Secrets of Becoming Social Media Influencer

I’m going to show you how we quit our boring day jobs and earn a SIX FIGURE income from home – and became sort of famous. People actually recognize Felicia at trade shows. We did it in our mid-50s, and you can too.

Here’s the full video on YouTube

You’ve probably heard whispers about social media influencers raking in the dough, and you’re thinking, “Hey, I could totally do that!”

And you totally can.

The advertising world is hungry for authentic, real-life people, with expertise that only comes with a few years – and a even a few pounds – under your belt.

But before you dive headfirst into the world of subs, shares, and sponsorships, let’s get real about what it takes to become a successful social media influencer.

You have to be able to juggle – a lot. Influencing is a chaotic existence! If you’re used to having a team of corporate departments handle their little jobs, it ain’t happening here. Congratulations! You’ve been promoted to scheduling, billing, accounting, video production, and about a dozen other roles in your new company.

Look, being real here. If you can’t thrive in chaos, your head may explode. Felicia had a very difficult time transitioning from her safe, little corporate bubble to self-employment. For a while she thought being a Target cashier was a better plan for her. But Felicia stuck with it and saw the light, and she’s having so much fun!

Listen, DO NOT buy any “social media influencer” course. They’re pushing the same worn-out information you can find on any Google or Chat GPT search. Better ones probably scraped THIS blog post and used the tips that we’re giving you for free, but they’ll charge you A LOT of money for it.

Why is the price of these courses almost always with payments ending with the number 7? That’ a separate post. Anyway, everything you need is right here.

So here are the secrets of becoming a social media influencer. Let’s break it down.

1. Find The Tribe who will pay your bills.

First things first, and everyone preaches this, you need to find your “niche.”

Why find a niche? Because it’s a great place to start. It’s always easier to talk about what you know, and what you’re comfortable talking about.

What unique skills or knowledge do you have that others might find valuable?

What can you talk about for hours without getting bored – or more importantly, BEING boring?

Popular niches include fashion, fitness, beauty, travel, tech, gaming, DIY, and lifestyle. A lot of these “gurus” tell you to ultra-niche, meaning just focus on one aspect within a niche. Like in beauty – you might focus on lipstick only. My advice is do NOT start out too narrow. Go wider, and see what works best. More on that in a minute.

And don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Maybe you’re a bookkeeper with a knack for explaining boring financial concepts in a way that’s actually interesting.

Or maybe you’re a plant genius who can turn any backyard into a thriving vegetable garden.

Or maybe you have a knack for teaching Excel, WordPress, or Photoshop in a way that’s easily digestible.

Funny story – before this channel pivoted for the 8th time, this here was a computer educational channel. Look at the old vids – they’re all still here. Those educational videos are still some of my best performing videos. Some are now over 10 years old.

Computers have been replaced by iPads and smartphones. So obviously, we’ve pivoted. A LOT. Follow the money!

Now here’s the most important thing to know about becoming a social media influencer.

Influencing goes well beyond talking and teaching, because remember, as an influencer, your priority is to “influence the sale” of products or services.

The trick is you want to influence without sounding like you’re selling anything. Position it like you’re SOLVING PROBLEMS. I believe that’s the main reason most people visit YouTube – to figure out how to solve a problem.

Whether that problem is learning how to fix something, learning how to operate something properly, even learning how to change a pathetic career and become a social media influencer – most of us are here to help ourselves change or fix something. Isn’t that why you’re here?

Think about it like this. An influencer should be recommending solutions based on his or her personal experience. We tell people about the problems in our lives that we magically solved with the products or services we’re pushing. Of course, in our own conversational words.

Yes, you can script it, but make it sound real.

And yes, you can use a teleprompter app. But practice so it doesn’t look like you’re reading. Full disclosure – I used a teleprompter in my video because I didn’t want to miss giving you any important information.

I recommended some very cool and affordable solutions and more at the end of our YouTube video and posted the links below.

Back to the niche thing. Starting out, your niche should be something you enjoy and are pretty familiar with.

If you feel like you don’t know a lot about the niche you’d like to explore, Google it! Everything you ever wanted to know about anything is out here on the internet. It’s the greatest time in history for information!

And, as we’ve said before, if you go too narrow within your niche, there may not be enough opportunity to build a substantial following. And a sizable following is important to achieve monetization, which we’ll cover later in this blog post. I recommend going wider, and also offering narrow solutions within that wider web.

The point is, you’ll need to be flexible. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone! Someone once said something like, “you will fail if you stay in your comfort zone.” And that is so true. It’s good to feel a little insecure! That’s how you know you’re growing.

