5 Foundational First Steps & Tips To Becoming an Instagram Influencer in 2019

Hello, my future (and current) influencers /bloggers. I’m so thrilled to be sharing with you, the first of the many Influencer/Blogger related blog posts, here on Stiletto Confessions! I shared earlier in the year how one of my 2019 goals was to start creating resources for aspiring influencers and bloggers and here I am, a little late, due to life and the little bambino I have cooking up in my tummy, but none the less, so excited to be sharing this post with you!

The influencer industry has evolved and grown so much, since I started in 2015, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. So before we get down to business, let me be the first to debunk a nasty little rumor I’ve been hearing, whether you’re here out of curiosity, you’ve just started or your serious about starting your influencer journey – DO NOT let anyone tell you this industry is over saturated because it’s not. If that’s the case then every industry is over saturated. There’s enough space for anyone who desires to create impact, provide help, deliver value and share authentically. I only say that because I’ve encountered my share of “I should start a blog just so I can receive free products from brands” wanna be influencer/s. This industry isn’t for the faint of heart and as long as your intentions and efforts are led by passion and you don’t mind putting in the work it takes, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t succeed.

I’m the type of person who puts a lot of thought into what I do, which is why I’m so proud of this blog post. This isn’t another “How to become an influencer” blog post where I walk you through the steps of coming up with a name, creating your account and telling you to post, be your authentic self, and be consistent (that one will come later). This is the pre-party steps you need to go take and process through mentally before you actually take action. Think of these steps as the “get your mind right” steps so you can start your journey with intention and on a clear path vs. “just winging it” and hoping for the best. So without further ado let’s jump into my top 5 fundamental steps to consider when starting on your new influencer journey.

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1. CHOOSE the influencer path that’s going to work for you in the beginning. Are you looking to go full force or just test the waters without committing too much? It all comes down to title, amount of work you’ll be putting in on a daily/weekly basis, and whether or not you care about owning your digital space and presence. Let’s talk title first. Will you be referred to as a blogger, a social media influencer or both? Both can be and have proven to be as equally successful. If you’re looking to test the waters in the begining and see where it takes you then a Social Media Influencer, would be the best path to focus on when you start. As a social media influencer, your focus is on creating content solely for your instagram and any other social media platforms you also decide to post on. Usually it’s only Instagram in the beginning. This route is the least expensive and requires the least amount of commitment. Later on if you decide this gig isn’t what you expected, you lose nothing by just calling it quits (but that’s not going to happen, right?). One thing I want you to keep in mind when solely pursuing a social media influencer path is – you’re only renting your digital space on Instagram. At the end of the day – you don’t own your followers. If something was to happen to IG or your account was wiped out, you have no way of reaching back out to your audience to let them know how to find you again. However, don’t let that discourage you because regardless of the path you decide to start with in the begining, when you’re ready and if blogging is something you want to incorporate (which I highly recommend and we’ll pick up this discussion and go more in depth another day), you can always transition into being a blogger/social media influencer.  
   

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   Now let’s talk about pursuing the blogger path. This is the route I took, only because when I started, the term influencer didn’t quite exist and at the time most fashion and style bloggers had a blog and were pushing their followers to read their blog posts. The main difference to consider when taking this path other than the cost associated with creating and maintaining a blog (digital space you own), is the order in which content is created and then pushed. Typically, it all starts with a blog post, where you share a story, a life update, tips, advice, or simply outfit details, etc., and then you use social media platforms to push this content. The ultimate goal is to entice your audience and readers to head to your blog to finish reading your article. AND to gain email subscribers (again, digital data you own). The amount of blog posts you publish per week is ultimately up to how much you have to share. There’s really no magical number as long as you’re consistent. Perhaps, staring a blog may seem a bit overwhelming in the beginning and that’s okay. For the purpose of this blog post, I want to focus on helping you find the path that speaks to you right now, without over complicating things. There’s no right or wrong path. Remember, you can always start a blog and/or incorporate a new platform, when you’re ready.  However, it’s always great to start with a specific path in mind and then build from there once you’ve found your rhythm. Which path speaks to you?

