Have you ever thought about becoming an influencer? Are you wondering what it takes? How do you get started? How much time you’ll have to spend working? How much you’ll actually earn?
Honestly when I first created my brand four years ago, I had no idea what an influencer was. I remember the first time someone called me an influencer, I thought to myself, is that actually a thing? Then I started hearing others talking about how being an influencer was their career and I began thinking how unique of a job being an influencer actually was. I never really set out to be an influencer, nor do I really ever call myself that. It sounds prideful to me. I just do what I do and enjoy it but I never really put a title to it. But essentially I can be called an influencer, a content creator, a small business owner, an Instagrammer, and or a blogger. When my children ask what I do, I sometimes tell them I am doing a commercial for a company – because it is more or less what it comes down to…however, sometimes I feel like a walking advertisement so sometimes I tell them I am in marketing!
But I find it all fascinating. I’ve spent years studying it like a science. It is a very different world than any other job I have ever had and it is often hard to describe or understand unless you are also in the same profession. It is still bizarre to me how I ended up here, but when I really look at it, my personality, education, and previous job experience has all of the ingredients it takes and it all makes sense that I am doing what I do. And I have learned it is a legitimate career.
Truly as a profession, I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Registered Play Therapist, a University Professor, public speaker, and work part-time for a clinic as a Supervisor/ Behavior Consultant for families with children diagnosed with Autism. I have a Master’s in Television Broadcasting and a Doctorate in Psychology and when people ask what I do for a living I laugh and say, “where should I start?” I usually start with what I just described above and then throw in at the end that I have a blog. You see, I always knew what I was creating was special and was going to grow and grow year after year, but to be honest, it started more as a side gig, and has always been more on the back burner until this past year when I tripled my income and legitimately made a significant amount if money from my brand. And I feel like I am just getting started!
So what does it take? How did it happen? Honestly, it partially landed on my lap. Now don’t get me wrong, I worked hard to gain a following and get my brand to where it is, but I never intentionally sought out to become an influencer. In some ways it just kind of happened and manifested into what it is now. And also, I have cultivated my eclectic background of education and experience and its all manifested into the success of my brand. I use my media background to cover media related events and be on local television. I use my sales, publicity, and marketing background to negotiate contracts, pitch myself to brands, and create compelling content. I use my education in the field of psychology and my personal experience of being a parent to create a unique brand that brands are attracted to. I have used my outgoing personality and abundant social skills to network at meet others and expand my community. I use my public speaking experience to speak at local conferences, be in local television, and hold my own parenting workshops. And I have passion. I have drive. I have dedication and discipline. And I hustle. Nonstop.
Overall I truly enjoy what I do. There are days when being on my phone becomes intrusive and overwhelming and I stay off social media as much as possible. There are days when I am not motivated to work. Like any job, I need a day off. I am human. But to be a successful influencer, you have to stay on top of trends, popular hashtags, constantly changing algorithms, and the consistent changes to social media. You have to constantly interact and post or people will move on. You have to stay active and create compelling contact that is relevant and unique. You have to be flexible, creative, and be willing to evolve over time. Overall, I love what I do and I think that shows. Someone told me once I have natural talent to do what I do and I have to agree that there is an element of drive, dedication, hustle, and even talent to be an influencer. It’s not for everyone. But is it for you?
And you might think being an influencer is an easy job. All I do is just pose for a camera, take a photo, and write a little blurb that goes along with it, right? What you don’t know is the hours it takes for each campaign to come to fruition and what goes on behind the scenes. I love having my own brand because I am the boss and I am ultimately in charge of every decision. However, that means I put in more money, time, and effort investing back into my business to help make it flourish. But despite the hard work, it has been one of the best jobs I have ever had. I have had so much fun covering events with my family and have been able to provide financially for my family while also staying home and raising my children.
