4 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Editor and Invest in Quality Content
Plus, how to find the right person for the job.
Photo: Christina Jones Photography
Most bloggers, influencers, and entrepreneurs know the value of regularly updating their website, writing blog posts, and actively sharing content on social media. These communication tools can increase brand visibility and build expertise. However, if your content includes spelling and grammatical errors, incorrect information, or terms and abbreviations that are unrecognizable to your target audience, you may be jeopardizing your credibility. The key to avoiding these damaging mistakes is to work with an editor who can strategically assess and improve your content.
In my experience working at a public relations firm, we often help our clients develop and strengthen their content by writing and editing byline articles, website copy, company news announcements, and social media posts. Editing is so much more than just proofreading. Editors catch overlooked errors and strengthen your writing to help you grow your brand and enhance your presence as an industry leader or influencer. Here are four ways an editor can improve the quality of content to increase brand awareness and gain visibility for your content and website.
1. Ensure your content resonates with your target audience.
Editors help you talk to your audience in a way that resonates with them. They will be able to look through the lens of your audience and potential clients and make sure copy is tailored to their needs. Editors can identify the geographic and demographic characteristics of your target audience and make changes to your content based on who, and where, your readers are.
Readers’ experience levels are important factors that editors will consider. As an industry professional, it may be hard to know what specialized language is not familiar to your readers. Removing jargon and industry abbreviations will improve clarity. Or, if a specialized language is necessary, an editor will include explanations so that the copy is as clear as possible.
2. Position yourself as a thought leader.
Writing an article for an industry publication, blog, or website can help position you as an industry leader or influencer. However, even small grammatical errors or misused terms can chip away at your credibility. Good writers still make the mistake of using “further” when they should have used “farther” or writing “shoe-in” instead of “shoo-in.” Don’t simply rely on built-in spell checkers. Hiring an editor will save you from making avoidable mistakes.
If you are already known as an industry leader or influencer, using an editor can help protect your credibility. Showing attention to detail in written materials says a lot about professionalism, accuracy, and the attention to detail you’ll show your audience or clients.
3. Strengthen your messaging.
Strong messages will help you communicate who you are and what you can do for your clients, partners, or audience. Editors help you maintain a consistent voice to ensure your brand is memorable. An editor, as opposed to just a proofreader, will help you strengthen your writing with new or additional ideas.
Editors identify redundancies, inconsistencies, and areas that need more explanation. They will improve readability and flow, so your writing is clear and compelling. For example, editors will replace unnecessary nouns and adjectives that make a sentence sound vague with succinct verbs. They’ll favor using an active voice to cut down on words and improve strength and clarity. Strong messages are memorable, concise, and include information that is relevant to your audience.
Editors help you respect your readers’ time. As an entrepreneur or blogger, your business or blog is likely one of your favorite topics—one you could talk on for a while. But if you’re communicating with a prospect, you need to keep it short and sweet. Editors can help you get to the point effectively and quickly to get your message across.
4. Drive traffic to your website.
Well-written content can improve SEO, which increases the likelihood a consumer will find your company on the internet. An editor may be familiar with keywords to include in titles, headlines, and body that will be easily picked up by search engines to increase traffic and improve growth. An eloquent blog post is also more likely to be shared and liked on social media.
Improved SEO can make you stand out to brands looking for sponsorships or affiliate marketing partnerships.
Interested in working with an editor? You have options.
Ask fellow bloggers or entrepreneurs who they work with, and see if you can get a referral from someone in your network. You may also want to check out local PR or marketing firms and freelancers and ask if they offer editing services. The key is to choose someone you can build an ongoing relationship with, who understands your goals and helps you take your writing to the next level.
It may be hard to let someone else review your writing out of fear that they may change the meaning or tone. However, editors work for you, not against you. Writing a compelling piece requires objectivity and distance that is hard to acquire on your own.
Working with a skilled editor will help you become a better writer and can help your business, blog, or website grow. Bloggers are expected to keep new content flowing, and an editor will help you speed up the process so you can work on your next project or post. Keep in mind that what you publish is a direct reflection of your brand, your values, and your capabilities—so make your content count.
About the Author: Kara Weller is an account coordinator at Pierce Public Relations.
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This story was originally published on March 23, 2019, and has since been updated.
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6 Ways To Use Copywriting To Build Your Personal Brand
Write the right way.
Doesn’t it feel like advice about building a personal brand is everywhere lately? It’s true that a big part of building your personal brand is showing up on social media and maintaining an aesthetically pleasing, strategic website. But the thing that really makes or breaks your personal brand is your messaging. From blog posts to newsletters (and even Instagram captions), you’re the one shaping how others view you through words.
When you’re struggling to bring it all together, the best place to start is on your website. Social media platforms will come and go, but website copywriting is one of the seven pillars of your personal brand as an entrepreneur since brand clarity— how you want to be perceived by others— is where it all starts after you define the purpose of your business.
Writing your website might totally freak you out, but it doesn’t have to be such an undertaking. Keep reading for six ways you can use copywriting to build your personal brand and have confidence that what you want to say matches up with how you say it.
Start by writing your website.
Going through the steps of writing your website copy and then moving outwards towards other communications like blogs, newsletters, social posts, and even podcasts is a solid strategy for finding the brand voice that fits you.
Before you start writing, make sure you’ve given plenty of thought to what you’d like to be known for. Which topics are you an expert in? Which services or products are you selling, and who are you selling them to? These are the questions you should answer before digging into your homepage. If you’re lost, look back on your social media posts. How did you use these posts to communicate with your ideal client or reader?
To make the process of bringing it all together a little less scary, try writing the homepage headline first. A typical format is “I help [ideal client] with [specific goal] by [list or one-liner of what you do.” Yours might look a little like this: I help creative service-based businesses shore up their marketing strategies through SEO and social reach.
But this isn’t the only way to write a homepage headline. Feel free to get creative here!
Find the intersection between your voice and audience.
As you’re writing the pages of your website, you’ll want to bank words, lingo, and stories you find yourself using a lot. While you’ll want to avoid repetition, it’s definitely a good idea to know which words work with your personal brand. But you’re not the only one reading your site.
When writing, you should always remember to speak to your ideal client. If you’re unclear about who that is, pause the writing process and poll them. If you don’t have readers yet, pop into a Facebook group in your niche and ask for feedback. Genuinely, of course.
You’ll want to know what their pain points are so that your offerings will be much more specific to them. Plus, you may get some ideas for what to write straight from your audience.
Make a brand guide with core values.
