"Small, incremental steps towards a bigger goal will ensure you are making daily progress without the overwhelm" with Lucy Clarke

Lucy Clarke

Lucy Clarke

Lucy Clarke is the co-founder of Get Blogged, a blogger outreach and link-building agency based in the UK. She helps to connect the best bloggers with the best brands so companies can secure glittering coverage and improve their search engine rankings. Lucy co-leads a team of ten staff, as well as overseeing client operations and marketing, and orchestrating creative campaigns. She’s also a mum of three and writes a blog of her own where she covers topics including parenting, postnatal mental health, and family lifestyle. 

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I’ve always possessed a strong creative streak, and been influenced by my entrepreneurial father. After completing a fashion marketing degree where I specialised in graphic design at Solent University, I went to work for a small fashion design brand back in my hometown in Suffolk. There I worked closely with the founder, learning the challenges of running a small business.

I then moved my career to Berkshire where I worked in the web development team for a leading wine company. It’s there I learned front-end web development and honed my graphic design skills, working closely with the marketing team to improve sales revenue and customer engagement.

I then won my dream role as a graphic designer at a fashion trends company based in Mornington Crescent in London. My dream was unfortunately dashed by the expensive and tiring commute into London every day, so it was then I decided to take the leap from being employed to being a freelancer.

Having made lots of connections in previous roles I had a great base of freelance clients and I was doing what I loved. After a few years of freelancing and losing my passion for designing I decided to take a jump back into being employed, and took an opportunity at a leading whitelabel dating platform.

As a Marketing Manager for one of their dating sites, I was responsible for improving membership revenue and engagement rates, and this fast paced, results-led role gave me the buzz I was lacking. After a good few years of not feeling totally satisfied in design roles, it was clear that I was a lot more suited to marketing. It’s there I met my business partner, Ben, and the rest is history.

What inspired you to start your business?

As a blogger, I’d been working with brands on sponsored content and product reviews for almost ten years, so I’d learned exactly what worked, what businesses were looking for, and the essential elements of a successful campaign. My co-founder Ben was a colleague in a previous role and had extensive experience in the technical side of SEO. Together, we knew that we could deliver stellar service and fill a big gap in the market!

Where is your business based?

I’m based in Hampshire in the South East of England, and the entire Get Blogged team work remotely throughout the UK. Managing a remote team is not without its challenges, but it works amazingly for us. It’s allowed us to recruit the very best talent for our roles without geographical constraints, and everyone loves the flexibility of working from home.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

 It all started with deciding to automate some of the manual processes we were going through when doing blogger outreach. With a strong background in design, web development, and SEO, this process came very easy to Ben and me and we built a platform ourselves from the ground up. We already had relationships with thousands of bloggers, so we onboarded them to our new automated solution and that was the start of Get Blogged!

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Word of mouth has been an exceptional way for us to attract both bloggers and brands to the platform. Using the methods that we advocate for our clients, we also manage to successfully bring highly targeted traffic to our site via search engine optimisation.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Gaining the trust of our community of bloggers has been so important to our success. They’re essentially our suppliers, and it’s so important for us to have a positive relationship with them so we’re able to fulfill our clients’ goals.

Thanks to my own background as a blogger, I feel I’m able to understand what really makes them tick and speak to them in their language. We now have a community of over 17,000 creators, and we’ve built strong relationships via open and honest communication, fair and transparent payment terms, and ongoing initiatives to support the blogger community. We’ve sponsored tickets at industry events for bloggers who might not have otherwise been able to attend, for example, and we regularly create resources to help them to grow their sites.

How do you stay focused?

