Making money through blogging is a long road: Afreen Ansari

When not working on her blog or interacting with Insta fam, Afreen Ansari is busy juggling briefs and deadlines as a digital marketer.

When it comes to content creation and understanding the pulse of her audiences, Afreen Ansari relies on her instincts and observations. She tries to dabble in different genres that are relatable to people. These include travel, stories, fashion, food, skincare and motivation. In conversation with Social Samosa, she tells us more.

Looking back, where did it all begin? 

It all began in 2012 from Twitter, where I made a lot of friends, some of them pushed me to document my travel journey and that’s how I started blogging in 2016. And because of this push, I eventually took that step to start my website and other social media platforms.

What's in the name? 

I wanted a name that was more personal and emerges from one of my personality & attributes. After brainstorming for months with my then creative writer Sukhita Aiyar, we zeroed down on Unfiltered. As I am the kind of person who won’t really put a filter while sharing my mind and feelings. I am well known in my circle as the straight forward person who’s always clear and never filters or sugar coats her thoughts. So the name is more of an extension of how I am.

What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content give you an edge?

Everyone has a way of sharing their stories. I think my POV in storytelling differentiates me from the rest. I also love sourcing fabric wherever I travel which are then thought through and customized as per different styles. The happiness of thinking, sourcing, designing and stitching clothes all by myself, without any professional degree or course makes me happy and content. And I feel that somewhere down the line it also gives an edge to my content in comparison to others. You can find my creation on different social media accounts using #AafCreation.

Please take us through your content creation process. How do you stay relevant and relatable?

I try to create and post content on various genres that are relatable to people alike. From sharing Travel tips, stories, travel inspiration to Fashion inspiration while travelling, the kind of care your skin needs and also the lovely moments of Foodgasm. After all, we are a combination of all these, so they should reflect on our accounts no?

How do you make moolah with your efforts?

Making money through blogging and micro-blogging is a long road. It’s there but with lots of struggles as it’s a competitive market. As for me, it’s more inclined toward my passion and interest. Money is an additional bonus! 

How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?

Understanding and being flexible on letting you create content your way is a bit difficult when you have lesser followers. I do get it my way with some brands but not with all. So you can just let go of such brands, as in the end, collaborations shouldn’t move your users away, because what the brand wants sometimes become extreme promotional. Do stuff that you believe in and want to share with your users and you’ll be fine.

Also Read: For Ragini Varma, blogging is a byproduct of her love for fashion

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile.

Randomly bumping into one of my followers while travelling to Lonavala and how she shared her story of how I inspired her to open her official page on Instagram. Trust me, it was a Cloud9 moment for me and I was extremely happy. It’s quite a different feeling to know that you actually can touch and impact so many people.

Weirdest brand brief/request ever?

Come on our app and just be online with your face in focus while you can share any instances from any genre. Like Really?

If not blogging, you would be?

Most of the people don’t know this but I am a full-time Digital Marketer. But if not blogging then I would have been juggling with something else too. As I am the kind of person that needs to do keep doing something even beyond office hours!

A day in your life...

Is juggling with office timelines/deadlines, along with making sure I get to travel, create content for my website and Insta Fam. So it’s a lot of juggling, last-minute briefs, never-ending meetings with new people, creating content, researching on what next should I do and making sure I do get to spend some time every day with my parents too.

Message/tips for upcoming bloggers

Everyone gets to the top, but for that dedication, professionalism and discipline are required. You have to be dedicated to what you do and keep doing, be professional while working for brands or interacting and dealing with people and discipline in your content creation because users follow you to stay updated and we can’t keep them deprived for long.

Your Favorite Influencer

There are quite a few, but to top my list it's Larissa and MasoomMinawala

The Future you foresee for your Personal Brand

To get more recognition in the coming years.