In the world today, technology has made it possible for anyone to become an influencer. Gone are the days where only movie stars, tv hosts, and sitcom favorites are the stars the world listens to and follows. Today, everyday people like you and me can also get a following, build a community and influence the options of others.
One great way to start your influencer journey is by blogging. Yep, writing about what you are passionate about and being strategic will get people to follow you. Passion is something everyone can quickly form a connection with, the reason it’s the best place to start.
So today, we will look at five points to note when starting your blogging career.
Choose a Niche
This point is the basic of the basics. Never attempt to write across multiple niches for any reason.
So, what are some things to consider when thinking of choosing a niche?
- Familiarity: Try a niche, you know, ideally a place where you are active within the community. This familiar environment allows you to fit in comfortably because you are already a part of the community.
- Passion: So, the word passion in recent times has become a kind of buzzword of sorts. Most “How to start blogging” articles will tell you about choosing your passion. The truth is they are not wrong either, but in choosing your passion, it isn’t about what you like to write about only but more of, can go the extra mile to write passionately about what you enjoy?
Ask yourself this, If no one was ever going to read your work, would you still put in the required efforts? If you make no money from it, would you still write about it? And if you are not in the mood, would you still write about that topic? If you answer yes to all, then congrats. You found your passion.
- Profit: Okay, so you know I just gave that motivational speech on the last point. But it would help if you carried out simple research on the niche you want to blog on. Any topic you blog passionately about will gather attention over time but, a niche that’s already known and mainstream is likely to grow faster than one that is relatively new and unknown.
- Sub niche: The last point here is to sub-niche. If you want to blog about food, why don’t you blog about only Mexican food or recipes on food from a particular region or something exciting like experimenting with new food? You know, something very niche and not broad. Choosing a sub-niche is a great way to distinguish yourself when you start.
Read next: How To Find Instagram Influencers That Are Right For My Brand
Brainstorm Content Strategy
After you decide on what to write about, the next thing is planning your content strategy. Planning your content strategy will include determining the tone (Sounding conversational is always the way to go, but you can decide on something else). You also need to figure out your voice, which can be persuasive, narrative, or a hybrid of two or more styles, etc.
And then, there are content elements, which cover things like your text, graphs, and photo. Most times, things like tone and voice are inherent. Some people may have to learn them, but most times, it comes naturally to the writer. That’s what the industry calls authenticity or being genuine. It’s better not to fake it and have it flow from you.
As for content elements, these are things you either learn or hire a content strategist/writer to help you with professional planning. Part of your content strategy is to choose what social media platforms to start on. As a blogger, you start with a blog. You can also branch into Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube if you recreate your content to be visual-centric.
Using our food recipe example, you can have step-by-step videos to accompany your blog posts. Create a Pinterest account with pictures of your stunning dish (or maybe dishes you find striking) and then Instagram pictures capturing moments in the kitchen, in restaurants, or having a lot of fun with family or friends.
One thing you should realize is not to juggle many social media platforms at once.
Consistency
Consistency is something you should be familiar with at this point if you have read a good number of starting anything in life. Consistency always gets a mention, and for good reasons, too. To be consistent is to keep showing up on your social media platform.
Showing up always becomes simpler by drawing up a schedule for yourself. Consider the social media platform. For a blogger, putting out articles at least 11 times a month is an excellent way to start. You can get away with posting once a week on YouTube while on Instagram – you are looking at twice a day or six times a week.
Staying consistent is important because it will take a while for your content to blow up or attract loyal supporters, which leads nicely to the next point.
Build a Community
Building a community should be your goal when starting as an influencer. A community is a place where you and your followers can interact, talk about things from your content, answer questions, get to know your followers as they know you. It’s a place where you get personal with people that love what you do or love your personality.
A typical way of building a community is to note people who often comment, ask questions, or even say hi, responding to comments and questions. On Instagram, carrying out polls on a topic you wrote on.
You can also ask them to comment, listen to their take or option and discuss with them. When you start, it’s easy to respond to everyone, but once your presence gets wider and your following increases, then you can respond to the first few comments on your posts.
Apart from engaging with your fans, you should also be active in your community. Interact with other influencers in your niche, contribute by commenting and engaging with their content. This way, you are putting yourself in the community by commenting on other influencer posts, and who knows, maybe you may get some new followers too who resonate with your thoughts.
The takeaway point here is to engage with your followers and others in your community across various platforms – even platforms where you don’t have a considerable following.
Read next: Trending YouTube Video Topic Ideas To Try
Collaborate with Other Influencers
The last point of this article is to collaborate with others. No man is an island, the saying goes, and there is a reason why that saying exists. That’s because no one person can achieve their goals without help from others.
This rule applies here too. As an Influencer, cross-promoting yourself with others is a great way to attract new followers and expose yourself to a new set of people for free. Collaboration opens you to a new audience but can also be a great learning experience for you if you are still in the early stage of your influencer journey. You can get tips on how to write better, maybe tools that can help, how to schedule, etc.
Aside from collaborating with other influencers, also consider collaborating with brands. Brands reach out, but influencers can also reach out to them. There may be a brand you like/love and feel your audience loves them too. You can pitch to the brand and try to get a simple brand deal with them. If you want to sell their product at a price, most brands won’t say no to that.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, becoming an influencer isn’t an easy task, but if you are persistent and patient enough, who knows—you might be the next big thing in your niche. We’ve put together comprehensive information to get you started, so all you need to do is begin.
See you at the top!