 Having worked from home for the majority of my working life, I have a strong, disciplined routine. I have a dedicated desk in my house, I set myself daily tasks and deadlines using Asana and make sure that I complete them on time. I tend to dedicate Monday to Friday to work (days, and evenings when I need to) so that I can stay on track, then switch off at the weekends where the downtime refreshes me for another week of work.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

One of our strong USPs is the relationships we have with our bloggers. We regularly work with some of the best content creators in their respective niches, giving brands access to highly engaged audiences.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Our search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy has ensured that when people are searching Google for the kind of help and support that we can provide, our site appears within the top results. This generates high-quality leads for us on a daily basis, and it’s something that we continue to hone and tweak for the very best results.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

One step at a time. As an entrepreneur, you can get overwhelmed by all the business ideas and initiatives buzzing around your head. Small, incremental steps towards a bigger goal will ensure you are making daily progress without the overwhelm.

Also, no matter how busy you are, make time every day to learn. Whether it’s an online course, an ebook, an audiobook or a webinar, “learning is earning” and it’s so incredibly important to keep absorbing new tactics and skills.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Everyone who knows me knows my favourite apps are takeaway ones! When my blood sugar is low I become erratic and can’t focus, and sometimes when long client calls are directly followed by school runs and nursery pickups I need someone to take care of the cooking!

There’s no one favourite blog that I read regularly but I come across all sorts of amazing resources in this industry.

Currently, I am reading ‘Scaling Up’ by Verne Harnish which is a great book to read when you’re ready to or have aspirations to scale up your business. It talks about accountability within teams and company structures to allow for growth and success. The absolute favourite that I recommend to everyone is ‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan. It’s an amazingly inspirational book to read if you’re planning a content marketing strategy. I always buy the hard copy and the audiobook as I have a very short attention span when reading books (always have) so I like to listen whilst cleaning or cooking or driving, then reference the hard copy when I need to look at diagrams or to highlight parts.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Business coaching has been very valuable to me personally and professionally. My coach has built my self-esteem, supported me through mental health issues, and guided me when the business has gone through challenging times. Coaching is a resource that Ben and I both tap into on a regular basis, and have gained a huge amount from.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business partner, Ben. It might sound corny but I look up to him more than he probably knows! He is a steady, confident, kind human and he knows his sh&t! I admire the way he articulates things and I have learned a great deal from him over the past 10 years of knowing and working with him.

How do you balance work and life?

Being a mum of three young children, I’m not sure I can balance work and life. I do work hard to keep sane, but I do need to step back from work occasionally to get my personal life back on track. I rely on full-time childcare and a part-time housekeeper to keep things running personally.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Without a doubt, the beach. It’s my happy place. Come rain or shine you will find us at the quietest beaches as often as possible. As soon as I see the sea, I am happy.

When I am not at the beach or at my desk, I have weekly 121 virtual yoga training which returns my zen back to healthy levels!

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We’ve spent a lot of time recently honing our Marketplace solution, which is a self-service option for brands who want to connect with bloggers. Right now we’re really excited to grow this further, and to continue to provide an outstanding service to the businesses who join us!

How can our readers connect with you?

You can find out more about our work at GetBlogged.net.

We’re also on Twitter @Get_Blogged and Facebook Facebook.com/GetBlogged
You can also connect with me on Linkedin - I’d love to hear from you.

“If you aren’t totally exhausted every day for that first year, you aren’t doing it right” with Kara Harms

“If you aren’t totally exhausted every day for that first year, you aren’t doing it right” with Kara Harms

 Kara Harms is the co-founder of Whimsy Soul, a San Francisco-based lifestyle blog with the mission of helping womxn find their everyday magic.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and later attended college in Minnesota. After yet another polar vortex winter, I decided that after graduation I wanted to move somewhere without snow for once in my life. I studied advertising in college and back then I thought I wanted to be an art director at an ad agency, so I picked San Francisco because - no snow, and tons of ad agencies.  

Instead, I ended up doing what everyone does when they move to San Francisco - work at startups while creating their own side hustle business. For me, that was my blog, Whimsy Soul. I helped scale new companies in my day job and then went home at night to scale my own. In 2017 I went full-time with my blog and in 2018 I was able to hire my husband to work full-time with me. We now run Whimsy Soul together.

