q&a

How To Get Beauty PR

ROLLY Mag

This post is part of my Q&A series… read the other posts here!

A little while ago, I put a questions box up on Instagram, with the intention of answering all of them in a blog post together. I got a lot of Q’s that I thought would make good stand alone posts and so I’m starting my “Ask Me Anything” series today prompted by this question…

‘Would love to know more about how to get beauty PR :)’

This question brings me back to the point that I always make- there is no rulebook when it comes to blogging. That is why I am so open to sharing about my experience. Occasionally, I’ve asked for advice, or learnt simply by observing how my fave bloggers operate, but most of my learning on IG has come from trial and error myself.

Unfortunately, there is no ‘one and done’ rule for getting PR… however I want to share things that I’ve learnt in my own blogging journey.

Fake it til you make it

I wish I could remember when I first got gifted PR, and whilst I don’t remember exactly, I would say it was a few months into my blogging journey.

What I realised, is that I literally had my IG and blog, and that was it. My work hadn’t been featured anywhere, I had never had experience working with brands and so had no references. I had nothing that I could show brands. And so, I made a Media Kit. Well, technically, Makeup With Cortney made my media kit (tysm xo).

When I would offer to send brands my media kit, they would often respond ‘sorry we don’t have the budget for that.’ This is when I learnt that media kits often have fees on them that the influencer charges the brand. I didn’t know this was a thing. At this stage, I don’t charge to work with brands. But see how having a media kit can make you appear to be waaaay more professional than you feel? Lol. So what do I have on my media kit?

  • brief description of who I am, what ROLLY Mag is, and what ‘services’ I provide
  • stats: likes, followers, interactions, views, comments, impressions etc
  • contact information
  • gallery of images

Pitch yourself

Like most things in life, you can’t sit around and expect good things (ie. PR) to fall into your lap (ie. DMs). You have to hustle. I have pitched myself to brands from the very start of my blogging journey. I didn’t realise it was so controversial. But I would have to say, 80% of my brand partnerships started because I approached the brand first.

It sounds scary… but the brand doesn’t know you in real life. So just remember, if they say ‘no, sorry’ it’s their loss. Plus, you’ve *learnt* from that experience.

If I approach a brand, it is because I genuinely like, follow and engage with their content and products. From there, I send them a DM. This may sound ‘unprofessional’ but it is honestly the most effective way to get a response in most cases. In my DM, I introduce myself, express my interest in working with them, and then I offer to email them my media kit.

Sometimes, I send through my media kit via email and I don’t get a response back from that.

Or sometimes, the brand leaves me on read.

And sometimes, they say ‘yes, let’s see what you’ve got!’

For example, my collaboration with BYS, Good Molecules and Bella Box all stemmed from a DM. Just sayin’!

Engagement, engagement, engagement

Make yourself known to the brand. If you want to work with a brand, make sure you view and react to their stories, share their content on your own page, comment on their pictures. The brand’s social media people are likely to remember- or at least recognise- your username when you do eventually approach them for PR. That element of rapport is probably my top tip- like they say, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.’

Be gracious

Beauty PR is a massive, indulgent luxury. When brand’s send PR, they are putting a lot of trust in you. Just think, they send free products and cover the shipping fee themselves. This doesn’t mean you should feign a positive review (because your audience ALSO puts a lot of trust in you) but you (and me) truly are lucky to receive PR. There are times that I look at other influencers and think ‘damn I’m jealous of that PR package’ – think Lush, Colourpop and Mecca- but, more so, I think ‘yesss queen you rock’ to the influencer who’s effort is being rewarded with PR. Blogging and IG is a lot of work with often no tangible reward. But we do it because we love it! Just wanted to put that here too.

I’m happy to answer any other questions, shot me a DM/email or leave a comment!

And if you have any other tips, be sure to leave them in the comments. Sharing is caring. xx

Follow along on IG @rolly.mag>>> https://www.instagram.com/rolly.mag/

Love a bargain? Me too! Find a bargain in my Discount Directory >>> https://rollymag.home.blog/rolly-mags-discount-directory/

And say hello via email >>>

hellorollymag@gmail.com

Blogging BTS #9 by ROLLY Mag

ROLLY Mag

Hi everyone!

As part of my Q&A series, it was suggested that I answer the Qs from my Blogging BTS segment! Read the Blogging BTS series here and the Q&A series here.

If you have any other blogging or non blogging related Qs please leave them in the comments below! Enjoy xx

How long have you been blogging/had your IG?

I officially started ROLLY Mag on Decembers 28th 2018!

What was the first item you were ever ‘hashtag gifted’?

I’m pretty sure the first product I was offered for free was my Aria necklace from V&Me Custom Designs. That’s such a special piece to me because of that. However, between that initial offer and receiving the necklace, I was sent a PR package from Du’it and the Sweaty Betty PR team. That’s when I told my family about my blog, before then I had kept it a total secret. I knew they wouldn’t believe I had bought foot cream online for myself haha.