Look, no one knows everything. We keep our minds super sharp by learning new things every day.

Don’t be afraid to change the world! Be a dreamer and a do-er.

2. Choose Your Arena Wisely

Each social media platform has its own vibe and audience. Don’t worry, the demand is so large right now that anyone can fit into any social media channel no matter how old you are, how much you weigh, or whatever you look like.

But to maximize your impact, choose a PRIMARY social media platform that best aligns with your content style and target demographic.

And then copy and paste that content everywhere else too, because you just never know who’s watching. Some influencers I know started off on Insta and pivoted to YouTube because there was more money on the table there.

So the big question – which platform is best? People ask us all the time. It’s a tough question to answer. So let’s dig into some of the options so you can decide for yourself.

Instagram is good for visual content like fashion, beauty, travel, and food. Think – things that look super good on camera.

We’re guessing the majority of the Insta audience skews about 20-40 years old, and mainly female. It’s hard to know because I don’t think even Meta knows for sure. There’s no identity verification there.

With that audience scrolling through video reels at lightspeed, you literally need to capture their attention in the first one or two seconds. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but you can do a lot in a few seconds.

And here’s your first PRO TIP! Watch this.

All those clips were one second – or less. They’re called, “HOOKS,” because like fishing, there’s something tasty on that hook that stopped you in your tracks and made you watch that video. Hooks are important in ALL social media channels to STOP THE SCROLL.

Now, Insta doesn’t allow direct affiliate links in reels or posts, so you’ll need a solid link-in-bio strategy. More on that later.

YouTube is still the go-to platform for long-form content like tutorials, vlogs, and reviews. But with the popularity of Instagram and tiktok reels, there are now opportunities for short videos under 60 seconds as well, called, well, “SHORTS.”

Google guesses that users are split 50-50 male-female, and it’s been around for 20 years so users are probably mostly Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials. I bet they don’t really know. From years of reading comments, I’m guessing YouTube skews slightly more male.

But there are opportunities for female audiences as well. Felicia’s “Craft with Felicia” channel does extremely well with older women. It’s actually our top-performing channel right now.

On YouTube, you can still include links in your own descriptions and comments – for now.

And there’s the YouTube Partner Program for monetization once you hit some fairly reasonable subscriber and watch time goals. I think it’s somewhere around 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time, which most people can reach in a just a few months with good content.

We have three monetized channels now. And there’s still opportunity for everyone. We bank a couple thousand dollars a month from YouTube, but it’s a LOT of work.

TikTok is the home of short video content. It’s a super young and even more female skewing crowd. My daughters – errr, “advisors,” tell me the biggest thing on TikTok seems to be make-up and clothing, but there are tons of other opportunities too.

The thing about TikTokers is they have been conditioned to have the attention span of a hamster. SCROLL SCROLL SCROLL SCROLL! This is where you really need a hook at the beginning of EVERY video.

You do need significant numbers to qualify for monetization, but it’s still possible.

We’re not huge on TikTok, but [CAN’T MENTION THEIR NAME HERE] reached out anyway and sent us a check for $600 to promote a few of their products on TikTok, and they’re doing very well.

It’s important to mention that since Tick Tock is battling in the courts to stay alive in the usa, they’ve really tightened their filters to a point where it’s almost ridiculous.

You can’t have ANY fun on Tick Tock anymore. It’s so demure and serious – that it’s approaching boring.

They outright canceled one of my bigger accounts without warning or any opportunities for appeal for mentioning a certain adult-ish word in a light-hearted joke. So definitely don’t do that. I’m actually afraid to say it here!

What about X “formerly Twitter”?

X is great for celebrities and trending conversations. But be warned, getting discovered organically on X without paying for it is nearly impossible today.

After all the weird changes and celebrity boycotts, it seems X just isn’t that relevant anymore. And definitely not a focus for most influencers – unless you’re already famous.

Pinterest is great for sharing interesting ideas, beautiful dishes, artistic inspiration, and DIY projects.

But if you can’t showcase your idea in a single captivating image and link it to a sales pitch, focus your efforts elsewhere. It’s harder than it looks. We don’t do much on Pinterest – but it’s in our plans for next year.

Sadly, the Amazon Live gold rush is over. That’s where we started, and we had three six-figure years there.

There are still influencer opportunities available, and especially for off-site links. If you can bring people to Amazon, they’ll still reward you handsomely.

LinkedIn is a desert unless you’re humble bragging about your promotion. The algorithm seems to hate external links and won’t push them.

