Hi darlings! If you’re clicking into this post you must want to know what the RewardStyle/Liketoknowit platform is like and how I got accepted. This exact blog post is covering what it is, what is needed to be a member, who the platform is designed for, and how I was accepted. The next post will be about the learning tools, what I needed to buy out of pocket for creating content, payouts, and the negative part of LTK. Also, this will be a lengthy post. Today I’m also juggling contractors who’s doing Hurricane Sally repairs, my other social pages + my everyday life! So I hope to explain everything. If you have any additional questions please ask at the bottom of this post or over on my Instagram page!
Question 1: What is the Reward Style/ Liketoknowit platform?
This is an invitation-only affiliate network that gets you access to a HUGE range of advertisers that most small creators would never be able to get a direct deal with. It’s a great place to start monetizing your blog/Instagram/Youtube etc. I personally like to describe LTK as a shopable Pinterest.
The app has two units (or hubs) - there’s the basic LTK app for its users to shop, gain inspiration, and be able to follow their favorite influencers. This app is FREE and can be downloaded onto your phone or shopped via web browser if you access the LTK page through a bloggers website. My family, friends and I personally use the LTK app for inspiration. to find new sales, etc!
Then there’s a modified app called “Reward Style” that grants influencers the ability to make and post the shopable content which will be uploaded onto the basic LTK app.
Like I said above, the LTK app is free for anyone (and you can even shop via desktop too in fact here’s a direct link to my Liketoknowit (LTK) page if you want to see what it looks like!)! To have the modified RewardStyle app you have to be invited to join and/or apply. You must be accepted into the affiliate network - once accepted you can create shopable posts from home styling, fashion, beauty, kids content, and more. Millions of people use the basic Liketoknow.It app (LTK app) on their phone to shop each day.
Question 2: Who can benefit from this platform?
If you’re an influencer, blogger, YouTube creator, own a business (like interior design business, personal stylist or boutique), or wanting to do a career where you’ll be posting daily on what products, beauty items, clothing (mens, women's, children), or home items - this platform is perfect for you!
There’s even celebrities (Real Housewives, Jessie James Decker, and more) that use the platform to link their favorite items from clothes to home decor.
I personally feel if you’re in the field of fashion stylist or interior design stylist business you would benefit great with this platform. EXAMPLE: you can show your designed rooms or styled clients and link up the products for others to shop! I personally have noticed more home content sells better especially with so many of us wanting to elevate our homes.
Question 3: How can I be accepted on LTK?
Reward Style platform is driven by creative, beautiful, eye-catching content. When you send in your application to apply you’ll include information about yourself and direct links/access to all your social platforms. You’ll have to include links to each of your social channels so they can review and see if you’ll benefit the app, what content you post, and some other analytics *there’s also other tools they can use to access your analytics to see how your following growth is etc etc*. To be accepted you MUST apply and be accepted (there’s no way of escaping that). After an evaluation of your content and social channels (***how to achieve acceptance is not 100% known or told upfront***) you’ll receive an email if you’re in the program and the next steps.
TIP: From most creators, they predict acceptance is based off: how many REAL followers you have, how many likes/comments you get, if you reply to comments aka: content engagement, if your social channels will benefit having the ability to create affiliate links, your current posts ‘sellable’, etc. Below I’ll tell you what I think determines an acceptance into the program!
A wait time for acceptance or denial can range from a few days to a few months depending on how long the wait list is.
I’ll be REAL, (and I dont mean this in a bad way) most people get denied. Before I was accepted into the program I spent weeks reading blog posts of HUGE influencers and majority wrote about being denied (some denied up to 3x!) So don’t feel embarrassed or scared. In fact the RewardStyle affiliate wasn’t on my radar because I PERSONALLY wasn’t ready to apply. Below will be my story on how I was accepted...
Question 4: MY STORY - How did I get accepted into the RS/LTK in June 2020?
My story I hope is inspiring. Originally I created a 1, 3, and 5 year goal for my Instagram and blogging. I’ve been doing this off/on (more ‘off’ than ‘on’) since Holly was born. I blogged about my wedding planning, about the early stages of Holly, and some of my favorite fashion trends (so long story short - about 2 years of on/off blogging) but I decided at the end of 2018 to fully invest.
All of 2019 I used a free blogging website and started doing weekly blog posts. I was on my Instagram as much as possible and I deleted all my old ‘embarrassing’ posts (like those 1am bar hop pictures, random posts of myself complaining/being negative, etc etc) I did this so my page will have an aesthetic and look professional. My biggest MUST was finding what I wanted my aesthetic and mood to be on my feed. I wanted all my platforms to match; so my Blog to compliment color wise to what I was posting on my Instagram feed.
I also did some research and watched some YouTube videos about good ‘image’ on camera (so trying to NOT say ‘umm’ or ‘like’ a lot and decided to cut out swear words from my vocabulary when I was speaking.) I personally felt this would help build the image of my ‘brand’.
To be honest, at the time I decided to fully invest into weekly blogging and my Instagram feed - I was in a deep rut. I was realizing my degree in Fashion and Business wasn’t amounting to what I hoped (being a stay at home mom wasn’t in my game plan, but I’m blessed to be able to be with Holly each day!) To put it into perspective; I was paying my student loans off and NOT working... I felt worthless. So one day I had a pep talk:
“okay Britt you LOVE fashion, you LOVE home decor, and trying new beauty products. I need to use the knowledge from my degrees to create something for myself that I’m proud of”.