Do you reach out to brands to collaborate? Or do you wait for them to approach you?

This is kind of the whole reason I started my Blogging BTS series, because I wanted to hear more about this side of blogging that is often clouded in secrecy. Yes, I reach out to brands to collaborate. This is how majority of my collaborations come about. Occasionally, brand reach out to me. I wrote a post here about how to contact brands.

Have you ever been rejected by a brand for a collaboration?

Yes, plenty of times! Sometimes a brand with read but not reply to my message. Or they’ll decline me because of my following size. Whatever- their loss ha!

I recently was declined work with brand because of my ‘cluttered’ feed. The brand was very professional and provided constructive criticism but it definitely still knocked my confidence a bit as I had never seen this competitive side of the industry before. This event was quickly forgotten however because the next day I was accepted onto Bobbi Brown’s PR list soooooo… *happy dance*

Have you had a ‘pinch me’ blogging moment?

YES! So many! My top three are probably:

  • getting a Palmer’s PR package. It was enormous. It was the kind of package you see big name influencers receiving. I felt so lucky to get that- especially so early on in my blogging life too.
  • my invite to the BYS Halloween Party! SUCH a pinch me moment. I was there among some incredible bloggers and makeup influencers- I was so starstruck!
  • Meeting my blogger friends in real life, like Amy, Daisy, Shanice and Sonia …. it sounds weird to say but I can’t believe they exist behind a screen? Haha. They are honestly some of my best friends. That’s the best part about blogging/IG- the connections you make with others.

Can you think of a time when your following (as in, the number of followers you have) has ever disadvantaged or benefitted you?

I have had numerous brands encourage me to reach out again once my following grew to 5K+. But I don’t really see that as a ‘disadvantage’ per se, because on the other hand, I would assume that most of the brands I work with now have chosen me based off my 2K+ follower count. I know this is important to brands, but I honestly don’t pay any attention to my follower count. I only look at it if I’m updating my media kit haha.

Who is your dream brand to collaborate with?

Take a guess… PRICELINE! Of course! I feel like I make sooooo much Priceline related content and they don’t even like my posts lol. (Although my fave store always does hehe @pricelinepharmacy.bsm).

My content literally wouldn’t change if I did collaborate with them- because it would still be me updating you on sales and new items etc. It would just mean I could try more because I had more money to spend! So yeah, Priceline, holler at me. 😉

Is it your goal to make blogging a full time job?

Yes and no. On one hand, I would love to be able to work from home and be with my dog all the time. But the uncertainty of the industry puts me off. And there is also the fact that I’m a serial procrastinator. So if I ever had the pressure of using blogging to pay my bills, rather than just be a hobby, I’d probably freak out haha. @the.life.of.laura is one of my blogging inspirations, because she is a teacher by trade, but does that alongside blogging both part time. I think that’s a nice balance that I aspire to reach.

What’s one PR package you wish you received?

I used to think Innisfree, but I’m now on their PR list which is just actual goals. So now I’d say that Opallac do incredible PR packages, and of course, Mecca. I don’t often buy high end beauty so that would be an absolute treat! Or Colourpop. OMG!!!

If someone said ‘what do you do?’ would you say ‘I’m a blogger?’ Why/why not?

My friends don’t even know that I had this blog, so the answer is no! Haha. I’m never really in a situation where this question would arise either. If I’m amongst other influencers, then yes I say I’m a blogger, because you can be a Youtuber or Instagrammer or combination of things so it’s appropriate to specify.

Do you have an issue with the algorithm?

No, because like with my follower count, I don’t pay attention to likes or engagement. If I have followers who want to see my content, I know they’ll actively seek it out if it hasn’t come up in their feed. At least, that’s what I do with my fave bloggers! Because my IG account was disabled for a short while, I’ve really learnt to be waaaaay more chill about Instagram as a whole…. what will be will be!

What’s one condition you would never agree to with a gifted or sponsored post?

This has never happened to me before, but if a brand wanted me to give a positive/generic review regardless of my own opinion- I’d say no. Or if they needed my face to be in the content I produced. When I worked with Naked Bean, they needed a body part in the image but gave the choice of face/arm/leg etc.

What is one of your conditions that a brand must agree to in order to collaborate with you?

The opposite of the above, really! The review has to be completely my own, unbiased opinion and I won’t often show my face in photos!

Why don’t you show your face?

A couple of reasons; this blog is a secret from my real life friends haha so it would be kind awkward for them to accidentally scroll IG and discover my face haha and also, I work two jobs where I value my privacy. I would not want to be recognised at work from my blog. It’s just a safety precaution, I guess.

