Jessica Leitch In a Jar

Photo Courtesy of: cityinajar.com Shot By: Abby Gillardi

“No blog is a little blog.”

Words from the Jessica Leitch herself.  Although she’s one math class away from two degrees, her skills have proven that you don’t always need a degree to be a hired professional. While she has had numerous jobs whether that was working for a radio station, or at Switch  -they all have led up to her becoming the Community Manager and Event Coordinator for ALIVE Magazine in St. Louis. By blogging, she was able to have proof that she knew what she was doing, and she had a foot in the content world. “No blog is a little blog,” is what she told us when asked if our starter blogs could even help us get hired.

“Forcing myself to blog allowed me to get the job, post review.” While in #pbandjterm herself, blogging wasn’t quite her thing -mostly because of the 500 word limit. Leitch said she was a woman of many words, but not on paper. Her blog is heavily based on images and video which helps makes her page appealing to look at. Through her blog, friends who have taken pictures of her outfits or have recorded a video idea she had, all found jobs after she published her posts. “Blogging takes time,” she told us right before she said that it takes two to three years for your blog to gain an audience. “You’re investing your time and energy into something that won’t make you money.”

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

Networking Gets You Jobs and Staying On Top Keeps Them

“St. Louis is really tiny.” Good networking, and knowing the other influential social media folk in the city, helped her get every job after she left the radio station. Leitch even landed a gig on the board of the Social Media Club in St. Louis. They hold events that offer great networking experience in the St. Louis area, no matter what you’re looking to get in to. Leitch is one busy woman juggling a few jobs, but as Community Manager for ALIVE Magazine, she said, “Your time is no longer your own.”

Part of keeping up with Twitter, Facebook, etc. is investing a lot of time in to what you’re doing. She keeps up with what each of her networks are saying, and tries to respond back to any tweets or messages as quickly as possible, so the response doesn’t become outdated before it is even sent. She tries to keep her personal fashion blog updated as well, because she has followers that are always waiting for her next post. It shows that you care about your reader and audience.

Never Say No and Be Your Own Content Creator

“Just saying yes is the best way at trying new things,” coming from Leitch who once landed an airplane because she didn’t say no. By always saying ‘yes,‘ you are allowing yourself to gain new experiences and you will create connections along the way. It also opens you to experience that you would never get if you stayed inside and stared at a computer screen for hours. You might not always want to agree to things that don’t interest you, but doing so makes you cultured.

When it comes to your blog, just being honest helps you succeed. “I’m very genuine with what I put up and what I’m doing. I’m not hiding anything.” Her blog was the reason she got hired at Switch, was because they liked her blog and what she was posting. In the introductory e-mail sent to the employees, a link to her blog was featured. Nervous at first at the thought of 150 employees looking at her life, she got over it because her blog represents who she is, and what she likes. There was nothing to hide.

Having the successful blog, she does look at other ones for inspiration, but still likes to be original. During the early years of cityinajar.com, she used images from Pinterest, but as her brand grew, she realized, “Original content is better than curated content.” While curated content isn’t all that bad, it’s still a way to keep your brand your own, by designing and making entirely your own. Leitch’s blog is also a creative outlet away from all the social media and blogging she already does for work.

Although she is headed in the right direction, Letich says she still doesn’t know what she wants to do. Her interests vary from fashion, content creation, design and styling, and video. “I think that’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do,” Leitch reminded the class. She is the perfect example that you can pursue all of the things you love most.