You wake up early from Mondays to Fridays. You prepare yourself for a day’s work, often missing breakfast, so you don’t arrive late at the office and be the recipient of your boss’s early morning wrath.
Your commute and already feel halfway drained before you even reach your destination. You sit on your swivel chair for hours, with lunchtime as your anticipated oasis throughout your empty desert of a day. You clock out, and your soul feels like it’s been sucked dry.
The next day, you repeat the process like a runaway train careening towards an inevitable crash.
Sometimes you just feel like you could do so much better. You feel like you could be pretty or act funny in front of the camera and make more money than what you’re making with your 9-to-5. Perhaps you have it in you to become a trending influencer.
These days, that’s a legit career choice. Marketers have been relying on online influencers to peddle products. That right there is the revenue stream you’ve always dreamed of.
But, make no mistake, building good influence that marketers can get behind is a real job. That means you have to put in real work. Here are some tips to get you closer to online stardom.
Define a niche
You can’t be a jack of all trades, master of none. The first mistake aspiring online content creators make is creating all sorts of content hoping one or two will stick. If you want to gain a captive audience, you need to set boundaries. Find your niche.
Are you afflicted with wanderlust and you take awesome photos? Maybe zeroing in on travel content is your cup of tea. Are you this generation’s Picasso but instead of a canvas you paint on your face? Then makeup transformations are right up your alley.
Master your chosen niche
You can’t stop even if you think you already know everything. Remember that whatever you’re good at, countless other people do it better than you. So, to stand out, you need to be an expert or a master. You need to hone your knowledge and skills concerning the niche you’ve chosen.
Watch other influencers in the same niche as you and see what they’re doing right. Read books and magazines that will expand your insights.
Boost your online presence
Just because your end goal is to post and earn from videos on YouTube does not mean you can forget about other social media platforms. Your goal is to be seen on as many social media channels as possible. So create accounts on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Make sure that your branding is on point and consistent across these platforms. You need to convince your target audience that you’re sure of what you know about and what you’re ready to dish out.
Post strategically
Once you start posting content, do so with careful planning. Schedule your content and stick with the schedule. If you promise your YouTube viewers one video a week, you better follow through with that promise. Otherwise, you’ll risk losing subscribers who won’t put up with wannabe influencers who can’t commit to the task.
Also, hone your copywriting skills. Make sure to write post descriptions that will immediately capture the interest of your target audience. Include relevant tags so your posts are searchable.
Don’t shy away from collaborations
No one is an island. And as an aspiring influencer, that’s something you must learn from the get-go. Sure, you can build a huge following on your own, but that will take time. If you want to fast-track the process, you’re better off working with established influencers or those on the same level of popularity as you.
If you’ve branded yourself as a sartorial maven, participate in fashion collaborations. This will introduce you to the followers of your collaborator. And vice versa. That’s like marrying into a huge family of a well-off person.
Be authentic
They say social media is all about facades. If you master authenticity or a guise of authenticity, people will notice. And they’ll love you for it. So make sure you have a good grasp of who you are. Let that knowledge emanate in every content you create. Soon, you’ll be inspiring and influencing people left and right.
Dare to dream the influencer life
These days, career opportunities run the gamut. You are no longer limited to the traditional ways of earning money. If you figure out who you are as a person and what you can bring to the proverbial table, you can make it as an online influencer. And that is a lucrative career choice.
If you’re serious about your dream of becoming a trending influencer, follow the tips cited here. Take it slowly but surely. Build your following and encourage support and loyalty among your online fans. Before you know it, marketers will be knocking on your door to ask you to hold a box of cereals for your next YouTube video.
