by Joyce Chen
Photograph provided by Irena Ou, May 4th, 2021
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When you first started posting, were you actively working towards being a food blogger?
Not at all. I had no idea that food blogging was even a thing on Instagram, but I guess there’s a community for everything these days. I was genuinely just doing it for fun and to record a food diary. I didn’t even post that often back then, and I used to use my phone to take photos for the food blog, whereas now I have purchased a camera. I do it whenever I go out to eat though, and I don’t intentionally find places that would look good on Instagram or anything. What does a typical day look like for you? Do you schedule your postings or do you do it more spontaneously? I used to schedule my postings before COVID. I would try to post at least two times a week, but it also depends on the day. For example, if I’m going to LA, which is far away from where I live, I would try to schedule multiple tastings in LA on the same day, spending an entire day just eating. If it’s here in Orange County, then I can just go whenever I’m free. I do have to plan with the companies though, and that’s pretty much how the days are. |
You’ve done product sponsorships as well. Can you describe that and how you have had to adapt to COVID-19?
Before COVID, going to tastings was a way for me to grow my blog, not only through followers. I would meet a lot of people as well since those who invite me to these tastings are also owners of multiple restaurants or food fairs, etc. After COVID happened, I had to find another way to network, so I applied to a lot of social marketing apps that other food bloggers recommended, and I was able to connect with companies through that. Did you encounter any difficulties initially when navigating the more business-oriented aspects of social media? Since I did not have many followers at first, I felt like I didn’t have the power to negotiate when it came to tastings or sponsorships. I pretty much took whatever opportunity I was given and figured it out from there. Now, I have more power to go through different offers and choose which ones are more related to what I do. I’m no longer afraid that I’m rejecting a big opportunity or anything, but following my best judgement for my blog. Photograph provided by Irena Ou, May 4th, 2021
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Photograph provided by Irena Ou, May 4th, 2021
A lot of research about social media would define the term “micro-influencers” as people who have 1,000 to 100,000 followers, and they would usually have more of a community-based social reach. Do you agree with this, and would you define yourself as a micro-influencer?
That’s pretty true because I feel like all the support I get through my blog is from people within the food-blogging community. There are groups where you would like or comment on each other’s posts, so most of the people that interact with my posts are people from the community. I do want to expand my social reach, especially to people outside of the community. I want regular people in Orange County or SoCal to think, “Oh, these are a lot of places I want to go to,” and save my posts. Do you have any advice for people who may want to pursue an online career? I think the most important thing is to stay in school for sure because running your own platform is not a stable business. Also, you must start it for the right reason, and make sure that you’re passionate about what you’re doing. It doesn’t have to be something that’s really big, because there’s literally a community for everything these days. Find a community you think you would belong to, and just go from there. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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