If you make a brand guide before you write anything, it’s all too easy to fall into analysis paralysis. Instead of banking all your words and ideas beforehand, a better way to solidify what you want to write is by quantifying what’s unique about your service in the form of core values.
What do you believe and how is that absolutely necessary to run your business? What is unique about what you offer? These are questions you should ask yourself and write down, especially in a saturated niche.
Look at unique words for inspiration.
An important element of writing your website is characterizing the tone and style of your brand. Is it exuberant? Bookish? Classy? If you’re stuck describing what you want to write as fun or nice, get inspiration from out-there or untranslatable words on Pinterest or the thesaurus. You may not be packing your copy with these words, but you’ll definitely benefit from the fresh ideas.
Learn from voices outside your industry to really stand out.
Staying in your lane and not interested in the competition? While it may seem like a good idea to avoid looking at the competition at all costs, it’s a good idea to see where your competitors stand so your pricing and offers match up with the industry. It’s also a great way to see how your website copy can present you as a unique and separate solution from your competition. Still, you don’t want this to drive your entire strategy.
Look to those slightly outside your industry.
As a copywriter, I would not want to pay too close attention to a fellow writer, but I love looking to designers’ websites to see how other creatives present themselves.
When you’re writing, don’t look at their webpages. Try to focus on what you want to do. Take notes on what works, and use those to guide you instead.
Don’t rely on design to tell you if your copy is good.
When you have a pretty website, it’s all too easy to get swept away by design. That’s why you should avoid writing your website words directly into your template. Open up Google Docs and type away. Check for errors, read aloud, and don’t let your design tell you that the copy is working when it isn’t. Wording should come first, and then you can beta test it in the live preview.
Kayla Dean is a website copywriter and content writer for visual creatives helping entrepreneurs say what they mean with confidence and strategy. Her byline has appeared in publications like Bustle, The Believer, and Darling. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her planning her next big trip or marking a book as “Currently Reading” on Goodreads.
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ITK: How to Use Affiliate Links the Right Way
The money is out there. Do you know how to get it?
Where do content and commerce collide? “In a beautiful space,” said Amazon Fashion Director Kate Dimmock to a crowd of hundreds of women at Create & Cultivate NYC at the Knockdown Center in Brooklyn. “What’s important for you to know is that every piece of content that you create is shoppable and able to be linked to affiliate links,” she added.
And then the influencers took to Amazon Fashion’s "Content Meets Commerce" panel to share their tips on affiliate linking, how to navigate the content world, and what it means to be a successful blogger.
First they broke down some myths. The blogging world is “overcrowded.”
Or is it?
This is something we hear time and again, and what many members of our audience ask-- how do they break into an overcrowded market? How do they stand out from the pack?
Mary Orton, creator of Memorandum and co-founder and CEO of Trove, took a moment to break down the “so crowded” myth of the blogger world. “There are a lot of bloggers and content creators,” she shared, but then mentioned how many new restaurants open up in Manhattan. “Every time a restaurant opens on your block, you don’t say, oh no annoooother new restaurant. If you are being yourself. If you are presenting a unique POV, people will find it compelling. There is room for everybody. That’s important to keep in mind and don’t be discouraged by.”
Cynthia Andrew of SimplyCyn added, “Content is king. It’s really about what you bring to the conversation. “Every day I’m finding someone new and I’m following them and adding them. I wouldn’t say that it’s too saturated. But you have to understand that there is competition and it is harder to get eyes. Which is why you have to be consistent. You have to care about quality, more than quantity. There are people who post four times a day who aren’t adding anything to the conversation.”
Courtney of Color Me Courtney got her MBA young, at 21, but says she looked like “a numbers nerd on paper.” So she started her blog to break into the fashion industry in a less nerdy way. She told the audience, “Have true intent. The blogging game has changed in the last two years-- it has become a major monetization opportunity. But you shouldn’t start out to hit a bottom line. You should start to create content and to create community.”
"Have true intent. The blogging game has changed in the last two years-- but you shouldn’t start out to hit a bottom line."
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Lauryn Evarts of The Skinny Confidential advised the audience to “Think of a niche. I see a lot of girls get into blogging and they’ll email me and say, ‘I wanna be a lifestyle blogger.’ But that’s not where I would start. It’s so broad. Lifestyle blogger is the long-term play. Start niche. Like farming sea-monkey niche. And expand from there. You need to think about your niche as an upside-down triangle. The tip is your niche and the wide-part that you grow to is ‘lifestyle blogger.’ I think that is the trick to being a successful blogger.”
Content meets commerce-- it’s a relationship that goes hand-in-hand, but how do you do it?
This was the main question of the day: How do platforms work together to drive sales and earnings?
Mary Orton took on the big picture. “A lot of social platforms started out as a place that allowed quality content to thrive and content creators to be discovered. We’re seeing a lot of people struggling with that because these social platforms follow a similar life cycle. So ownership of your content is critically important,” she shared. “Be smart about where your content lives and that your business is diversified. You don’t want to become too dependent on a social media platform whose algorithm can change on a dime.”
So while you can make $ on sponsored IG posts, monetizing content on your platform with affiliate links and programs like Amazon Fashion’s are vital to the longevity and success of your business.
“My Instagram can go away tomorrow,” Evarts noted. Which is why she continually works on growing her audience on channels that aren’t beholden to someone else’s platform. “I didn’t go into blogging solely to monetize,” the outspoken blogger explained. “I went in to provide value. That’s one of the most important things. You need to establish value and trust with your readership before you think about money.” Orton echoed this sentiment saying, “Monetization opportunities will come. Any time you focus on monetization opportunities only, that’s when it comes across as commercial. It’s not only important to know this in the beginning, but throughout your journey.””
It was three years into blogging for Cynthia Andrew, who is attorney by day, blogger by night, when someone mentioned to her, “You should be using affiliate linking.” Andrew said it sounded like a “headache,” but then realized how much earning potential there is. Today she tries “not to overlink. I link to things I like. But I use it as an additional tool because brands want to see the information.”
“No one knows if you’re actually able to drive sales,” said Courtney, “but with affiliate linking you can show proof of concept to brands who want to see those numbers.” The colorful blogger also shared, “Now if I wear anything over a hundred dollars, I also link to something similar that is under a hundred dollars.”
"With affiliate linking you can show proof of concept to brands who want to see those numbers.”
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It all ties back to providing the most value and creating community among your followers. It’s not about selling out. “No one wants to be sold to,” said Lauryn. “Talking about something organically on your platform is so powerful.” Don’t forget it.