I personally remember feeling so down about myself. I literally was in a weird rut and I believe fully investing into blogging has helped my confidence so much!
So for Year 1: I fully invested in blogging. I covered the Nordstrom Sale, Holiday shopping events, started making gift guides in Apple Pages, and just trying all I could with what available time I had WITHOUT spending money… It was FAR from perfect but I was trying. My pictures WAS NOT flawless but I always tried to keep the glass half full. I wasn’t maxing out credit cards either. I would style fashion pieces I already owned (even if they were 3+ years old) and would try to find alternatives to blog about. I couldn’t link products to the LTK platform at this time but I would copy and paste the webpage to my blog posts. I literally tried all I could to learn and grow with the essentials.
**** In a future post I’ll go into details what my weekly posting schedule looks like - for anyone who’s curious at how much time I was investing when I applied for the RS/LTK***
So here’s where things get exciting...
A friend on Instagram who has a successful YouTube channel DM’ed me one day asking if I was in the RS/LTK program. I told her "no - I have the RS/LTK goals in my 3 year plan because I felt ‘followers wise’ and ‘age of my blog’ I wasn’t in the range for being accepted”.
But she replied that she felt I post great content and she could tell I really enjoy what I’m doing. So she said she'll put in an invitation request to have my social channels looked at. Sure enough I got an email from RewardStyle stating that a fellow content creator requested them to evaluate my channels - so I filled out the form and gave ALL my channel handles.
To be real, I was scared because to me - I wasn’t confident in my pages or sure if I could handle the workload that might come with RS/LTK *** THERE”S A LOT OF WORKLOAD FYI !!!!*.
Within days I got the accepted! I wanted to CRY. I was so happy. Being accepted into RS/LTK wasn’t on my radar because I felt my ‘free blog’ and ‘small following’ wasn’t enough.
Therefore, I personally feel like the RS/LTK acceptance isn’t about the numbers but more about the creativity, the aesthetic of your pages, and if you’re being consistent and doing all the right steps to be successful.
The process of being set up into the program takes some time - weeks to be exact. The ability to link Amazon products takes 6-8 weeks - in fact I had to email the RS/LTK help desk multiple times about my Amazon access. And there’s quite a few videos, RS blog posts, and emails detailing on what I need to read/do before creating shopable posts within the app.
So one of my tips is to apply during a slow season where IF you were accepted you can invest 8 weeks to fully revamp your posting schedule, create content, and learn how to navigate the platform pages.
Question: What I had when I applied for LTK:
When I applied to RS/LTK I sent them the links to access my Instagram, my free blogger blog page, and my Facebook page. For 1 solid year all those platforms I was consistently posting and updating - I had about 1 year of solid weekly blog posts, 2-4x a week a IG post, and was on IG Stories daily. I knew if they clicked from one platform channel to the next it would all flow and feel balanced.
You can also apply with other social channels like Youtube channel, TikTok, Tumblr, Pinterest and more.
- My biggest tip is to have a beautiful social channel that is 100% what you’re wanting to present to the world. Make sure at all times you’re presenting it. The reason why is you’re not told ‘when’ RS/LTK will evaluate your page and how often they’ll check it OR what they’ll be looking for. Example: If you’re a Beauty Blogger - make sure you social channels show you’re THE beauty review blogger. When you swipe down your IG feed make sure there’s non-stop beauty related content, highlight, reels, etc! Just having a photo here and there of makeup mixed with other photos of your pets, your car, or vacation/trips - doesn’t show you’re THE beauty blogger you claim that you are. Also make sure you’re running your channels like a business. So when you’re on IG Stories make sure you’re showing the best version of yourself. If that’s speaking clearly, dressed to impress, etc.
- Post sellable content. For example if you’re wearing an outfit from Nordstrom mention it in the post along with the brand hashtags. Don’t forget to state what size you’re wearing, if there’s other color options available etc. Even if you can’t “link” the item - you can show the RS/LTK platform that you WANT to show sellable content to your following. ** I did this and had Bed Bath and Beyond use one of my photos for their feed!**
- Another tip from reading blog posts of people who were accepted is to have a cohesive Instagram page. So have your Feed all be a certain color, mood, or vibe. Examples would be having all your photos light and airy. Or have all your content around a certain style or aesthetic - like Cottagecore, Dark Academia, or Preppy. It’s easy to establish these vibes - moods - cohesiveness with free apps like Lightroom where you can edit the color and tones of you photos or just using the Instagram editing feature! In fact I still edit my photos with Instagrams editing tab.
- Finally, DON’T just rely on your Instagram - In fact I would only give Instagram about 50%. The RewardStyle platform looks at ALL your platforms and lately they’ve been REALLY into TikTok and Pinterest. So running free blog or Pinterest page where you can repost all your Instagram content with information about style and fit is a good example. Or have a YouTube channel where you do home styling projects and also post small clips onto a Instagram Reels or TikTok.
- DON’T feel you need to spend money on presets, apps, new clothes, etc. You can get accepted with what you have. I’m 100% proof of that! I didn’t spend ANY money before being accepted to RS/LTK. I used what I had and was VERY creative in difficult times.
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