Influencer of the Week – Chaitra Dev #InfluencerSpeaks
As part of the #InfluencerSpeaks series, we bring you the interviews with top influencers across India. This week, we are featuring Chaitra Dev, a social media influencer. Here’s the transcript of her interview:
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your blog/online presence
I don’t have much of a story behind – It was just a pass time for me when I was quite jobless after my graduation days. I wanted to document my mom’s recipes. Like in Darwin’s theory of Evolution, the most dreaded time came in when I had to cook myself and my survival chances on Instant food started to look very dim. It started with terrible experiences but then my blog became my own cook book and helped me replicate mom’s recipes. Later on I started to document my own recipes and stories here and viola, here I am today. Apart from recipes, I realized that I can actually write well – Read people can read my stuff and appreciate it. So I started penning down my random ramblings and eventually started to develop even content for sites as well as do my bit of PR’s.
How did you get started online? How has the journey been?
It started all of a sudden, I haven’t thought of blogging ever. I wanted a name close to nativity – so I chose southern flavors, and then moved to spiced and then landed at Aathidhyam. The journey has been flavorful yet bumpy owing to my dormancy. I have had several breaks owing to my haphazard schedule but now I am able to balance my personal life, professional life and blogging.
What type of content do you create?
I’d love to create content related to or focused on food (yes, mainly and mostly) apart from lifestyle. I can try my hand on health and fitness though.
Tell us something about the most interesting projects you have engaged with.
The most exciting project I have been part of was this Virtual Office Site – Buddy Virtual. The challenging part was that I didn’t know anything about what I need to develop except for a briefing. I had struck a deal with the client that he’d pay only if my content is in line with his expectations. I spent good two days understanding the topic and then developed content which was 98% own. Client was very happy and now he is my regular client giving me projects once in every 2-3 weeks.
Which brands have you associated with in the past?
- Big Basket 2) Food Panda 3) India Circus 4) Soulfull 5) Gits 6) Hudson Canola Oil 7) Tiny Owl 8) College Dunia 9) Dabur Baby Oil 10) Zoutons 11) Cash Karo
Where do you see opportunities and challenges in being an online Influencer?
There are ample opportunities to prove your brand name and stand out as a potential influencer. But then spotting the right influencer is the biggest challenge any brand will have considering the fact that there are many who are looking at being an influencer for namesake or as easy revenue generating option.
Any thoughts or tips to share with your fellow Bloggers and Influencers?
Stick to your brand; engage with your readers constantly. Make sure that your content is unique rather than monotonous. Say if there are 100 blogs with the same old Sambar recipe; don’t try to have yours as the 101th one. May be you could document your grandma’s style? Worth thinking about. Coming to influencer, develop your content rather than copying. Do not pass on someone else’s content as your own or just write random stuff and pass it on as your opinion. Remember that you have your audience reading your content and following you.
Trending
Related Posts