To learn more and sign up for the Amazon Fashion Influencer Program, please email fashion-influencer-program@amazon.com.
photo credit: Becki Smith/ Smith House Photography
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You'll Never Guess What This Top Blogger Says Is More Valuable Than Being #1
"I am the opposite of an overnight success."
Photo credit: Keiko Lynn
Before Live Journal, there was Open Diary. A platform that OG, now Brooklyn-based blogger Keiko Lynn, used as a personal outlet. Today her blog KeikoLynn.com is a space where the self-proclaimed "restless adventurer" shares her take on fashion, beauty, and her daily life.
We caught up with Keiko to chat all things influencer and why you have to be willing to put in the time, without any immediate return.
After more than decade in the blogosphere (shout out to your 1999 Open Diary) how have you been able to stay true to yourself?
Since the primary focus of my blog started out as a personal diary, it's actually pretty difficult to not stay true to myself. I named my blog "Keiko Lynn" before I ever intended for it to be more than just a personal outlet, but it still maintains that personal feeling. If I ever strayed from my true self, I'd have a lot of friends and family and loyal readers to answer to.
You didn’t set out to build a brand, but that’s what you’ve done. How do you feel about person as brand? Did you ever have any hesitation?
It happened so gradually that I didn't really contemplate it, before or as it was happening. I am the opposite of an overnight success. It was little things here and there, starting with blogging for Cingular when I was on LiveJournal, or having a magazine featuring me in a photo shoot, etc. I would just think of them as solitary opportunities that I couldn't pass up, not as stepping stones in my career path. It was years before it became a career, and by that time, "Keiko Lynn" had been my online (and real life, of course) identity for long enough that I didn't think I should change it. I still don't think of myself as a brand. I never think, "Is this on brand for me?" I just know what I do and do not like; I know myself.
"I never think, 'Is this on brand for me?' I just know what I do and do not like; I know myself."
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Do you consider yourself an early adaptor? What are some other important traits to have as a blogger and influencer?
When I started my current blog, I was a young and perpetually broke independent clothing designer, so everything I wore was handmade or from a thrift store, and most of my photos were taken with a self timer. That was what blogging was like, back then. We were remixing what we had in our closets. Now, we have bloggers who are starting out with a whole creative team behind them; they're coming in with photographers, beautiful web design, and a closet full of current, contemporary and designer clothing. I think that's amazing, and if you have the wherewithal or creative contacts to start a blog as a legitimate business platform, why not?! That's what's so cool about modern blogging -- you don't always have to go through the awkward growing stages that many of us went through. But I probably wouldn't have had a fighting chance, with my wide-angled, self-timer photos and second-hand clothing, if I weren't one of the early adopters. Even now that I have an actual closet (I didn't, back then), at least half of what I wear is vintage or thrifted...and I still take many of my own photos. I'm in a very particular niche, and I'm well aware that I was lucky to have early exposure.
The most important trait to have as a blogger is tenacity. I've known many people who started blogging and gave up after awhile, when they didn't see immediate growth. Overnight success stories usually only look like overnight successes. You have to be willing to put in the time without any immediate return, and keep going until you build yourself a base. It will come, but you have to keep going.
"You have to be willing to put in the time without any immediate return."
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What are some shifts you’ve been hesitant to adopt, but eventually jumped on board?
I am famous for being late to just about every social media platform. My very first tweet was something along the lines of, "Let's see how long this lasts..."
Do you ever feel like, enough! No more apps, no more sharing, I can’t possibly add one more “must” to my social lineup?
I feel like that almost every day of my life. I drew the line at Periscope. I won't do another one...I can't!! Although Instagram just added their very Snapchat-like feature, and I might end up giving that a try. I'm trying not to be the last one for that.
We’ve talked to a few bloggers about unexpected difficulties and the BTS realities, but what are some BTS unexpected joys?
I have made some wonderful friends through blogging, whether bloggers, readers, or people in the fashion and beauty industry. When I moved to NYC, I barely knew anyone. I had one friend and a LiveJournal friend, and my roommate and I had only met a few times before living together. Making friends in a new city is so difficult, and the blogging world really opened me up to a whole community.
How do you come up with creative ideas?
With style, I look to the past. With makeup, I look to both the past and the runways. But mostly, I just garner inspiration from everyday life, whether it's someone I pass in the streets or a page from a current read.
What’s a business aphorism you live by/what’s one you don’t think rings true anymore?
As trite as it sounds to "stay true to yourself," it's something I live by in both work and in my personal life. But I also think it's important to let yourself evolve naturally; the two are not mutually exclusive. 31 year old me is not exactly the same as 19 year old me. Part of staying true to yourself is allowing yourself room to grow and evolve. What doesn't ring true anymore is that you have to always be number one. Staying power can be just as valuable.
"What doesn't ring true anymore is that you have to always be number one. Staying power can be just as valuable."
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What do you think you’d be doing without the advent of social media?
I think about this often, because when you're in this sort of career, you have to be on your toes. What if it all went away, tomorrow -- what would I do? I imagine I would go back to my roots and start a new clothing line or invest in starting a makeup line, which is something I've always dreamed of doing.
How do you feel about the term influencer?
What do you think is the future of influencer? I prefer the term when referring to other people, and don't mind when others use it to describe me -- but referring to myself as an influencer feels strange and boastful. The truth is, we're all influencers in some way. Some just have a larger audience.
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Ask Camille Styles: How Do I Build My Following?
On Instagram, we asked what you wanted to learn from the lovely Camille Styles and your questions came pouring in. Camille is a blogger and party stylist living in Austin, Texas, and the author of the book Camille Styles Entertaining. As her name would suggest, she has an impeccable eye and is known for transforming a space and making the whole thing seemed effortless. Below, she answers a question that we're sure tons of you are wondering about, and this is just a taste of her wisdom! Catch Camille live at #CreateCultivateDALLAS, where she'll be speaking on the panel Brand Vibes: How to create a brand that lives beyond the blog bubble.
On Instagram, we asked what you wanted to learn from the lovely Camille Styles and your questions came pouring in. Camille is a blogger and party stylist living in Austin, Texas, and the author of the book Camille Styles Entertaining. As her name would suggest, she has an impeccable eye and is known for transforming a space and making the whole thing seemed effortless. Below, she answers a question that we're sure tons of you are wondering about, and this is just a taste of her wisdom! Catch Camille live at #CreateCultivateDALLAS, where she'll be speaking on the panel Brand Vibes: How to create a brand that lives beyond the blog bubble.
