How can I become an influencer? (A lot of people dislike the word influencer, but I find that’s what we are mainly referred to as, so I’m rolling with it for this blog post) This is a very good question and one that I often get asked. It’s a very new role that, for me, has just evolved over the past few years. It’s not something that I ever set out to do and when I first started posting on Instagram I never in a million years dreamed that it would turn into a business or that I would be leaving my current part-time job to pursue it full time.
There’s never really been a point when it all happened, it just slowly did and I think that’s why even my family and friends were a bit confused and still really don’t know what I do, because it went from being a bit of fun posting photo’s on Instagram to a business. My dream job has always been to become a stylist for a magazine or TV company but living up in Newcastle those opportunities are extremely rare. I feel that doing this job now fulfills that role, I love styling products in my home and creating content on my blog and Instagram to inspire others.
March 2016 – My Website went live and I started posting interior photo’s on Instagram.
My Story.
So let me take you back to the beginning! We relocated to Northumberland because of my husband’s job and rather than sell the house that we had, we decided to rent it out and rent somewhere up in Northumberland. After renting for a few years I started to get itchy feet and wanted to add more of my own personality and style to the house, so with the permission of the landlords, I started to paint and slowly make changes. Friends and family loved what I did and I started getting asked for help with their interiors.
I soon realised that there weren’t many options out there for affordable interior design or interior styling options, which is what I was offering. So more of a room-revamp rather than a whole room refit where you get a complete, to scale, room plan. So I decided to set up a website and offer this as a service. People could ask for something as small as a paint consultation through to a full room restyle. I then set up a blog to inspire other tenants and to show that there are lots of ways that you can make your rented house feel like home, without spending a fortune. Then came Instagram! I already had a personal account which I used for filters etc but I started to post more interior photos on there and also links to my renovation blog posts. A few months later I changed it to a business account.
November 2016 – 7 Months later I had reached 10k followers.
My Instagram following started to grow and when I reached around 10k brands and small independent businesses started getting in contact to see if they could send me a “gift” like a cushion or a candle and of course I was super flattered, I had never received anything for free before. I was still working in sales at this point 3 days per week and on my days off and weekends I was doing renovation work to the house along with blogging and styling photo’s to post on Instagram. It was only when I went to an event in London and started chatting to other girls in a similar position to me that I then realised I’d reached a point where I should be charging brands to feature their product.
I had around 15k followers by then and let’s face it, although it’s super flattering at first, nothing really comes for free does it? First of all, there’s your time spent replying backward and forwards to the emails, then you receive the product and you have to style it in your home, photograph it, edit and upload to Instagram whilst thinking of a caption. Then there’s the general management of your Instagram account, replying to comments and engaging is a big part of having a successful account and takes time to do this. So once I had a better idea of fees, I then put together my media kit, which has a short intro to what I do, along with brands that I’ve worked with, my engagement figures and my fees. When a brand reached out I would forward them my media kit.
January 2017 – My very first Ad! I got paid £40 and had to buy the wine and the food for props!
I was still enjoying blogging frequently and creating and posting daily content on Instagram so I decided to join a couple of the apps like Takumi and Tribe which are a great way to start out and get some experience, even though they don’t offer great money. Takumi pay starts around £40 per post and Tribe works a little bit different, you read the brief then have to submit your image and caption along with your required fee (there is a guideline on there, see below) and they then either accept or decline your content. As I said, they’re a great way to gain confidence and also get used to following a brief of what the client would like. Here is some of the content that I created via Takumi and Tribe.
Tribe price guide.
Berocca
Nestle Celebrations.
Zervant
Biocare.
I was working night and day around my job and the kids. I would put them to bed then turn the laptop back on and start editing photos and writing blog posts. As I got busier and started working with more brands I was struggling to keep on top of everything along with my part-time job, the kids & household chores. So I decided to leave work and concentrate on the business that I was slowly building. That was October 2017 and I haven’t looked back since. My aim was to be able to match the part-time wage that I was earning before I left my job. Leaving a salary to go self-employed was a difficult decision because you never know what’s coming in from one month to the next but I can honestly say that I haven’t looked back.