Reddit is a strange platform. It’s like people who first came to the internet, but got stuck there and ignore all the video and photo platforms. Oh, and users seem to HATE advertising. I’m really surprised Reddit can pay their bills.

Due to its anonymity, Reddit is hostile! Everyone complains about everything.

No one really knows age, gender, and income, because they don’t ask, but when you read between the lines, you can kind of smell it from the anger in the posts.

And don’t even try to post anything even remotely “influential” there. Promotional posts get shut down and never work.

The single thing Reddit is good for is discovering problems – which you can offer solutions for somewhere else.

Blogging, and websites are a great way to write about your experience if you’re not comfortable on camera.

But spammers and scammers have polluted the space forcing search engines to de-emphasize most smaller blogs.

Blogging today is pretty much useless – unless you’re already a rockstar in that space, extremely lucky, or if you spend a lot of money on advertising.

Facebook is the platform Boomers and Gen X came up with, so obviously it skews a little older.

I can’t even recognize Facebook today – the feed is terrible! News is gone, I can’t see my friends unless I look for them. Pages are dead. Profiles are dead. It’s become useless for a lot of people.

The thing is these older people have a LOT of disposable income, so it’s still worth fighting for.

The only way to succeed on Facebook today is to run ads, or create a large and thriving GROUP that you control, so you can post your own links to products or courses. Facebook loves to push groups. Start building that group!

Ideally, you should have a presence on all major platforms. But choose one as your primary focus, where you’ll invest most of your time and energy. Then redistribute your content everywhere else.

OK, this is where the “GURUS” have it all wrong. Here’s the truth about social media content.

Content is king in the influencer world. To stand out, you need to consistently create high-quality content, with an opening hook, that engages your audience, keeps them watching, and makes them want follow you to come back for more.

We have learned that consistency IS NOT key. You don’t have to post every other day to keep your audience engaged, regardless of what anyone tells you. CONTENT is the key, not consistency, even if it makes you irregular. Wow – that sounded wrong…

The quality of your content does matter. We’re not talking Hollywood movies – just decent light, clear images, and clean sound.

To be honest, most smartphones made since 2020 can produce amazing videos. I used an iPhone to film our video.

And audio quality is crucial. Low, echo-ey audio is distracting and annoying. Consider a boom or wireless microphone for crisp, clear sound.

We’ve put some affordable recommendations at the end of this blog post, so stick around for that.

What about this “authenticity” thing everyone preaches about? Yeah, it’s BS for the most part. No one I know is theirself on camera.

Tell me you get out of bed and go on camera without fixing your hair and make up.

You don’t. No one does. I don’t. Well, that’s a lie. I’ve done it.

Anyway, when these “gurus” say “be yourself,” it’s not always the best advice.

Some “selves” just aren’t that interesting, so we have to become someone else. Maybe a little more perky, or a little less neurotic. Many of you know what I’m talking about.

And honestly, we do NOT love every product we are paid to promote. I completely HATED those… um, nevermind.

I try to avoid promoting products or services I know I won’t like. Or I charge them double.

Seriously, let’s be real! I could care less about vacuum cleaners. They suck! But those reviews are some of my most popular.

So, yes, you can completely fake authenticity. Although they will never admit it, many influencers do.

What audiences crave are RELATABLE personalities. People like people who seem just like them. Think bartenders, real estate agents, or car salesmen. They listen for clues and try to hone in on what they think you’ll respond to. Why? For bigger tips or bigger sales.

As a social media influencer, you’ll need to do the same thing – only with less personal interaction. So you’ll need to be a little more vague.

How? It’s easy.

Share your real thoughts and personal stories. Share behind-the-scenes moments. Script it if you need to and use a teleprompter. We often do.

Oh – and viewers LOVE to see mistakes, so don’t edit those out! Mistakes, even fake SCRIPTED mistakes, create tons of engagement, which we talked about in one of our other YouTube videos.

Or, if you’re feeling a bit theatrical, put on your best acting hat and entertain the masses! Yes, I sometimes wear wigs.

4. Don’t Just Speak TO Your Audience, Talk WITH Them.

Social media is about building a community, not just broadcasting a hard sell message.

Actively engage with your audience to create a deeper connection. Respond to comments and messages. Yes, even the trolls. Trolls are fun to play with!

Ask for constructive feedback. And collaborate with your followers by resharing their content or asking for their input.

Building a loyal community will set you apart and increase your reach organically.

What about livestreams?

