Studies from 2017 done by Hootsuite and We Are Social showed that over 3 billion people use social media actively. By now, that number probably went up by 50%. Entrepreneurs are constantly on a lookout for new ideas and opportunities, and something as big as social media obviously attracted millions of people from all over the world who saw the opportunity to turn it into a serious business.
Thanks to social media platforms such as YouTube or Twitch, the word “influencer” got a completely new meaning. Before the Internet, the word wasn’t used nearly as much as today. In fact, we used it to refer to individuals, groups, or companies that had the power to affect other people’s purchase decisions.
Nowadays, an influencer is usually someone who has a huge social media following. People from all industries are influencers, such as actors, singers, all kinds of entertainers, gamers, and all sorts of content creators.
How to Become an Influencer?
In order to become an influencer, you don’t necessarily need to be great at something. Popular actors or singers are always going to have a massive number of followers simply because all of their fans want to know where they are and what they do on a daily basis.
For example, someone got an idea to post a picture of an egg on Instagram with the goal of breaking the world record for the most liked picture. Not only did the person who posted it manage to break Kylie Jenner’s record, but the new record tripled the number of likes Kylie had. The profile also got over 9 million followers, which allowed the owner to sell it for a lot of money. This just shows that all you need is to go viral. Sometimes it just happens without any specific reason, but sometimes it is a result of really hard work.
Can I Make Money as an Influencer?
Absolutely. However, simply having a lot of followers won’t make you any money. It is the business opportunities you take that are going to do that. You need to use your power to present products and services provided by other companies. Of course, if you are a business owner, having a lot of followers comes in handy since you will be working for yourself.
If you are an influencer, working as an affiliate marketer is probably one of the best things you can do, besides landing sponsorship deals. All you need to do is make a deal with a company, promote their product/service, and get as many people as possible to buy that product or service using your referral codes or links.