For the sake of this question, we are calling you an ‘influencer’ (or micro-influencer’):

Can you give us just a general overview of your opinion on the whole ‘influencer’ space? Do you trust ‘influencers’ opinions?

All the beauty bloggers I follow on Instagram I would call ‘influencers’- I know people don’t like that term but I personally don’t mind it. It’s just a term of classification, I don’t read into it. And so if I look at those ‘influencers’ yes, I trust them! That’s why my beauty collection is so extensive, because if Leigh or Cortney or Kim etc etc recommend something, chances are I’m ordering it asap!

But then you have another category of influencers, I guess. The LA-based Youtubers, ex reality TV personalities and such. And heck no- I don’t trust a word they say. I’m sorry. I can enjoy their content, but I would likely wait until a trusted blogger reviews their product, rather than take the influencers own word for it. A perfect example of this is Bangn Body or Tribe Skincare.

Amy, Morgan and Kelly all reviewed the famous yellow tube of goodness and sang its praises. So I bought it! A few days later, ex Bachie contestant Abbie Chatfield was modelling with the product and endorsing it. One of my followers said that a beauty product isn’t like a t-shirt that you wear it once and instantly like it. You need to test a beauty product for weeks, if not months, before forming a reliable review. It especially upsets me that there are so many authentic bloggers that review brands like this, and would make incredible brand representatives, yet the big names get chosen instead.

It’s the same with Tribe Skincare and Brittney Lee Saunders and Lauren Curtis. I guess they are big names in the Aussie beauty world, but I personally don’t have a rapport with either of those women to be influenced by them. At the same time, I’m a regular customer of Tribe thanks once again to Amy and Cortney!

Take us behind the camera, do you use natural or artificial light? Phone or DSLR? How do you edit pictures?

I use my iPhone 8 phone camera to take pictures using the ‘square’ setting. The back of my 2019 calendar is my white card backdrop, or occasionally the floor tiles in my house lol. I use natural light, and try to shoot when it’s sunny, and then I do a tiny bit of editing once I’ve added the picture to IG. I just up the brightness and play with the shadows! Simple but effective.

Are you fussy with your feed or do you just wing it? If you are particular and intentional, tell us about the planning process.

I’m not very intentionally with any post except my Week Latte post. Even then, that’s pretty easy to put together, just a grid of four photos in the Pic Collage app. I don’t edit those photos. Everything else I do is often spur of the moment. Sometimes I’ll be eating dinner and golden hour hits so I drop everything to get a quick shot haha.

Follow along on IG @rolly.mag>>> https://www.instagram.com/rolly.mag/

Love a bargain? Me too! Find a bargain in my Discount Directory >>> https://rollymag.home.blog/rolly-mags-discount-directory/

And say hello via email >>>

hellorollymag@gmail.com

Answering your questions!

ROLLY Mag

This post is part of my Q&A series… read the other posts here!

A little while back I put up a question box on Instagram and you guys asked me a variety of questions. I have broken some of the questions down into their own posts (see below) but have otherwised answered the rest here. I hope you enjoy!

Read the rest of the series here.

Q. How old are you? And you work in the cosmetics field? Or plan to? You have a real passion.

A. I am 19 years old, turning 20 this year (EKKKK)! This question gives me all the feels… I would LOVE to work in the beauty industry. I just don’t know how I could. Or even where to get started! I did look into doing a university course in dermal science, however various reasons made me not pursue that (including travel and the fact that you end up with a very general qualification. You could do the same job as someone who doesn’t have a four year university degree behind them.)

To me, blogging is my way to dip my toe into the world of beauty. Right now, it is a hobby not a job.

It’s definitely something I would like to pursue, but like I said, I just don’t know how.

This will be my first year at uni, and I’m studying speech pathology!

What’s your dream job or career?

Kind of like the question above, I don’t know!!! I would love to be able to foster dogs, be a beauty blogger, be a movie script writer, etc etc. So many things!

Q. What is your favourite part of your makeup and skin care routine?

A. I love doing both of these routines, it’s like a mini moment of self care! For makeup, it would probably be putting on my primer. I believe in the power of a good primer, and also, nothing can really go wrong at this step haha. For skincare, it’s probably putting on my eye cream. This is a new step to me but it’s making such a difference to how moisturised my under eye area is.

Q. What’s the brand you’d love to be an ambassador of?

A. Ohhhhhh, I had to have a good think about this one! It would definitely have to be an Aussie brand that I use and love. For makeup, probably BYS Cosmetics or Australis. Skincare: Beach Way Aromatics or Cipher Skincare! Or all of them- hehe.

Q. Retinol- I have prescription and over the counter; can I use one Monday and the other Tuesday, then rest day and repeat?

A. I would suggest asking an expert about how to best incorporate retinol into your routine. However, I do know that if you are new to retinol it is a good idea to ease yourself into it and take rest days!

