So roughly 18 months ago, I decided to jump headfirst into blogging or as most would say ‘influencing’. I’ve always been a reluctant blogger. In love with content creation but terrified of putting myself out there. However, after this epic shoot at the tail end of 2018, I decided to get over myself and actually take a chance at creating content that I’m passionate about. Content that will resonate with the worn down, demotivated girl/woman/mom, who doesn’t realize how special they are….

18 months on, I’m amazed at all that has happened. 2019 was a year of putting my money where my heart is, saying yes to opportunities, and believing I’m worthy. No more playing it safe, wishing, and hoping. 2019 was the year of DOING.

Like I said, a lot did happen. Some amazing wins and some losses but one thing’s for sure, A LOT of lessons were learned. That’s why I decided to put pen to paper (figuratively speaking) and share what I’ve learned in hopes that it’ll inspire you in some way to go after whatever you want.

Just Start

Obvious right? I’ve always dreamt of having a blog of my own that speaks entirely in my voice. I’ve followed accounts that have inspired me and dreamt of ways I could create similar magic. But one thing I didn’t do in all the time spent daydreaming was actually doing. Yes, actually bringing these dreams to fruition. At the tail end of 2018, I realized I was crippled by fear. I finally faced myself and decided I would put my best foot forward and whatever happened, happened. Either way, I would know and stop wondering. And that’s my long-winded way of telling you to start. Once you start, you’ll wonder why it took to long to get at it.

What helped me – I told friends and family what I was trying to do and therefore had no choice but to get on with it. Nothing more cringey than getting asked how the blogging/content creation is going….and having nothing to share!

Be Yourself

Sounds simple enough. Be yourself, let your light shine and everyone comes running. But you know it isn’t. You start on this journey and realize how many others are doing the same thing as you. It gets overwhelming and daunting and your first instinct is to look at folks doing it successfully and emulate what they’re doing. I can tell you that gets old real quick. It ends up coming across unauthentic to you and your audience. And it gets much MUCH harder to sustain.

But how do you “be yourself”? What does that even mean? I can’t remember where I heard this but think of what you’re uniquely good at, what your friends and family love about you, what you’re passionate about. This is what make you ‘YOU’. This is what will draw your audience. This is what will keep you going when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. This will feed your creative side, enabling you to churn out great content day in day out.

What helped me – This has been both a work in progress and an on-going process. At the start of this journey, I identified what subjects I wanted to talk about – style, motherhood and feel-good content – but that has evolved with time. Over the past year, I’ve immersed myself into understanding why we do what we do and finally, gave myself permission to share more of this with my audience. I’m learning that if you can infuse what makes your heart sing into your content, you’ll never lack motivation to do what needs to be done.

Be Consistent

This is oh so important. You start this journey, you’re excited. You’re going to create the best possible content. You’re going to create a brand that’s unique and resonates with so many. Then the reality of consistently creating content hits and you’re shook. You have to invest in high-quality visuals, you have source props and outfits to shoot, you have to spend hours planning content, writing posts, engaging with your audience, uploading stories, pitching brands….and the list goes on and on. Easy enough to do when your posts do well or when you land a campaign but very very difficult when no one shows interest in what you’re doing, when you don’t get a response from a brand you pitched….

But what you shouldn’t do is stop. You take a step back and review what you’re doing. What can you improve? What can you do differently? Or maybe you need to cut yourself some slack and give yourself more time. Focus on your end goal – helping your audience, creating a great product, being your most creative self, whatever it is. Focus on doing that consistently.

What helped me – Building a system that supports this model is KEY. I’ve realized that without a system, there’s no way you can be consistent. What does that mean? You need to make your content creation as effort-free as possible. For me, it means shooting my content in bulk. Look, I have a full-time job and toddler to look after, there’s no way I can shoot whenever I want. The effort that goes into shooting several looks in one go ensures I can plan and push out my content weeks in advance. My system is not perfect but I’m learning and evolving the process as I figure out what works for me. Check my recent blog post with actionable pointers from seasoned content creators.

