Entrepreneur: Quigley Goode 

Biz: Officially Quigley, The Soulcial Media 

Tilt: Encouraging fashion risk-taking

Primary Channel: Instagram (334K)

Other Channels: TikTok (143.3K), newsletter (45K)

Time to First Dollar: 1 year

Rev Streams: Sponsored content, online course, e-books,  Amazon, brand partnerships (e.g., a bag collection for Nena & Co and a capsule collection for Amazon) 

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

  • Build an email list: Though Quigley has large followings on Instagram and TikTok, she captures email addresses through her newsletter in part because if her social media accounts are hacked, she still can connect with her core audience.
  • Be proactive: Quigley didn’t wait for brands to come to her, she went to them, researching their public relations team, pitching ideas, and more.
  • Customize your rates: Basing your sponsored content rates on the number of followers isn’t necessarily the best way to go. Know your industry and work with professionals to figure out the numbers. 

The Story

In 2011, Quigley Goode pursued a career in broadcast entertainment journalism. She moved to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming an on-air host and breaking into the music industry.  While creating press materials for her music, she connected with photographers who did her photo shoots so they could add them to their portfolios. 

Quigley posted her fashion-focused photos on Instagram to promote her music and grow her account. “I didn’t have any intention of monetizing social media. I didn’t have any intention of growing an audience. But as I was working with these photographers and collaborating with them, it slowly built.” says the Instagram content creator.

Ten years later, Quigley has 334K followers on Instagram and 143.3K on TikTok. She posts about fashion, family, and food with a focus on keepin’ it real.

Growing a blog

In 2015, Quigley’s mom found an article about a blogger who made $500K in one year. That’s when Quigley realized she could turn her own blog into a business. At the time, the Instagram content creator had about 10K followers on the platform. She put her life on hold – including music and modeling – to throw everything into content creation. 

“I told my managers that I’m not going to work on anything for a while and not to book me any sessions. I took one year to go full force at pursuing this one avenue and teaching myself everything I could about starting a blog and how to monetize a blog. That’s when I started seeing bigger strides because I was able to really concentrate my energy in one spot,” Quigley says. 

Influencer Quigley spent a year learning everything she could about #blogging. Concentrating all her energy in one area helped her make bigger strides. #contententrepreneur #creatoreconomy Click To Tweet

At the time, blogs and affiliate marketing were more lucrative than Instagram. Brands were interested in partnering with bloggers on sponsored posts that would send readers to their website. “They wanted to get people off of Instagram. I think that was an attempt at better conversions,” Quigley says. 

“Now, the bulk of influencers’ income is coming directly from the brand, whereas before (influencers) were trying to make commission through the links,” she says. Today, her blog is more a place where people can see major life updates and course offerings than a place to publish sponsored content with affiliate links.

Earning an income 

“At the beginning of her career, Quigley reached out to brands about creating content in exchange for money or travel expenses. “Very early on, I chased down the contact for American Eagle, and I was able to get a partnership,” she says, noting American Eagle sponsored a trip she pitched. “That was the first time where I was able to do what I really wanted to do, which was travel and make content.” 

From there, she began researching and reaching out to brands’ PR representatives. “I knew that as a creator, I could facilitate the entire photo shoot from start to finish. I knew that I had enough experience with production, management, modeling, and styling that I could figure out how to accomplish a full photoshoot with just a team of two people,” Quigley says. 

In 2018, she finally viewed her brand as an established content business. “Once I started to view my blog not as something that I was doing for me but as something that I was doing as a service to help other women find their unique style and explore their relationships, I started to consider it as a business,” she says. 

Once Quigley saw her blog as a service to help other women, she considered it a business. #contententrepreneur #creatoreconomy Click To Tweet

Now, brands reach out to her with their ideas and expectations. “Most brands that have larger budgets have their marketing strategy planned out for the entire year and know exactly what they want to do with it. So they generally will seek you out, but you never know when you knock on someone’s door, how you might fit into their budget make the connection.”

In 2019, this Instagram content creator and her team earned $500K in gross revenue. 

Establishing rates

Quigley says that the influencer industry is often referred to as the Wild West because there isn’t a standard formula to set rates. “Followers don’t matter as much as everyone thinks that they do. When you’re determining your rates, the best thing to do is to look at comparable industries,” Quigley explains.

Since she has experience in the entertainment industry, she charges a day rate comparable to what she would earn as an on-camera talent. In Los Angeles, that’s between $1.5K and $3K. 

While some charge $1k per 100K followers, Quigley isn’t an advocate of that practice. “In my opinion, if you can have 20K, you sure as hell should be charging $1K per post because engagement and reach are much more important metrics that brands look at to decide who they want to hire for their campaign.” 

Instagram #influencer Quigley isn't an advocate of rates based on followers. She prefers a day rate comparable to what she would earn as on-camera talent in her market. #revenue #contentbusiness Click To Tweet

She recommends seeking advice on rates from agencies operating in your industry or hiring an agent who will represent you and know the proper rates to charge.

About the author

Bonnie owns Word of Mouth, a content agency specializing in social media, content marketing, and editorial writing. She's written for Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Coveteur, Man Repeller, Health.com, and more. She loves wearing fanny packs and laying in the fetal position.