I was an early adapter to Facebook & Instagram, I’ve had an account on both from the very beginning. I’ve always enjoyed uploading pictures of myself/our family and keeping up with old friends. However, for me social media was a hobby but it was absolutely a time suck. So much so that back in 2017 my husband tole me, ” If you’re going to spend so much time online, then you should figure out how to make money from it”. Well, I accepted that challenge and the assignment was more than understood. I launched my blog and converted my Instagram page back in Jan 2018. From Jan 2019 to present, I’ve made over a million dollars as a blogger/influencer. Contrary to popular belief becoming an influencer on Instagram (or any other social site) is real work. This week marks FOUR years since I started my brand, so I’m sharing 4 things I did that helped me take my influencer brand from hobby to thriving business:

Create a content calendar or schedule.

Consistency is key when it comes to establishing and growing your brand as an influencer. It’s much easier to be consistent when you have a written plan for the content you need to create. No more posting on a whim or creating content when you find time, you have to be intentional. Take time to create content that aligns with the seasons of your life AND the needs of your audience. The new year for example, most people are focusing on cleaning/decluttering and wellness. How can you plan content that adds value in those areas? What problems can you help them solve? My recent IG reel about a laundry service I’m using is a great example of that…

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A post shared by Tina M. —Your IG Bestie 📍VA (@herlifesparkles)

Batch create your content.

You have to make time to create all of those amazing ideas on your content calendar. I find it easier to maintain my consistency as an influencer by batch crating. For example, I crank out all of my photos & videos 1 or 2 days a week. The higher your content output the more likely you’ll need more than one creation/shooting day. That way I can spend the rest of the week focusing on other tasks and being make up free.

Batching goes beyond being in front of the camera you can batch write captions, edit photos in batches, pre-plan hashtags and pretty much anything else in you need to do to get an IG post from idea to live on your feed. If you plan your content a few days to a week in advance (at minimum) and start batch creating, you’ll find that it’s much easier to show up for your social community.

Invest in your brand.

While investments are typically financial, that’s not the only way that you can invest in your brand. If you don’t have money to run out buy the newest blogging camera or pay for professional website design, you can invest your TIME by reading/watching FREE resources on how to best use what you have. I will be honest and say that one of my biggest shifts came after investing in a new camera, that purchase was 1.5 years into my influencer journey and it wasn’t done until I knew the camera would pay for itself. However having a high powered camera means nothing if you don’t take time to learn to use it. That was also about 6 iPhones ago, today the 12 or 13 is more than capable of being everything you need to get started.

One small financial investment you can make into your brand is getting a domain specific business email address. Ex: partnerships@yourbrand.com.

I use G-suite for mine and it runs about $6 a month. The best part is that it’s still compatible with the gmail app so all my emails are still in one place. You could also invest in something small like a tripod to hold your phone while you film/shoot.

Pitch brands for partnerships.

With an increased number of people learning how to become a influencer, sitting and waiting for brands to reach out to you for partnership opportunities is setting yourself up for failure. You how the perfect everyday job won’t fall into your lap? Well, neither will the perfect partnership. You have to pitch yourself and your ideas all year long. Pitching can happen one of two ways, the first is via influencer networks. They are essentially job boards for influencers and let you know which campaigns brands are actively hiring for. If you are unsure about what networks to use you can download my list of 20 influencer networks here.

The second is pitching a brand directly, meaning you find their email address and introduce yourself, your brand and your idea for working with them. You could also pitch brands via DM on Instagram or FB. If you would like more direction with pitching brands and how to best find brand contacts, my Pitch Like a Pro guide to pitching would be a great help.

Let’s wrap this up.

Four year into my influencer journey and I couldn’t be more proud of the brand I’ve built. However, like anything great, it was not built over night. So whether this is day 1 or day 300 for you, give yourself time. Allow yourself to be a beginner, stay consistent and dedicate time to learning to perfect your craft. I really hope you found this helpful and if you have questions about something I mentioned or about the influencer space in general drop them below.

Lastly, I offer 1-on-1 coaching services that gives aspiring influencers a personalized strategy on how to become an influencer. As well as help established influencers take their brands to the next level. You can schedule a call here.

Best of luck on your influencer journey!