2. Take Time To Think About Your Purpose & Your Audience A.K.A Finding Your Niche. This is a key foundation that’s going to help separate your account from everyone else’s. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the importance of finding your niche, most importantly a segmented niche. The best way to come up with this is by asking yourself a couple of questions:
   1. What is the purpose of my account? Is it to teach, inspire, help, inform, lead, provide a form of escape, etc.? How will you fulfill your purpose? For example, are you an expertise in a specific topic that others could benefit learning from? Do you have a unique point of view or a unique way of doing something that you know could help others if you shared it or taught it? Perhaps you’re great with words and motivating the people around you to be their best selves. Have you mastered how to achieve and maintain a specific lifestyle? Are you starting a new life journey and want to connect with others who are either on the fence or on the same journey as you? Do you have an impeccable taste in fashion and want to share tips on how to style looks for any & every occasion? Do you create beautiful art and want to showcase your work?  What will be the main purpose of your account? Finding your purpose will help you attract your ideal target audience. Most importantly, it will help you identify how you can serve and provide value to your audience.
   2. Who is my account for? I would consider this the 2nd part of identifying your niche. Except for this is where you concentrate on getting to know who your ideal follower is. Is your ideal follower a male or female? Their age? Where do they live? Are they married or single? Do they have children?  You’ll want to get very detailed when creating your ideal follower avatar, all the way down to how much they make, where he/she vacations, what he/she reads, etc. The more you know about your ideal follower the better you’ll be able to connect with them and know what type of content to create for them.
   3. What do I stand for & believe in? “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for nothing.” So don’t be afraid to stand up and speak up for what you believe in. Sure, you’ll lose followers who won’t agree or share the same values, HOWEVER you’ll create raving fans out of the ones who do share your point of view. Make it a point to use your platform for good and to motivate others to stand up for what’s right. Take a few minutes and write down your values and how you can incorporate them into your everyday message/s, topics and world happenings.   
   4. How will others benefit from my content? This is KEY. Once you get started, the #1 question you should be asking yourself, on the daily, is “How can I provide value to my audience?”.  Will you be your audience’s go to person for beauty reviews, DIYs, advice, tips & tricks, inspiration, mini lessons on your area of expertise, etc.? What can you teach an everyday person like yourself? Ultimately, this is what’ll keep your audience following you long term and also keep them engaged with your content.
3. START & Focus on Perfecting What Works For You. There are two very important parts to this section so let’s begin with the most important one which is to START and STOP letting doubt and the opinions of others get in the way of pursuing this dream of yours. START your instagram profile. START creating content and an online presence. Just START.  Once you’ve started, then focus on perfecting what works for you at this point in your life. NOT what’s working for someone else. What I mean by that is – if all you have right now is an iPhone and your best friend/husband/coworker/stranger to take your photos or if mirror photos are the only way to capture your outfit of the day, then make that shit work and perfect it. Don’t think for one second, you have to go out and purchase a fancy (and expensive) camera or hire a photographer to make it in this industry. Did you know there are still movies being shot with an iPhone?! It’s not about the equipment but rather the creativity and perspective that counts. And in this case, the mood you capture, the story you tell in your photos and how you edit them is what you should be concentrating on. I go a little more in depth here in this IG post, where I compared a professional vs. a camera phone photo of mine and highlight different types of bloggers who’ve focused on perfecting what works for them. So again focus on what works for YOU, so you can work on creating consistency.
4. Get In The Mindset Of Being A Business Owner, NOW. I know what you’re thinking…, “but this is just a hobby”. STOP. RIGHT. THERE. Chances are, you’re taking this leap of faith because one, you have a desire to share your passion and two, you’re a boss, and three, (the most important one) you’re in this to eventually make money. Am I right? Okay perfect, so the sooner you start treating your brand as a business, the better off you’ll be. And if you follow all of my tips above and work towards cultivating an engaged community, it won’t be long before brands start approaching you or you start pitching them. So from day one register your business with the state and IRS, keep track of your expenses and income, especially the value of gifted items because those do count towards income, and present yourself as professionally as possible when communicating and negotiating with brands. Setting up your business is extremely important, not only for your reputation but for your taxes!
5. Be Strategic With Your Efforts & Time: “Time is precious; waste it wisely.” Meaning every minute spent should be purposeful and all efforts made for your new “business” (step #4) should count, especially when it comes to your time on instagram. Here are my DON’TS followed by my DOS:

