dannydray-blog

[dannydray-blog]

So You Want To Be An Influencer?

This blog’s focus is on social media influencers and why it is important but as I thought about this next post, I reflected and said what if someone doesn’t really know how to be an influencer. I have gone over everything regarding the what, why and the benefits of it all but what about those who want to know the how. So how would one become an influencer? There are many different ways. Being an influencer not only benefits the person who is influencing the brand as well some business make about $6.50 from every dollar invested into the influencers.

Something great about being an influencer is that you are your own boss, you make the decisions. This is your chance to make your own decisions and do what you feel is best. People should also be aware of the fact that this job can be very time consuming and it something that is developed and strengthened. It is not something for people who are impatient or expect immediate results. There are different levels of experience with influencers one of them being micro influencers. They are sometimes not recognized on a large scale but are still important.  A great resource was a website I found quicksprout.com this summarized the five key points of starting an influencer job.  

The first of the five steps is focus on a niche. This means finding what your passion is and seeing it through. You have to find one focus and see it through. To gain popularity and become well known you have to find a particular niche or topic and embrace and constantly build upon it. If you think about bloggers, podcasts, speakers, and author they usually have a specific topic or focus that they relate their content to constantly. The second step is sharing your knowledge. This is a way to demonstrate your knowledge and the value you bring, but with technology today and how accessible information is, it is so easy to become aware.

A blog is one place to get started on becoming informed (like this one of course) will providing you a platform to use your voice and say what you want. Being knowledgable also means having resources, meaning having the social media outlets necessary to help you inform your audiences. This also helps form connections with people you would not have the opportunity to connect with otherwise. Some ways to inform are podcasting, creating webinars, creating videos, slideshows, white papers, and infographics.

The third step is having an opinion. Something that all influencers have in common is they all have an opinion and share it with their audiences. This helps them become distinguished and popular. With so many blogs to differentiate from it is important to stand out and use resources such as opinions to help you gain following and supporters. Step four is network, network, network. It is important to network and create those bonds because they help you establish these relationships and get your foot in the door. There are two ways people usually do this which is digitally and in person. The first option is done by interacting with prominent people on social media commenting and interacting. The second option is the in person networking. This means attending industry trade-shows, going to conferences industry events, or landing public speaking engagements.

The last and final step is engaging your audience. This means keeping the conversation you start going. Sometimes when people create these blogs, pages, or influence sites they forget that the most important part is being consistent and continuing the trend. People appreciate consistency and in showing that alone you can gain a loyal following and differentiate who is real accessible and approachable. Little things go a long way as well such as sharing your follower’s content, commenting, reposting, and liking. Those types of things can make a huge difference for an influencer and building a strong relationship. This differentiates the good influencers from the ones who do the bare minimum.    

Again, becoming an influencer is not for the faint hearted. It is time consuming and takes practice, considerations, and also most importantly analyzing. Look at what you are doing and what you can do and adjustments that you can make because you can always adjust or change your practice. A great way to put it in perspective and something I took away from one of the articles I researched was the fact that influencing is much like a snowball. Once you start and get the ball rolling it only gets larger and larger, meaning growing with popularity and importance. It is a hard process to start but once you start it gets easier to continue and do better at. Everything is a learning process. Overall, being an influencer is a rewarding and exciting job made for those who are ready to learn more about themselves, their focus, and their communities on a daily basis. Through this blog I have now been able to educate you on the what, the why, the benefits, and most importantly and newly, the how.      

[dannydray-blog]

To Influence.. Is a Job in Itself

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 14.0px} span.s1 {color: #dca10d}

Imagine adding to your resume “social media influencer.” While some would laugh, other people would be highly impressed. Not only is that a job that has increased in popularity it has increased in awareness as well. This has become a job in a respected field, and even seen as something you can study or aspire to be through College. A social media influencer, for those who don’t know is someone who has a large audience reach across social platforms and have built a lot of trust in a specific industry or in regards to specific topics. This is someone who can oftentimes persuade or influence their followers to purchase or become interested in a certain product or service from the brands they promote. 