Honestly, they’re hard. The tech is confusing and unreliable, and low viewership is completely depressing. I recommend skipping the livestreams until you become super popular. And only when you get paid to do them.

5. Grow Your Following the Right Way

It’s tempting to buy followers or use shady tactics to boost your numbers. Some very big companies have done it.

You can kind of tell who by their social interaction. Like, that bro who has a hundred thousand YouTube subs but only gets like three to six likes per post. Seems sus, right?

Do NOT buy followers! Trust us, organic growth is the only way to achieve long-term success.

Here’s how.

Use ONLY relevant descriptions, thumbnails, hashtags, and keywords to make your content discoverable.

And don’t spam the tags! Three to five are great. Less is better.

LONG-TAIL tags seem to be the trend – meaning you have to guess exactly what your viewer is looking for.

For example, a long tail tag might look something like “How to clean wine stains from my white tile floors.” Yeah, it’s that narrow, but it seems to be working.

Collaborations are great. Partnering with other influencers can expose you to a wider audience.

Just don’t expect established influencers to collaborate with you right off the bat. Focus on building your own following first, and the collabs will come.

We tried collabs in our early days and were completely ignored. Now, those same people who ignored us are asking us for collabs.

Remember Gandhi’s words – they keep me grounded.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

We’re winning now.

It’s best to post content when your audience is most active. You can use platform analytics to determine the best times.

Don’t worry if you don’t know when the best time is at first. Algorithms still recommend old content with good engagement. Again, my teaching videos from 10 plus years ago still show up in people’s feeds on YouTube.

Strive to create content that people want to share. Sharing is a huge social signal that will tell social media platforms that your content is great!

Viral content can literally skyrocket your follower count overnight.

Think of creative ways to make content that people can’t resist sharing. Again, the most important thing is to grab their attention with a ‘hook’ in the first second or two.

6. Turn Your Influence into Income

Once you’ve built a loyal following, it’s time to start monetizing your influence. Here are a few popular ways influencers make money.

7. Build Relationships with Brands

As an influencer, you’ll often work with brands. Here are a few ways influencers earn money using brand relationships.

Brand Ambassadorships:

Eventually, brands may tap you for long-term collaborations where you become the face of the company.

We’ve been jetted to conferences and hired as spokespersons, and that’s a very nice payday – and a free vacation too. Basically, you’ll be contracted to promote a brand’s products over time.

Brands will expect sales results, so make sure your followers always use your special affiliate links. Hopefully you’ll earn commissions on top of your other fees.

How do you get brand ambassador deals? 99% of the time, they’ll spy your great content on socials and someone will reach out to you. That’s exactly what happened to us.

But there is that one percent chance you can grab it yourself, so don’t be afraid to reach out.

Think ‘out of the box’ and craft a super compelling pitch that highlights why you’re a perfect fit, and what you think can offer them.

How do you reach out? It’s not easy. Don’t bother with e-mail because they’ll never be seen. We’ve had the best luck, in order, with:

Buying the products ourselves, and creating great videos, resulting in the vendor contacting us. Yes, they’re always watching!

Introducing yourself to vendors personally at trade shows. Most tend to like high-energy, positive people and may offer deals after the show.

Finding third-party agencies who represent the brands. There are tons of social media agencies, many of which are tasked with finding influencers and ambassadors.

Once you’ve managed to strike a deal, remember to always deliver on your promises.

Most Asian companies emphasize meeting deadlines even more than high-quality content. But you’ll definitely want to create content that exceeds expectations so they’ll come back for more.

Remember that building long-term relationships with brands is more profitable than one-off deals. So always strive to be professional in your communication and execution.

8. Evolve or Get Left Behind

Social media trends change faster than you can change your underwear.

You’ll need to watch the news and stay on top of industry developments.

Experiment with new ways to make content.

And watch what others in your niche do, and put your own spin on it to make it even better.

Be open to evolving your brand and exploring new interests as you grow. If something seems stagnant, pivot to something else. I can’t count how many times we’ve pivoted this channel alone, and it’s still profitable!

The Bottom Line

Becoming a successful social media influencer takes dedication, hard work, and a whole lot of hustle. But if you’re passionate about your niche, create engaging content, and genuinely connect with your audience, you can turn your online presence into a thriving career.

It’s easy to get discouraged when success doesn’t come overnight. Hang in there, and plan to spend several months building your name. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to unleash your inner influencer and show the world what you’ve got!

Equipment Recommendations

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – let’s talk tech. Here’s all the equipment you’ll need to get started on your social media influencer journey.