1. What happens when you hit 10k?
Reaching 10K followers doesn’t mean much nowadays as an influencer or creator. Some people have an expectation that when they hit 10,000 followers, they will become legit or start getting brand deals, and making money, or it is a barrier they have to get through to start making money. This, however, is slightly further than the truth.
It is a great starting point for influencers, especially those who are micro-influencers, however, don’t let that 10K goal stop you from doing everything else and achieving more. You should focus less on your follower count (although it helps), and more on the content you’re producing. Start pursuing things now. If you want to work with brands doing collaborations, then put yourself out there, if you want to sell an online course or digital products, then start now!
Set goals as a business, brand, or influencer that you have control over. You don’t have control over how many people follow you or when they follow you, but you do have control over when you’re posting. You also have control of when you want to launch a product or organise an event – this is all in your hands.
E-mail Lists
If you’re an aspiring influencer and you have heard of this before “start an email list” but in your head, you’re thinking “my goal is to grow my Instagram, not emails,” then listen up. First of all, an email list is a list of contacts that you own. The most common way that you may see this is when you go onto a website and notice the “sign-up for my newsletter” sign.
If someone was to sign-up for your email newsletter, you can contact them and send the content directly to their inbox. This is considered a “warm lead” or someone who has raised their hand to hear from you and is your fan. Having that list of contacts is super powerful as you’re building your community. If your social media gets taken off of you or completely crashes, then at least you can keep this community alive by email, updating them on which channels you will be on and what you are doing.
Benefits:
- They want to hear from you
- They are going to want to buy from you
If you’re sitting there now and thinking my goal is to grow my followers, post on TikTok, post on YouTube etc, then let’s pause now for a minute. First work on your branding where you would understand your unique branding identity, niche, content pillars, colours, and mission statement. Step 2, is starting an email list before you press record on your Reels or research on creating a content calendar.
Ways to create an email list:
- Free gift: put the free gift in your bio so that when someone signs up they get a free gift
Just by having the FREE GIFT text in your bio, watch your followers grow on social media and on email. You don’t need to see the benefit and value right now, but you will.
The pressure of expectations and the consistency never stopping
We have this hustle and bustle of you needing to grow your followers or need to post, and that pressure never goes away. You think once you hit a certain amount of numbers, you don’t need to do anything but that’s not true.
The more you grow, the more you feel like you need more and constantly feel the pressure to post. The pressure doesn’t stop until you set boundaries. Give yourself grace – if you don’t post today, tell yourself “it’s okay” and post tomorrow. There is no answer to getting over the pressure, but it’s good to notice it and enjoy the journey, in the beginning, putting yourself into a healthy routine.
Stan Store
Stan Store is an all-in-one tool for creators to make an income and is also a linkinbio platform. You don’t need a website, a domain, or a shop to sell products or an email list host all in different places but pay for one place that does it all.
Stan is $29 USD a month and you can do everything you need to as an influencer like giving out freebies, selling digital products, memberships, coaching, and any online digital offer.
Free alternative?
If you are looking for a free alternative, then there is direct.me, however, it is better to invest in the quality of your work and if you sell products, you can make up the money. If you want to just have a linkinbio, then use direct.me, but if you want to make money and sell products, then Stan Store is what you need as there is no percentage taken from what you sell – $29 is the only payment you make a month.
Hackers
The more you grow, the more attempts people make to attack/hack into your account. It is scary so to ensure you can manage this, check your security settings for double verification and change your password regularly.
Don’t be a “yes person”
Don’t say yes to everything. Ask yourself if it benefits you or your business/brand. Listen to your gut and get comfortable saying no especially if it’s for free. Set boundaries for yourself instead of saying yes and trying to please everyone.
Your time is valuable and so is your mind, so manage your yes and nos better.
Don’t be afraid to invest
If you cannot afford to spend money on tools, then watch and download free content. However, it is important to note that this does waste time and could pro-long how fast you want to grow. It is better to invest money into a course or spend money investing in a team, so you can start reaping the benefits quicker and usually better quality.
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