Take This Seriously

This goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway. You have to take this very seriously. Look at the content creators you admire and consider how much effort or thought goes into what they put out. They don’t just throw out anything. They take this very seriously. They think about who they’re communicating with, how to add value, they invest in high-quality imagery, they engage consistently, they work on building relationships with their audience, and create networks with brands and counterparts. They put in the work because in most cases it’s their day jobs and they are thoroughly invested in what they’re doing. I truly believe it’s almost impossible to be successful in this space if you don’t take it seriously.

What helped me – Learning, learning and more learning has been fundamental for me. Especially putting my money where my mouth is and investing in courses and programs to learn more about this uncharted industry we’re in. I was skeptical at first and talked myself out of it several times, then I reminded myself that I’ve invested time and quite a bit of money in my day job to get to where I am today, so why would I think it would be any different trying to make ‘content creating’ a success? At the same time, there are tons of free resources out there to learn – podcasts (The Influencer Podcast, MyTaughtYou, Goal Digger, Do it Scared, Hashtag Authentic, etc.), books, IG accounts, blogs….really the list is endless.

Find Your Tribe

This I took for granted at the start of my journey but I’ve since realized how vital is it now. You see I’m lucky to have gravitated to folks that love creating content. Both full-time and part-time. These are the folks that help you keep going. Who you bounce ideas off on, who you collaborate with, who lift you up when you’re low and high, who share valuable insights and who open up their networks to you. I know this isn’t easy to find and I’ve been very lucky to have this but I would say putting yourself out there makes all the difference. You need to go to events, you need to engage with folks doing what you’re doing. And most importantly, you need to give and give and give. Don’t go looking for your tribe to take. Go look for them and focus on giving/helping. With time, you’ll build up a core group of friends in this space that will make all the difference in your journey.

What helped me – Like I said, give. Don’t force it. If you love what they’re doing engage, show your support and lift them up. I can’t tell you how many wonderful ladies I’ve met on the interwebs who I’ve never met in person who go over and beyond for me. Don’t be intimidated by followings or popularity, we’re all human behind these screens with hopes and dreams. Everyone wants to be appreciated. It’s even better when you do so without asking or needing anything in return. Trust me, it all comes back to you a million fold.

Yes, You Can Monetize

Now, finally to the point you’ve all been waiting for. Go check me out on IG chiniluv. Yes, I’m an itsy bitsy influencer. In that special group categorized as nano-influencers. Yes, numbers are important in this game. Folks are more likely to follow a content creator with ten of thousands of followers than one with a few thousand. It’s a highly saturated space and most people are quite tired of following ‘influencers’. And yes, brands are usually more interested in content creators with tens of thousands of followers. But don’t let this daunt you. I can tell you, in my first year of influencing I’ve been gifted thousands of dollars of worth of merchandise and services and I’ve booked paid campaigns at significant rates. You’ve seen my IG, I’m clearly a nano-influencer. I can tell you, 90% of the campaigns I worked on came about from brands that approached me.

What helped me – If you want to monetize, you need to be deeply authentic to yourself and create the best possible content you can that adds value to your audience’s lives. That’s the power you have as an influencer. Brands will see that and want to be associated with you. You can also create products and services your audience needs and values. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. I won’t lie, in my first year into this journey, I worried alot about monetization but I’ve learned focusing on adding value is what matters. The rest will come. Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot that goes into ensuring you get the rates you deserve, establishing long term brand relationships etc. I’ll probably delve into that in more detail in a future post 😉

Well, I’ve clearly learned a lot, haven’t I?! My final piece of advice is to bet on myself. Yes, it’ll be hard and daunting. Yes, you’ll probably look back at your early attempts and cringe but you’ll be proud of yourself!

It’s never too late or too difficult to do whatever you’re passionate about. I hope these lessons will help you in your journey – whether you want to start your own blog, start a business or change some aspect of your life. You need to start, be yourself, be consistent, take it seriously, find your tribe, and monetize (if that’s a crucial part of your goal). You won’t regret it….but you might kick yourself for not starting sooner! 😉

Going forward I’ll be sharing alot of my journey (mindset, pointers, resources etc.) that have helped me along this journey. Subscribe to my blog to be one of the first to get these gems straight into your inbox! I’ll work hard to make them as valuable as possible.