going to try the other one. I like my heart. 93 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:46,080 Exactly. And so with this one, it is a weekly injection. So like that was kind of scary because 94 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:51,920 like, I don't do kind of stuck for the whole week. Yeah. And it's like, I hope it works. That works well. 95 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:59,040 Kind of scary. But they're very small, like insulin style syringes. So it's not painful or 96 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,440 anything like that. It's just more daunting because like most people are injecting things into 97 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:11,280 their bodies. But it's a weekly injection. You start out at the lowest dose. And for me, the first 98 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:17,680 day, I want to say I was a bit sick. So like immediately after taking the shot, I didn't 99 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:23,440 feel hungry, which was new. And I didn't have any sort of like what they call food noise. So it's 100 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,600 when you're like thinking about food, ruminating about food, what should I eat? Should I eat this? 101 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,520 Maybe I shouldn't eat that. Oh, but that would taste really good. I kind of want it. Like those 102 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:37,280 sorts of feelings just gone. It was just radio silence. And I was like, this is weird, whatever. 103 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:43,040 I went to bed that first day after I woke up, I had some cramping in my stomach. So like a little 104 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:49,680 bit of like GI issues, almost as if I ate something bad, but it didn't hurt. I just had to go to the 105 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:55,360 bathroom multiple times that day. It was cleaning out your system. It was cleaning it. I'm like, 106 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:05,840 where is this all coming from? Like 20 pounds and just waste. But after that, I felt great all week. 107 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,960 It was just weird to not have an appetite or even like be thinking about food. Like I didn't 108 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:18,800 realize how much I thought about food until I didn't. And so that was refreshing and eye opening. 109 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:25,600 Week two, again, same amount of injection, whatever. But this time I was sick for two days. So I was 110 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,480 like, oh, I don't like this because I was nauseous and I had like the runs. I was actually like 111 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:37,360 vomiting. I'm like, oh my God, what have I done? I'm done. I'm done to myself. I'm dying. So like I 112 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,280 did call my doctor and they were like, no, no, no, like it's fine. Like these are just like the 113 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,520 symptoms. Like they're very common. You know, just make sure you're drinking water so that you're not 114 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:51,600 getting dehydrated. This was the thing. So pretty simple. And after that, I decided to half the dose 115 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:58,480 for the third week. Perfect response. No side effects, maintain the weight. Fourth week, I went back 116 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:05,200 up to the regular, uh, triation. No side effects. And I had enough to do a fifth week. So I was like, 117 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:11,280 okay, this is cool. So again, the regular dosage and I was fine. So I think it might have just had 118 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:16,800 to do with it being a new substance in my body and like your body has to get used to it, that sort of 119 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:25,440 thing. I liked it. I really did. I really liked it. Um, food. And I think just like the intake of it, 120 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,280 the regulation of it, I've always struggled with it. So it's always been like this constant, like 121 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:34,560 up and down, up and down sort of battle where it's like you're eating too much or you're not eating 122 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:40,160 enough or you're just being obsessive with food. And so to have something that takes all of that 123 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,880 away. So you can just focus on, okay, well, I know I need to eat a lot of protein today. So let me 124 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:51,760 make some meals around that made it so much easier to just like stick to a plan. I'll be happy. I know 125 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:59,600 they're talking about, uh, oral form. Yeah. And I'll be happy with that. Cause I mean, my problem 126 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:07,760 with the weight is other than the age is the fact that I quit smoking in my early 40s. And I, 127 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:14,800 I started smoking. I was in grade eight, grade seven, grade eight. So I smoked for years. So 128 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:20,560 I was used to being able to eat. Like if I wanted to eat too big max, I ate too big max. I was still 129 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:29,200 102 pounds. Size zero. I could eat anything I wanted, drink anything I wanted. And I was fine. 130 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:36,160 And to be able to do that until you're 43. Yeah. And then to try and change your entire habits. 131 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,320 That's hard. It's such a communal thing too. Like you don't even realize like people come over, 132 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,360 you're like, okay, I got to get food. I'm going to go out. Oh, okay. What am I going to eat? 133 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:50,720 But like, it's just always there. I had to go to her house to try on an outfit for an event we 134 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:56,160 were going to. And what do we do? We're good at the bakery. Let's get some treats. We have to have 135 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:03,840 treats before you try on clothes. Right. Cause that makes sense. The flip didn't. Oh my goodness. 