While our business is 100% content only business at the moment, we’re currently working on a few fun ways to bring Whimsy Soul into the tangible world, so stay tuned for more.  

What inspired you to start your business?  

It was January 2015, our new and extremely expensive studio apartment in San Francisco was very empty. It looked like a frat boy’s apartment with just a $10 thrift couch in the corner and our mattress and TV on the floor. I didn’t know anyone in the city other than my husband, I didn’t have a job yet and I was lonely. But I did have Instagram and I found so much joy in learning from local bloggers & connecting with other women on the app that I decided I wanted to start my own blog, my own community of like-minded women. So that night I bought the domain name whimsysoul.com, started a new Instagram account and the rest was history.

Where is your business based?

San Francisco, CA. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Starting a blog-based business is actually a lot more technical than people maybe realize. Thankfully I’m a Myspace-generation kid so I had experience with coding and building websites from my teenage years, so it was easy for me to figure out how to set up my DNS and build a blog from scratch. Since I studied advertising and had work experience with designing & social media, I was also able to set up all my accounts with branding and bios within a day.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?  

Social media, of course, but also organic SEO. Most of our new readers find Whimsy Soul from organic search results on Google. From there they return to the site, or follow on Instagram or subscribe to our newsletter. Never underestimate the power of SEO if you sell anything online or have a content business.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

Being a blogger/influencer isn’t a traditional career. There’s no “Influencing” major you can spend 4 years studying, so to survive this wild west industry you have to constantly be learning from your mistakes and rolling with the punches. I’ve been lucky enough to form a small but tight group of fellow bloggers. We share industry news, collaborate together, and lean on each other for advice and ideas. While Whimsy Soul is just me and my husband, we’re not totally alone. No matter your business industry I think it’s so very important to form connections with other business owners. Community over competition is KEY.  

How do you stay focused? 

I’m a Type 3 Slytherin personality so it’s naturally easy for me to stay focused. I wake up at 7 am each day and am just ready to start writing while sipping that forest cup of coffee. I get asked this question a lot and sadly I don’t have any tactical advice for people who struggle with staying focused when working for themselves. It really just comes naturally to me.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?  

Unlike many of our competitors, we always prioritize being aspirational while also still attainable. For example, you’ll never find a fashion post-Whimsy Soul recommending a $500 coat to pair with a luxury $600 handbag. That’s aspirational, sure, but not attainable for the average person. We’ve spent almost 6 years building up trust with our readers and they know if they see something they like on the blog or Instagram, they have it themselves. Being approachable and related has been a huge cornerstone for us.  

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

To expand on the above, there hasn’t been a single strategy that has thrown Whimsy Soul above all the other lifestyle blog posts there, but rather a consistent pattern of quality content that’s attainable.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

I almost always want to tell aspiring entrepreneurs something like “if you aren’t totally exhausted every day for that first year you aren’t doing it right.” In our modern world where so many things are instant and on-demand, it’s too easy for business newbies to expect massive success to come quickly, too. In reality building, a successful business takes so much time and man-hours. I worked on Whimsy Soul day and night for almost a year before I ever saw a penny in return. 

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Ask me a year ago and I probably would say that my favorite app is Instagram but these days I find so much joy in TikTok. People think it’s just full of teenagers dancing but that’s not true - I learn so many recipe ideas, Bay Area hidden gems to visit, DIY hacks and so much more from that app. It keeps me inspired by life.  

In regards to blogs, I actually don’t read other blogs. I find that I work best when I have my blinders on and not getting wrapped up in what my competition is doing, what their latest campaign is, and so on. And for books, the latest murder mystery or Reese pick is usually what I’m reading.  

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why? 

I love being the fly on the wall in Facebook groups. I’m a part of a few different small business and blogger Facebook groups and find that there is always something new to be learned in those chats. Or, if I have a question, I can get a thoughtful answer from a peer within hours. They’re free and there’s totally a group out there no matter what type of business you have so I always recommend people to join a few groups.

