Last Updated on March 27, 2023
You deserve to take a shot at your dreams –even when they involve becoming an influencer and telling people what to spend their money on with confidence and poise.
It can be a hazy start. What do you focus on? Where do you put your attention? Do you need money to start? Your predecessors will likely tell you all you need is an internet connection and a smartphone. Then, go with your passion niche and find creative ways to deliver content so you can draw a hard-to-ignore following. But we’d be lying if we said there wasn’t more to it.
Influencer Levels
Your resume as an influencer is built on the size of your online following. That following is divided into five classes:
- 1,000–10,000 followers = Nano-influencer
- 10,000–50,000 followers = Micro-influencer
- 50,000–500,000 followers = Mid-tier influencer
- 500,000–1,000,000 followers = Macro-influencer
- 1,000,000+ followers = Mega-influencers
Influencer stats show a micro-influencer can earn between $40,000 and $100,000 annually. Mega influencers, on the other hand, can make tens of thousands of dollars per post.
While these classes make it seem like the bigger, the better, brands have different needs. Sometimes, a nano influencer is a better fit than a mega influencer.
How to Make Money
There are different ways for you to earn money. The first one is sponsored posts. Here, you get paid to post a product or service so your followers can spend money on it.
Alternatively, you can get an ambassadorial role. An ambassador role gets you into an agreement with a brand to promote its products and services, mostly exclusively or through affiliation. You can get paid per post, earn a commission on the total sales, or receive a monthly income.
The other option is affiliate marketing. If you’ve seen influencers promote a discount on a product or service with a personalized code or link, they are doing affiliate marketing. Doing this helps them increase sales for the brand and get paid a specified amount for each sale. If these options are unavailable, you can try offsite website advertising or subscriptions.
Offsite advertising involves advertising a brand’s products or services on a website that’s not theirs. For instance, a company can hire you to review their product on your site and then pay you.
Subscriptions allow influencers to rally their followers to subscribe to something. They incentivize these subscriptions by offering discounts or gifts to those who sign up –it could be months of free content, tickets to an event, etc.
The big question is, is it worth leaving your day job?
Pros of Becoming an Influencer
A job as an influencer is a stark illustration of the reality of self-employment –it won’t make much sense if the potential for greater reward isn’t balanced against the personal risk of being broke for a long time as you build your brand.
These pros and cons will help you see what you’re up against:
Ability to Earn a lot of Money in a Short Time
For folks who’ve dreamed of sailing off to an island and doing nothing but swim, sunbathe, and eat the best meals in the world, influencer marketing can help you pay for that kind of experience with the proceeds from a single post.
Unique Opportunities
You get to hang out with celebrities and get invites to galas, dinners, and events they attend. That means you also get more opportunities to grow bigger with networking opportunities.
Free from the Stifling 9 to 5 Job
Influencing doesn’t run on the 9 to 5 schedule. Instead, deals are centered around holidays and brand events, which makes it easier to make time for life’s other pleasures.
The Downsides of Being an Influencer
On the flip side:
You Need to be Authentic
Followers buy what influencers tell them because they believe they are honest. Unfortunately, the same crowd has a special gift for detecting inauthenticity and will opt out if they think you’re fake.
Your Brand Choice Has to Align with your Values
You can’t represent a brand with values you don’t believe in. Otherwise, the inauthenticity will show and rob you of your following.
There’s no Job Security
You’ll hop from one brand to another and don’t have the luxury of getting paid should you fall sick and can’t keep your end of the bargain.
The Odds of Succeeding are Hard to Predict
An influencer’s job is a gamble. Several reports identified pay disparity as a key issue in the influencer industry. For example, influencers get different pay depending on their race, with a 35% gap between white and black influencers.
How to set up a Successful Influencer Career
Do you still want to be an influencer? Here’s how to set yourself up for success from day one:
Choose a Niche
The best niche is the one that fits you. You can quickly inventory what drives you and what you’d put in hours of work without feeling drained. Choosing a niche doesn’t mean sticking to just one topic. Instead, try combinations that naturally align –for example, fitness and beauty.
Find a Publicist
The case of getting overnight fame happens to one person in billions. So instead of hoping that will happen, find a publicist who’ll help you build a name. Publicists create news centered on their clients, helping them gain wide visibility and a following.
Generate Loveable, Shareable Content
Consistently producing great content will help you build and maintain a following. First, find out what information people love, then create content suitable for different channels. Next, determine the frequency of your posts and when so your audience can always anticipate your posts.
Engage your Fans
You can only build a healthy fan base if people find you engaging. Your ideal fan base is dependent on your niche. Also, read comments on your accounts to find out what they like, dislike, or want more of.
Team up with Fellow Influencers
Find influencers in your space who’ve built a significant following and work with them. This teamwork creates opportunities to sell you to their followers and more opportunities to get gigs from them. You could also interview influencers and tag the videos on their profiles. That way, whoever watches the video will discover you too.
Closing Thoughts
Influencer marketing was mostly reserved for celebrities. However, over time, it has shifted from an exclusively big screen and popstar world to include regular people with a knack for creating content.
By partnering with big and small influencers, businesses can target audiences in hyper-specific niches and focus on a tiny but highly engaged audience who views their favorite content creator as one of their friends.
Bottom line? Success lies in your hands. All you need to do is consider these tips and stay consistent. Of course, it would help if you also figured out how to pay your bills if being an influencer brings you money later than you’d hoped.