Success Advice
How to Become an Influencer in 2020

If you’ve ever wondered how to become an influencer, you aren’t alone. Influencer marketing is on the rise as consumers and social personalities can now get paid to review brands to their audiences, promote glamorous lifestyles, and receive free products and services, including the luxury of complete wardrobes and travel accommodations.
Millennials and GenZ rely on these everyday people to provide valuable information within their realm of expertise. Companies are increasingly setting budgets aside to capitalize on this growing field of marketing. In 2017, over $2.1 billion was spent on influencer marketing on Instagram alone. The demand for social media influencers is anticipated to increase, especially for micro-influencers with less than 100k followers.
Influencers are the credible voice of this generation. Although everyday people, these consumers have positioned themselves as experts in their respective industries, earning the trust and attention of hundreds of thousands of follows, followed by contracts that pay real money.
As an influencer, you can use your voice to share information relevant to your passions or help your peers with purchasing decisions by reviewing products. While it may look like glitz and glamour from the outside, influencers can attest that they are required to be “on” 24/7 to cater to their brands, promotions, and audiences.
Inevitably, more people are looking to explore the world of influencer marketing. Despite the glamour, influencers are free agents who must create content that is both intellectually and aesthetically pleasing. They perfect the process of publishing and promoting content online and learn how to monetize their content. While the role is creative, it is also data-focused. As consumers grow more selective about who they follow, it is impertinent that influencers provide value, remain authentic, and indulge in the continuous task of having a robust and engaged following.
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin
So how do you become an influencer in 2020?
First, define your brand, niche, and audience. Your brand should have a unique, consistent voice that reveals to the audience what you want them to know about you. A successful influencer finds a niche, a subject in which they are an expert and are passionate about it. Journalists and thought leaders in a variety of industries have successfully crossed over into influencer marketing by consistently providing valuable information in their niche. Your brand should speak to who you want to appeal to.
Next, choose your social media channel and develop your content strategy. Your voice should reflect the sponsorships you hope to receive, even in the beginning. Consider blogging, guest posts, and curating content from other thought leaders and similar accounts when developing your content strategy.
For influencers hoping to build an audience using career, job, or academic-focused content, LinkedIn would be a great platform. For influencers seeking to post a video or photo-based content such as tutorials, sponsored endorsements, or other content that might relate to a brand or product in a variety of industries, Instagram would be the platform of choice.
Now, you must organize your content so that it is published efficiently. Content scheduling allows you to schedule ahead and prepare in case of unexpected distractions. Your content schedule should have a month’s worth of pre-planned content; a content calendar can ensure your content is consistent and also track your performance and engagement.
“Numbers are hollow. It’s all about community and involvement” – Andrew Steinthal
What’s the best time to post on social media?
Have you ever wondered the best times to post on each social media platform? The answer varies with every social network and the type of audience being engaged. According to an article on the best time to post, “Facebook and Twitter both see high engagement at 9 a.m., whereas one of the best times to post on Instagram is 5 p.m. LinkedIn caters to B2B audiences, with an ideal posting time of 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Pinterest sees high engagement as late as 4 a.m. With many businesses facing a growing global audience, varying time zones have become a growing concern, especially when it comes to the best times to post.
After you’ve created your schedule, it’s time to focus on your followers. Find 50 similar accounts and make them your besties! Get from behind your device and make friends face-to-face. You can host and attend events, or even take a social media class to apply to your new platform. It also helps to learn how to pitch yourself, your metrics, website visitors, and engagements effectively to companies you’d like to pay you for your social media posts.
Speak at conferences, be a guest on a podcast, and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Just keep in mind that it takes time to see success from influencer marketing, as most influencers report months or sometimes even years of hard work before landing contracts. You must be willing to build relationships over time, and not just digitally.
It’s easy to become an influencer as the entry barrier is very low. It’s not so easy to really become an expert in your field. This takes time. Niche down as much as possible, stay consistent and most importantly, have a great vision in place which can change this world for the better.
Have you ever thought about being an influencer? Share your thoughts on it below!
Success Advice
The 70-Year-Old Management Strategy That’s More Relevant Than Ever
It emphasizes setting clear, measurable goals that align employee efforts with broader company objectives

Every organization has its own vision and mission. But a vision is only as powerful as the people behind it. When employees are actively involved in decision-making and goal-setting, that vision becomes a shared reality. (more…)
Explode Your Social Media
Want More Views? Master These 6 YouTube Growth Tactics
Getting a strong start or feeling stagnant are two completely different problems, but they both need momentum, viewer engagement, and growth to fix them.

Strategic planning combined with unwavering dedication allows you to rise above the chaos of YouTube—luck won’t get you anywhere. (more…)
Change Your Mindset
The Leadership Skill Nobody Talks About (But Changes Everything)
Curiosity often takes a back seat to certainty and gets labeled as a soft skill, which makes it sound obvious and easy

Most of us, when faced with challenges, instinctively seek certainty and answers. In turn, our ego steps in and prompts us to defend our views, double down, or perhaps disengage. (more…)
Success Advice
Breaking the Bias: How Females Can Thrive In The Workplace in 2025
The good news is that some steps can also be taken by female business leaders who are looking to voice and fight these issues, take charge of their careers, and grow their business or influence in the industry.

Over the past 100-odd years, women have played a critical role in the ever-changing labor force. (more…)
-
Success Advice3 weeks ago
The One Mindset Shift That Made Me Irreplaceable At Work
-
Scale Your Business4 weeks ago
Why Smart Entrepreneurs Never Skip This One Business Expense
-
Did You Know3 weeks ago
7 Surprising Life Lessons Video Games Taught Me That School Never Did
-
Success Advice3 weeks ago
How Playing by the Rules Became the Smartest Business Strategy
-
Success Advice2 weeks ago
How to Build Trust, Kill Micromanagement, and Lead a Team That Thrives
-
Scale Your Business2 weeks ago
How to Build a Workplace People Actually Want to Show Up To
-
Success Advice2 weeks ago
Success Isn’t Sexy: 5 Daily Habits That Actually Work
-
Scale Your Business2 weeks ago
How Smart Entrepreneurs Cut Financial Chaos in Half with One Simple Switch