As a stay-at-home Mom, I had the luxury of being able to choose to stay home with my children over my career. A choice, that is not for everyone. Prior to having kids I was a high school history teacher. I eventually got my masters in counseling which led to a position as a high school guidance counselor.
My Legacy
Deciding to pick my children over my career was not an easy choice. I was blissfully unaware that the loss of my “identity” would be a part of my journey deciding to stay at home. In the first few years of motherhood, I found peace in knowing that my identity and legacy was going to be how I parented my beautiful children. While I continue to be fulfilled by this, their full time school schedule opened up more time to do me!
Suddenly I found myself in a crossroad, I went from being a full time mom while they were babies, to a part time mom while they were away at school. It’s impossible for the kids to not always be top of mind, but I now had the opportunity to consider my own creative outlet, like our blog. After careful consideration of the bigger picture (lifestyle, finances, etc.) my husband and I decided me staying home was the best option. Most days I’m grateful for the opportunity to be home, but I would be lying if I said there were days that I wished I used the wealth of knowledge I gained in my academic career becoming a teacher and counselor.
Currently Craving:
The Takeaway
Learning to be OK with my life journey has taken some time. I know that it will continue to evolve as I get older. The flip-flopping of my desire to go back to work versus feeling blessed to be at home feels so much a part of my daily emotional roller coaster. As I write this, I find it empowering to remind myself, and those around me, that OUR journey is special and unique. You don’t need to fit your life into a specific check box of either working mom or stay at home mom. Doing “you” in whatever capacity allows you to be the best version of yourself, and in turn the best version of a partner and mother.
This post has been a long time coming for two reasons:
It was the question we were trying to answer when we started Chicks And Salsa.
It is the number one question we get asked.
When we started this journey, it was more about curiosity and what was behind influence and what that meant. In a very small part of the internet where Chicks And Salsa has lived for three years, we are starting to reflect and put the pieces of the puzzle together for people who may just now be thinking about starting a blog.
So lets get right into the knitty gritty of how Chicks And Salsa has managed to stay out of the red since we started.
Sponsored Posts
Once we gathered a small, but meaningful audience, we were starting to get some interest from brands who were interested in our niche. When I say small, I mean about 300 followers on Facebook and nearly 2000 followers on Instagram. We developed a media kit based on industry standards as set by FOHR and moved forward. Here is a look at our very first sponsored post, . We are so grateful to all of the brands who have taken a chance on Chicks And Salsa. We have learned a lot along the way and could not have done it without those opportunities.
This topic is very complicated and if there are some specifics that you would like from us, please feel free to leave a question in the comments below. Generally speaking, Chicks and Salsa started out with two affiliate platforms, Amazon Associates, and RewardStyle (aka LikeToKnow.it). There is a wealth of information about both of these available on YouTube and if you are interested in a referral to RewardStyle, shoot us a DM and we will be happy to put that in.
Amazon Associates generally has VERY low commissions, but since everyone shops on Amazon it is a quick way to capture data about what your audience likes and what price points are most effective.
Rewardstyle is the GO-TO destination for all your favorite bloggers. Also known as LikeToKnow.It, affiliates can create links for most top brands, and commissions can be up to 20% during peak seasons. They have many tools that make posting looks to Instagram and your blog (and Pinterest!) super easy. Inserting affiliate links into pins on Pinterest, is a pro tip to getting more likes on the app and hits to your website. Since joining RewardStyle I have made over $2000 in commissions- that definitely helps me offset some of the expenses associated with running the blog.
If you are looking for something easier for your followers to shop, consider joining RewardStyle. Referrals can help you get in the first time, so email me at [email protected] for a referral!
Via Share A Sale, Chicks and Salsa has become affiliates for a lot of amazing brands which basically means that we have been vetted and approved for high commissions from these brands in particular. We will be attending Think Tank next month to learn more about the affiliate marketing space and what is next for influencers.
We make about 25% of our income from affiliate links which
is kind of crazy in retrospect when I think about all the time I have spent
chasing down commissions.
Note: I just wanted to add a personal note about commissions; bloggers in all content areas work very hard to give you ideas that are of value to you. So if you like something you see on a friend/blogger, given them credit for that idea or purchase, it does not cost you ANYTHING to be supportive. I recently wrote a post about my favorite work out gear and rightfully credited a fellow blogger for the introduction.
Free Stuff
This is the fun part right? Truthfully, Sonia and I do not have boxes flooding our doorstep, but over the years we have had dozens of companies ask for feedback and shares of new products that have been fun to check out. As our platform continues to grow so do the opportunities. Lately it seems like we are being approached by more companies which feels great after creating thousands of pieces of content over the past three years week after week.
