In today’s economy, there is a rise in entrepreneurship, especially when it comes to social media brands and personalities. Social media influencers have become essential components of brand marketing. It seems that more and more brands employ these moguls to advertise for them, and in exchange, influencers will receive free merchandise, monetary compensation or all-expenses paid vacations. There are many benefits to becoming your own boss and ditching the cubicle, but like any other job, it can be quite labor intensive.

Getting Started

If waking up at 6 a.m. and commuting everyday to a 9-to-5 job, only to anticipate the end of the work day, does not appeal to you, then it’s time to consider a different career path. Social media influencers essentially decide the terms of many aspects of a traditional job: work hours, brand affiliates, content and more. The key to becoming a successful social media influencer is to monetize your passion. If there is a subject that you feel strongly about and ready to revolve your days and nights around, then share it.

In order to stay relevant among the onslaught of influencers, you have to remain active in your social networks and maintain a consistent posting schedule. Whether your niche is in blogging, video content, Instagram, or all three, take a day to figure out which days and times for posting content work best for you. Next, plan the types of content you want to post on your chosen platform several days, or weeks, in advance.

In every career, networking is absolutely crucial to get ahead, and being an influencer is no exception. Join a community of like-minded individuals that share your passion. Once you’ve established a community suitable for your goals, share your fellow influencers' content and engage in creative discourse. This will only boost your credibility.

Always produce new content, and in case of an emergency during your day-to-day, have backup content. In order to bring more awareness and drive traffic, post it through all your social networks. Your unique material will make you a person to watch.

Primary Responsibilities

As a social media influencer, you will be an integral force in marketing campaigns for different brands. When working with brands, it is important to maintain professionalism so they will want to work with you in the future. You will get opportunities to be a company’s spokesperson, the face in its advertisements, feature in its social media accounts or liaise with a brand manager to post about its products.

You’re more trusted by your audience than traditional advertisements and have the opportunity to shape opinions. So, when you decide who to work with, make sure you trust the brand’s principles and would purchase its products even if you weren’t getting paid.

Earning Potential

Making a living as an influencer depends entirely on your niche, the platform(s) you use and most importantly, your reach. Here is the earning potential for different social media platforms:

• Bloggers typically earn $175 to 5k per post.
  
• YouTubers earn $500 to 5k per post.
  
• Instagrammers earn $75 to 3k per post.
  

Keep in mind that earning enough to thrive will take time and patience. But once you generate enough organic traffic, you will definitely reap the benefits.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One of the biggest advantages of being an influencer is that your work setting will be different everyday. You can choose to blog from a cafe, shoot a video at the beach or snap photos during a hike. Another advantage is that there is almost no investment in the process – unless you decide to invest in high-quality equipment to improve your content. And, of course, the perks of being an influencer are a bonus: traveling for free, attending exclusive events, receiving merchandise from various companies, to name a few.

Although the benefits are incomparable, becoming a sought-after influencer takes time. You have to create high-quality content consistently and oversee all your social media activity on a regular basis to stay relevant. But in doing so, posting content regularly may disrupt the work-life balance. Family, friends, and even strangers, may not like the idea of being recorded, written about or seeing you constantly in your virtual world.

Before you quit your 9-to-5 indefinitely, work on building organic traffic to your socials. Once you’ve garnered a following, you can then decide if you want to invest most of your time pursuing this field.