Chit Chat with Andrea Chong

Last week we had the power Instagrammer Andrea Chong reveals the hard work that goes into her blog. She had visited our campus, Raffles Design Institute in Singapore and spoke about the pros and cons of having a blog and the process of starting one.

The 24 year old deferred her Literature degree from Nanyang Technological University to concentrate on career. She began her career as a blogger and social-media influencer four years ago. (Slater, 2016) She currently is one of Singapore’s top fashion bloggers and social-media influencers. Andrea loves to travel and shoot her travel blog around some of the most beautiful landscapes across the globe.

Initially Chong had started her career by hosting a TV show, from which a producer suggested her to develop her social media presence, which led to founding of her blog and Instagram. She was one of the very few bloggers to focus on fashion and travel, which set her apart from the other lifestyle-focused bloggers. In fact, her home space somewhat resembles the photography studio of a fashion magazine. “There’s actually a lot of planning involved that people don’t see,” exclaimed Chong. (Slater, 2016)

“There’s the business side of it like proposals, and the client approval process, and sometimes we even act as advisers to the brands on what will work on social media and what won’t. Sometimes, it’s like I’m a one-person advertising agency; I am my own marketing, business development and public relations team.” Said Chong. (Slater, 2016)

Aside from her assistant, Chong has a manager who helps her to reach out and negotiate with commercial partners and sponsors for her travels. (Slater, 2016)

Having her visit our campus and listening about her struggles was indeed refreshing and exposed me and my fellow classmates to new ideas. These talks are highly interesting and as a student we get to learn many aspects of our future industry. The Q&A sessions are always interactive and Chong was highly cooperative.

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Fig 1 (Lien, 2014)