Meet the Writer: HackerNoon Contributor Ksana Liapkova, Head of Admitad ConvertSocial

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Hi! I’m Ksana and I’m a head of Admitad ConvertSocial. I’ve been a speaker at world-class conferences on affiliate marketing and am in contact with more than 35 000 clients of Admitad ConvertSocial involved in the blogging industry, which allows me to always be aware of the latest trends in the world of influencers. Before joining the Admitad team, I’ve been working in affiliate marketing and content monetization for over 7 years, helping major brands launch their own solutions on travel services’ metasearch.

I am keen on sports, since I used to be professionally engaged in athletics and took part in in sprint distance competitions. My love for sports has remained to this day: I always find time for fitness, yoga and surfing. I am in love with equestrian sports and I also play billiards quite well, since I put a lot of time and effort into mastering it. Both in work and in sports, I follow one rule — mistakes lead us to better results.

My biggest passion is travelling — exploring new countries, learning local traditions.

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

My most recent story covered 5 Simple Tricks to Organically Grow Your Instagram Following, which was breaking down some of the tips, like hashtag strategies and accessibility of the content.

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I mostly write on affiliate marketing, digital marketing and creator economy, since those are my areas of expertise.

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

The sooner the deadline - the more proactive my work is! That’s the routine that keeps me going. Apart from that I analyse the current state of the market, think about the most recent examples I’ve faced at work and try to create content that would benefit most people who’ll spend their time reading it.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Honestly, it’s finding time as I definitely don’t lack inspiration or content to share, it’s just getting that extra 25th hour in a day to sit at my desk and do the work!

However, sometimes I get doubts if things I’m writing are helpful and not obvious. Since I’m an expert in the field I sometimes get the feeling that everyone already knows everything and there is no need in breaking down simple things, but my amazing readers prove me wrong and inspire me to write more.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I want to focus on developing large-scale and detailed international expansion strategies in the coming years. It will definitely help me work not only with Admitad ConvertSocial, but also share my expertise with other Admitad projects.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

I'm definitely a foodie. I never diet - that’s one rule my grandmother taught me. If I want to eat anything - I’ll definitely go for it. My favourites are fish and seafood, and I guess you can call me an oyster expert!

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

It is important for me to maintain my work life balance, so I do a lot of sports. You can spot me doing yoga almost every weekday. On the weekends I prefer doing more active sports like snowboarding, wakesurfing and horseriding.

What can the HackerNoon community expect to read from you next?

I’m currently working on a piece on What Makes a Perfect Influencer for Your Brand to Work With and will be sharing on how companies can handpick the most potential collaborations to benefit from them.

Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

It is very important to work in the niche which you are genuinely interested in. As you’ll always find inspiration in it to create content, understand trends, grow and invent new things, and basically stay afloat. I wish everyone to find your niche and enjoy every single day working in it.