Q. Can you recommend a good Vitamin C serum that uses L-ascorbic acid instead of derivatives?

A. I must admit, I don’t reallllly pay much attention to the ingredients list- oops. I’d advise you to do your own research, or even just browse through the You Beauty Facebook Group! However, a quick google of my own showed ascorbic acid as the third listed ingredient in the Trilogy Vitamin C.

Q. Will you be my friend?

A. Maybe, if you weren’t a bot *face palm*… the amount of responses I got from bots was ridiculous. Tell me, Instagram, how my innocent account was disabled yet these people live happy IG lives????

Q. Best reward programs for beauty stores/sites?

The big beauty retailers in Australia- Priceline, Mecca and Sephora- all have their own version of loyalty programs. My favourite is Priceline- this is where I shop most often. If you spend a certain amount at Priceline during the quarter, you will receive a monetary reward to spend in store, and if you are in the highest level, you also receive a gift box. I would say, though, all of these programs require you to spend a lot of money before you get any kind of reward.

And so, I don’t think anyone is ‘better’ than the other- I would just suggest that you sign up to as many programs as possible- because everything you can ‘get back’ is worth it. Don’t forget Coles and Woolies too!

Innisfree have a very good, underrated loyalty program as well! You get samples as a ‘welcome pack’ when you first join which is fun!

The key is to shop smart… I use Shopback for many of my online purchases. It sounds too good to be true but it’s honestly SO GOOD! Basically, you can shop through the Shopback app or add the extension to your browser. There are so many different stores on Shopback that have a percentage cash back. Sometimes it’s as little as 1%, or all the way up to 20%! You can sign up using this link which gives us both $5!

I use it for Priceline, Sephora, ASOS, the Iconic and more! I’ve earnt over $100 cash back in just under a year!

NOT SPON JUST A BARGAIN!

Q. Beauty confessions?

A lot of you will probably know that I only started wearing blush towards the end of this year! It always scared me lol but now I love wearing it! I also don’t wear eyeliner… 1) I cannot perfect it and 2) I don’t really think it suits me but this could be a side effect of 1 haha.

Q. Make up steps you don’t do?

Hmm… eyeliner?? I don’t do liquid or cream products very often- mostly powder.

Q. What inspired you to start ROLLY Mag?

I could talk about this all day, but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Basically, growing up I loooooved magazines- DOLLY, CLEO and Cosmo were my faves. I always wanted to work in magazines, my first dream job was as Beauty Editor of DOLLY, following in the footsteps of Sara McClean and Gyan Yankovic. However, all of these magazines have since collapsed, and with them- my dreams! I then dreamed about making a blog for years before I finally bit the bullet in late 2018. This is my way of fulfilling my dreams of being a ‘beauty editor’ but in a fun, non-professional way!

Q. Top 5 mascaras?

A. Fabulous question! This is hard task because I honestly am very picky when it comes to mascara… so I’ll just do four haha!

  1. Maybelline Lash Sensation– but once it’s been opened for a bit and dried down. Then, this mascara is the best for full and fluttery lashes. I also love the applicator.
  2. Essence Lash Princess (the green one!)- This is so so cheap yet gives serious falsie effect.
  3. Loreal Voluminous– no one talks about this one?? But this is my everyday mascara that i wear to work. Just adds a bit of definition to my lashes, looks natural and doesn’t transfer.
  4. Loreal Telescopic– another one that I feel like doesn’t get talked about that much? this one is soooo lengthening!

Q. Top 5 favourite lipsticks/lip glosses/ lip balms?

Lip products are my fave, but i really struggled to get five from each category… so here is just a quick list of some faves!

  1. Maarks Lip– I have the colours blush (I use this only most often) , bare and rogue. These are fab because they’re an Aussie brand, they are designed to suit all skin tones so no worries about which shade will match you AND they can be personalised with your initials which makes them so luxe and great presents!
  2. Lanolips Tinted Balm– these balms are so easy to wear with just a subtle tint- my fave is the shade ‘nectar’.
  3. Colourpop Ultra Blotted Lip– The shade ‘Zuma’ is such a heavenly colour and comfortable to wear on the lips.
  4. Aceology Lip Mask– I use this as a lip balm because it’s so nourishing. It has a very slight coconut scent.
  5. Essence Plumping Nudes- The shade ‘that’s big’ is my fave, it’s not very plumping but it does give a slight tingle. It’s very pigmented but still has a glossy appearance. And it’s $4.50 so you cannot go wrong!

Follow along on IG @rolly.mag>>> https://www.instagram.com/rolly.mag/

Love a bargain? Me too! Find a bargain in my Discount Directory >>> https://rollymag.home.blog/rolly-mags-discount-directory/

And say hello via email >>>

hellorollymag@gmail.com