============================================================
TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
============================================================
[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_02: Hello, I'm Mario Tonoguszi, and this is Edmonton's podcast on Canada's podcast network.
[00:11] SPEAKER_02: Joining me today is Linda Follang, who is a leading Alberta blogger and social media strategist.
[00:20] SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Sep, for joining us today, Linda.
[00:22] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
[00:23] SPEAKER_02: Well, let me talk a little bit.
[00:25] SPEAKER_02: I asked you, first of all, just about being a blogger and how did you get into that?
[00:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I've actually had a blog since I was about 10 years old, but it wasn't really called a blog back then.
[00:40] SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't making any money off of it at that time.
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: So I really, I started blogging because I was kind of a nerdy kid.
[00:48] SPEAKER_00: I was on the computer a lot, and I really liked writing.
[00:52] SPEAKER_00: So I just hop on, write about thoughts, what I'm doing this week, things like that, and then it just kind of stuck with me over the years.
[01:02] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and then eventually I guess an industry sort of emerged around bloggers and content creators, and I had experience in that.
[01:11] SPEAKER_00: So I was able to kind of really benefit from it as well, but it's been a very long, I think, blog journey.
[01:17] SPEAKER_00: So what do you talk about?
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: I blog about basically food, things I'm eating, things other people should be eating, and travel during a pandemic.
[01:32] SPEAKER_00: There hasn't been much of that, but actually you might be surprised.
[01:35] SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of travel to be done right in your own province, as I've been doing a lot of that as well.
[01:41] SPEAKER_00: So it's mostly food and travel or my topics.
[01:43] SPEAKER_02: Well, a lot of people kind of wonder about blogging and that so how does one make money blogging?
[01:51] SPEAKER_00: Well, these days a lot of the money that's made blogging is through partnerships with companies.
[01:57] SPEAKER_00: So if you're blogging about hopefully topics that you're interested in and passionate about, then brands and businesses that are also sort of in that niche will want to partner with you to write blog content.
[02:09] SPEAKER_00: And now a lot of it is also social media content about that sort of topics.
[02:14] SPEAKER_00: You probably have similar audiences with your blog and a business, and then you kind of come together to still write about topics that you're interested in, but at the same time you're sort of doing it a way that highlights the business that you're partnering with as well.
[02:30] SPEAKER_00: That's probably the most common way to make money off of a blog today.
[02:34] SPEAKER_02: Okay, super. Now I imagine there are so many quote unquote bloggers out there.
[02:41] SPEAKER_02: So what's the key to being a good blogger?
[02:45] SPEAKER_02: What are some of the factors that kind of separates you?
[02:50] SPEAKER_02: I mean, you in general apart from anybody else, Tom Dick and Harry type thing that says, hey, I want to be a blogger.
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think the misconception is that I mean, certainly anyone can do it, but that it happens easily.
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: So really something that sets apart bloggers or content creators who are doing it for a living and are actually making money out of it is that they are working very hard.
[03:20] SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of work. And you're also investing a lot of your own time and a lot of your own money into it before you see really any type of reward or any type of let's say businesses wanting to work with you.
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: So it's a lot more work than people expect.
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: I think what sets people apart or, you know, me in general is that you have people that are also more ethical and have kind of integrity with what they choose to write about.
[03:50] SPEAKER_00: Who they choose to partner with the messages that they choose to share versus a whole lot of other people who are willing to kind of chill anything.
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: So you kind of have that difference.
[04:04] SPEAKER_00: And then I would say it's really I personally believe it comes down to the person.
[04:09] SPEAKER_00: So anyone can really write about or post about food related things.
[04:14] SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that I'm anymore, you know, knowledgeable about food than, you know, then a chef or someone who has studied food.
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: But it's really what what businesses want out of me or what people like when they look at my stuff is my personality.
[04:30] SPEAKER_00: So kind of really defining what your personality is. That is really going to set you apart.
[04:35] SPEAKER_02: I guess also one of the key things is being genuine and authentic, right?
[04:43] SPEAKER_02: How important is that?
[04:45] SPEAKER_00: So important. So I think everyone has probably met someone who they thought was going to be different based on their online personality or how they maybe write or post online.
[04:58] SPEAKER_00: And you don't you never want that. So you want to be the same person that you are.
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: And you want to make sure that you're true to your values. So something that is very important to me.
[05:09] SPEAKER_00: With my business where a lot of my income is coming in from partnerships with brands.
[05:14] SPEAKER_00: Is that I'll actually regularly decline work and I'll regularly decline business because I don't think it's a fit.