136 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:10,960 So you, you do have a lot of perks of being a content creator or an influencer. How do people 137 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:19,040 start to get the, the viewers in so that they can go to these companies and say, Hey, 138 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,960 you know, give me a shot. No, that's a fantastic question. And it's interesting because I think 139 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,680 everybody's road is going to be slightly different. But the biggest advice I can give 140 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:37,680 is be consistent and be cringy, be cringy. Sometimes I'm out in public and like I have my little like 141 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:41,920 gimbal, my phone and like I feel dumb cause I'm like, everybody's looking at me. They're like, 142 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:47,200 Oh, what is she doing? Why is she filming? And I'm like, you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't 143 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,760 matter because I know where it's going to go. I know what it's going to get me. It's going to help me 144 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:57,680 achieve my goals essentially. So unfortunately, if you plan on doing anything outside of your house, 145 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:04,080 you have to get used to that cringe factor. And then after you've, you know, put together your video 146 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:09,760 or taking your photos, whatever, and you've edited them, don't be scared to post. Don't be scared 147 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:15,920 to post. So many people I hear, especially even students of mine, they'll say that they have a 148 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:21,280 lot of this content that they've taken, but they just, they can't post it. They're scared. 149 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:26,720 Trying to figure out the reels. And what I found with reels, and I'm going to tell people right 150 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:35,040 now is they don't have to be perfect. They don't. The editing. And that's what was at first is I felt 151 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:40,960 being a photographer that all of the cuts had to be exact and all the lighting had to be perfect 152 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:46,000 in this and that. So then I wouldn't do the reels because it's like, that's just too hard to make 153 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:51,760 all these cuts. And then I realized that people were still watching them. I 100% agree with that. 154 00:14:51,760 --> 00:15:00,960 I think that there are some. I'm not saying be sloppy. No, but there's definitely some accounts 155 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:07,440 where they are picture perfect. And it's a certain niche. Like that is like an aspirational kind of 156 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:12,720 niche. People watch it as a form of like escapism, right? Like there's there's accounts I watch where 157 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:17,760 I'm like, wow, I wish I could go on that vacation. I could never afford that vacation. But those are 158 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,280 the kinds of videos where they're perfect. They're hiring external talent to like light them and shoot 159 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,840 them and edit it. And I'm like, that's great. If you want to do that, I don't want to do I don't 160 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:35,520 have the budget for that. The thing is people are looking at these carefully curated accounts. 161 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:41,520 They got to remember that these people have all of these viewers. They're getting paid 162 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,240 exactly because of having all these viewers. So that's why they can afford it. So it's just a 163 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:52,400 matter of, you know, it's building it up. Yeah, don't put the cart before the horse. Exactly. 164 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,680 Exactly. Like I look back at some of my I've posed so much, but when I really go back to the beginning 165 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,880 of my feed, it's not great. Like it's not that good, but like I was out there thinking like you 166 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:09,120 have to kind of be a little bit delusional to make this industry. You gotta take yourself with a 167 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:13,360 grain of salt and think you're perfect. Yeah. I'm like, these videos are amazing. They're so good. 168 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:19,520 My makeup looks awesome. And now I look at it and I'm like, whoa, I put that out there for 169 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:26,400 like people to see. Okay. Okay. But then, whoa, they liked it. They did. Right. Like, and it's 170 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:32,400 a part of growth. I think people like seeing someone like relatable. Like I'm not a makeup artist. 171 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:38,000 Like I don't know how to do like all the intricate things. I even matching foundation to my skin. 172 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,920 I still struggle with it. I'm like, what's my undertone? I don't know. But how, how would somebody 173 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:50,800 get into say getting the freebies? Ooh, so the freebies. Because you get a ton of them. I do. 174 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:56,160 Even with this postal strike, which might be still going on. I'm not sure. Oh yeah, it still is. 175 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:02,000 As of today. Oh, wild. I've been getting packages to my door like every other day, 176 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,360 because there's so many companies that will ship like DHL, PureLitter, FedEx, UPS, UPS, 177 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:11,920 whatever. So I don't necessarily have to like wait on Canada Post for all those goodies. 