But you have to have a thick skin. I can’t tell you how many times I have been rejected by a brand. I have reached out to brands so many times, even now, where I don’t even get the respect or curtesy to get a “no thank you” reply after reaching out multiple times. I am flat out ignored. And when I get a “no” I have to be ok with that. I also have to be ok that I don’t get invited to all influencer events or get asked to be a part of every campaign. It never feels good not to be invited to something or get picked to work on a big campaign that you know you’d be perfect for. You have to learn to be grateful for what you have, be happy for and support others, and know you are exactly where you need to be. Your time will come. And sometimes you have to be humble and patient.
Believe it or not, I spend most of my day reading and responding to emails and negotiating contracts. The next biggest bulk of my time is creating content for brands. This entails getting explicit instructions on what to post, how to post, what to include, how to hold a product, what words they want you to include in your caption, and very fine details where if you do it incorrectly, the brand makes you do it over again. For each campaign, I spend a lot of my time taking photos, editing photos, taking videos, editing videos, and creating the written caption that goes along with one project. I also spend a lot of time budgeting. Each contract and campaign has different pay structures and sometimes I don’t get paid until 90 days after a post goes live, so I have to keep track of every campaign and follow up with companies and PR reps to track down payment to make sure I actually get paid for my work. I also have to spend time engaging on social media – answering questions, replying to comments, reciprocating comments and likes with others, and keeping track of my analytics.
I get asked a lot about how I got started. Well, first I came up with a concept. I married being a parent with having my Doctorate in Psychology to create my brand. I spent a long time coming up with a name that encompassed both expertise and did a lot of trial and error research on what domain name was available. Thus, The Parent-ologist w/ Dr. Kim was born. Once I had my name and my domain for my website, I worked on a logo. You don’t necessarily need a logo per se, but I knew I wanted something people would recognize and that I could put on my business cards and website that represented my brand. I even made it my first post on social media!
I wanted something that looked professional yet relatable while showing my professional side as a therapist and my personal side of being a mom and that also showed my personality. I originally chose to do an Avatar figure because I didn’t want to show my real face on social media. You see, you wouldn’t believe it as social as I am, but I am a pretty private person and having a public feed on social media scared me, and still does from time to time. That’s why you often don’t see my children pictured, and if they are, they are far away or covered somehow.
After my logo, I hired a web designer to create my website. And then I applied to have my brand trademarked. All in all, the entire process to create my brand took about a year. I really wanted to do it right so I didn’t mind the wait. Plus, at this point I barely knew what Instagram even was, more or less blogging or being an influencer. But things are so different now than they were four years ago. And not everyone has to go through all of these steps. But I have BIG goals for my brand, and like I said, I am still getting started. If my brand was my only job and my kids were a little bit older, I would be in a different spot, but right now, I am still focused on building my audience and my brand and know my time will come!
Once I launched on social media and started writing blogs, my brand took a life of its own. But I started like everyone else. I have no followers and no following. So I began networking with other brands and other bloggers like my life depended on it and created a network that is still strong today with deep friendships and partnerships. I cultivated my own partnerships, events, and projects. I constantly reached out to brands. And even now, brands mostly reach out to me, but I am also constantly reaching out to brands just as much as I used to. Being an influencer takes a lot of time, sacrifice, and hard work.
And as much success as I have had, I have some limitations. I am more limited in scope because I don’t post my children on my feed. I have been turned down from campaigns before because I won’t post a close up of my child’s face with a product. I don’t really post photos of me with alcohol or wearing a bathing suit. I don’t work with certain brands if I don’t like their products or if they aren’t willing to pay me for the work that I do. I spent a long time building my audience and my brand and it’s worth something to me – even if it’s just my time – because every second I’m working, I’m not spending with my children. And I am limited in my time because this isn’t my full time job and I can’t dedicate myself to it like others can. I also don’t have some of the financial freedom to put more into my brand than I already do. I can’t afford a virtual assistant, a business assistant, a photographer, an agent, etc. I do everything on my own and that alone is a limitation compared to some others that are in the business.
