IN CONVERSATION WITH:
ERIN AND HAPPINESS
We contacted upcoming blogger Erin, from Erin and Happiness, to discuss entering the blogging world and her experience with the increasingly competitive industry.
Tell me a bit about Erin and Happiness and the reason why you started blogging?
It’s a bit of an everything blog; it has a bit of fashion, beauty, style, and then a bit about myself as well. I decided to start making something that was going to make me happy, so it’s like me and the blog, so me and happiness. It’s really helped me, I have become so much more confident and so much more of my own person through it.
Let's chat about your paid collaboration with another brand, do you think you were fairly paid for the work that you did?
If I’m honest, no. There’s been a few companies that I’ve worked with who have really low-balled me in regard to pay. This brand was offering me a very small cut of the pay that I would have normally expected. If I were a boy, I would have probably been offered more because they get offered more exciting work.
Do you think that the industry has been welcoming to new bloggers like yourself?
I think there is quite a few people that have been in the industry for a while that see new people as a threat and won’t offer advice. They get quite cold and they would never meet you because they’re just not interested. Whereas, I think that everyone should be supporting each other. I have met up with lovely people offering advice and giving tips. Maybe more of the bigger bloggers should be more interested in helping others.
What would be your three top tips to anybody new starting a blog?
Definitely be yourself – I know it's cliché, but I tried for ages to be someone that I am not and then when I started posting relatable content more people were more interested in it. Invest in a good camera because you’ll definitely need it. Just reach out to other people because you never know who will reply and who will not and that offers more opportunity.
How would Erin and Happiness define happiness?
I’d say, to me, happiness is just feeling like you belong.
Words: Marie-Claire Mills