178 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,680 There are some that are stuck in transit that like I'm a little bit salty about. 179 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:22,080 Because those are the good ones. Yeah. I'm like, whatever. As long as it's before Christmas, 180 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:29,280 I'll be, you know, happy. I'll be happy. But what I would say is if you are trying to get free 181 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:35,840 things, free items, maybe invitations, what have you, you want to figure out the niche that you're 182 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:40,560 in. So for me, when I first started, I was really interested in makeup. And I was like, 183 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,240 I would love to have more makeup, but I don't have a lot of money to buy all these things I'm 184 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,760 seeing the creators use online. So I think I bought one palette to start that had a bunch of different 185 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:55,360 colors. And I guess for the creating with that, with the intention that I wanted more, I wanted 186 00:17:55,360 --> 00:18:01,600 more, but for free because I couldn't afford it. So if you want to get into beauty, just use what 187 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:07,280 you have at home and create a bunch of content with it. Once you have content up that you can 188 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:12,960 refer back to or point people to, you now have your social proof of what you can do potentially. 189 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:19,120 And you obviously take the makeup. You can take the makeup, especially if it's that brand that you 190 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:25,520 want to work with. I'm trying to remember who I had juvious place. It was juvious place. I was 191 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,480 really interested in them because I think at the time, I didn't realize this at the time, 192 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,320 but they obviously had a campaign going on and they'd given a bunch of makeup to people. So it 193 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,640 was being heavily promoted online. If you see a lot of people using the same thing, it's because 194 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:42,160 they got it for free for a promotion. It's not because everybody has it. I didn't know that. 195 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,560 So I'm like, okay, this must be the best company I've ever been to buy it, 196 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,560 bought their palettes started to take them and everything else I was using. I'm like, okay, 197 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:57,120 well, I have a Morphe brush. Let me take them. And my shirts from this company. So let me take 198 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:01,920 them just taking these brands because it helps you to get on their radar. So this is the same. 199 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:09,200 And it gets you used to, I think speaking to a brand rather than just putting things out to 200 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:15,680 into the ether. What about hashtags? Hashtags can be very useful. I find for 201 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,480 connecting with people who are interested in what you are doing. So I was using a lot of beauty 202 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:27,440 hashtags. Because I was hoping that people who were interested in beauty and were already kind 203 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,680 of searching these hashtags or using those hashtags would be able to then see my content 204 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:38,160 more easily. Some brands will have hashtags specific to their communities. ColourPop, for 205 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:43,520 example, another makeup company, theirs is like ColourPop me. So if you use that hashtag on your 206 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,600 post, they go through that hashtag and they will like look at different people's posts. If you 207 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:53,280 happen to stand out, they might even contact you for like PR or to go get on to like their crew, 208 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:59,600 things of that nature. So they're super helpful. One other thing that I thought was really useful 209 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:06,320 for starting out as a creator was Facebook, strangely enough. So a lot, there's a lot of 210 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:11,520 brands like there are probably millions of different brands that we don't even hear about 211 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,880 because they're small. They're just, they're so indie, maybe they're new, maybe they're struggling, 212 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:23,840 whatever the case may be. But those are the brands that need promotion the most. Exactly. The big 213 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,680 companies, we already know who they are. They just throw things out to everyone because they're like, 214 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:34,080 ah, we don't care. Money, we don't care. Small brands, they have to be a bit more particular. 215 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,880 So they probably aren't going to pay you, but they will tend to just send you their products. So 216 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,880 you can start to use it, you can review it, you can create for them. So the very first partnership 217 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:48,160 I ever did, I had, I want to say like around a thousand followers. So it was a small account. 