Casuallydisheveled: As a new blogger, how do you build a following outside of your friend's group?
Creating a blog requires energy, resources, creativity, and most of all, time, so it’s natural that we all want an audience reading and appreciating our efforts. However, the first thing to realize is that building a following is usually a slow process—one that I’ve been working on for the last seven years, since I launched my blog. The second most important thing to keep in mind is that your audience will only stick around if you’re creating great content. So while it’s important to strategize about your promotional efforts, creating high quality original work should always be first and foremost.
While it’s important to strategize about your promotional efforts, creating high quality original work should always be first and foremost.
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With that being said, there are a few strategies I’ve used over the years that have significantly helped to build my following and get the word out about CamilleStyles.com. Here are the most successful ones:
• Just say yes to collaborations. This is probably the most important one, especially if you’re a new blogger. In the early days of my blog, I jumped on every opportunity to be interviewed, featured, or contribute to another site, even if it required an outlay of time and energy on my part and I wasn’t getting paid for it. Remember: value doesn’t have to come in the form of cash. Exposure and promotion can be an incredibly valuable way to grow your readership, so look for any opportunities and say “yes” to any that come your way.
• Be proactive about getting what you want. Even if tons of opportunities aren’t coming your way, you can be proactive about going after them! Think about what unique point-of-view you have to offer as a blogger, whether it’s in fashion or food or lifestyle, then offer to contribute to sites that are bigger than yours in exchange for promotion. I can’t tell you how many times I styled photo shoots, wrote stories, and pitched new ideas to larger media outlets just to keep getting my name out there in front of their audiences. Over time, that exposure adds up.
• Brand yourself on social. It probably goes without saying that you should have a strong social media presence if you’re hoping to grow your audience. But have you spent time thinking about and cultivating your unique personal brand on your channels? Every tweet, Instagram, and Facebook post is a building block that defines your brand message. Take some time to articulate what sets you apart as a blogger and determine your brand vision, then write it down. Now you’re ready to be strategic in the messaging that you put out there on social, and this is what will make you memorable and build a following that keeps coming back for more.
When it comes to building your brand, start with these small steps, but don’t be afraid to dream big! It may seem like a daunting task at the beginning of your journey, but if you keep at it, before you know it you’ll have built something great. And since being a blogger is all about having the opportunity to do what you love, don’t forget to enjoy the process!
Making the Most Out of Pinterest
Just thinking of the word “Pinterest” elicits a mental moodboard of hosting hacks, dreamlike bridal showers, recipes for the perfect chocolate chip cookies, and DIY projects that elevate any standard living space to Apartment Therapy status. As we enter the age of the “buy it” button, these once distant, aspirational products and lifestyle brands have become that much closer (read: one click away).
My personal insufficiencies in the DIY and party planning departments aside, Pinterest is making huge strides. The social network is valued at $3.8 billion, and is becoming a smarter investment for brands, pending they commit to maximizing the platform’s functionality and strengths.
Below is a quick list of Pinterest hacks to help jumpstart new Pinterest community growth and lay the foundation for monetization.
How to Hack Your Presence & Make the Most out of Pinterest
by Dana Kelly
Just thinking of the word “Pinterest” elicits a mental moodboard of hosting hacks, dreamlike bridal showers, recipes for the perfect chocolate chip cookies, and DIY projects that elevate any standard living space to Apartment Therapy status. As we enter the age of the “buy it” button, these once distant, aspirational products and lifestyle brands have become that much closer (read: one click away).
My personal insufficiencies in the DIY and party planning departments aside, Pinterest is making huge strides. The social network is valued at $3.8 billion, and is becoming a smarter investment for brands, pending they commit to maximizing the platform’s functionality and strengths.
Below is a quick list of Pinterest hacks to help jumpstart new Pinterest community growth and lay the foundation for monetization.
Content Creation
Pinterest content plays by its own set of visual rules. Did you know that vertically oriented visuals go viral at a higher rate than horizontally oriented visuals? Or that showing a person’s entire face often restricts an image from going viral? Are you up to date on the functionality nuances of hashtags on Pinterest? While these details can seem arduous, creating and sticking to a design and copy style guide will help your pins work harder with Pinterest’s Smart Feed. Staying up to date on high performing pins and content best practices can lend itself to platform growth and increased content exposure by means of the visuals themselves.
Content Cadence
Pinterest demands more content than other platforms, and relies heavily on both original and crowd-sourced assets. Per Pinterest best practices, brands see the most success by pinning at least 5 times every day. The platform’s algorithm encourages daily brand publishing, and that’s a lot of content! If you’re pinning a range of visual content at least 5x a day, every day, that’s 1,825 pins minimum in one year. For many companies, this is not a feasible commitment to one small piece of the business. The short-term solution? Start slow, test, and scale up. Consider starting with 15 pins a week, and slowly build up your target audience. At 15 pins a week, that’s 780 pins for the year. When considering production, identify how many pieces of original content you can create in order to meet your goals. A good benchmark that is the oft thrown around ‘80/20 rule’ or, in other words, create conversation about your brand in 20% of your posts, and dedicate the other 80% to genuinely engaging content for your consumers.
"if you're pinning content 5x a day, every day, that’s 1,825 pins minimum in one year."
The Ecosystem
The majority of Pinterest content is pinned from across the World Wide Web. You know - blogs, editorial sites, shopping hubs, etc., rather than uploaded directly. This is an indicator that Pinterest should be represented across your brand’s digital footprint. Making your website’s content pinnable is a crucial first step, and verifying your Pinterest account with your website allows for much more detailed analytics and conversion analysis. Employing Rich Pins, which are pins that contain more detailed information than a standard pin, should absolutely be built into your ecosystem if your brand or blog falls into one of the following categories: app, movie, recipe, article, product, or place. You can learn more about implementing these free tools on Pinterest’s Business hub.
The Community
This should not come as a shock, but interacting with the Pinterest community at large is the only way to truly understand your demographic and their content aesthetics. Like, comment, repin, and follow away! You’ll create a more meaningful user experience for yourself and your potential consumers.
Content Distribution
Content creation and engaging with your community are the fundamentals, but how do you get new eyeballs on your content? You’ve spent a lot of time and effort on these assets! You deserve some validation! Building distribution tactics into your overall Pinterest strategy will ensure that your content gets the visibility you’re looking for. Working with influencers to curate and host group boards around moments or occasions is an extremely effective way at achieving organic growth and impressions, as well as providing the added value of more original brand content. Pinterest also has a range of new promoted pin options and more traditional media buying capabilities if you are looking for more guaranteed results and hard data.
