Are you ready to ditch dreams of a day job and become part of the exclusive influencer gang? Well you’ve clicked on the right article! We’ve created a simple step-by-step plan to turn your basic plans of a 9 – 5 into a 24/7 trend setting, ‘I’ll have what they’re having’ kinda person.
Know who you are
Self confidence is sexy. 2018 was all about ‘Big Dick Energy’ well 2019 is continuing with that theme but less on the anatomical parts and more on the overall self confidence. If you believe in yourself and what you offer the world, chances are everyone else will too and that’s something that people want to follow. David Kelley held a really inspirational Ted Talk in 2012 on keeping your creative confidence. Give it a watch. It’s a classic and we guarantee that you won’t regret it.
Build a website
To create a proper foundation for growth you’re going to need a website. Having a well-designed and fully functional website adds credibility to your image and helps to win the trust of your audience. Thankfully, Wix.com offers a free website building service where you can add your personal touch to a website.
Top tip: Having a sleek blog section on your site establishes your authority in your niche and improves organic search traffic to your website, expanding your reach even further.
Find your niche
You cannot be everything to everyone. You are not nutella! So think, what are you passionate about that other people can relate back to you? Be picky in what niche you choose as you’ll be eating, sleeping, and breathing it. This allows you to establish authority in a particular area. Ideally, people will recognise your expertise and take notice. They’ll want to follow you on whatever outlets you use (e.g., a blog, Twitter, and/or Instagram) and will want to know what you have to say.
Have an opinion
Every successful influencer out there has their own take on things. They have a voice and opinion. One way to get more attention, although it can be risky, is by making some controversial statements. Be aware that this can also see your influencer career end overnight. So this one is really only for the ones with a solid fanbase. Think Donald Trump and his Presidential campaign.
Collab with the pros
When you’re starting out, it’s a good idea to collaborate with someone famous in your niche as this can grow your audience exponentially. It gives you access to their fan base and a real opportunity to attract them to your social media channels. The main catch is that you have to be able to offer them something of use, otherwise, you’ll just get flat out rejected. So think of ways to collaborate that would add value to the both of you. If that fails, hit up a micro influencer and go from there. Invest in Personapp, a tool that helps determine who would be good for you to target for your audience growth, based on their audience influence.
Respond to your fans
This cannot be stressed enough! Responding to each and every comment may seem like a lot of effort but it’s so important and is widely overlooked in the influencer game. Take time out of your day to reply to as many as possible. A response from you validates the trust that your fans put in you and makes them feel more connected to you.
So there you have it. A very simple how to guide on becoming an influencer. It’s not going to be easy and you’re going to have to invest a lot of time and effort but it’ll definitely be worth it. If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well! The great thing about building influence that it has a snowball effect. When first starting out your audience will start small but will grow over time.
After a while, your influence will become immense without you having to put a lot of extra effort into it. In other words, the first stages are the most difficult and time-consuming but the key is to stick at it and remember why you started.
