Now Let Me Ink That Page: What Do You Do, Pen?

Dear Pennies & Pens,

I am irritated because I feel like people don’t understand who I am and what I do. After all these years of blogging and using social media to promote my brand it still feels like I am just not good enough.

Let me rewind and explain with this post, Now Let Me Ink That Page: What Do You Do, Pen? I am currently working on producing a Summer travel series through my company, The InkSpot. As you know, I launched The InkSpot last month and wrote about it here: Press Pen: The InkSpot. I created The InkSpot last year because I realized that I needed to create a central home for my brands.

With The InkSpot, I can produce a variety of different brands, projects, and products under one company. This way everything I do comes from one place. This will help me stay focused and I can still do more than one thing. And since I seem to love having a never ending to do list this is perfect for me, lol!

Okay so back to this week and why I am in a bad mood, people just don’t get it yo. I started blogging in 2008, I launched this site in 2010, co-founded an agency that same year, went to Uzebekistan (twice; last time in 2012), was the only blogger invited to attend and cover the the Couture Council Luncheon Honoring Valentino, worked with clients like Brooklyn Public Library and the Fund Forum of Uzbekistan, not to mention I have worked with stylists, models, musicians, etc to provide PR & social media marketing.

I have also written a book, I manage two blogs on a regular basis, I have Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and Google+. Additionally, I built this site, The InkSpot’s website, and the site for my agency, The Network.

Everything I have done has been with no training. Except for a few blog posts, books, and random conversations with industry peers, I am completely self taught. No one taught me how to do any of the things I mentioned above. I do have a degree in English so that helped me with my writing.

So by now you’re wondering, what do you do, Pen? And what is the purpose of this post? Well, I am a Lifestyle Blogger, Editor, Publicist, Stylist, CEO of The InkSpot, and Co-Founder of The Network. As a Lifestyle Blogger, I create lifestyle content that will motivate, inspire, empower, and entertain my readers. I blog here on de la Pen…All Pen Everything. I refer to myself as a Lifestyle Blogger although de la Pen….All Pen Everything is an online magazine.

As an Editor, I edit all the posts here on de la Pen…All Pen Everything and I edited my book, #MakeUrPenLOUD: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger. I am proud to say that in the five years since I launched de la Pen, I have only published one spelling error.

With #MakeUrPenLOUD, it took me about 3 months to edit the book. It was an extremely tedious process because I did 3 edits, meaning I edited the book in its entirety 3 times. Since I am the ultimate perfectonist, I had to make sure spelling, grammar was on point as well as ensure that it was consistent, relevant, and actually provided great info.

As a Publicist, I provide PR & marketing for clients. My Publicist title falls under The Network which is the creative agency, I co-founded with my business partner Cacha` in 2010. We work with fashion, beauty, music, art, and lifestyle brands.

We hosted an event called Flavor’s Night Out in April where we offered guests an exclusive preview of Jewels by Cacha` and #MakeUrPenLOUD: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger. Right now, we’re focusing on developing content for our online magazine Flavor and landing new clients.

As a Stylist, I style campaigns for The Network and its clients as well as styling editorials here on de la Pen…All Pen Everything. I have worked with a variety of models and photographers on various shoots.

In March of 2015, The Network launched an online marketing campaign for Y-Clad called Y-Clad Lover’s Lane so I styled that along with my business partner Cacha`. It should be noted that this is also the same time I was styling the Pen.Style: #MakeUrPenLOUD campaign so I had two campaigns to prepare for in the same month.

As CEO of The InkSpot, I oversee the development and execution of all projects. This means that I create content, pitch collaborations to brands, develop products, manage freelancers, do research, manage and oversee the website, launch marketing campaigns, post on social media, etc.

As Co-Founder of The Network, I collaborate with my business partner to execute all projects, build relationships with prospective clients, create client proposals, build and launch PR & marketing campaigns, plan events, do research, post on social media, etc.

Last but not least, I am Author of #MakeUrPenLOUD: How To Lifestyle Blogger. As an Author, I have to focus on sales & marketing now that the book is done. I promote the book by attending events, reaching out to the media, sharing content from the book on social media, etc. In the future, I would like to do more but that’s all I can handle for now.

As you can see, I am LoudPen. Not just because it’s my brand name but because it’s what I do and who I am. My Pen is LOUD because it is everywhere. I am All Pen Everything because if you look closely, you’ll see my pen everywhere you go.

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.