Yes, you read that title correctly. While you’ve probably read hundreds of blog posts about the glamorous and fabulous lifestyle of bloggers, I wanted to shed a little bit of light on what it really takes to find success as a blogger.
Influencer marketing is huge right now and it seems like everyone wants to classify themselves as one. I mean, it comes with a lot of perks, doesn’t it? Free products, free vacations, free photo shoots, plus paid partnerships.
Well from the outside, it may look glamorous but don’t be fooled by all the work that goes into just one image. So much goes into just posting one picture on Instagram and it’s pretty exhausting– you have to post at the right time, your image needs to be top quality, is your caption going to spark a conversation?
So yes, while there are a ton of perks when it comes to being a blogger, I want to shed light on all of the work that really goes into it. Is it rewarding? Yes, it certainly is, but it takes a ton of time before you can look back and start reaping some of these benefits.
So maybe yesterday you woke up and said “I think I want to be an influencer” and that is great! I highly encourage you to follow your calling but it’s import to be patient and trust your journey because it’s a competitive market and it takes time to succeed.
You never get to turn off
The beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you can set your own schedule. You get to work when you want and for how long you want but know the time you put in will show in your work. If you want to make it to the top, you need to produce high-quality content, this means you will have to rewrite the same thing over and over until it reads correctly and try multiple shots before you get that magic photo. I spend a lot of late nights responding to e-mails, drafting up content and reviewing deadlines.
You are going to hear “no” a lot
At the beginning, you can’t wait around for brands to reach out to you, it takes time for you to get noticed. You’ll be spending your time researching contacts, following-up with contacts and developing relationships with them. You’re going to hear “no” a lot when looking for partnerships and you have to just keep on going and looking for the next one.
Brands can be high maintenance
I’ve been so lucky to land some amazing partnerships with dream brands. They are kind, pay on time, have minimal edits to my content, etc. However, I have had a couple of instances when these partners are so high maintenance and pushy. They change my content so it sounds like something that isn’t me or have high expectations for low paying campaigns. Do not allow yourself to be bullied by these partners, it is never worth it.
There’s a ton of pressure
This is a highly competitive market and there’s a ton of pressure. There’s pressure for your posts to perform well and you’ll constantly wonder if you are delivering the type of content your followers actually want to see. I’m always trying to switching things up and experiment to see what works.
This post is in no way intended to discourage you from becoming a blogger. I highly recommend everyone follow their calling and there is so much potential in the field.
My goal is to shed light on the amount of work and negative stereotypes bloggers get for having things “land on their lap” because that’s certainly not the case. It’s a lot of work and you will get back what you put in.
If you are interested in getting started, I have a ton of tips to help you grow your brand. You can read these posts here.
