Problems of a Content Creator

Caution: The problems shared here is what a content creator faces. Promise! Promise me that you will read the entire thing. Only then you will get it.

“I saw your photos on Facebook. Are you a model?”   

                – Random Stranger at the gym

“Hi Beta, nice to see you. Saw your photos, good haan. Aage ke kya plans hai? Dehko iss profession ka kya hai, one day you are at the top, the other day people don’t like you. Till when will beauty last. Actresses ke saath bhi toh yahi hota hai. So, just do this as a hobby haan.” 

                            – Best Friend’s Mother

“Maze kr rhi hai. Dehk aaj kahan ghumne gyi hai. This is her time to study and work.”
                                    – Relatives

“Will you effing stop modelling??!!”
                                 – Dad

THE 

First problem that I face as a “content creator” is explaining people as to what is it that I exactly do. People think that I am a model who is living a fabulous life, visiting new places everyday with a side of delicious free food. 

OR 

“You are a fashuuun blogger naah. Aajkal toh harr ldki fashion blogger hai.” 

“Koi bhi aake beauty blogger bann jaata hai”

Or.. They think I am some wanna be beauty and fashion guru, whose popularity will only last till the beauty will. 

To all the unaware uncle, aunties and their kids, I am a content creator and the term artist will be much better to define my profession. My love for creating art began at the age of 7 when I used to turn my register into a book written by me and make the book cover art out of chart paper & glitter. Art to me is enticing and I am fascinated by it. 

Now let me educate you on what is it that I do and why I can be doing this till the age of 90 or so.. (If i lived that long). 
When you open my blog it reads: Lifestyle Blog because it has content related to what one’s lifestyle is made up of: Food, Fashion, Travel, Beauty, Products, Wellness, Life Lessons, movies, books, even comics.. These are the topics around which I have created content till now. An artist’s imagination is limitless and hence, my work is also not limited to a particular  genre but to everything that I feel will result in some kind of thought provoking, helpful, funny, tearful, loving moment for my viewers. 

To me, art is as natural as breathing. It’s a huge part of my life; whether consuming it in galleries, on websites, discussing with others, experiencing through the power of social media, or creating it for myself. It’s part of the very nature of my whole being, as a person. You too are consumed by the energy of art and we social media influencers, bloggers or whatever term you want us to give and are giving you that content which makes you feel things.

Brands.. Ah! How we work with brands, that’s what everyone asks me about. I collaborate with brands to earn a living while doing what I am passionate about, creating. This is how I work: I understand the product first, the message that the brands wants to put out, think of the content to create around it and then market it myself. I basically create marketing content for brands, help them push up their sales and create awareness. 

I am putting my degree in Business and brand management + one year of specialisation  in marketing to some good use you know. Before the questions happen, I just completed my graduation a month back and am just 21 years old. 

However, dealing with brands is no fun. (Based on true stories. Not taking any brands names)

“Hey, can you do 12 social media posts in return of 1 pair of shoes?” 

                           – A shoe brand

“Hey, we love your work. The quality is a-one and we would love to work with you. However, we can only give you 2 outfits in return. This is a barter collaboration.” 

                             – A luxury fashion brand

“Hey, we love you work. Let’s collaborate but we can’t pay you. Since this is the first time we are collaborating, we can’t give you anything in return.”

                              – A well know brand

I always generate high quality content. I make sure that I always create something to which I will to be attracted to read. 

Only then I receive my true satisfaction in work. 

I work the whole day. Starting from the morning with a first ‘Good morning post’ to the last ‘Goodnight post’. My eyes are always glued to a screen, either posting, editing, writing or just researching. I spent hours in the night working on content for brands who don’t pay me for my work and I like fool, thinking that I am a new comer succom to their blank promises like : “You will get commission. I will give you exposure.” and all tha.

Nobody sees the amount of work I put into one blog post and people, It is a lot of work. I work with photographers and they too charge money. I always try to pay my photographer because I think to create a photo, it is a 50-50 job between a photographer and the model (subject). 
Unlike some brands, I don’t like to snatch away anyone’s right to their hard earned money. Some brands expect me to book a location on my own, get a photographer on my own, shoot for staright 5-6 hours, edit that shoot, think of the story, write that story, create the blog and post infront of my audience, for free..or in return of a dress? 

Dear brands, will you go to a doctor and say, “hey, can you do my checkup? I will give you a shirt in return.” OR when you go shopping, do you that, “please let me buy these shoes, I will give you coupons in return.” No, you don’t. So, please don’t come up to me liking my work and say that I do hard work for free for you. 

Even when a brand agress to pay, sometimes, I say SOMETIMES, it leads to this scenario..

“Hey, the blog post is done. I have posted it too. Can we clear the compesation for the same?”

“Yes yes, you will receive your 3,000 amount after 65 days.”

