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Thank you so much for being a part of this incredible journey with The Offbeat Life!

This is our podcast anniversary month and we are celebrating with a party and an incredible interview from our past guests  Jennifer O’Brien and Jacob Fu as well as a  live Q&A from our amazing listeners.

This year has been a roller coster of wins and heartaches for me but I would not have traded it for anything in the world because of all of the lessons I have learned about myself and this industry.

Thank you all for the support and feed back you have given me and I can not wait to see what the next year will hold for us!

Listen on to hear our incredible interview with Jennifer O’Brien and Jacob Fu where we discuss what it’s like to have an Offbeat Life together with a Q&A with our live audience!

Listen Below:

 

In this Episode:

The Offbeat Life Anniversary Episode  with Jennifer O’Brien and Jacob Fu with a LIVE audience! 

| Find out more about Jennifer O’Brien and how she has created a travel community for women 

Is having a large community and following on social media an important part of building your business?

• Building a community that is a unique niche that people will want to be a part of is a huge part in building a successful business.
• Creating content and resources that will be beneficial to your audience.
• In order to grow and build a community, you must engage with your audience.

How can someone who is just starting out build a loyal and dedicated following?

• You have to constantly work on your community in order to create a dedicated following.

Why did you create meet ups for the Travel women?

• The importance of creating events that allows people to connect with one another to share interests.
• An opportunity to learn from each other and give each other support.

How do you overcome the obstacles you face?

• We need to redefine what success means and how it affects our way of thinking.

How do we dispel the myth that creatives have to be starving artists?

• It doesn’t matter what size you are, you can be working with a brand and create income.
• No matter what niche and career you have, sales and negotiating can be used.
• The fear of negotiating with brands and approaching companies to create sponsorship opportunities.
• How Jacob’s negotiation skills and techniques allowed him to stretch a brands budget from 20K to 35K!
• Why you do not need high numbers to create income from your specific niche.
• The importance of asking in order to get what you want.

| Find out more about Jacob’s E-couse and how you can create income and negotiate like a pro!

 -Use offbeat100 to get $100 off! 

How did you and Esther create income when you first started your blog?

• Learning that it doesn’t matter how big you are, it is about having a dedicated audience.
• Why you should not chase the sexy when you are looking for sponsors. Go off the beaten path and look for companies that your audience will use and influencers do not usually approach.
• Having a community of people who support you and having a mastermind group is crucial to success.

What have you learned from your support system and your mastermind group?

• The importance of the 80/20 rule. 80 percent marketing and 20 percent content creation. It can be applied to other assets of your business as well.
• Wishing for the best is not a good strategy for your business.

How do you deal with phone calls with potential sponsors?

• You have to be OK with a NO, as soon as you accept that you may get rejected a lot of pressure will come off.
• If you are still at your 9-5, you do not have the added pressure so take that time to practice.
• It is OK if you do not have an answer.
• Getting on a call is about getting as much information with the company and it is not about you.

How do you break the mental barrier of asking for more from a sponsor?

• Make sure to set your standard prices so you can understand wether their budget is worth your time and effort.

Any pricing tips?

• Just set a price. There is no formula. Make up a price that you feel comfortable with.
• Find people that have similar numbers as you and as them what is working with them.
• Be around people who are open and are willing to share and learn from each other.
• There is room for everyone and you will be better off helping each other than being in constant competition.

What are your thoughts on the current blogging space, since it has gotten a lot of more saturated.

• If you are interested, do not feel discouraged and just start but think about what makes you different.
• It also depends on what your goals are. It is not always having the biggest blog, but finding that niche, working with a brand and figuring out what your income sources are going to be.

How do you feel about transparency in social media and blogs? Do you have any specific recommendations in regards to transparency?

• Unfortunately not everyone reveals that they are sponsored and the audience’s views can become skewed.
•  Why it is crucial to be transparent when you have an ad and sponsor.

• The law is there, but there are usually no repercussions when you don’t follow the rules.
• As long as you are transparent with your audience there should not be an issue with placing ads on your site or socials.

What tools help you become more productive?

• Toggl, a free time tracking software.
• Evernote– Best note taking app
• The Snooze feature on google.
• Trello– great for keeping track of your tasks.

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