Those 18 months have been amazing, I now have 100k+ followers and I’ve been very lucky to work with some fabulous brands like Spotify, Campo Viejo, Tk Maxx, Hello Fresh, Dunelm, Dyson and many more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been hard work and since the launch of stories and IGTV it is very much a lifestyle that I have built which makes it hard to switch off. It’s not just a simple as taking a quick photo of a product and posting it, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes and one of the hardest parts is the creativity. When a brand gets in contact to work with me, they send a specific brief with details of the campaign and any key messages that they would like me to include. They will then send the product and it’s my job to come up with unique ideas that will fit the brief but also fit in nicely alongside my other content. I then have to send it for approval before posting and finally, once the campaign has ended I send over my statistics so they can track the performance. My days mainly consist of photographing and styling organic content and brand collaborations along with lots of admin, replying to PR companies/brands sending invoices, writing blog posts along with the daily management of my Instagram account. There are days when I’m traveling to a press day in London or meeting with a brand or PR company to discuss ideas of how we can work together. I turn a lot of work down either because it’s not a product that I would genuinely buy myself and therefore don’t want to promote it, or because it doesn’t fit my brand and aesthetic, which just isn’t worth compromising.
Feburary 2019 – I reached 100k!
How can I become an influencer?
So going back to my original question, How can I become an influencer? There really is no straight forward answer, you won’t see it advertised on the jobs pages or in the window of the job centre. You can’t go to college and do a course on how to be an influencer! (I’m sure that’s not far off though!) Don’t just start an Instagram account hoping that it will start earning you money because it doesn’t work like that.
You have to have passion, find a niche, be creative and work hard! Find something that not everyone is doing, be unique so that you stand out, don’t copy someone else because what’s the point? They’re already doing it, so be different! You don’t need an amazing camera but you do need a good eye for a photo and your photo’s need to stand out. Every photo doesn’t have to be perfectly styled, people like to see natural, everyday shots too. You need to write an authentic caption that will make people want to engage, you need to think of up to 30 hashtags and change them with each photo to get your content seen. Then you need to hang around, spend time replying to comments and engaging with people whose content that you genuinely like. With time, you’ll find that you build up a small community which is important because they’re going to grow and so are you, you’re going to help grow each other just by stopping by and liking and commenting on accounts that you love. Work hard, post every day at the right time when you know your audience is online. The main thing is to have fun and don’t take it too seriously, don’t worry about the posts that don’t do well, focus on the ones that do. Don’t get caught up in the comparison trap, we all have good days and bad days.
If your account is growing then you know you’re on the right track. Tag brands in your photo’s to get on their radar, show them that you’re featuring one of their products and let them know that you’re a fan. I’m working with a sofa company at the moment. When I first saw a photo of one of their sofa’s on Instagram I just fell in love. I reposted it to my stories to say that I would never move from this spot! Little did I know, their website had only gone live that day, they were a brand new company. They sent a reply to say thank you, then 1 year later they got back in touch to see if we could work together. I’m so happy to be working with them.
When you hit around 3000 followers you can then join the apps that I mentioned above and hopefully get your first taste of brand work. You will get offered gifts at first which is great but as your account grows you need to know your worth, it’s not really a gift if they’re asking for content in return because you’re doing work in return to get their product seen in front of your audience. As a rough guide, the average fee seems to be 1% of your following so if you have 30k followers then charge around £300 per post, if you have 80k followers then your fee would be around £800. This is not always the case as some people prefer to work it out on engagement rate or the number of views. I use my discretion and my fees vary, for example, a small business that has just started out isn’t going to have the same budget as a large brand. The fee for stories varies depending on your engagement. I was recently approached by a large brand that has worked with some huge influencers, I was interested in working with them so I sent them my media kit. They then replied and said because we hadn’t worked together before they would like me to do 3 Instagram posts and 3 sets of Instagram stories for less than what I had quoted for one post! I obviously replied to say that I wouldn’t be working with them and wished them luck with the rest of the campaign. Know your worth! There’s a lot of hours and hard work that’s gone into building my account and getting it to where it is today. If that brand were to have images of their product produced to be used for advertising purposes then they would have to pay stylists, photographers, models, editors and the rest! I do all these things and also have a very large, engaged audience.
One of my most recent campaigns with Spotify.
