How to be an Influencer as an Entrepreneur
In this digital age when enterprises are depended on social media platforms, websites, audiovisual medium to advertise it’s also time to advertise yourself. Gone are the times, when you could only create brands. Now you can be one. All you need to do is to market yourself through social platforms.
This is a novel profession and business opportunity, to become thought-provoking leaders and influencers which can also fill your pockets and give you fame. While this profession is still less known, it is a growing market. So let’s see how you can carve yourself in the list of influencers:
- Build your brand: To become an influencer your personality is the most important aspect. All you need to do is to capitalize on your strengths and talents which could be singing, driving varied vehicle, reading books or absolutely anything. Find what you want to project to the world. Think about your passions and aspirations and build it accordingly. Don’t follow trends and people. Follow your heart.
Tip- Be yourself because you are unique the way you are and No one can be a better you than you.
- Find your Niche: Decide your target audience, and what kind of content do you want to focus on. Eg- If your Youtube channel is exclusively on motivation, fitness and spirituality if you suddenly post video of animal or wildlife you may gain more views but might affect your brand image due to disruption of expectation from your followers. Thereafter it’s necessary to state what your content niche is.
Tip- Do think what is your long-time interests are.
- Consistency only answer: Consistency is the key to algorithms of many platforms. It also shows your commitment and keeps your audience waiting for content according to your time table. Every platform has a different level of consistency. On Instagram, you have to post every day and put up stories at least 2 or more times in a day whereas on Youtube you may post 3–4 times a week. Consistency pays off the most on the digital platforms as the audience are likely to stay updated with your c content and come back for more. One super consistent Youtuber is Mostlysane aka Prajakta Koli. She posts videos regularly on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday with total 521 videos on YouTube and 4.33 million subscribers.
Tip- Make a schedule and stick to it.
- Valuable Content: The content you put up should add value to your audience. The saying ‘Content is the King’ is absolute as good content sells. Original content is appreciated and respected around the globe. With strong content, people organically start to return to your platform. While that being said a content that educates, entertains, makes someone laugh is priceless on the internet. These genres of content are likely to get a viral phenomenon.
Tip- Make your content strong, focus on creating unique and original content as that will be your USP to success
- Choose your platforms: Test the waters. Try different platforms like Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Tumblr or Youtube before you decide on the one you want to invest your time and efforts in. Every platform has its own set of audience and advantages which you have to check before confirming it.
Tip- Choose your platform wisely. Trial and Error is key to determine the platform that suits you.
- Use other Social Media platforms to support: Cross-Platform Promotion of the content is one of the ways to get traction towards your chosen or main platform. Social Media is the vital tool to promote you must continue to promote your content through. Therefore, individuals can apprehend and be informed about your platform exists. These platforms act as a supporting system to your main source.
Tip- Cross-promotion and Marketing are essential as they will help your good content get the eyeballs and get the momentum of the platform going.
- Language: Many video-driven platforms like Youtube are available in nearly every country and over fifty different languages. In India, most content is in English, Hindi and also in regional languages like Marathi, Telegu, Gujarati etc. It’s also observed that southern languages like Tamil, Telegu, Kannada have good traction. With the digital divide reducing, internet connectivity has percolated in the rural areas and many people have started to opt for regional content over just English content.
Tip- Don’t stick to English venture out in different languages. It will help you reach more audience.
- Search Engine Optimization: SEO is a balance that one must follow with good content. These two go hand in hand, SEO helps your content to rank high in the search results. Therefore, invest some time on learning small nuances of Digital Marketing. You must make sure to use keywords in title description and other SEO tips.
Tip- Learn about SEO and apply it.
- Start Now: Don’t just wait for the perfect time to start just start it. Time is never going to be perfect there are millions of reasons to postponed but one is enough to start today. Start, grow and be consistent.
Tip- Don’t overthink the handle, name, creatives, what will people think. Just go for it. The time has come there is no better time than now to chase your dreams and aspirations.
- Be Patient: There are no shortcuts to success there is only one way to hustle and achieve it through patience, perseverance and productivity.
Try it. Get a social following. Be a brand. This will help your business, side-hustle, freelancer or might add in this list of people with millions of followers. It’s time to use social media correctly and to our advantage. Let’s embark this journey and try new things.