[05:21] SPEAKER_00: It doesn't suit my values. I actually anticipate there would be pushback from my followers who would maybe challenge.
[05:29] SPEAKER_00: You know, this doesn't this isn't you or this isn't who you have portrayed yourself to be.
[05:34] SPEAKER_00: So all of that stuff is super important is you got to make sure that it's what you're writing and who you're partnering with makes sense for how you have portrayed yourself online.
[05:44] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so you know, and how important is the visual aspect of a blog or a social media post, whether it's a photo or an actual video.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think what's really interesting is that blogger content creator people today are actually multiple multiple people.
[06:07] SPEAKER_00: They're photographers, their art directors, their videographers. So you have to have all of these pretty creative and technical skills.
[06:16] SPEAKER_00: And it is important to do so. And I think that's just kind of maybe how the industry has evolved is that people don't really want to look at a blurry photo of something.
[06:27] SPEAKER_00: So when you end so that kind of ties into figuring out your personality and your voice as well as it's your voice of your images too.
[06:35] SPEAKER_00: It's your voice of those visuals that you're putting out there. It's your style.
[06:39] SPEAKER_00: And you can see in like a quick scroll of someone's Instagram, okay, this is kind of their vibe or whatever that or whatever that would be.
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: And it might be a vibe that you like and it might be a vibe that you know you're not you're not vibing with.
[06:51] SPEAKER_00: But but people who are doing this for a living or want to do it for a living are very intentional about this is the type of lighting I like.
[07:01] SPEAKER_00: This is kind of the style of photo I like and all of those things play into what their audience is sort of think or expect of them.
[07:09] SPEAKER_02: Okay, I've got to ask you this question.
[07:12] SPEAKER_02: Food.
[07:13] SPEAKER_02: What is it about food that just draws like like a vacuum everybody's attention.
[07:21] SPEAKER_02: You can for myself all I I go to some place and I have a past edition and take a picture and put it.
[07:28] SPEAKER_02: Everybody's looking at it.
[07:30] SPEAKER_02: What is it about food?
[07:32] SPEAKER_00: Honestly, it's funny you say that because when I you know a decade ago when I was doing this there was a lot of people that would make fun of people who posted photos of their food.
[07:43] SPEAKER_00: And then you know a decade later it's like well actually I have made a business out of posting photos of my food.
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: But I think definitely in general whether it's food or or something else on social media a lot of it has to do with like an aspiration.
[07:58] SPEAKER_00: So I think people it's it's content that makes people want to eat that themselves want to travel there themselves and that's kind of what pulls them in and gets them excited.
[08:12] SPEAKER_02: Let's talk a little bit about social media what one of the things you do is social media strategist can you talk a little bit about that who do you talk to and who do you work with in that area.
[08:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so as a social media strategist I basically have a few different clients where I'm providing them with strategy plans I'm coming up with social media captions suggested visuals for them them to post on their accounts.
[08:39] SPEAKER_00: And so it's pretty nice I would say actually when I started my own business I'm in year three now of being my own boss.
[08:47] SPEAKER_00: When I started I thought it would be 50 50 kind of social media strategy work for clients and then 50% blogging content creation.
[08:56] SPEAKER_00: And it's actually it's probably actually more 80% is blogging content and 20% of strategy which is intentional.
[09:05] SPEAKER_00: So again I think there's a lot of power and getting to a position where you can turn down work or say that's not going to be a fit for me or you know maybe in your mind you're like it seems kind of boring.
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: I wanted to do that.
[09:21] SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, so I've got some really cool clients from the strategy side that I that I love so I work with an organization called World Skills International.
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: And their mission is to basically bolster skilled trades in young people around the world.
[09:38] SPEAKER_00: So it's super cool they do world competitions.
[09:41] SPEAKER_00: And they have members in countries all over the place and basically the ideas that we want to educate and train young people to have different hands on skills that helps economies helps them with their careers.
[09:54] SPEAKER_00: And then another one that I always do I take on every year it just it just wrapped up is Silver Skate Festival in Edmonton their Edmonton's longest running winter festival.
[10:03] SPEAKER_00: And so that's a very like short period of time I kind of come in right before the festival and then manage all of their social media strategy and content during the festival.
[10:14] SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so it's either a mix of sort of an ongoing strategy and consulting over the year for a couple of clients or it's very event based or campaign focus support which yeah which is which is my preference.
[10:27] SPEAKER_02: You know what I want to focus on the word strategy there for a second because I think that's an important key element of a business or an organization because a lot of them say yeah yeah we've got to get it out to social media I want to do social media.