I’m by no means an expert, I’m still learning every day and I believe that to grow your audience then you have to keep growing yourself, keep learning, do your research and don’t be afraid to try new ideas. Make use of stories and IGTV. This might seem daunting at first and totally out of your comfort zone but the more you do it the more you will get used to it. You can record and delete as many times as you want until you’re happy with it. I get a lot of inspiration from Podcasts, here are a few of my favourites but I’m going to share some others that I’ve been listening to recently on the blog soon.
Hello Fresh.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to grow your feed organically. Don’t be tempted to buy followers or likes. I get emails daily but I’ve never been tempted because what’s the point in cheating. Cheaters always get caught out eventually! Same with joining PODS which are groups of people with similar interests that set up a messaging group and all like & comment on each others posts. We all have our favorite accounts which is fine but keep it organic.
Another piece of advice is always to stick to the rules with Ads and gifted products. There are strict guidelines in place from the CMA and the ASA which you can find here. Some people don’t like to see Ads on Instagram but when I get approached by a brand that wants to work with me I see it as a sign that I’m doing my job well and I’m proud that they want me to create content for them. As I said earlier, I would never promote anything that I don’t love and wouldn’t pay for myself. My feelings are that if an influencer is creating good content that fits their usual style then it shouldn’t be looked upon any different to what they normally post, if you like the photo then hit the like button and leave them a comment to let them know! The fees from the AD ensure that that person can keep on creating beautiful content and continue to inspire you.
If you’re worried that it’s too late and that there are too many influencers out there then my advice would be don’t be. There is only one of you, so be unique and go for it, there’s enough to go around or everyone!
I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and I’ve worked extremely hard to get there. I hope that my story will inspire you to have the vision and live your dreams. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and found it helpful. If you have any questions then feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Pin this image below to refer back to at a later date.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I found it really useful. I totally believe the process needs to be organic and I use my account as an opportunity to share the things I love. If people engage then that’s a bonus. Only have a few hundred followers but who knows how my account will grow when I find my niche arena is location portraiture. X
Thank you so much for reading and leaving a lovely comment. Wishing you all the luck with your account x
Brilliant article Kerry. I take my hat off to you and all the influencers I follow on Instagram (a lot. I’m definitely an influencee!!) We’re moving into rented property this year and your a/c has been a huge inspiration. Keep up the brilliant work xx
So glad you liked it, hope I continue to inspire and good luck in your new home x
Thank you so much for all of your advice and knowledge. You have such a gift for styling and your home is beautiful. You are inspiring and kind along the way. It’s a joy to see your Instagram every day. Stay unique 🌟😚
So kind of you to say, thank you xx
One of the best post on becoming an influencer! Well done Kerry !
Ahh that makes it all worthwhile. Thank you x
Really interesting read Kerry, thanks for sharing, there’s certainly a lot more involved than people think. You deserve your success. Xxx
So kind, thank you x
I’ve seen and heard how hard you’ve worked darling and the success is thoroughly deserved! This is a brilliant blog and I hope it inspires many of your followers. Keep doing what you do so amazingly well ❤️
Hi, Thank you so much xxx
Amazing Kerry and testament to all your hard work!
This is so useful. Thanks for sharing. X
What an informative post Kerry, with some great advice I’ll definitely use. You’re one of my favourites on Instagram! I love your laid back, quirky style. I’m striving at the moment to find a balance between marketing my blog/Instagram account and actually leaving time for the thing I love, which is updating my home to hopefully inspire people. Have you any tips on growing an Instagram account? I’m trying everything I can think of (without much success), but short of devoting my whole life to the platform (and who has time for that!), I’m struggling. xx
Hi Cara, thank you so much for reading and taking time to comment. I would say try to take quite a few photo’s at the same time so you have a bank of them. Take a look at which type of photo’s do well. You don’t need to be on Instagram all day but try to hang around for an hour or so after you’ve posted to reply to comments and engage with other accounts. Good luck xx
Thanks so much for the advice and inspiration. Keep doing what you’re doing! xx
Your so down to earth and relatable and your genuine passion shows in your posts…
Thank you for sharing… That was a really interesting read..I’m a big fan..
continued success…☘️
Hi, So kind, thank up x
Thanks for this Kerry, it was so interesting! Good for you! It’s lovely to hear and see such a success story.
Brilliant Blog Kerry……informative, engaging and delivered in a lovely easy to understand natural style. I always wondered exactly what Influencers did….and how they got started – now I know!