Plus at the end of the day my family, my children, my health, etc come first. If my child is sick, unless I have to, I don’t post just to post. I stay off social media. If there is a holiday, I don’t post. I want to be present with my family. That is why you don’t see consistent or a multitude of stories from me. I don’t document everything in my life. Remember, part of that is because I am actually a private person and it is also because I don’t want a phone camera in my kid’s faces 24/7. It was my choice to do this for a living, not theirs, and they didn’t sign up for this nor do I want to ever force them to take videos or photos. Plus, some things are just for me/us. I am not a reality show and neither is my life or my family. I share what I need and want to share and the rest of our precious memories are for me. I am more present as a mom that way. There have been multiple times I covered an event and even though I had tons of video footage proving I was there, I have major mom guilt because I feel like I missed the fine details and at the end of the day I feel like I wasn’t really there at all.
But being an influencer has a lot of glorious perks and as I said before, it has been the most fun and rewarding job I have ever had. I love covering fun events that I do for movie studios and Disneyland! I get invited on some pretty special trips and to some really exclusive events and that is certainly a perk! I also get opportunities to take my families on weekend trips and vacations at no cost to me. Don’t get me wrong, it still takes a lot of work covering an event or a full vacation, work is work. Taking videos, photos, and writing up a blog to include every detail takes a lot of effort and time, but the other side of the coin is going on a free trip! We get to try new products all of the time and get new merchandise in the mail at no charge to us, sometimes in exchange for a post and sometimes with a paycheck along side it!
But enough about me. It probably doesn’t surprise you that someone with their doctorate loves to do research and data. I wanted substantial evidence that being an influencer is a legitimate career. I recently asked over 25 influencers to anonymously fill out a survey sharing an inside look to influencer monetization. I wanted to know how much effort and time others were putting into their brand and at the end of the day how much money someone can make being an influencer! So once I received all of the results, I analyzed the data!
The first poll I took on Instagram was asking others how much time they spend working on their brand each week. It was almost equally a part-time job to a full time job. I personally am in the minority where I spend more than 20 hours a week working on my brand.
I then took a poll asking others if being an influencer was their only job or a second job? Again, it was split down the middle. More so than not, being an influencer was their only job. I’m in the minority in that being an influencer is a second job to me.
When I surveyed over 25 other influencers, the majority reported that they have been an influencer for 2-5 years. The second group (27%) reported they have been an influencer for -2 years, followed by 19% reporting 5-7 years, and lastly 11% reporting 8-10 years. What this research tells me is that we all have to start somewhere and being an influencer can be a long term, legitimate career. There is sustainability and longevity in being an influencer. It’s not a fad. It continues to grow daily.
Next I asked how often these influencers post on Instagram. 65% reported posting 5-7 days a week. Almost 20% reported posting 3-5 days a week. Posting daily helps you stand out in the algorithm as well as staying relevant with your audience. This being said, to be a successful influencer, you need to put in the time and be on social media daily, if not at least on weekdays, like any other job.
Next I asked how often these influencers post on other social channels? The majority (42%) reported they only post 1-3 days a week. Only 7% reported they post daily on other social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. What this research tells me is that you must stay active on Instagram. It is the money maker.
So how many followers do you need on Instagram? Among the women I surveyed the majority (30%) reported they have 10k-25k, 25% had 50-75k, then there was a 4 way split, with 12% reporting they have over 250k followers. What does this research tell me? To become a successful influencer, you certainly need a respectable following. That means something different for everyone, but I have noticed that the bigger the following, the more opportunities.
So how much money can you really make being an influencer? The short answer is A LOT! With the influencers I surveyed, the majority reported being paid anywhere from $100-$1000 per post. Close to 16% reported making $1000-$1500 per post and closet to 10% reported making anywhere from $2500-$5000+ per post! What does this research tell me? You can make a lot of money and a significant income as an influencer!
So how much per year as a salary can you pay yourself as an influencer? Close to 16% of the influencers I surveyed reported making six figures and well over $100,000! Approximately 7% reported making between $70,000-$100,000. About 25% reported making anywhere from $30,000-$60,000 a year. But the majority reported only making between $5,000-$30,000 a year.
And what is their niche? A whopping 60% reported being a family/parenting influencer. Others reported being a travel, fashion/style, Disney, mom, or “other” type of influencer.
So what does this mean for you? do you have what it takes to be an influencer? Is being an influencer something you would do for a living?
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