[10:43] SPEAKER_02: But it's all have hazard and chaotic and it's all over the place and there is no strategy and so why is that important.
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: Yeah it's it's I think very missed because I think there is this per misconception that anyone can do social media because anyone can sign up for an account and start posting stuff.
[11:06] SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't mean that the stuff is good and then to use that word it doesn't mean that the content that you're sharing is strategic.
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: So why are you posting this why are you posting this many times why are you using these words and not these words.
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: So all of those things as part of that strategic planning or strategic thinking that I do for different businesses and then I think all businesses could benefit from.
[11:30] SPEAKER_00: It's just usually they just want to say well well don't you just you just post a picture.
[11:35] SPEAKER_00: But then if you but then when you don't see results from that you have to start thinking oh well maybe it's because I shouldn't have posted this picture or that this picture didn't have or serve any purpose for my bigger goals.
[11:48] SPEAKER_00: And that's really the part of strategy is that you're trying to tie those very tactical pieces to something bigger.
[11:55] SPEAKER_00: And you're trying to make sure that what you're posting on social media lines up with maybe what you're doing in store and then lines up with what your bigger picture goals for your business are.
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: And it's a lot of work so that's why it's often missed.
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: It's just they kind of just jump right to the just do it.
[12:13] SPEAKER_02: But you know whether you know whether they do it right or wrong.
[12:17] SPEAKER_02: I guess the point is they have to be on it right like I guess on bird of and anyways kind of unwise for any organization or business not to have some presence on social media these days right.
[12:35] SPEAKER_00: Yeah I usually say because I've had clients in the past who who didn't care about social media or didn't think it was worth the time.
[12:44] SPEAKER_00: And I had said to them you know you might not first of all you're missing an opportunity if anything you're missing an opportunity to reach more people to create customers to get people to spend money with your business.
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: But then you're also just because you are not on social media does not mean that people are not talking about your business or your services on social media.
[13:07] SPEAKER_00: So why wouldn't you want to be where people are talking about it or potentially talking about it.
[13:12] SPEAKER_00: So yeah huge opportunity in general lots of positive aspects of it.
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: And then there's also a lot of you know crisis management that occurs or can occur online too.
[13:24] SPEAKER_00: But you might be missing if you're sort of rejecting being on it.
[13:28] SPEAKER_02: Okay let's switch gears for a second and talk you know you know some people might not think you know what what you do as a blogger is a business but indeed is a business right.
[13:41] SPEAKER_02: And tell me what it's like for you to be an entrepreneur what do you what do you like about doing what you do from from that aspect.
[13:50] SPEAKER_00: Yeah I mean I love setting my own hours sort of so I think maybe maybe the misconception with being your own boss is that you don't work a traditional nine to five which is can be true.
[14:03] SPEAKER_00: But then what they don't actually follow up with saying is that you're probably working like until midnight.
[14:11] SPEAKER_00: So you're kind of working 24 seven in a lot of ways and because it's your business in in in many ways you don't a you don't mind because you're it's something you've built in it's something that you want to grow and and build success for so you'll you'll put in as many hours as you want because it's it's your kind of baby.
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: And then to I think it's sort of you sort of blur the lines a lot so I love that I'm able to take you know really long lunch break my job is a little confusing because taking a lunch break could be considered working for me since I passed it out for much.
[14:47] SPEAKER_00: But I can take a long lunch break and then just kind of make it up in the evening so the flexibility I think is really nice I never have to worry about well no I can't do that because I have to be at my desk for something I don't really know.
[15:00] SPEAKER_00: I need to do that so I love that and I think it's just the the opportunity to see something like an idea that you have and something that you've worked on and kind of created sort of come to life and and see success I think that's really that that's one of the really cool things about entrepreneurship is an idea to creation.
[15:21] SPEAKER_02: On the flip side then what do you like about being an entrepreneur.
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: I think really it is that no work life balance and probably some entrepreneurs are better at it than others and I'm certainly trying to set my boundaries I think it's again my scenario is a bit different because my hobby is also social media so that's what I would be on during my downtime but then my social media is also my work.
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: So it feels like I never actually have any type of downtime so that's kind of that's I think probably the biggest show.
[15:57] SPEAKER_02: Okay so I'm curious and I know you said you did this kind of writing stuff since you were young and a little girl.
[16:06] SPEAKER_02: If you weren't doing what you do now what career path do you think you would have taken.
