There’s no guidebook for social media. So when you pursue it, you’re basically on your own unless you have a mentor guiding you or friends in the industry. Some influencers have group chats where they’ll help you behind the scenes, give you advice on working with certain brands, or like up your photos. For me, I’ve figured out a lot of it on my own and in that have definitely made mistakes and at this point I’m trying to get back on track. I will never stop saying this but being a *influencer * isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. It’s changed the way I use platforms like Instagram, it’s given me rules/regulations, deadlines, and made Instagram sort of a scary place at this point. On Instagram we show the best versions of ourselves, in that, we might lose who we really are: the good, the bad, the most authentic versions of ourselves… and I’d rather be authentic. Working with brands is not all it’s cracked up to be, it can make you money EVENTUALLY, if you know what you’re doing if you can persuade, manipulate, convince a brand that you can bring them more money/traction with your audience. In the beginning, no one pays you, you’re just starting out, you may not have a high enough follower count or engagement… but they see potential in you and so you agree to talk about a couple of products for free for a little while until brands start coming to you and by then they’ll want to pay you right? NOPE. They want a “trade”, you start putting yourself out there, receiving all of these nice things for free… things you might not have been able to afford until this opportunity. And then it goes on and on until you become your least favorite teacher in high school: strict, to the point… talking to brands about all the effort you put in to create this content and trying to convince them that they NEED YOU. And still brands try to bargain what you see as your worth. Olivia Rodrigo’s song “jealousy, jealousy” comes to mind when you start seeing your friends grow faster than you and you wonder what you’re doing wrong, what they’re doing right, your friends start getting paid and that’s when you learn what brands are REALLY LYING to you about what they can do for you. You’re in a tornado of self doubt, jealousy, envious of your idols. And then you calm down, take a look at your Instagram and it doesn’t reflect who you are anymore or what you like because your digital growth has been about advocating for someone else and not believing in yourself. So I’m going back to basics. I’m not free marketing for your product, if you want me you have to fit in my lifestyle as it is. I want to be paid for my creative ideas, the audience I’ve established. I’ve been so fucked over that my purpose on here: fashion & my every day life (which includes sustainability) is not really being reflected as much as I thought. People were asking me questions about my style and I barely had an pictures on Instagram to give them a glimpse. Thanks for reading this far. I don’t really know how to end it. But I hope that this a relatable and I hope that this can save you from making the same mistakes as I have. Thanks for listening.
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