218 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:55,520 It was primarily just like people I had met in life from, I think, high school onwards. I've had an 219 00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:01,600 Instagram for quite some time. I just didn't really post as a creator. But when I decided to get into 220 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:07,200 makeup, I kind of deleted a lot of the past, they, or archive them. I can still find them, but nobody 221 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:14,560 else can. And I switched to that makeup stuff. But I approached a brand who was in the Facebook group. 222 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:21,920 They were in the States and they had, they had said something to the effect of, I have a line 223 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,880 of lipsticks that I want people to try out. Like if you're interested, DM me. And I dig, because I'm 224 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:32,960 like, you know, I like lipstick. I'd like to try your lipstick. I DM them. And because they were 225 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:37,520 such a small brand, they only really wanted to work with small creators. They were giving people like 226 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:43,680 me a chance. And so yeah, it was very nice. I'm like, Oh my God, like they actually said yes. 227 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:52,480 It was an ecstatic feeling. But that's why I think Facebook is so useful because there are so many 228 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:58,240 little groups that you can find. And it's really just typing in like brands looking for people, 229 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:05,360 makeup groups are like whatever your niche is. So the, these young people that probably won't 230 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:12,480 see this. But if they do, make sure that you go on Facebook. It's not just for grandparents. It's 231 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:20,240 not for old people. You can still get makeup and freebies and stuff. 100%. I think Facebook is a 232 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:26,400 great place for that because of how groups function and because you can create groups really and truly. 233 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,960 The other apps, while they're great for just kind of doom scrolling and seeing content, 234 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:38,320 it's a lot harder to build communities on them. Yeah. You know what? I never even thought of 235 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:44,080 looking at Facebook for different groups. That's a great idea. Oh yeah. Like I'm in so many groups 236 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:49,520 on Facebook. And it's funny because like I don't really use Facebook other than like I'll go in 237 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:54,880 the groups and I'll see like, you know, who's posting what. And then I use marketplace and 238 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,720 messenger and the events. I like the events. Oh yeah. The calendar. I'm like, Oh yeah, 239 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:04,400 put them on my calendar. But yeah, I'm like people sleep on Facebook. Truly. I'm like, 240 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:12,000 it's very useful. You have to learn what are the useful things for you. Exactly. So you are on 241 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:20,640 Facebook and Instagram and TikTok. Are you on YouTube as well? I am on YouTube, but like for 242 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:27,440 completely different reasons. We post our music and stuff on YouTube. Okay. You and your mom. 243 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:32,880 Yeah. So we have like a little joint account. I believe it's silk.ecos. See, I don't even know 244 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:38,720 it. That's how like little I use YouTube. It's terrible. But I've always been told that I should, 245 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,920 I should take my content and put it over there. And I think that's what's really cool about 246 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:50,480 YouTube as a platform is your content is good forever. Yeah. Forever. It's very different than 247 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,440 Instagram or TikTok where you constantly have to be putting out something new because people aren't 248 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,240 going back to go view my videos from like a year and a half ago, less there, you know, creeping 249 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:06,080 and stalking. But for the most part, it's all the newer stuff that people seem to be most interested 250 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:14,960 in. Well, and if you are doing YouTube, the one thing I will say is make sure to like and subscribe 251 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:22,480 or follow because a lot of people even with this, they will watch the videos. It's hard to get people 252 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,560 to actually subscribe and you need so many subscribers. My keys, click the button. Yeah, 253 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:35,040 you need so many subscribers as well as view hours in order to monetize. Not that hard, I think, 254 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,960 if you were to do something like what you do, I think you could probably make some good coin doing 255 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:46,320 that. Yeah, I know. I'm just like, I have to film a landscape and I have to edit long for. 256 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:54,240 Don't they have the shorts now that are 60 seconds another. True. Yes. The YouTube shorts, 257 00:24:54,240 --> 00:25:00,240 they're not so bad. Now, do you get free clothes? I do. So almost this entire outfit was free. 258 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:05,520 All the things that matter anyway. So my sweater was free. My pants were free. I wish my shoes were 259 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:13,600 free. They weren't there by Nike. I would love if Nike sponsored me though. I wear a lot. I wear 260 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:20,080 almost exclusively sheen mostly because I don't like to spend money. I really don't. So when I do 261 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:26,080 spend money, I try to like do experiences, whether it's like usually locally, really and truly like 262 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:31,840 local experiences, local events, things like that. But I hate to spend money on these necessary 263 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,080 things. Like I have to dress my body, but like I don't want to buy expensive clothes. 