If e-commerce is an extension of your business, it’s time to consider Pinterest. It’s the digital DIY cult we all deserve, even if you've been hesitant to dive in.
Follow @createcultivate on Pinterest. We just got started, so we're taking Dana's advice to heart!
Dana Kelly is a content strategist by trade and subscribes to the notion that life, lifestyle, and the left coast are what matter most. The California native spends most of her days at Mistress, and has a deep love for words, wine, and great in-flight entertainment.
Meet the Speaker: Nadia Aboulhosn
Nadia Aboulhosn is a voice to be reckoned with. She's won over countless fans and brands alike with her real talk, real style, and sense of humor. Her plus-sized design collaboration with UK retail giant Boohoo put the brand back on the map, and showed off Nadia's ability to translate that real talk to very real sales. Read on for a little insight into how she does it all, and then some.
Name Nadia Aboulhosn @nadiaaboulhosn
Trade Blogger, Model, and Designer
Panel Getting Niche: Finding an Untapped Market and Creating a Unique Brand
Nadia Aboulhosn is a voice to be reckoned with. She's won over countless fans and brands alike with her real talk, real style, and sense of humor. Her plus-sized design collaboration with retail giant Boohoo put the brand back on the map, and showed off Nadia's ability to translate that real talk to very real sales. She's serious about her business without losing sight of where she comes from, where she's going, and how to kick back and laugh at it all. Read on for a little insight into how she does it all, and then some.
Get your tickets here to catch Nadia live in conversation at #CreateCultivateCHI on Aug 15th!
Please sum up your current mood in a Drake lyric.
What's at the top of your to-do list today?
Spend as much time with my family, be well off enough to help others, make sure I'm happy and not just content, be in the best health as possible, and to keep creating.
What was your very first job and what skill did you learn there that you still use today?
I actually first had a job at 14 years old. My father's friend, a Lebanese man, had a Middle Eastern restaurant in the food court of a mall. He gave me a job and I worked at that same place until I was about 22. It taught me work ethic, it taught me how to speak to people even when I'm uncomfortable, and it taught me that I had to be my own boss. It really was one of the major things that shaped me into who I am today. I have a crazy work ethic because of that job.
What were you doing in life just before you started your blog?
I was trying any and everything to try and express myself. I was still working and going to college full-time. I originally was going to go into studying for journalism to bring awareness to Middle Eastern issues.
What's the last interweb rabbit hole you went down?
Honestly, I'm barely on the internet unless it's for work or social media. The internet is so much of my life because it's my work so I try to stay away as much as possible!
Have you ever found it challenging to maintain your voice while working with brands? Who are you still itching to work with?
I use to feel that way until I worked with enough brands. Like, I'm already blunt over social media so if they're choosing to work with me now, they already know what I'm like for the most part. I'm very understanding and know already going in about compromise. I very much have my own vision, but at the same time I know that their are certain designers I can learn from, and people at brands I can learn from, so I try to make it a learning experience rather than "I'm Nadia Aboulhosn, this is my project, and you have to listen to me." I don't work that way. Most brands also want me to feel comfortable. They let me style a lot of my shoots or choose how makeup and hair will be. They have general ideas and I usually approve before it all goes live. They want me to be happy with the product because if not, my followers and fans will see through that.
What do you wish more people understood about what you do?
That it's a lot more work than taking pictures. There's a whole business behind it. I do a lot of work people don't see. I spend most of my day locked in my room answering emails or pitching myself and ideas or just creating things. It gets really lonely. I don't try to glamorize my life, like, "Oh look! I have so much money and I'm so cool because I'm overseas on a project." When I travel, I'm lucky to get one day off for leisure. You start questioning people around you and their motives. There's no fulfillment in people just knowing who you are. The fulfillment comes from helping people and your community. I hear all the time, "It's so cool you're like Instagram famous!" and I'm like um, no. I'm not, and [Instagram fame] is not what I want to be known for.
"it's a lot more than taking pictures...instagram fame is not what I want to be know for."
Which parts of your business come the most naturally to you? What skills have you had to work overtime to develop?
Creating outfits and styling come naturally. I had to work on overtime to take down my social media a notch—not ranting as much, trying to keep it more professional, and show different sides of myself.
Your collaboration with Boohoo drove unprecedented sales and engagement, which can be hard for even the most popular bloggers to pull off. What do you think you do differently that made that work so well?
I think there were a lot of different factors. I think there was anticipation from my followers because it was my first line, and they had been patiently waiting, unlike me. I think the price point helped because it was so affordable. I think that the "inbetween" and "plus-size" girls constantly want new and fresh product because clothing isn't as accessible to them as it is smaller sizes. I have another collection with Addition Elle, a plus-size Canadian brand, that releases in September for Fall with a higher price point, so fingers crossed it does well. After that, I promised myself I'm going to be doing clothes for all sizes, like I've wanted to from the beginning.
Any advice for girls who want to get in the game?
Work hard, don't give up. When you get no's, keep working until you get a yes.
Get your tickets here to catch Nadia live in conversation at #CreateCultivateCHI on Aug 15th!
Longform: The Money of Art and How I Self-Published My First Book
It's a joke among writers—if you search "working on my novel" on Twitter, you’ll get millions of results. There's even a blog dedicated to people announcing their books. Most of which never make it onto (or off the) page. My first book never did until I figured out: I was going about it all wrong. Now that I've written and published my first book, I've got a few lessons to share.
The Money of Art by Peter Nguyen photographed by EDGE Studios/Sean Kilgore-Han
Peter Nguyen is an artist, writer, designer, career coach, and champion for artists in the digital age. He has also been a constant in my own digital life. We met way back when on LiveJournal and since then, I've sought him out for advice on everything from fashion to relationships, moving cross-country (and back again), podcasts to coffee, career, business, and everything in between. Peter is the master of many domains: from his successful lifestyle blog/newsletter The Essential Man, his menswear label LÉON, and now his first book The Money of Art.