Who is your business role model? Why?  

My mother started her own freelance graphic design business when I was very young. She worked from home and she’s hands down the reason why I have never steered away from building my own businesses (Whimsy Soul is not my first venture, by the way.) Having such a strong, smart businesswoman at home to look up to and learn from was everything.

How do you balance work and life?

HA - I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Wine helps.  

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Pre-pandemic my favorite way to unwind was always happy hour with my girlfriends. Either gathered around the coffee table in someone’s apartment or sprawled out with beers in the sunshine at Dolores Park. These days, it’s usually a walk in Golden Gate Park followed by cooking dinner and listening to a podcast with my husband.  

What do you have planned for the next six months?  

Well - to be honest, I can’t think that far ahead right now. I think 2020 has proved to everyone that no matter how many plans you have, you still can never plan for everything.  

How can our readers connect with you?

I’m easy to find. I’m on Instagram @thewhimsysoul, TikTok @whimsysoul, and publish a handful of new blog posts on whimsysoul.com each week and try to answer every comment.

"There is no substitute for a face-to-face connection in a world where we’re all used to interacting through a screen" with Jen Ruiz

Jen Ruiz

Jen Ruiz is lawyer turned travel blogger and author. She is a #1 Amazon bestseller and Readers' Favorite Award winner. Jen is also a TEDx speaker and has been featured by The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and ABC News. Jen documents her adventures on her website, Jen on a Jet Plane, where she shares tips on finding location and financial independence.

What is your background? How did you become an influencer?

I’m a lawyer turned travel blogger and author. In 2017, I set out to take 12 trips in 12 months before my 30th birthday while employed full-time. I ended up taking 20 trips total, finding deals like a $16 flight to Ecuador and $22 roundtrip flight to San Francisco. I wrote my first book about finding cheap flights and decided to quit my job in April 2018 to dedicate myself to running my blog and building an online business. I’ve since written 4 books, given 2 TEDx talks, and worked with brands like Royal Caribbean, I Love New York, and Tropic Air.

What 3 things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?

First and foremost, you do not own your presence on a social media platform. It’s great to build a following on Instagram or Pinterest but you want to direct that audience somewhere that you can collect email addresses and contact them in the future, otherwise you’re losing warm leads.

If you only learn one skill as a new blogger, make it search engine optimization (SEO). You want readers to find you because Google showcases your website as having the best answer to their question. You don’t want to constantly beg your friends and family to click on your articles. Target the right audience and provide value so they have a reason to stick around and keep coming back.

Take a screenshot of every tweet, email, direct message, text, comment, etc. where someone offers you praise for your service or says they took action because of your recommendation. Save these screenshots in a “win” folder. They will serve as social proof when it comes time to work with brands and you won’t have to go back and look through old messages to find them.

What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now? 

Anyone starting a travel blog right now is entering a heavily saturated space. If I were starting from scratch right now, I would learn a distinguishing skill like video production or drone photography. I would also stay away from Instagram and Facebook which are hard to grow and don’t lead to high click-through rates or conversions. I would focus on Pinterest to drive traffic. Views from there tend to have a low bounce rate. I would also aim to be an early adopter of a new channel like TikTok to gain followers quickly. 

Which people or resources have had the most influence on your growth and why? 

I find the Make Traffic Happen community extremely helpful. I attended an in-person workshop and using their SEO strategies I improved my traffic from 10k to 100k views/month in 10 months and started making meaningful passive income off ad revenue on the site.

I also can’t speak highly enough about the Wanderful community. They run the Women in Travel Summit and also have a creator’s network that hosts webinars, online happy hours, workouts, and virtual tours around the world.

What do you think is the top key to success in your business?