Many thanks
Pamela xx
I get so much inspiration from yourself , other influencers and even other accounts on instagram. I love how you are true to yourself without selling out. It shows that not everything has to be expensive to be stylish but it’s the way you put everything together that really works. Using your ideas makes being at home more joyful rather than a functional place to live 😀
What a great read! Thank you for sharing Kerry.
I love looking at your stories and genuinely admire you for taking the time each day talking to the phone 😂.
Creating content is really really hard. I get a month when I’m really into it and then it rains outside and I give up – exhausted from all the texting and replying back. I can see how it can be a full time job, and unfortunately for me I already have one.
I think that what you are doing is pretty amazing, well done.
As my mother says: ‘style is something you’re born with ‘ and you were 😘
Kerry you are an absolute star! Your blob really gave me a good idea of how this all works.
You truly have amazing style xx
Fabulous and honest blog post Kerry. I’ve always found u genuine and inspiring and completely authentic. You do it well lovely and I’ll continue to enjoy watching you grow.
Kyla x
Hi Kerry I absolutely love your post (and insta feed!)
My question is how do you reach your 1st 3k followers? Any tips such as to how to get infront of your right audience, hast tagging etc? I can’t seem to get past the 500 mark at the moment and I’m starting to feel a little stuck and deflated Thanks so much xx
Great article. Very straightforward and easy to understand. Thank you
Fabulous post Kerry! All the best. Natalia x(marks_and_rowe_interiors)
Hi, glad to read about your passion and determination and actually true sincerity in what you do! Well done. In the past few years instagram’s changed a lot in terms of organic reach. And a lot of influencers use the pods (or whatever they’re called) to reach private accounts and grow their followers that way, which is not my cup of tea, but hey everyone uses their own methods. Have you ever used and what do you think of just promoting your account via instagram paid ads?
Love your blog and your interior style! I used to be a fashion designer, but designed to help grow my clothing business. When the business stopped, I stopped designing…I guess my heart was just not in the right place for designing clothes and the passion just wasn’t there to continue.
We are about to buy our first home in the UK, something we’ve been waiting to do for a very long time. I have been following your posts and you have inspired the inner designer in me, into a direction that I’m pretty sure will be something I will enjoy doing…
My plan is to find a home that has character and transform it to my taste and ideas. And it would be lovely to share that journey with others and perhaps if I enjoy it enough, to transform it into a business. I have zero experience on Instagram and my 11 year old knows more than me!
Where would you suggest I start? A good camera? Crash course on Instagram (if there are any!)
Thank you for being my inspiration 🙂
Great read, I only dived into the insta world last summer and today I received my first gift in return for some content. Great timing for me to come across your helpful blog. So thank you Kerry and congratulations on all your well deserved success .
Thank you, so glad it was helpful. Good luck with your journey x
Great post – thank you. I’m interested in the process you follow for your blog posts – do you do an initial draft, then review, then post? They seem very well put together!
Thanks
Karen
Wow what an interesting read! It’s a whole other world! I love taking photographs of my home and so started my own Instagram but didn’t really realise how these things can progress! I get a bit annoyed with my Instagram because I’ve noticed people begin following and then unfollow- I feel like there’s a lot of people just desperate to grow their following! Can I ask, are all the photos on your Instagram account from a rented house then? I never would have guessed that! Anyway, good luck and keep up the good work!
Blogging requires a lot of work which is not seen from the top of the iceberg.
Thank you for sharing this journey -y husband and I recently bought our first Victorian home and I had no idea how obsessed I was with Victorian homes and decor until I started the interior and decor – we have worked to bring the property back to its period features with the decor mixed between the centuries – I get so many lovely comments from friends and family who visit our home to say they want me to help them with theirs and family members bring friends round to see our
Home – don’t get me wrong it’s a small Victorian cottage and still much work in progress but it is something I’ve discovered I have a passion for and it so different to my day job of being a lawyer. I love art and anything arty and I think I may have found my comfort / hobby zone – something I want to explore and perhaps even make a business from as I am
Hoping it will be much less stressful than
My day job but let’s see – it’s early days – my friends encourage me to put up photos and posts but I have yet to get to that point and find the time – I love photography too so reading your inspirational post gives
Me some idea of what it may involve if I decide to pursue my new found passion – thank you