Also we are in the top 1% of reviewers in Chicago for TripAdvisor, so we have found ways to convert that into what I call ‘elevated’ restaurant experiences. I never ask a restaurant for anything, but I do let them know who we are and that we are coming to check them out and sometimes that translates into little goodies- why not!?!?
The Costs
The time it takes to create content is the true cost of blogging. The cost of hosting my site costs me less than $300/year, business registration for Chicks And Salsa LLC is $390/year, and I do use about $600 for Facebook Ads per year.
Answering What and Why?
In my case, I left my full time job to go all in on Chicks and Salsa and in doing so realized some things that I was missing. Last year, I started a social media management company, Digital Chicks Media, and have been fortunate to help out small businesses and brands deliver consistent content on their channels. Most recently, Sonia and I have also launched an e-commerce store , ChicksAndSalsaStore, to help get our followers good deals on practical fashion finds.
I hope you found this post to be interesting a thorough, I know I have wondered what all of this was really about and even though the money is important and feels good, the connections and friendships are why we blog.
I have shared before that I live in a small town, but thanks to social media, my reach is so much greater and I can learn so much from my phone every day.
Thanks for checking out this post!
Your Chick,
Rina
**These are all observations made purely by me and there are so many ways to ‘blog’ so everyone’s hustle may vary. The bottom line is, share what you love on ANY platform and you will get out of it what you put in.**
I recall jokingly saying that when I landed my first tequila collaboration I would feel like Chicks And Salsa would have really “made it.” With us always being conscious of our diet, cutting calories on the weekends by bidding farewell to wine was a good first step. But honestly, for a few years now, Tequila has been our go to liquor of choice and now thanks to a fellow #BossBabe we are happy to share with you FINO Tequila, Chicago’s best pour!
Failure Is Not An Option
The term FINO, in Spanish, means fine, smooth and high-quality. FINO is also an acronym for FAILURE IS NOT an OPTION. Owners, Jana and Sonali truly believe in this philosophy and it is stemmed from their exceptional dedication to their brand, FINO TEQUILA.
In honor of one of our favorite collaborations, I bring to you a few simple recipes.
FINO Paloma
This recipe is dedicated to my good friend, Maria, that introduced me to it over a decade ago!!
1 Part Fino Blanco or Reposado
3 Parts Grapefruit Soda
Stir and Serve over ice!
1-2-3 Tequila-Tini
This next recipe comes all the way from Dublin Ireland. When I visited Dublin recently, a bartender named Ben had mixed up the perfect drink, so I of course had to learn how he did it!
Do you feel that…the urge to start Spring cleaning? Yeah, me too. Between the Netflix series Tidying Up and my kids outgrowing their clothes faster than I can clear them out…it’s about that time! But before you start throwing things into piles, consider re-purposing your denim (and your kids denim and leggings too!)
Before you know it, it’s going to be HOT, like REALLY HOT here in Georgia, so why not up-cycle your old jeans into a cute new pair of jean shorts? To help you get the look that is right for you, here are a few helpful tips.
Start off with a pair of shorts that you wear regularly and lay them on top of an old pair of jeans that you are considering getting rid of (visit our Pinterest page).
Grab some chalk and
a pair of scissors and carefully draw a line across the front and along the
back of the jeans. You will need to lay the shorts upside down on the
back since the measurements around the back tend to be longer.
These looks are currently 50% off
Cut the front part of the legs off first and THEN cut off the backside of the leg to accommodate for different lengths. For a distressed look like I am doing, throw the shorts into the washer and they are ready to go!
For a more polished or hemmed look you will want to add about two inches to your length to make room for the folds.
Do More
There are so many easy ways to do your part in helping save the environment. In addition to up-cycling, here are three easy things I have done as part of my 2019 new year’s resolution are:
1- Use more hand
towels and less paper towels. I have found that if the paper towels are
NOT on the counter, my family looks for and uses the alternative.
2- Use a reusable water bottle (check out our gift guides). Not only does this actually make me drink more water, but I also feel good about not piling up all that unnecessary plastic in our landfills.
3- Use reusable bags. Our local Aldi has really been a catalyst for driving this behavior. By not giving groceries in plastic bags, they have forced me to keep bags in my car. I find that I use them when I got to Kroger and Wal-Mart too!
Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference. Which one of these behaviors can you commit to trying out in order to do a little bit to make this community and the world a little bit better?