264 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:45,200 And so it's this perfect little partnership with sheen and mom. How did you get sheen for free? 265 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:52,640 Let's think about this now. Okay. So I have quite a few friends that are also in the creator sphere. 266 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,320 So like, I guess they're digital friends because most of them I've never actually met in person, 267 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:02,960 but we do similar things. So when we come across a contact that might be applicable to the other 268 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,560 person, we'll share. Because I'm like, oh my God, like I just got, I just got an email from, 269 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:16,480 I don't know, let's say it's a good one. That's a good one. Canadian tire, who knows, right? And 270 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:21,360 they're looking for a bunch of creators to do like their Black Friday posts. Like it's pretty open. 271 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:26,960 You're in Canada. You should email them and pitch them. And that's what we do because it's an industry 272 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:33,520 where a lot of gatekeeping happens because people don't want you to take what they think is theirs. 273 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:40,400 But if you, if you find a nice close knit group of friends and you understand that there's more 274 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:47,280 than enough to go around, then you share the ones that are relevant. This is where Facebook groups 275 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,280 would come in as well. Yeah, Facebook groups would be amazing for that because then you could have 276 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:56,320 like a group of content creators maybe in beauty and then another one in fashion, another one in tech 277 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:01,920 and who knows whatever it is, but then you can all help each other grow and with tips. Yeah, it's 278 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:06,720 like, you know what, these colors are not for me, but you know what, they'd be fabulous on you. So 279 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,920 why don't you contact them? Yeah, a hundred, and we've done things like this where like I get like 280 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:20,080 a whole kit of like lipsticks. And I'm like, look at that last one that you got with NYX. Oh, yes. 281 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:29,040 Holy shit. It was a haul. That was a lot. Like she pulled out the box and it's just layers upon layers. 282 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:36,560 I think they went to shoppers and just took one of everything. That's what it felt like. And some 283 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,920 of these like PR packages are just like, they're so extravagant over the top and like I love them. 284 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:47,760 I truly do. But I'm like, I can't wear half of these colors. So now I'm like, okay, well, 285 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,680 who do I think would look good in this? I think I got a blush and a bronzer out of that. Yeah. And 286 00:27:54,640 --> 00:28:00,000 a blue, which I did wear that blue eyeliner. Yes. And it was sparkly. Yeah, because the stuff is 287 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:04,880 always so pretty. It's just not everything's gonna work on every skin tone. I know. Like, oh, you 288 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,760 know, whatever. But maybe they're hoping for that. Oh, well, yeah, we've read the word. She's gonna 289 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:15,520 give it to people and they're gonna say, oh, now you also teach at St. Clair College. It's a local 290 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:23,840 college in Windsor, Ontario. And you teach in the media department. Yes, I absolutely adore it. So I 291 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:29,200 teach in the public relations and journalism programs. They have a very heavy social media 292 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:35,440 component because it's just such a necessary skill for those, I guess, disciplines nowadays. And so 293 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:42,240 I do teach kind of, I guess, how to use the platforms with the platforms are for where you 294 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:47,040 can find your target audience. That sort of thing. Pretty much, you know, it's mandated by like the 295 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:52,080 province, all like the bar and stuff. But then closer to the end of the semester, when we have a bit 296 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:56,400 more time, and I've got a bit more freedom, I like to talk about like how you can freelance. I like 297 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,800 to talk about how you can make your own media kit, how you can pitch brands and what a pitch should 298 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:06,000 look like, how you should, you know, label your subject lines to kind of stand out. So not only 299 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:11,760 aren't these students getting, I guess, an education and, you know, just how to be a content creator 300 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:18,720 online, but also how to sell yourself to brands as a content creator or a freelancer. Because it's, 301 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:24,640 you know, it's the same skills. And at the end of the day, we want our skills to make us money, right? 