I've always been struck by Peter's transparency about his art, work, and process. Since reading The Money of Art, I've been suggesting and passing it along to pretty much every creative I know (it's currently on-loan to an indie musician friend, who's already applying Peter's tips to his work). This post started out as a book review, but with so many creative entrepreneurs in the Create + Cultivate community, I thought Peter had a very unique perspective and advice on expanding your brand and successfully self-publishing a book. You don't have to wait for a book deal to come knocking. There are plenty of ways to get a beautiful book out there yourself (and maybe even capture the attention of a publisher or book agent for your text title). Read on to see how Peter made it happen for himself. —JM
The Money of Art and How I Self-Published My First Book
I have been selling online for literally half my life. I started my first eBay business at 16 years old, buying and selling arcade games. Early in college, when I took an interest in fashion (which later led to a career as a menswear designer), I started buying and selling designer clothes. More recently, I launched my own menswear label and started a writing about my experiences on a blog called The Essential Man. In 2012, when I decided to revamp The Essential Man, I decided to give my readers something they had been asking for. I announced that I was writing a book.
As it so happens, that book never happened.
It's a joke among writers—if you search "working on my novel" on Twitter, you’ll get millions of results. There's even a blog dedicated to people announcing their books. Most of which never make it onto (or off the) page.
It wasn't until I picked up a book called Just F*cking Ship by Amy Hoy did I realize I was going about it all wrong.
Amy's book not only changed how I work forever, it has changed how I approach my goals. Two months after I finished Just F*cking Ship I had written my first book: The Money of Art: Make Money And Escape The Corporate Grind, While Staying True To Your Art.
So what was different this time? Below are 10 things that helped me write and finally self-publish my 1st book.
1. RE-DEFINE THE "REAL AUTHOR".
When other writers ask how I published and sold my book, and I say that I self-published, they always seem turned off. They tell me they want to do it the “old-fashioned” way. As a writer, of course I understand there is a certain romance with being “chosen” by a publisher and possibly, just maybe, hitting the New York Times best-seller list. But you have to decide what’s more important to you: holding onto an outdated, romanticized image of what it means to be a writer or embracing new opportunities to actually get your work out there for people to discover, love, and share.
"What’s more important: holding onto a romanticized idea of a writer or actually getting your work out?"
The best thing? You can still have your book printed in physical form. In fact, The Money of Art was published in paperback, hardcover, and digital. The difference was that I no longer needed someone else's permission to publish my book.
What makes you a real author? Writing a book and making it available for people to read. It’s as simple as that.
2. CHOOSE ONE PROBLEM AND SOLVE IT.
It’s tempting—especially with your first book—to cram your entire life philosophy within its pages, but it’s not going to do you or the reader any favors.
A lot of people I advise tell me that they want to write a “lifestyle” book or build a lifestyle business. The truth is, no one goes in a bookstore thinking “I need a book on lifestyle!” Instead they'll look for a book on vegan baking, turning a blog into a business, or DIY projects, specifically. Niche into a problem—specific problems that are part of a lifestyle. Find your trojan horse. In the case of my book: how to make money as an artist. And inside my trojan horse I hid the other things I wanted to teach, such as the psychology of money, redefining happiness, and doing work you’re passionate about. I believe my first ill-fated book for The Essential Man never worked out in part because I never defined a true problem.
3. DEADLINES WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE.
Flash back to high school. Remember how you seemed to do your best work when the assignment was due the next day? Was it because you’re just really amazing at working until the sun comes up, or was it the pressure of that deadline? I’d put money on the latter. When I announced my first book attempt, I chose the worst kind of deadline: coming soon. In my experience, “coming soon” is code for “never really going to happen.”
Here’s something I’ve never shared publicly: When I announced The Money of Art release date (in March 2015) and started taking pre-orders, I only had the outline finished. The timespan from the day I announced the book to the on-sale date was just 30 days.
I took to my Google calendar and broke up the work accordingly. I scheduled what writing, editing, sharing, and cover designing needed to be done on what days. And this time, I stuck to it.
Now, I don’t recommend you (nor anyone) try to write a book in 30 days, but my point still remains: deadlines help you get work done. Your self-imposed deadline should be close enough to scare you into doing the work, but not so far away that you'll put it off.
"Self-impose deadlines close enough to scare you into doing the work, not so far away you'll put it off"
4. THE OUTLINE IS HALF THE BATTLE.
In The Money of Art, I emphasize the importance of what I call "front-loading the work." It's something I learned from entrepreneur Ramit Sethi. Front-loading the work means putting in extra time and effort upfront to make the work later on much easier.
To that effect, I spent a good month outlining my book before I actually sat down and wrote a single chapter. I didn’t use anything fancy, just a Google Doc. The first thing I wrote was actually the last chapter—what I wanted the reader to get out of the book. In The Money of Art, my goal was to teach artists how to market themselves and sell their work online.
Then I worked my way backwards, writing the chapter titles as I went, and starting to write and edit the book in my head. After that, I got someone to skim it over. Did it flow like a real book? Was there something to expand on? Anything unclear? Just make sure the person you hand it to will give you honest, real—and sometimes blunt—feedback.
5. SET UP A MAILING LIST RIGHT NOW.
Setting up an e-mail list is basically a way for you to separate people that don’t really care about your work from the people who can’t wait to throw money at you.
Your mailing list also helps when you have future products you want to sell. The old business adage that it's harder to sell to a new customer than an old one is true. Customers who have purchased from you before are 4x more likely to buy from you than someone who hasn’t.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. I purchased my book's URL on Hover.com ($10), set-up a website through Squarespace ($8), and created a landing page that linked to my Mailchimp account (free). All the page said was: "To get news of the release of The Money of Art sign up here."
6. BEFORE (& AFTER) YOUR BOOK RELEASE, SEND AMAZING CONTENT.
Building a list and only e-mailing them when you're selling something is a guarantee that you will get no sales. You know that one friend or family member who only calls when they need something? Don’t be that person. People will stop looking forward to your call.
Long-term, the relationship is more valuable than the sale.
For example, before its release, I held a book cover design contest. The prize: A full “Pro-Package” of The Money of Art. It contained a signed hardcover edition of the book, instant digital download, a goodie bag, and a design credit in the book. Mailing list subscribers were shown three rough cover mockups, chose their favorite, and answered a simple survey via Squarespace. It was one-part crowdsourcing the most-liked cover design, one-part content to keep people excited while I wrote the book. It was a huge success. Not only did I get hundreds of responses, I got to interact with my mailing list to show them there was an actual human being on the other end of that sign-up form, and I cared about their thoughts and opinions.
I also sent chapters of the book AS they were being finished and fielded questions. Including one of my best chapters about the artist’s fear of being successful. Why did I give away one of my best chapters? Because when someone reads or shared that e-mail and says “Wow, that was good,” they’re also thinking “well, the rest of the book has to be amazing.” It’s incentive to buy and validates their subscription in the first place.
