Nikki Sachdeva
Nikki Sachdeva
Content Creator / Social Media Marketer / Founder of Runway to Road
Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California
www.runwaytoroad.com
facebook
pinterest
instagram @runwaytoroad
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I’ve created a fashion blog that serves as an inspiration to an everyday woman. I conceptualize, style and write content for the blog; I am a brand social media marketer for hire.”
Content creation is my strongest suit. It is a huge part of what I do for my personal blog and I want to use these skills to help brands build and grow their social media following.
WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
Fashion has always been a part of me from the very beginning.
I graduated from the Santa Monica University where I studied Interior Design and Architecture, but the constant thought at the back of my head was to eventually follow my passion in the field of fashion.
So in October 2017 after months of conceptualizing and brainstorming, I finally launched Runway to Road.
The path has been bumpy and I've had to don many hats at once to be able to see my vision brought to life.
However, it has also been a process that has helped me get better at fashion and writing.
The two skills that have always been the cornerstone of my being.
How do you stand out in your field?
Transparency is of utmost importance.
In a world where bots and fake followers thrive, it is very important to build communities that are genuine.
What works is engaging with the audience. It's something that brands and influencers alike can take a cue from.
Also, another aspect that I do not compromise over is the honest representation of services and products. Testing out something and strongly believing in it and only then recommending it to the audience.
The influencer space is currently gaining a bad reputation mainly because everybody is promotion everything and that takes away from the authenticity of the influence.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
Runway to Road is currently my prime focus.
For the past year I have been focusing on creating visual content, but now I also want to get into the video making phase.
The industry is already at a stage where videos are valued much more than photographs and it is but natural that it is where I see Runway to Road heading.
WHAT'S YOUR STYLE/PERSPECTIVE/TASTE? DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT REPRESENTS THIS?
My writing style is simple and conversational. I believe in writing content that will make the reader feel like they are sitting with me in a coffee shop and just chatting.
You will see me asking a lot of questions, giving the readers food for thought.
Every time I am writing a piece my objective is to deliver value.
In the current scenario where bite-sized content is glorified, creating long-form content that will keep a reader engaged is a challenge and the only way this hurdle can be crossed is if you provide value.
This is also the philosophy I follow when writing content for social media.
If you give the reader something that makes their life easy, why wouldn't they consume it?
WE ARE ALL SLASHIES WITH MULTIPLE SKILLS, WHICH ONE DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OFTEN?
Media marketing is something that really fascinates me.
Social media has made it so easy to reach to your audience, but that also comes with its own set of challenges.
So many people are shouting out their products/services to the same people and this causes our audience to be exhausted by advertising.
What interests me is to learn how to create ads and reach out to my audience without it just being something that will turn them off.
WHAT IS FRUSTRATING YOU RIGHT NOW?
As an influencer right now the whole pitching process to brands is something that is taking a backseat.
I'm so focused on creating content and developing my follower base that the business part of it is getting a hit.
IF YOU COULD HIRE SOMEONE FOR $20/HR, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO TO MAKE YOUR DAY EASIER?
I would like to hire an assistant who would be focused on unearthing brands that we can collaborate with.
Like mentioned before, I want to be able to work with brands that I believe in. This also means looking for new brands and trying them out for the benefit of my audience. So having someone on board to take care of this for me would be very beneficial to the business side of Runway to Road.
LET'S BRING OUT THE TIME MACHINE. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE TOLD YOURSELF, WHEN, AND WHY?
When I was starting off with Runway to Road, I faced a lot of roadblocks in terms of website development. At that stage, I think I could have a made better decision of choosing a company that would make my website right at one go.
But it didn't quite work too well, and as I look back I think I could have avoided it by hiring a professional agency.
Also, being a little more hands-on with tech. That always helps when speaking to different developers about your site.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO AN EXPERT TO GAIN MORE INSIGHT ON SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?
I'd love to talk to Chriselle Lim for sure about the way she has expanded her business. She is no more restricted to just her blog, she is running her production agency, launching her own clothing collection, she is such an inspiration. So I'd love to talk to her about what were the stepping stones that led her to where she is right now.
WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES/PROJECTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
I'm looking for brands/professionals who would like to hire a writer to create content for their blogs or social media.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL JOB/CLIENT/COLLABORATION.
An ideal collaboration would be for the client to draw up a brief for me and highlighting the tone of voice they are expecting.
I'd love to spend some time drawing up monthly content banks and share it with the client in advance so that they are always prepared.
WHAT IS YOUR HOURLY RATE, RETAINER, OR SALARY RANGE?
Pricing is subject to the project, so you can reach out to me on: nikki@runwaytoroad.com to discuss it in detail.
HOW SHOULD SOMEONE APPROACH YOU ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
You can get in touch with me on nikki@runwaytoroad.com
HOW DO YOU STAY CREATIVE?
You stay creative by 'doing'. That's the only way.
This member profile was originally published in October 2018.