Summer is coming to an end, however I'm holding onto every bit of warm weather I can get before it becomes cold and rainy here in Galway!
In this post I've styled two outfits for Nasty Gal in a collaboration I'm doing with them! I'm honestly in love with these two pieces and I know you will be too. If you're just here for the outfits, scroll down to the bottom of this post!
Recently I've been asked a lot about "oh whats the best thing you've been sent" and "aw you're so lucky you get free things". It sometimes annoys me when people say it to me as I wouldn't be getting anything sent to me if I hadn't worked for it. I didn't just set up a blog and Instagram and magically get "free stuff" (most of it isn't even really free either). Saying that, I don't get a lot of stuff sent to me. My blog is self funded and I have my own job to pay for everything for it. I produce my own content etc. The majority of the time (literally 99% of the time) if I get something sent to me, it's for a collaboration and I have to go and shoot the look and promote the product/piece. So I am using my time to promote content for a brand in return for the brands products.
People tell me I should charge for collaborations considering I've being blogging for over three years, I know what I'm doing and I'm growing a steady readership. Honestly, for bloggers it's very difficult to get paid for creating content/promoting a brand. I sometimes find online that the "smaller" bloggers produce better content than the "bigger" ones, yet it's them who are being paid for the content they produce. I do believe "smaller" bloggers should be recognised more for their talents and creative skills and to be paid for it too. Blogging is something I love and I do hope to be paid for it in the future.
In my opinion, bloggers who have come about in recent years are definitely more educated in what blogging really entails (i.e taxes, transparency with #sp #ad #collab #gift ect., contracts and knowing how to really produce good quality content etc.). There has been so much controversy over it all in the last year or two that it has helped "smaller" bloggers learn and avoid making any innocent mistakes -saying that honesty was always my policy from day one so I never had to "learn" that. However, I did learn about making sure you get contracts made up if you ever get a sponsored post (someone spon me so I can actually use my contract templates!) this helps you if the brand is late paying you and obviously more.
Having spoken to some fellow bloggers we all agree that all the drama in the blogging industry has definitely tainted it so much and it's really not fair on people like us who only want to product good quality content. There are still so many bloggers out there who are really trying to give blogging a good name and I believe the next generation of bloggers will be better than ever before. If I ever got a sponsored post I would be jumping for joy letting you all know! So I just don't know why people want to hide it. Honesty really is the best policy and if you're getting paid for doing something you love, why not shot it from the rooftops? Why hide it? Why is it a secret?
Overall, blogging I know is changing for the better, we are all more wise about what blogging really entails, it's not just "freebies". It's a lot of time, money some collabs and tonnes refusals. I get refused for collabs all the time and I also refuse a lot of paid collabs as they never ever suit my blogs aesthetic and I would never take a quick cash job as my followers lose faith in me, and I would go against everything I believe in. I know I've said it before, but to this day I've made €40 on this blog and I highly under priced it, I've been offered sooo many more paid jobs and I've refused them all as I just didn't like it. To have even gotten a collab with Nasty Gal today really made my day, it's not a paid collab but adding this to my portfolio of brands I've worked with is just something I'm so proud of.
Don't get me wrong there are so many honest and real successful bloggers who get paid for what they do, they've thought me a lot and I'm so grateful for them. However, I know us smaller bloggers are on the rise and we are bringing the true art of blogging back. Thank you all for sticking with me for the last 3 years. Here's to the next 3!
Outfit 1
Nasty Gal Dress: Shop here
Outfit 2
Nasty Gal Dress: Shop here
What are your thoughts? I'd love to know what way the blogging industry is going to go!
And how cute are these outfits? I'm especially in love with the second dress, it fits like a glove and it's not restricting at all! Which was your fave?
All photos taken by @michelleswalsh
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