“65 days?! But I gave you the content within a weeks time, like you asked me for.” 

“Yes yes, but that’s how our account works”

No one gets their salary after 65 days in any industry. 

It took me a year to reach a following of 22K people but these are the people who genuinely follow my blog and work. I am proud of it. 

But… 

My honesty kills my work at times. You see there are apps which gives you free likes and followers, there are bloggers who have passionately used these apps and are now resting on 70K + followers in a years time. However, these are fake or bots followers who remain inactive on your feed. Who cares though! Even though these bloggers have immature content, big brands still approach them for their high number of followers.
Instagram’s algorithm is messed up and because of it people are using desperate meassure to make their content visible. I have invested in my own brand’s marketing by opting for paid Facebook/Instagram ads but you see it is not bad. Mostly all the big brands go for it to increase their reach. Now that ads to reaches to a bigger audience but then it is upto the audience whether they want to see it, like it, follow it or buy it. The same way, I try to push my content from time to time for a bigger audience reach. It doesn’t gurantee followers or likes and stuff. People will follow what they like. My ad results? I got some geniune followers who followed me out of the liking of my work after seeing the ad. I didn’t technically buy follower. In the media swamp that we live in, where every other person claims to be a Public Figure, I just beg to differ. 

Speaking about my viewers, I love you people. You are the best and some of you have said the sweetest, most encouraging things to me. However, some of you have said stuff like..

” Tera rate kya hai.” 

“Please click a naked picture and post it.”

“Eeeeeww, you have fat thighs.”

“You are just another stupid blogger”

“Your voice is annoying”

I focus on the positivity all the time but is gets hard sometimes. Comments or messages like these at times, push me into the dark pit of insecurities. 
You see, I am always honest with my content. I will happily post a makeup free post, unedit my stretch marks and post real, thought provoking content. Because of my realness, I get attacked by meanness and hate. 

I sometimes wonder, what if I too just like other girls, only post pretty, imperfect pictures. Maybe my followers will too get skyrocketed. But I don’t, if I did that, I will stop liking my own work. 

So, I listen to the hate comments, get hurt, demotivated for a minute and then try to bounce back with ball of positivity. 
Easy said then done. 

I put hours of hard work into my blog and when that blog doesn’t deliver well, I again become doubtful of myself. The said truth is, people don’t have time to read a random girl’s blog. No, actually the problem is that people don’t have time to read only. They can watch Dhinchak Pooja’s but not read a marvellous poem posted a minute ago, written by the talented Kalki Koechin. 

It’s just how we humans are, I guess. 
Last problem that I face as a content creator is the problem of respect. I feel that people don’t respect artists and think that the job is easy and pointless. 

art is a fundamental part of life, and one of the most important representations of human beings throughout the ages. It’s part of our everyday life whether we realise it or not; through advertising, TV, film, photography, product branding, and so much more. It moves us, calls us to action, makes us question, doubt and feel things we wouldn’t have otherwise. It connects us across the world, and is a language everyone can speak. Art is a powerful connection of ideas and purposeful creation. 

Next time, if your kid, sibling,or friend, says that he/she wants to do something in the creative field then respect that and support them. Who knows, maybe they turn out to be the next top director, writer, dancer or painter, whose work makes you feel things, makes you move and changes your thinking process. 
After, that is we creators work for: our mad passion for creating and letting that creation make you feel things. 


So, inspite of the problems and the sad condition of content creators, I still work everyday for the love of it. It’s like, take my passion away from me or I will go away. 

My future plan is to study luxury brand management. My current plan is to study for competitive exams, work in various internships as content writer, stylist and marketer + do my “BLOGGING” .

I will tell you a little story today,in the month February 2017, Z channel approached me to work in video for their YouTube lifestyle channel and I, like an excited baboon, said yes. I arranged for the clothes, bunked my last two lectures to reach the shoot studio on time and it took us straight 10 hour of shooting to shoot that 4 minute video. Costume changes, hair and makeup changes, technical changes, set design and multiple takes, there is a lot of work which goes into just one video. Funny thing, I didn’t get any monetary benefit out of it because I am a “new comer”. But you know what, I didn’t care. I loved the project idea, I thought it will be a great exposure and actually did learn a lot in the process. Moreover, the team I worked with was amazing, so supportive and helpful. Being surrounded by like minded, creative people is what I starve for. 

This is it the first time I have announced this video. You can check out that video here: CLICK HERE TO WATCH

I can give you thousand problems that I face as a content creator but only one reason why I keep on doing what I do..

Because sir, I love what I do. I can play with art the whole day, even in my sleep and still look forward to playing with it again the next day. I am the founder, creative director, manager, marketer, makeup artist, stylist and the face of my brand. I have learned so much in this journey and look forward to the rest of it. 

No profession is easy and every industry has loopholes in it. If you like it then keep on going. My wishes are with you..

Lots of love always,