And now I keep the conversation going even after the release with exclusive content for people who purchased the book.
Original cover mockups for The Money of Art
7. YES, WE DO JUDGE BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS.
What your parents told you isn't true. Book covers matter. Romance Author JS Taylor doubled her sales overnight with a good cover redesign.
My most basic advice: collect a folder of book covers that instantly attract your attention, then try to analyze them. Pinterest is a perfect resource for beautiful cover designs.
If you're up for a challenge and want to be hands on, I recommend taking the Skillshare course on book cover design by Peter Mendelsund, who’s designed famous covers like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
What would I do differently for my next book? I’d invest in a professional to design it for me. Writing, formatting, and marketing a book is hard enough, and I think cover design is the first area I would outsource besides hiring an editor. The lifetime return for a great book cover in sales will outlast the couple hundred bucks you spend on a good cover designer. It’s your book’s best business card.
8. OUTSOURCING YOUR WEAKNESS IS A STRENGTH.
Speaking of outsourcing, I highly recommend owning your weaknesses and outsourcing them. After 16 years of experience selling, packaging, and mailing out orders, I knew I didn’t want to spend hours a day sending out orders of my hardcover book (paperbacks were handled by an Amazon-backed service for self-publishers called Createspace). I used an amazing service called Shyp (Editor’s Note: Shyp’s Head of Marketing, Lauren Sherman is a mentor at #createcultivateCHI!) to package and ship my orders. You simply take a photo of what you need sent, and Shyp comes by to pick it up. And recently, I hired a copy editor, which has made my writing process 100 times smoother, less stressful, and more fun.
9. LEARN FIRST, EARN SECOND.
One of my favorite entrepreneurs whom I mentioned previously, Ramit Sethi, talks about “optimizing for learning not earning” when you’re starting out. I will be honest, you probably won’t be replacing your main source of income with your first book... or your 2nd, or even the 5th. But as you keep publishing, it is going to get easier and easier.
Think of your first book like the beginning scenes in one of those bank heist movies—you’re casing the scene, getting familiar with how things work.
My book launch had the bigger-than-expected numbers because I took time to build an e-mail list before the book launch, seeded out great content, engaged with my list, and even e-mailed subscribers personally, asking what they were having problems with as an artist.
Through that effort, I pulled in about $1,305 on the very first day. Three months later, I sell about 2-4 book sales a day with little to no extra effort or advertising on my part. That comes out to about $150/month. Not life changing, but it’s passive income that has paid tenfold in credibility for my private career coaching and speaking engagements. And with each new book I write, I expect that number to rise.
As James Altucher, best-selling author of Choose Yourself!, put it, “the best way to promote your book is to write another book.“
10. BE PROUD OF YOUR WORK.
Now, you went through the process of writing a book. You finished it. You took the time to outline and find a good designer. So do me and everyone else a favor: call yourself an author!
So many of the creatives I advise are too humble, dare I even say, embarrassed when it comes to talking about their own work. It’s called “Imposter Syndrome” and it's no good for anyone. How many times have you seen on social media someone say "I wrote a little thing..." or "Oh, I'm just self-published writer" or "I have a start-up." A start-up is just a scared person’s word for “new business” and “I wrote a thing” is a self-conscious way of saying, “I wrote a mind-blowing resource for young business owners.”
People will start taking you more seriously when you use confident language that signals that not only are you serious, but you’re serious about your work.
Get The Money of Art by Peter Nguyen and follow Peter @leonnyc & @theessentialman. Subscribe to his newsletter for tons of great advice on life, creativity and business. He's one of our best-kept secrets.
Meet the Speaker: Gaby Dalkin of What's Gaby Cooking?
Name Gaby Dalkin (@whatsgabycookin)
Trade Chef, Food Blogger, & Globetrotter at What's Gaby Cooking?
Panel Mastering Food Photography: The Ins and Outs of the Perfectly Posed Shot
Name Gaby Dalkin (@whatsgabycookin)
Trade Chef, Food Blogger, & Globetrotter at What's Gaby Cooking?
Panel Mastering Food Photography: The Ins & Outs of the Perfectly Posed Shot
What's Gaby Cooking? is all about living the California Girl life no matter where you actually live! That means a life where it's always sunny, where smart healthy choices for lunch happily exist with Slutty Brownies for dessert, and where there's always room for guacamole. The California Girl life also means hitting the road now and again for new adventures, and exploring the world through food.
Get your tickets here to catch Gaby live in conversation at #CreateCultivateCHI on Aug 15th!
What’s at the top of your to-do list today?
Planning my upcoming trip to Germany! I'm heading there in September to explore the food scene and I can't wait. I've been a handful of times but it was back when I was the pickiest eater on the planet, so I'm excited to do some research and find the best places to grab a bite and a pint!
Which of your recipes would you suggest to the totally amateur—but hopeful—foodie?
I say start with a pizza! It's approachable because it's something we are all familiar with but you can jazz it up and really get your inner foodie on! This Corn Cilantro Jalapeno Pizza is currently rocking my world. And it's great because you can make it with chorizo if you're a meat eater, or keep it vegetarian and use soy-rizo if that's more your speed! From there—sky's the limit! Keep experimenting and getting crafty as you become more and more comfortable in the kitchen.
Now that it’s officially cherry season, what are you adding to your dessert menu?
Cherries never quite make it to dessert for me because I eat them by the pound straight from the farmers market—I'm obsessed! But, if I showed a little self restraint then it would for sure be a cherry pie!
You’re the ultimate California Girl, but any food/restaurants you’re looking forward to in Chicago?
OMG where do I even start. I'm flying in early specifically to eat at some fab restaurants. Nando's Peri-Peri is this incredible South African chicken restaurant that just features epic chicken with various dipping sauces—I'm in! I love Girl & The Goat, Piccolo Sogno, The Publican, and Taxim, too!
What’s the last interweb rabbit hole you went down?
Yesterday I spent an inordinate amount of time researching the best patio dining in Los Angeles. Literally two hours of Google searches and image searches to figure out where the heck I should host my husbands 30th birthday dinner. Because not only does it have to be delicious, but I need to make sure it's Instagram friendly too!
What tools and/or apps are essential to your work?
I live by my TeuxDeux app. It's a giant to-do list that keeps me organized and you can move things around easily if your schedule changes. Slack is my lifeline when it comes to web work. The What's Gaby Cooking team is mostly based in Los Angeles and Slack lets us work remotely, stay connected, and share docs really easily. I also love Buffer, which allows me to schedule content ahead of time as I do quite a bit of traveling for work and I'm not always at my desk!
