Have you ever been told as a content creator or influencer that your job isn’t real? Never let another person’s opinion of what a “real” job is keep you from pursuing your dreams.
I am a full-time content creator. I have my undergrad in business from the University of Washington. I have my master’s in digital media from the University of Washington. I worked in the consumer package goods industry in sales for a year. And I worked in the aerospace industry for 6 years across roles in finance, project management, and business operations.
Being a content creator/influencer is one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had. As a content creator, I combine my creative talent and business passions. I’ve been able to apply what I’ve learned in corporate America into my creative career. I’ve also been able to replace my $90,000 aerospace salary with content creation. I brought in 6-figures for the first time as content creator last year and I know what I do is a real career. Not only does it support my financial obligations and goals, but it also brings me great happiness to create and connect with my community.
For anyone who has been told that being an influencer or content creator isn’t a real job, I hope this blog post helps you see the skills you exercise every day or every week as a creator.
Let’s debunk this myth: “being an influencer isn’t a real job”.
Here are skills I exercise on a daily basis as a content creator:
1.Project Management
If brands don’t provide a timeline, I provide the brand timelines as well as share status updates on what step we’re at in the brand collaboration. As a former project manager, I’m constantly prioritizing/de-prioritizing tasks, planning and scheduling content.
2. Writing/Editing
I write and edit blog posts, social copy for daily Instagram posts, podcast outlines and Clubhouse outlines every week. Writing and editing alone takes up about 25-20% of my time. As a content creator, I know I can’t copy and paste the same caption across every platform.
A good marketer and influencer knows that you need to adjust the content for each platform. What you say on LinkedIn won’t be the same exact copy on Instagram. The video you produce on TikTok won’t be the same video you produce for LinkedIn.
3. Community Management
Besides producing original photos, audio, videos, and written copy, I spend at least 1-2 hours a day engaging with my community + answering their questions and providing value. Engaging with my community could look like a Clubhouse room or even just replying back to Instagram stories.
4. Account management
As an influencer who works with brands, I’m in the client-service industry. I’m the primary contact for my brand partners, public relations contacts, and influencer marketing agency contacts. I manage the relationship as well as create the content. I correspond with brands, read through contracts, agree to timelines, and ensure my brand partners have what they need for our campaigns.
4. Content Strategy
As a content creator, I analyze how my content across my channels perform and constantly adjust my content strategy to ensure I’m creating content in-line with my mission statement + meets my audience’s needs.
This includes looking at my blog, podcast, and Instagram metrics and identifying both qualitatively and quantitively why my top performing content is working.
5. Negotiations
I don’t have a manager or agency who manages my brand collaborations. I manage and NEGOTIATE every brand opportunity that comes through my inbox. Negotiating is one of my most important skills. Last month, I negotiated a $1,500 campaign into a $5,000+ partnership.
6. SEO or Search Engine Optimization
I drive about 50,000+ monthly page views and 75% of my blog traffic comes from ORGANIC Google Search. Having a CLEAR BLOG strategy + understanding keywords, creating smart URL slugs, and taking the time to write SEO rich meta descriptions has helped my blog traffic increase year over year.
7. Financial management
As a content creator, tracking my expenses and income is essential to my business. My business expenses include hiring/paying for photography, self-hosting my wordpress.org, paying for my domain name, Canva premium, the Adobe suite, etc.
8. Social media consulting
One thing people don’t see on the surface is the consulting or conversations I have with my brand partners, journalists, or even other influencers about the social media industry. As an influencer, I stay on top/ahead of trends and new platforms. I’m testing new Instagram features or apps like Clubhouse. I’m watching people engage and interact with apps.
Whether I’m on an official 1 x 1 call with another content creator looking for advice or I’m chatting in a Clubhouse room, I’m constantly consulting and providing insight and expertise.
What other skills do you use as a content creator?
What other ways can we debunk this myth of being an influencer isn’t a “real” job?
For more content creation or influencer tips, I recommend checking out:
6 Tips to Protect Your Personal Information as a Content Creator
Content Creator Life Stages: What life stage are you on as an influencer?
Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Emma
Oh my goodness- yes, yes, yes! This is 100% a real job and you laid it all out so clearly as to why! Most influencers are doing it all alone and wearing so many hats to get the work done and some even have a team of support under them to help the, continue to build their business. I hope more people come to the realization that this is so real and takes tons of hard work! This post is perfect.
Key
https://storiesbysuddreth.com/
Thank you for this post! It helps a lot to have advice like this! And yes, I’m on the small side of influencing but it does take time and effort!