Corcus Featured Creator ❤️ Lauren Gabel (@theoutofofficegal)
Our post this week features Lauren (@theoutofofficegal), a digital nomad and content creator that will make you want to hop on a plane the next chance you get. For the time being, she has some great tips on working remotely and “satiating wanderlust” for travel lovers! You can check out her blog for more.
About Lauren
Tell us a little about your background. When did you start creating content? What got you to start?
I have always loved traveling, and last year I was able to transition to working remotely and became a digital nomad! Around this same time, I started my travel blog and Instagram account to track my journeys and give me a creative outlet. I had no idea how starved I had been for a creative outlet…
I studied film in college (at USC) and was always doing theater, writing and other artistic pursuits as a kid. Having a place to share my thoughts on travel and connect with other like-minded travelers has been so special and given me so much joy!
Do you see creating content as your full-time job or more of a hobby that you do in your free time?
I work in branded content & influencer & social media marketing as my day job so there’s a lot of overlap in what I do. But I’d love to work with more travel clients and find ways to mesh the two worlds!
Do you have any specific goals set for yourself for the coming months?
I have committed myself to write 2-3 articles a week for my blog. It’s honestly not easy, but I’ve also been getting guest blog posts to help! I also want to do more giveaways on my channel. I think now it’s especially nice to do something special for my followers with everything going on in the world.
Tips + Advice
What kinds of tools do you use to stay consistent and active on your social media?
I love Later - it helps me pre-plan my feed and pre-write my captions so I don’t have to worry about it each day. It’s nice to block schedule when you have downtime (which for me is usually when I’m on a flight!) and then not have to worry about it!
What are some of your favorite editing tools? (If you use them)
I use Lightroom to edit my photos! The Desktop version is a lot more powerful but for people just getting started the mobile version is free. I always recommend starting with buying some creator’s presets and then learning to create your own style from there.
What are some tips for creators who are just getting started?
Post everyday & make sure that every caption you write has a purpose - is it sharing a point of view, giving inspiration, posing an interesting question, etc? Make sure you understand who your target demo is and that you are speaking directly to them, their needs, their desires, commiserating with them, etc.
How do you balance your personal and work life?
I use Toggl to track my time spent on different activities - which not only helps me understand where my day goes, but also helps me to focus on important tasks.
How did you “learn” the ways of content creation? Are there any resources you see as absolutely necessary?
I went to film school so that gave me a nice foundation for general composition. I also just scroll Instagram ALOT in my free time (and for work), and am always reading other travel blogs. It’s really important to understand your niche and what other people are doing. I see photo editing as absolutely necessary — you can get someone to take photos for you but I think it’s important to give your feed its own look and feel. There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube on how to edit photos in Lightroom too!
What kind of advice do you have for creators who are not seeing any progress or success?
I would say, go back to the basics that I mentioned above. Make sure you are extremely focused on who your target audience is and what type of content resonates with them—when you’re starting out it’s important to know what your niche is….you can always expand to a broader niche/group from there. What I mean by that, is you are going to have a lot easier time if you focus on lingerie or shoes than if you are a lifestyle generalist. Make connections with other people in your niche and try to do collaborations when/where you can. Take a look at your hashtag strategy too….are you using a good mix of hashtags and does the content you are posting LOOK like the other posts that are ranking for those hashtags?
What are some of the biggest misconceptions that people have about you that you’d like to address?
That I’m happy and carefree all the time haha. I work really hard!
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced or you are facing as a creator/influencer?
For me, the biggest challenge is balancing everything I’m doing on my travel channels with my day job. Also, another big challenge at the moment is coming up with creative ways to keep posting engaging, useful content - especially since I’m a travel channel & everyone is currently in a travel hiatus due to COVID-19! But I know people still want travel content and I have still been posting daily. My strategy had to change a bit….a lot of virtual tours and ways to satiate wanderlust while you’re stuck at home!
Working with Brands
What have you found to be the biggest challenge in working with brands?
I’ve been pretty lucky in that all the brands I’ve worked with so far have been really collaborative and the processes have been extremely smooth. Timing can sometimes be a challenge for me since I don’t travel all the time and usually want to be in a cool destination when capturing branded content!
What brands have you worked with in the past? What are some that you would like to work with?
I’ve worked with 8x8 Video Conferencing, Kosan Travel, Embe Clothing, Safety Wing, etc. In the future, I’d love to work with airlines and hotel brands! Oh, and Airbnb Experiences would be a dream partner as well — I’m their biggest fan & I talk about them all the time on IG & my blog haha.
For creators affected during this time, you are not alone. We’re here to help, even if it means sourcing some inspiration for you. Our community has so much to offer!
Find some of your favorite brands to work with here.
Love,
Corcus Team
If you are interested in being part of this series, please email lisa@corcus.io.