If you are here, then we are pretty sure that you are a vessel of unearthed talent waiting to go out there and becoming the next big thing. Yes, YOU. You have big plans. You are not satisfied with a 9-5 job and you want to start a side hustle that you can soon call your own BRAND or become an INFLUENCER of your industry.
Influencers are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They create engrossing content on their area of expertise (even on how to study!). Could be vlogs, blogs, info graphics, mood boards or video content. They generate large followings of enthusiastic, engaged people who seek them as their guru.
But we know how daunting it can be, here are the reason why most influencers fail in their first year of starting out.
This is where you need to put a label on it
If you want to become a social media influencer or simply an influential person who is a walking brand, the very first thing you need to do is to choose a specific niche where you want to be known. Confused? Simple. Find what brings you happiness, what’s your passion. Your passion is something that you don’t mind doing for free.
Most influencers try to make content on every trending topic which doesn’t allow them to stick to a specific niche in which they are the best or for which specific reason they started influencing in the first place.
To Each His Own
It's important to pick the right social platforms where you can look for people who are looking for you. Who share interests that align with your brand and would love to engage with you. Whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, linked In, twitter or even Pinterest.
Zero strategy = Zero achievements
Influencers are those individuals who add value to your life by their expertise and with the relevant content to their audience. You must have a strategy on how you want to make this a reality, the what, when, why and how of your passion should drip from each of your post. Part of developing an effective content strategy is giving your audience the right balance of informative content and personal content. Remember, one reason why people trust influencers is due to their reliability.
Your life is a party, network.
Networking, not just with your audience but also connect and engage with your chose markets MAESTROS and fellow influencers. Creating guest posts is another way of growing your network. Getting featured on different networking forums, magazine, publications and website helps you further establish your credibility. At the same time, it will help you capture the attention of the more prominent influencers in your niche, and even open the door for collaboration with them!
Blow your own trumpet
No matter how great your content is, if you’re not getting people to see it and engage with it, it’s not exactly useful.
That being said, it’s important that you carefully plan out when you’ll be publishing and distributing your content on social media.
It's just as critical to know how to post your content on social media as is the what.
Your followers are your new BFF
When your followers leave a question or comment on your posts, take the time to acknowledge and respond to them. That can make them feel like they're valued and that you sincerely want to help them. It will also help you develop a relationship with them. Try to connect with them as much as possible, influence them or guide them like a friend.
Stay updated and be consistent (it takes time to achieve your goals so don’t Loose patience
Be the boss
If you’ve been active on any social media channel, you know how often networks update their algorithms, as well as their posting terms and conditions. As an aspiring influencer, you need to keep yourself updated with these changes to avoid penalisations.
Followers need to be able to count on you to deliver quality content on a consistent basis. If you don’t, they’ll eventually stop following you, or at least paying attention to you.
Most important, understand that becoming a social media influencer in your industry is not the end destination. Instead, it's a stepping stone to more significant opportunities and responsibilities.
We know this can be overwhelming. The what not to do is clear but is the “HOW” a daunting question that you’re scared to ask? Learn and accept that you don’t have to be a one man/woman army. Miracles happen when you work with others and seek help. What we mean here is to hire industry experts to build yourself a brand and make your name in your area of expertise. Don’t invite failure just because you started your brand assuming you’ll wing it as it comes. Failing to plan is planning to FAIL.
To build a great brand, to become a top notch influencer you need a top tier team. Hire a personal branding expert, photographer, videographer, editor, image consultant and give it your all.
Most big ventures start as a side hustle waiting for you to give it enough love.
Start now, start with you.
Tell us in the comments section below about your pain areas and we will help you solve them with a carefully laid out strategy on 22nd August!