[16:14] SPEAKER_00: Yeah so I thought for a long time growing up that I would be a teacher because I do like and I actually do that in my work now I do social media training so there's some of that so I always thought I would either be a teacher or actually what I went to school for because I didn't you can't actually go to school technically to major in social media but there's lots of courses you can take that are related to social media but I went to school for journalism and television.
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: I was in broadcasting so I mean a lot of the skills are so transferable and so what I like to say is that my job is I'm a storyteller and just how I tell the stories has changed so if I wasn't doing social media kind of storytelling I would probably I could still see myself doing it in other maybe more traditional ways.
[17:05] SPEAKER_02: You know I just as an aside I get oh and you mentioned about social media and education and stuff I have noticed so now that more institutions are starting to offer that right and I believe you obey you know for all the listeners out there who are curious.
[17:24] SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was you have a has has got some program in place because I see their ads keep popping up on social media to entice me to join these social media skills.
[17:37] SPEAKER_00: It's funny you mentioned that I actually teach two of the courses of that you have a social media certificate.
[17:43] SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'll sign up and you can give me a thing.
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: I love to.
[17:49] SPEAKER_02: Alright let's work like balance you talked about but you do other things besides this and I want to talk about two of your initiatives.
[17:58] SPEAKER_02: One is you're the founder of stop race based hate tell me what that's about.
[18:05] SPEAKER_00: Yeah so stop race based hate is a new initiative I teamed up with my friends Jesse Kayabo and Carmen Cheng who are both in Calgary Alberta.
[18:15] SPEAKER_00: We're all we're all women of color we've all experienced racism and in the past year we just have felt more compelled to do something and so the more we sort of shared about anti racism just on our our personal social media accounts.
[18:33] SPEAKER_00: The more feedback we kept getting from people that oh I've never thought about it that way or oh thank you for articulating this in this way.
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: So we found that there appeared to be this gap in people wanted to call out racism but they just couldn't find the right words or explanation to do it.
[18:56] SPEAKER_00: So the initiative is basically a website tool that has a bunch of different racist statements many of them are subtle racist statements that that a lot of people are like oh I didn't know that that was wrong to say.
[19:09] SPEAKER_00: And then it gives people those words so it gives an explanation as to why this is racist it gives more resources and reading so that people can kind of educate and arm themselves with words.
[19:21] SPEAKER_00: And then kind of have that confidence to go out and when someone in their network does say something racist they're not going to feel like they can't say anything because they're not sure what to say the tool helps them find those words to call out racism.
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: Okay super and it's a tough to say quickly stop.
[19:44] SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like a little yeah stop race based hate.ca
[19:52] SPEAKER_02: Second thing this has kind of been intriguing to me when I saw on your bio you're also founder of the Edmonton International cat festival.
[20:02] SPEAKER_02: Yeah so that is.
[20:03] SPEAKER_00: So the Edmonton International cat festival launched in 2014 and at the time we were the only cat festival of its kind in Canada.
[20:15] SPEAKER_00: Since then there's one other there's one other cat fest war friends with them so it's fine.
[20:19] SPEAKER_00: But but it's basically a big celebration of cats and then we raise money for cat rescues so it's a charitable event it's once a year it's literally like just a big party for cat people.
[20:33] SPEAKER_00: And we have all sorts of cat related content.
[20:37] SPEAKER_00: You can pet cats you can learn about cats on a need like stage educational conference component.
[20:45] SPEAKER_00: You can do cat crafts we fly in before the pandemic we flew in celebrity cats and people would line up to meet celebrity cats.
[20:55] SPEAKER_00: We've had sookie the cat is an adventure cat we had no other cat who holds the Guinness world record for most Instagram followers.
[21:05] SPEAKER_00: Oh my man.
[21:06] SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh I don't know what she's at now I a lot like millions and millions of millions for a cat.
[21:15] SPEAKER_00: And great grams of Gary is an adventure cat so we've had we've had a whole bunch pudge the cat I could literally we could have a whole conversation about the lot.
[21:24] SPEAKER_00: But it's a really fun event and and most importantly we've been able to raise a lot of money for cat rescues every year so we've gone virtual the last couple years this year will be virtual in May as well but we're hoping in 2023 will be back in person.
[21:38] SPEAKER_02: Alright super well that was great Linda appreciate your time in this.
[21:42] SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
[21:44] SPEAKER_02: Alright super that was Linda Hawaiian who is a leading Alberta blogger and social media strategist on Mario ton of goosey.
[21:53] SPEAKER_02: This has been Edmonton's podcast on Canada's podcast network. Thanks for joining us today.
[22:27] Speaker UNKNOWN: Thank you.
