Meeta Vengapally
The ability to work as an influencer and quit your 9-5 job is possiblegetty
Many people ask me how I became an influencer on social media. But the bottom line is the same: How do they make it a career? I’m not going to lie—juggling being an influencer with raising two kids and running my own business has not been easy, but I can definitely say that the rewards are worth it.
It’s not difficult to understand why being a full-time influencer is awesome. Your own set of rules. You can set your own hours and hire the people you want. This allows you to be freed from the monotony of traditional jobs and gives you the opportunity to earn a living doing what you enjoy.
The truth is, there is a way to quit your 9-5 job and become a full-time social media influencer, and I’m going to outline the steps for getting you there.
Imagine yourself as a powerful influencer.
It’s easy to look at other social media influencers and wonder how they got started, and what was the special sauce that helped them to achieve success. It all started with visualization for me.
I’m a firm believer in the power of the mind. When we can see clearly what we want and feel the success that comes with it, we can make things happen. Yes, there are concrete steps that you’ll also have to take, but in the beginning, it all starts with a dream.
Once you’ve narrowed down what you want to achieve, start looking at others who have already achieved the same thing. Imagine you’re a chef blogger. Find out who are the most influential and successful cooking bloggers. What topics do they post about? What are their social media strategies? Is their site professional?
Before I became an Instagram influencer, I did a lot of research on Instagram, scouting out who was crushing it and what types of content they were creating. The background research you do will enable you to determine how you compare to other influencers and help you set your course for achieving your goals.
So now you have your vision, you see what others are doing, and you’re ready to quit your job. Let’s not forget! It can seem like you are jumping from a cliff to make such a major change. You will need to have income at your current job in order to fund your new venture, at the very least.
Enrich your knowledge by taking classes, researching information sites and reading books that will help you to become an expert in your subject and a better content writer.
How to be a social media influencer: 7 Steps
1. Determine your influencer niche
It is essential to take this first step. You should use your visualizations from earlier to help you visualize what you would like to be known as. You need to identify a niche for something you are good at. If your influencer category is too broad, it’s going to be much harder to attract an audience. While you can always expand your niche in later stages, it’s important to start small. The key here is that you want to pick a niche with the potential to be profitable (unless you’re pursuing your influencer dream as more of a hobby).
Popular niches include fashion, technology and entrepreneurship. While my business is in the fitness and health niches, I am a fashion and beauty influencer. My writing is focused on helping entrepreneurs and business owners. After I found success in one niche I was able expand my interests into other markets.
2. You must be prepared to face challenges and work hard
You would think I was leading you astray, if I told you that it was easy. Some of our greatest accomplishments in life come from facing obstacles and challenges, and that’s definitely the case here. Knowing that there will be challenges is a better way to overcome them. Even though you may feel completely overwhelmed in the beginning, it is normal. It’s normal and expected. It’s hard to build momentum, but once you get things rolling, it does get easier.
You will fail to succeed if your mindset assumes that being an influencer is easy. There are so many new things you have to learn, and I can guarantee it’s going to be more expensive in terms of time and money than you realize. You should be prepared to put in the effort required for classes, website building, email marketing, and growing your skills.
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You’re going to have to work to break free from the work you have now. You will need to put in a lot of effort and decide how much. Everyone thinks that I’m some sort of overnight success, but this is not the case. To become an Instagram celebrity, it took years. You will feel tired, frustrated and discouraged on some days. It will be frustrating to not get the results you desire. Don’t do it! Keep your vision in mind and believe that the universe will return what you put into it.
3. Adopt a “CEO” mindset
If you really want to do this, you need to understand that you’re a business owner now. This was an important mindset shift that I had to make when I realized it. The business owners are serious about what they do and put in a lot of effort. Learn as much about your field and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Each CEO and every business owner learned everything by doing it from scratch. You can invest in your own success and the tools that will help you succeed.
4. Get started by diving in
Once you have all the tools in your tool belt, it’s time to take the leap and get started. Get your blog up and running, start posting to your Instagram page, and keep at it. Keep at it! I don’t mean just to keep posting great content, but I also want you to keep doing it. Build a network of friends and followers on social media. You can only become an influencer by influencing others. It can be hard to begin because you’re worried about failure, but push through that insecurity and start making your dream a reality, little by little each and every day.
5. To stay in touch, send an email newsletter
It is essential to use email marketing. Your website should offer a means for people to sign up for the newsletter. You can keep in touch with your audience by engaging them this way. You also build trust and rapport with your followers. Remember you’re not annoying people by sending out a regular email—they sign up for it, so you can feel confident that they’re interested in what you’re doing and what you have to offer.
6. Keep the momentum going with frequent posts, comments and links.
Although posting and writing may seem easy, it is not enough to get followers. Building momentum for your Instagram or blog is not easy. There are many factors to consider. Consistency is key. To ensure that my Instagram feed is updated regularly, I created a schedule.
And remember, it’s not all about you. Comment on other blog posts, write and submit guest posts to other websites, and link to other bloggers or influencers so that you’re creating a network that works to your advantage.
7. Get in touch with your brands
This is the big question. How do you make it all work for you? Be patient while you work on your passion project. This is not going to happen overnight; it certainly didn’t happen for me. To grow your social media presence and be a true influencer on the internet, it takes time.
Get in touch with companies to make your information accessible. This is the truth, sorry. Tag brands that are relevant to your content, and you’ll find that over time, as your presence grows, companies will start reaching out to you to voice their brand. Because I have the opportunity to collaborate with many incredible brands, this is an exciting and fun thing. You should also look into affiliate marketing.
re you ready to make a new start in your career as social media influencers?It may seem at times like you’re about to scale Mt. Everest. You can trust me. Despite what I’ve already achieved, some days I still feel like I’m banging my head against a wall trying to keep going. These moments are when I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and remember that it is part of the journey. When you have the vision and skills to make it happen, then you are able to reach your greatest dreams. Believe in yourself!
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About the Author
Meeta Vengapally, founder and CEO at Garnysh, is also a top influencer on social media where she has been a spokesperson and spokesperson for more than 700 brands. Meeta’s Instagram accountRead her Profile on SMEClick here to visit her AllBusiness.com has articles and a full bio
The original publication date of this article is AllBusiness.com
The post How To Quit Your Job And Become A Full-Time Social Media Influencer appeared first on Social Media Explorer.
