What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers

Last week, I spoke on a panel about influencer marketing with Ad2Lou.  I wanted to share some of my top tips about influencing and the things I wish people knew about the influencer field and blogging.

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Anytime I tell someone that I run a blog, I get so many questions about what it’s like and all the ins and outs.  Hopefully this clears up some of the questions you may have about influencer marketing, the less savory side to it, and what my day to day can look like.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Disclosures

If you read blogs or follow influencers on social media, chances are you’ve seen sponsored content.  Sponsored posts can come in all different forms: Facebook posts, Instagram Stories, YouTube videos dedicated blog posts, and so on.  One important thing to note on sponsored content: it should ALWAYS be disclosed.  This can be a little gray with gifted product, but any type of content that an influencer is being paid to create and share should be noted with #Ad or #Sponsored on social media or a disclosure at the beginning of blog posts & YouTube videos.

RELATED: What a Day of Blogging Looks Like + Biggest Misconceptions about Bloggers

** You’ll notice posts on What Nicole Wore start with a disclosure before any photos; I’m still adding this to some old posts in the archive, but I try to be as transparent as possible.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | What Determines if a Partnership Works?

One of the things I talked about on the panel is that influencers have a responsibility to our audiences and to our own business to only accept sponsorships that fit our brand.  When a brand reaches out to work with me, I think about how their brand story and product intersects with my personal brand.
Content creation is about telling a story through photos, videos, and words, so if I’m struggling to figure out how a brand’s story meshes with mine, the partnership isn’t one that will work.

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An example would be if a fashion influencer creates content around high end and luxury fashion, it would be off brand if she suddenly did a sponsored post with Walmart around affordable fashion.  PS. If you have more questions about how influencers make money, my friend Emily has a great post on it!

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Sticking to Our Niche

One thing that I think brands and marketers don’t always understand is that sometimes we have to say no to maintain our authenticity.  I’ve been in situations where there is a product, let’s say a restaurant in this case, that I love, but because that topic isn’t central to my content a sponsored partnership with that restaurant doesn’t make sense.  Not diluting my content by sticking to the topics that my audience enjoys and follows me for is important so that they keep coming back to my channels and blog.

RELATED: Behind the Scenes of Blogging: What Goes Into a Blog Post

Obviously, everyone eats but because food isn’t a vertical, or sub topic, that I cover it wouldn’t make sense if I suddenly started posting Instagram photos of food.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Bringing in a New Topic

So what happens when an influencer or blogger decides they want to introduce a new topic to their audience and brand?  Introducing a new vertical should be done gradually.  I would say that I started as a personal style blogger and have transitioned into more of a lifestyle blogger.  About two years ago I decided I wanted to write more content around beauty products.  It wouldn’t have made sense if I all of the sudden wrote five beauty posts in a row so I slowly added them into the mix.

RELATED: What I Learned in Year One of Blogging

I started by talking about the makeup I used in my bread and butter style posts and then over time branched into writing beauty product posts and showcase beauty in my own way on social media.  A lot of people think things with blogging are instant and for some they may be, but for me it took months before I started seeing traffic for beauty posts and over a year before I started getting added to PR lists for beauty brands.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Assumption: Blogging is an Industry with No Ethics

There are TONS of bloggers that are going about things the right way, but like any industry there’s bad apples.  With this industry being so new, things are constantly changing and regulations aren’t always super strict.  When working with an influencer from the brand side, you want someone that influences consumers and not just other influencers.  Some of the practices that can skew this are purchasing bot followers, massive like for like threads on Facebook, loop giveaways with insane buy ins, and follow for unfollow.  These types of practices have made it possible for bloggers without direction or a clear personal brand to appear bigger than they are.

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Some things to look out for: is an influencer getting a majority of their likes from accounts that don’t follow them?  Where is most of their following based?  (Accounts that have purchased bots are less likely to have their home country as their number one location of followers.)  There’s also a ton of websites that allow you to audit an influencers following.  SocialBlade is a free one that can analyze Instagram Business accounts although there are several paid options as well.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Everyone Wants to Be an Influencer

The influencer and blogging spaces are definitely more populated than they were when I started What Nicole Wore in 2015 or my first blog in 2013.  The life of an influencer can be alluring; we make things look effortless, are well dressed, and always going to fun events.  What a lot of people forget is that part of our job is to look like we live perfect lives — even though I’d say a good 99.99% of us do not.  (If you’re the 0.01% that does please email me with tips.)

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There are a TON of moving parts with blogging, you won’t make money right away from social media, and you are constantly hustling to define your brand and amplify it.  I joke a lot but being a workaholic is somewhat normal in this field.  I can’t remember the last time I truly took a weekend off.  That’s not to say being a full time blogger is bad, but there’s a lot more to it than most people realize.  I act as my own secretary, photographer, social media manager, scheduler, event coordinator, negotiator, business manager, etc.

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | All of Your Life is Online

A few months back, a follower messaged me asking how I dealt with not having any privacy.  She was surprised by how much of my life I willingly shared online.  Personally, I can say that I keep a pretty good chunk of my life offline as crazy as that may seem to people that read my blog or follow me.  When I post Instagram Stories, I usually do so after I’ve left a location and while I try to be candid and real with followers, there are some things I’m more careful about sharing.

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While there is definitely a ton of information about me out there; I try to be as careful as I can!  I regularly get asked about locations where I shoot at and have completely stopped sharing that both with other bloggers and photographers to avoid any scary situations.  (Please note, I did have a man email me asking if I would make him a cool wall art of Louisville guide that then brought up he knew I shot by myself….)

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | It Goes Down in the DM

Speaking of inboxes…ours are flooded.  I don’t even consider myself someone that gets a crazy amount of DMs but I’ve definitely lost track of a DM in my inbox.  My email inbox might be even crazier; Google does a great job of sorting spam, but I’m still inundated with weird and underpaid offers, fake offers, hackers that put links in emails with the hope of hacking and stealing social media accounts, event requests, etc.  You name it, I’ve probably seen it.  Including requests for photos of my feet, offers to set me up on dates, unsolicited diet advice, pubic hair dye, the works!

What I Wish People Knew About Influencing & Bloggers | Picking What to Say Yes To

With all of those emails it can be a lot to stay on top of so I’ve really had to learn to prioritize with my time.  While I would LOVE to attend every event I’m invited to, take on every collaboration I’m offered, and stay on top of the day to day grind, I’m still only one person.  Pretty sure, I’ve shared this before but events are one aspect of this job that burns me out.  Being introverted attending an event, getting the required social media content, sharing to Stories, meeting people, having multiple conversations, and really being “on,” can be exhausting.  I usually find my energy level completely depleted after I attend an event.

RELATED: Yellow From the Other Side: On Privacy

I so wish that weren’t the case but I’ve found understanding myself is key to surviving.  Over time I’ve learned to say no instead of overcommitting myself.  Limiting myself to 1-2 work events a week has helped keep me sane and from getting constantly burnt out.  Now I find myself interested in events that intersect with my brand, allow me to create content I can use organically, and events that give back.