To learn more about Rike, check out the Posh Journal spotlight.
Rika Agustini’s blog Posh Journal is a beautiful example of how diverse a blog can be. The name “Posh Journal” was inspired by Rika’s love of travel, lifestyle, and fashion. Though she wasn’t as interested in creating recipe posts, one day she took a shot of her homemade chicken noodle soup with her iPhone and submitted it to Food Gawker on a whim. She was surprised and delighted when they accepted her photo and it inspired her to share recipes on her blog. Rika bought a DSLR camera and taught herself photography. Now when you visit Posh Journal, you’ll find a lot of recipes mixed in with the other lifestyle content.
Read on to see how Rika keeps her blog theme consistent while branching out into different topics!
Do you have a favorite category to post about?
Recipes! Food is always on my mind.
Throughout 2017, you were very consistent in posting to various categories. Do you have a system to keep that output consistent?
I actually don’t have a system. I guess that I just created my blog around those things that I’m most interested in, so by nature I want to post on each of these categories quite frequently.
How do you keep stylistic consistency from, say, a beauty post to a food post?
Last year, I was really into a bright, minimalist theme. Whether working on posts for beauty, fashion or food the same approach could be applied to the arrangements, the shots and the editing.
You have a very defined aesthetic. How did you cultivate this from your early days blogging to now?
I still remember one of my earliest campaign posts for Linqia! I see a lot of progress from my early days of blogging to now. That goes back to Linqia being much more than a means to a great income. I see each campaign as an opportunity to learn new things and take it as a challenge to grow my skill set in reaching the requirements and goals. This has helped bring my blog and entire career to a new level.
What would you say to help other influencers find their aesthetic and voice in their blog?
Be patient, just keep trying, learning new things till you find your own voice.
You always do an amazing job on Linqia programs, reaching your clicks as well as posting beautiful content. What advice do you have for succeeding on paid influencer campaigns?
Sometimes my first try on something just doesn’t turn out. I recommend not being afraid to scrap one idea and go with something else. Also, never underestimate the importance of social media! Just keep sharing!
How has diversifying your blog topics helped you find success with paid influencer campaigns?
It helped me find more opportunities as I cast a wider net. I think it’s also fun to write about different things, so this approach probably keeps me upbeat as well as I get to cover such a wide variety of topics.
For an influencer with only a few blog categories looking to branch out, what advice do you have?
Stay genuine and choose categories that make sense for your blog, but are also areas where you have a deep interest. I branched out to food as I could talk about food all day long to my family and friends… it was a natural fit.
How do you find balance between sponsored and non-sponsored posts? Do you have any rules about this?
It’s fun to mix it up, I really enjoy having that balance between the two. As a rule I always try to have at least 50% of my posts be non-sponsored.
This is a fun question that everyone in the office has: where do you find the amazing flowers and foliage you use in your blog posts? It adds such a nice natural touch and is a signature of your aesthetic!
Most often I just pick up fresh flowers and foliage from my local Trader Joe’s or my backyard! I only buy what’s in season because they are much cheaper. In some cases I grow my own flowers, but finding my green thumb has been an uphill battle.
What blogging goals do you have for 2018?
Of course to bring more traffic to my site, publish content more often, improve my SEO & photography skills, and to produce videos
What was your favorite Linqia program? Why?
Absolut Vodka. They have had ingenious marketing campaigns for decades so to partner with them in the marketing field is a true honor. The product was Absolut Elyx which is unique and groundbreaking, so that makes it all the more special. I have worked with Absolut twice this year (thank you Linqia!). For one campaign I had a modern and clean theme, for the other it was dark and rustic.