To succeed as a blogger, you need to diversify your income streams. Understand that you’re an entrepreneur, not a salaried employee, and need to protect yourself in case one of your income streams fails. I also recommend making your own products versus relying on affiliate sales, contrary to what others might advise. In my experience, you make more money with 100% of your products than 10% of someone else’s. 

How did you come up with your pricing model? 

I have 4 books on Amazon, all of them under $12. In pricing them, I looked at my competitors and made sure I wasn’t pricing myself out of the market while still making a profit.

My advertising revenue is based on an “RPM” model meaning revenue per $1,000 impression. My ad rates are set by Mediavine, the publisher network that works with my site, and based on a combination of demand, advertiser budget, season, and demographics of my audience.

In regard to campaigns with brands, I based my rate sheet on conversations with similarly positioned bloggers. I found that oftentimes I would be on a campaign and someone would be getting paid $1k+ more than me, simply for my failure to be aggressive in the ask. That’s why I think it’s important for us to share rates and establish an industry-standard, otherwise campaign fees can vary wildly on tangential factors. 

Talk about the biggest failure you've had. What did you learn from it? 

The biggest failure I’ve had was not in blogging but in college. I worked for years to be a student government president only to find that in the end, my running mate was planted by my opponent and I was left with a week to find a replacement. I didn’t find an ideal candidate but I ran anyway. My shirts came out the wrong color so I turned my bathtub into a dye shop and hand-stirred 200 shirts myself. They never really dried and my street team was less than thrilled at the smell but I learned so much from that experience.

First, life is not fair. Nothing is guaranteed and everything can change at the drop of a hat. Second, sometimes failing actually makes for a better story and valuable life experience. Third, I like knowing I can count on myself. That last realization is what has powered me through the long hours and ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. 

How do you market your business? What has been the most effective form of marketing?

I market my business through social media channels, word of mouth, and my email list. I would say the most effective form of marketing is email marketing. Instead of trying to convince strangers of why they should stop scrolling for your products you’re connecting with old friends who’ve already shown an interest in your work. As an author, my email list is the most important factor in ensuring a successful book launch. 

How do you find brand partnerships? What is your advice to those starting out?

I first try to meet with brand representatives at a conference or event to establish a connection and stand out from the hundreds of pitches they’re getting. Then, in my follow-up email, I reiterate how excited I am to work with them and try to get them on the phone to discuss my ideas in depth. By that time, I will have done some keyword research and already know what the demand is regarding their product/location. After that, I prepare an official marketing proposal with various packages meant to meet their goals and prepare a contract.

My advice to those starting out to the network. Join blogger groups. Go to brand events. Attend every conference you possibly can. There is no substitute for a face-to-face connection in a world where we’re all used to interacting through a screen.

What does a typical day in your week look like?

My days are busy. I have a handful of goals I’m working on at a given time. I write out my tasks for the day and start with my most demanding project. I work out around noon and split my afternoons between social media, podcast interviews, community hangouts, webinars, etc. Normally, I take one to press trips a month so I’m always promoting a new destination or campaign and catching up on work. On Sundays, I like to explore locally, take time to unwind, and catch up with friends. 

On press trips, my schedule is completely different. It’ usually 4-7 days of nonstop work, with a full schedule and posting requirements throughout. Those days, my workout consists of walking around a city or hiking a mountain. To date, my most physically demanding trip included a 14-mile hike in 10 hours with an elevation gain of 5,000 feet.  

What keeps you going when things get tough in your business? 

I would trade the freedom I have as a blogger and entrepreneur for anything. Whenever it gets challenging, I remember how lucky I am to set my own schedule, decide what I want to work on every day, and pursue goals that are important to me.

How can our readers get in touch with you?

You can find me on my website, Jen on a Jet Plane (www.jenonajetplane.com). You can also find me across social media on:

-       Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jenonajetplane

-       TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/jenonajetplane

-       Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jenonajetplane

-       Twitter https://www.twitter.com/jenonajetplane

-       Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/jenonajetplane