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To become an influencer is to become a small media business with your reputation and attention as your product, earning money not through a…
To become an influencer is to become a small media business with your reputation and attention as your product, earning money not through a platform's in-built monetization program, but through brands paying to access your particular audience. It is different from just running a content channel in terms of your relationships not with the platform or their algorithm, but with brands who are sponsoring your posts. Approaching the work with an idea of building a reputable media outlet that focuses on a particular audience rather than running a content channel is crucial for making most decisions in this field.
Choosing a content topic is not enough as influencer's work is dependent on your particular angle – a unique way of thinking, opinion, experience or presentation on the chosen topic which would make you stand out from other accounts. Point of view is what turns you into a personal brand and not an anonymous content producer and it is the point of view a brand will pay to get associated with. It is harder to fake than the content topic since it comes from somewhere inside you.
Starting from day one trying to establish yourself on several platforms leads nowhere, and trying to do it at once proves to be fruitless. Starting from proving your concept on one platform first and then expanding to others works better since it will be easier to adapt already proven material to another platform than create it again and again. Most multi-platform influencers started with one platform and only after that moved on to another one.
Brands today are interested less in your followers' number and more in your engagement rate, the percentage of audience that interacts with your content by liking, commenting and sharing it. It is one of the reasons why smaller creators whose audiences are well-engaged earn surprisingly decent rates compared to those with many more followers and not so engaged audience. Being able to track and discuss your engagement rate openly, instead of just throwing the numbers of your followers at potential partners, makes you a much more credible partner to approach.
Sponsorship prices vary greatly depending on the platform, niche, and engagement rate, but mostly depend on the size of your audience, smaller accounts with engaged audience charge low hundred dollars for sponsored posts, while larger accounts earn thousands from each post. The price depends on the quality of engagement and type of content not only on the number of followers. Looking up the prices of similarly engaged creators in your niche gives you the most realistic start point. Being ready to turn down a low offer is necessary for protecting your rates from becoming even lower.
Clearly mentioning that your post is a paid post or an advertisement is not optional but is required by law in most countries by the advertising regulators, and hiding the paid relationship between you and the company is punishable for both sides. It is different from disclosure of affiliate link since a sponsored post is a paid relationship and not a commission from a sale, though in both cases transparency is required. Usage of built-in paid partnership tools provided by the platform is the easiest way to comply with the law without looking like a pain in the neck.
Each sponsorship is a risk of eroding the trust in you which was the foundation of your influence. Promoting products you do not believe in, or taking any sponsorship offers regardless of the fit between it and your audience will damage your influence in the long run much more than trying to earn some extra cash right now. Selective approach to sponsorships is the key to maintaining your influence intact. A well-trusted audience worth much more both for you and your sponsors than a numb one which gets tired from constant promotion of everything.
Creating a short media kit which includes your audience size, engagement rate, previously sponsored work, and the partnership you want to offer makes it much easier for the brand to accept your offer without additional search for the information. Active approach by reaching out to the companies you want to work with is a regular thing and can be helpful in landing your first sponsorships when your audience is not big enough to make you approachable on its own. Being specific about your offer increases your chances to get positive response.
The most visible highly-paid influencers are only a fraction of all people who are doing this, and for the overwhelming majority, there is no chance to earn from sponsorships enough money to live on it. It does not mean that it is not worth pursuing since some amount of money earned from sponsorships along with other sources of income is realistic for many creators, but it is important to have this picture in mind instead of the one presented by the most visible examples.