   1. DON’T mindlessly scroll through your timeline. DO interact & engage with the people you follow, especially if they are similar niched accounts, every chance you open up the app. Reason: influencers and other content creators pay attention to those who support them. If you’re both following each other, when the time comes for you to post, they are more likely to engage with your content to show support for your support. Now, if they don’t follow you, you’re still winning because it’s free exposure for you. I can’t tell you how many influencers I’ve followed because their name/comment caught my attention while looking through other influencer’s comments. Trust me it works. 

      For more tips on increasing your engagement and the step-by-step formula I follow when I post head here.

   2. DON’T forget about geotagging, utilizing hashtags, and tagging businesses/brands in your posts and stories. EVEN IF THEY AREN’T PAYING YOU, especially when you’re starting out. DO geotag your photos & stories, this not only offers exposure, but also, it lets your followers/brands know where you’re located, puts your photo in that geotag timeline, which makes it easier for that business to see your post and possibly repost you or reach out to you for a collaboration! DO use hashtags strategically, when you post in-feed and in your stories. For your in-feed posts -you should have about 3 different groups of 10-15 different hashtags that you alternate. Each group of, relevant to your niche, hashtags should consist of small, medium and larger hashtags. DON’T listen to people when they say hashtags don’t work anymore because they do, ESPECIALLY if you are very niched or if you consider yourself a local blogger in your city/state. I personally experience more engagement when I use hashtags then when I don’t. Also, I can’t tell you how many of my local followers have shared with me that they found me through local hashtags. DO use relevant hashtags in your stories. I recommend about 1-3. This is a new feature that instagram rolled out not so long ago and helps your stories populate in that hashtag’s timeline. This is a great strategy for free exposure. DO tag the brands you’re using/mentioning on your in-feed post and in your stories. By doing this you’re not only benefiting your audience by telling them the brand and giving them a way to research them but you’re also organically mentioning the brand. INSIDE SCOOP: I just returned from a pitching workshop where there was a panel of women who represented brands who work with influencers and they mentioned how brands are looking for the influencers who are already organically mentioning their products vs. bloggers who’ve never mentioned their brand to their followers. SO much sure to tag and @ the brands you already use and share with your followers.
   3. DON’T ignore your DMs & Comments. DO work towards creating a community by responding to your comments and direct messages. I mean, why else are you in this business if not to help and connect with others? So make sure you’re answering questions and connecting with your followers as quickly as you can. This is something instagram’s algorithm takes into account as well so make sure to engage. TIP: If your DMs start getting overwhelming but you’ve noticed the same questions coming in, either address them in stories and then create a Q&A Highlight or schedule a weekly or by weekly Q&A IG Live session with your audience to catch up on any questions and life!

So…what did you think? Do you think you have a good understanding of where to start and how to find your influencer path after reading this blog post? I’d love to know your thoughts or if these helped you in anyway. If you find yourself stuck on any of these steps, send me an email jennifer@stilettoconfessions.com, shoot me a DM on Instagram, or post what my next influencer post should be about below in the comments!

As always, thank you so much for meeting me here and please reach out to me if you have any questions! BESOS.

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