Which part of your business comes the most naturally to you? What skills have you had to work overtime to develop?
I'm a people person, so I love getting creative with my clients and coming up with awesome ideas or getting out there and networking with fellow influencers and publishers! As my business has become more successful, I've had to work on developing a thicker skin. It's just business and I needed to learn not to take things so personally!
Who do you go to for advice (in life, work, and/or food)? I'm so lucky to be surrounded by an incredible network of people. I talk to my mom like five times a day and she's always in the know about what's going on in my business, so I bounce ideas off of her all the time. My husband works in the industry too, so he's always quick to help out when I need advice. And my best friend is Matt Armendariz (@mattarmendariz). He's a blogger and photographer extraordinaire. We talk shop all the time!
Get your tickets here to catch Gaby live in conversation at #CreateCultivateCHI on Aug 15th!
Q+A: Mr. Kate, A Hot Glue Gun Mess
On the eve of the release of her first book A Hot Glue Gun Mess: Funny Stories, Pretty DIY Projects, we asked our friend Mr. Kate about the art of oversharing and how it feels to add "author" to your resume. Read on.
Mr. Kate is a DIY and lifestyle blogger, prolific YouTuber, entrepreneur, and long-time Create & Cultivate favorite and friend. She has killed it as a panelist—most recently on the "Lights, Camera, Action" panel at C+C Los Angeles 2015—and gives us a dose of inspiration and laughter on the daily via Instagram. On the eve of the release of her first book A Hot Glue Gun Mess: Funny Stories, Pretty DIY Projects, we asked Kate about the art of oversharing and how it feels to add "author" to your resume. Read on (and read to the end for an exclusive excerpt from the book!). — JM
Name, @username, day job/craft, elevator pitch:
Mr. Kate aka Kate Albrecht, @mrkatedotcom. DIY, design, & style blogging—and now author of A Hot Glue Gun Mess: Funny Stories, Pretty DIY Projects. The quirky Martha Stewart for the reality TV generation; creating content to inspire people to express themselves because #whynot!
A lot of bloggers are fantastic at walking the walk (including you!), but for all the talk of authenticity in content, you stand out as someone who also talks the talk. You keep it hilariously real and revealing in the book: were there any stories that you hesitated to share?
Awww thanks! It was a big and very conscious decision to reveal as much as I do in the book—you learn lots of hilarious and embarrassing things about me, from the time I pooped in a tub to my one-night-stand with a world famous athlete. I always appreciate when people are transparent and find humor in their "oops" moments, so I figured if I was going to spend two years writing and creating a book, I may as well bare my soul and not hold back. That said, I do hope people still like me after they read about the time I (accidentally) set fire to a kindergarten... oops! (PS: NO children were harmed!)
"If I was going to spend two years writing and creating a book, I may as well bare my soul and not hold back..."
What advice would you give other creative entrepreneurs who might feel like a hot glue gun mess?
That we are all hot messes, some people just cover it better than others. Learn to find a balance between laughing at yourself and taking yourself really F-ing seriously. It's the serious side of you that will grow your dream and it's the humor that will infuse the dream with creativity and also allow you to laugh when things get ridiculously messy and/or overwhelming... which they will. But then they get better!
This is your first book: what was the biggest learning curve? Favorite part of the process?
This was definitely the hardest and most involved project I have ever done. The biggest learning curve was realizing that I could actually write a book, which was something I never thought I'd do. My favorite part was writing the stories and then figuring out ways to link them to DIY projects in fun and funny ways. To give you an example, a story titled "I Used To Babysit My Stepmom" is paired with DIY Beyond Nude Nail Art Two Ways... how do they relate? You'll have to read the book to find out!
"we are all hot messes, some people just cover it better than others..."
How’d the whole project come about? Did you approach your publisher, did they approach you?
We got a book agent who then guided us in writing a proposal and then she sent that out to publishers. We got lucky that a few publishers wanted to work on this book so we got to pick our favorite!
How many copies do you think your parents will buy?
Haha I think they've collectively bought 10 or so and then Joey's (my husband/business partner) parents bought another 10 so yeah... thanks and sorry I wrote that you eat too many cheeseburgers!
Besides your hot glue gun, What tools and/or apps are essential to your work?
I use a drill a lot in interior design projects to hang curtains, pictures, do DIYs, etc. As far as apps, I love the Polyvore app for building moodboards around any kind of creative spark and Afterlight for editing photos!
What’s at the top of your to-do list this week?
Planning the book release party!
What movie can you quote start to finish?
Clueless and Some Like It Hot
What’s the last interweb rabbit hole you went down?
Trying to pick the perfect tub faucet for a claw foot tub.
You’ve got $50 for a last-minute gift: what do you DIY or buy?
An at-home gel manicure kit (my favorite is the Sensationail starter kits). If you're going to spend the time DIYing some nail art, make it last as long as possible with gel polish!
Open a page at random: tell us what page, what you’re reading/seeing, and anything you remember about writing it/putting it together.
Page 167, the reveal photo for a "DIY Basket Canopy" project which is a really pretty and easy way to make a canopy for over a bed or daybed. I remember styling this reveal photo (we hung the canopy from a tree over a day bed on a patio) and I was obsessing over the tea cup on the coffee table in front of the daybed and how to place it perfectly. Of course in the photo we chose, the cup is blurred out but hey, it made it into the shot, and it matches the teal of the canopy cloth!
An Exclusive Excerpt from Mr. Kate's A Hot Glue Gun Mess
Hooker With a Head of Gold
“My early twenties were a mess. My best friend was a high-priced hooker. She was introduced to me as twenty-six-year-old Alex, who worked in fashion. I didn’t know her true profession until after our friendship ended years later, when I found out she also had a fake name and was six years older than she claimed. Alex was lovely—funny and charming, with a laid-back beauty—and we would laugh nonstop together.
Alex had this amazing laugh—a loud and genuine cackle. It was the laugh of a girl who didn’t give a shit what people thought of her. Her signature look was her long blond hair, which she wore in messy, beachy waves. She drove a Mercedes and had a realistic-looking boob job and lithe friends, which should have raised a red flag to her actual profession, but to naive, twenty-year-old me, she was an intriguing and fantastic friend…”
Follow all things Mr. Kate at mrkate.com and from one hot mess to another, believe us when we say Kate's book A Hot Glue Gun Mess is a must-read and hilariously defies any and all expectations of the usual DIY how-to books.