Upon my research, I found the demand for social media influencers was pretty high. The companies looking for this specific job title were even big names such as Amazon, Myro, and American Eagle Outfitters. Some other companies are Beeroll, Wifey Beauty LLC, Audible, and Idea Nuova, to name a few. A study done presented by Vox.com states that 72 percent of companies are expanding their budgets or making room in their budgets for social media influencers. While social media influencers used to be people who were famous or semi-famous it has expanded to anyone and everyone who can fit the job description and do what it is a certain company is looking for. 

The most popular platforms for these influencers are YouTube and Instagram for most companies. Depending on the level of influencer and the amount of followers they charge different rates to companies. If you are known as a micro influencer you have 10,000 to 50,000 followers and usually only charge about a couple hundred dollars nothing over a thousand. If you are an influencer with up to 1 million followers you can charge up to $10,000 per post, depending on the platform. Annually someone in this job field can make about $30,000 to $100,000. Now of course you can be asking yourself well, why do people find this job so valuable, but as stated by Vox.com again, most people find influencers more impactful than athletes and TV stars. They are more relatable and easier to reach out to and connect with. For the most part all industries use social media influencers but some key components of this is fashion and apparel, food and beverage, beauty, fitness, retail, travel and hospitality, technology, and sometimes even finance. 

How does one influence? There are about four different ways you will see someone interacting with their followers on social media as an influencer. One way is through product promos, these are straightforward techniques involving the influencer posting a photo or video of a product. Hashtags, this is usually short words or phrases preceded by a pound symbol. This is related to the product, the company the product is for or anything catchy to get followers attention and interest. Another way is through viral campaigns, which are influencers participating in the brand’s campaign or enforcing their overall message, helping it go viral or spread rapidly. Another way is through being a brand ambassador. This is getting paid to promote a brand, their product, or their service. As an ambassador you are very involved with the brand and are well versed in their products or service. 

This is both a new and unique job and not something that many people truly are aware of. Most times people make assumptions (myself included) but after research this job is actually real and can actually lead to other important jobs while helping keep someone financially stable. After my research this is a side job I would consider having and something that I can say I truly understand and support now. How about you? Are any of you social media influencers? Comment below and give me your perspective on it, what is your favorite part? The hardest part? Something you want others to know? I hope everyone was able to find this as interesting and informative as I did! 

[dannydray-blog]

Social Media or Social Jobs?

If someone were to say their source of media came from an online platform or social media platform 10-15 years ago, the world would be astonished. It is crazy to imagine that something so small or something behind a screen can lead to thousands of reliable jobs for people. 

Not only is social media changing how people create jobs they are changing the jobs people already have, adjusting their job relationship and employee, employer relationship, and even adjusting some job titles as well. As social media and jobs start to become more and more intertwined, people fail to realize just how much the two build off of one another. Research done by Careerbuilder.com shows that about 60% of employers use social media to determine if a candidate meets the job requirements. Jobs also have begun to post their open positions on social media, mostly through Facebook and LinkedIn. With that being said, social media can also lead to some people also not being employed, this can be for reasons such as posting inappropriate or provocative content, evidence of drug usage or heavy drinking, discriminatory posts, or inappropriate screen names. 

On the opposite side of things, social media has also provided almost 33% of people with a job, as employers have selected these candidates to be higher based off of their social media pages and how they positively display themselves and their experience in these fields. Job hunting can be a two way street, and not many people consider it that way, while you are looking for a job to higher you, a job is looking for individuals to hire. It is important to know how social media affects your job experience. As an education major, we often times here how some teachers have been let go or not considered for jobs based off of their social media presence and things they have shared or said on social media. 

AARP suggests five tips to help you and your friends avoid the deathly traps of social media. Those five tips are know your digital identity, scrub the social media pages that are yours, keep tabs on your pals, fine-tune your privacy, and be active on platforms you’re committed to. 

Social media can also change job requirements, as more jobs have incorporated social media into their requirements. Specifically, in jobs for communication reps, public relations, and sometimes even marketing. It can be seen as a negative or positive as sometimes it can be an added stress as they have more to do and focus on in regards to their job. It can also be a positive as it gives them more experience to add to their resume and skill sets.

It truly is something that can make a difference in your personal and professional life. It is important to always remember and be aware of how you social media presence affects your current or future career, relationships with your boss, and overall expectations of your job title.