302 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:34,160 It's good for small businesses. Yeah. To have at least somebody take a course in that. Yeah. Because 303 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:42,400 this is where your advertising is. Print is very expensive. And even throwing out ads on Facebook 304 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:49,120 and all of them can get a little pricey. It's more reasonable. But learning how your online 305 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:55,280 presence affects your business in getting the people that you want. Oh, 100%. It's funny, 306 00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:00,080 we were just doing a class today on like branding, what it means to have like a personal brand. 307 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,960 I'm like, you don't have to be a celebrity, but your brand is what people say about you 308 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,760 when you're not there. So how do you want to be perceived? It's the same thing online. You can 309 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,080 show up however you want to, you can be whoever you want to be, you can be the expert, but in 310 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,640 actuality, you're just kind of like a noob who knows a little bit from YouTube tutorials. It's 311 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:23,600 all in how you present yourself. People will see it, they'll receive you. And then perhaps you can 312 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:29,840 do collaborations that way. Like when I started, I wasn't great. I thought it was great. So I was 313 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,760 presenting as like, yeah, guys, I know exactly what to do. Here we are. Do a cut crease. Like, 314 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:42,400 I don't know. Like, I hope this works. Oopsie. But that's the kind of air I wanted to give off. 315 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,320 It's someone who knows what they're doing, but it's still kind of like fun and bubbly and relatable. 316 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:53,120 But you know what? It worked. You know, even if you look back now as it's cringy, it worked. 317 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:59,280 Exactly. And it got people's attention, whether it was because it was cringy or because it was 318 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:05,360 informative, it doesn't matter. So funny. But yeah, no, it's true. And that's why the biggest thing 319 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:10,720 is even when you think the content is not great. Post it. Post it and stay consistent. 320 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:17,360 Do you think this is probably going to be my last question that your Instagram page has to be this 321 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:23,920 carefully curated? Like, you know how some people, businesses will do it in all of the pictures, 322 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:31,360 they all kind of blend in together. Do you need to do that? Or can you just post and it just be 323 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:40,240 you? What do you think would work better? I think that nowadays, the overall layout of your grid, 324 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:46,640 I don't think it matters as much. I don't. I think that what you want is for your work to be 325 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:51,360 easily distinguishable from someone else's work. So if you're a photographer, that might be that you 326 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,840 have a lot of saturation in your images. And so every time when people are just doom scrolling, 327 00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:00,640 they see a highly saturated image and they're like, Oh, I know who that is. And then it is, it's you. 328 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:07,920 But when you, when you have a very carefully curated feed, which I've seen some people still 329 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:14,240 do, it's just not as, I think prevalent anymore. Thank God. It's hard to upkeep. It's hard to 330 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:19,440 upkeep. Like there are some people who like it, you know, like maybe the aspirational people, 331 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,840 the escapism sort of people, like they like that very polished look. But I think that's 332 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,960 becoming a smaller and smaller subset of the online community. People like real people, 333 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:33,200 they like real stories. They want to feel like you're almost like an internet best friend who 334 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:42,800 they know, but they also don't really know. Yeah. So it's basically just go out there, shoot it, 335 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:48,800 just, just be yourself and do something that you like, something that you love, whether you're 336 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:56,560 funny, whether you're serious, but be yourself. And that'll bring in the people, get back on Facebook. 337 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:02,400 Get back on Facebook, find the groups. If you're looking for freebies and 338 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:10,480 then you want to curate into a certain niche, that would probably be the best way to get where 339 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:15,120 you want to go. Yeah. It's a great way to get started. You got to start somewhere, start small, 340 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:24,720 you'll grow. Yeah, she has. I'm slowly getting there. But Josie, thank you so much for taking 341 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:32,160 the time to hang out with me and give us a little insight into how to up our game. 342 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:38,400 Anytime. Thanks for having me. Well, you have a great day, everybody. And my name is Tracy Martins, 343 00:33:38,400 --> 00:34:02,480 and this is Waikijian Bloom Podcast. See ya.