this is going to be all about how to become an influencer in 2023 2024 pretty much 2024 everything that I have done I've known and used myself so first off if you're new here I am Janie by the way I just want to go off by starting with this I keep all which I really highly recommend when I started this I made a folder on my notes called insta and it was in 2021 that I started so it was what's two February 31st 2021 so no February 3rd 2021 my starting statistics on Instagram like my
number of followers were 2,000 my average likes per post was 65 average comments three my current Instagram statistics I don't know how much I get usually like thousands of likes and hundreds of comments and I am at at 300,000 followers so I have grown substantially at this point I did not have a YouTube channel or Tik Tok I currently have a YouTube which I have I think there's about 240 subscribers so thank you guys and I have a Tik Tok which is roughly around 500,000 followers so I've grown pretty well actually this is over the
past two almost 3 years yeah 2021 yeah so it's going to be almost almost 3 years so we'll say like 2 years I've grown substantially that was the day that I decided I wanted to do this I was like you know what I love I've talked about this we did a podcast it's on my YouTube channel it was the fireside chat and of why I wanted to start an Instagram and all of this stuff and my thing is I've never had many girlfriends I became a mom I felt really well I was a mom for
a while but I had my daughter and this was right I don't know if you could even say it during the when the world shut down pretty much I just kind of was like in the house a lot I felt alone and I was working at the salon as a hair stylist but I just wanted something more like I knew that I wanted to do something more I wanted to connect with others so initially when I started just giving you a brief background of me it'll all come together initially when I started I had a
pretty significant weight loss Journey like I was always I always felt uncomfortable I was roughly I lost pretty much a total of 70 lbs um I went down I was like a 1618 now I'm a 68 so 10 pant size wait no is that right no I don't know however pant sizes work so um I went down in pan sizes and all of that and I did so many wrong things on my weight loss journey and then I finally figured out how to do the right way and that could be a whole another video but
I just wanted to share like my healthy habits the recipes I was making workouts I was doing struggles I was having with being a mom and like everything and then just sharing my mom life and really connecting like I felt pretty alone and I just wanted to connect with others and that was my biggest thing and I think that is what made me grow so fast because I wasn't like oh I want to be an influencer and make money and you know do this do that like the pressure was kind of off like I already
worked at the salon I just felt like there was something more for me that I was missing and I'm going to move around a lot so don't I just get fidgety cuz I I'm nervous um I just felt like there was something more for me and I really my biggest thing was I wanted connection I wanted to connect I don't have that group of girlfriends and I'm so envious of people that do and yes I have a loving husband I have a family and I'm so lucky but that is pretty much why I started and
then slowly I realized like I didn't want to share about the weight loss stuff there's only so much I could share and also I still struggled with so many body images that I felt like a fraud because I'm like who am I to be sharing these tips and it just was a whole Whirlwind I was like I just want to share my life like I don't wanted to be so weight loss focused and that was unhealthy too because that was an unhealthy thing with me like I was still figuring it out and I don't know
I don't want everyone to like look at me in that way like oh like but she's not some like super buff bodybuilder or like super slim she like has loose skin like who would she to be giving me weight loss advice I just felt like it was I no one was saying that to me but it was all in my own head that I'm like oh people are going to judge me so I kind of shifted focus and was like let me just share about my daily life come on my Instagram stories and talk and
that's what I did and little by little it grew up so it wasn't like when I initially started this I started it for something completely different and my page kind of transformed over time and everyone is going to say so that's just a little bit about me and then slowly but surely I started sharing just like I would order jeans from Abby and I would share my stories like hey I love these jeans and people were like oh my God I was looking for jeans just like that or I would be like these leggings fit
really well or this like just like stupid little hacks like this three ingredient crock poot meal that I'm like do people really want this it's so basic and yes like other people are like I was looking for an easy dinner recipe and I'm like that with other people like I'm trying to think someone lately have been sharing like putting a shower curtain and wrapping Garland around it and putting it in your doorway and it looks beautiful and it's like a TW second hack that someone decided to share and I'm like I need to do that
this is how it started so I posted on Instagram the my like my goals and how I achieved them and I got so many messages of like how do I become an influencer I want to be an influencer I'm a mom I want to find a way to make an income from home and all of that so the message that got me was this one hey Janie I love watching you and how you make your content so relatable I'm a single mom of four I'm a four-year-old and would love some help of how you went
about this whole influencer stuff um from one Jersey girl to another I'm just scared and don't know where to start please any advice should be great okay so my exact response to her was that I'm going to make this YouTube video and it's pretty much basic steps so it's going to sound this is what I said to her it's going to sound very I said generic but that's not the word I me me cliche it's pretty much just show up and post consistently that is the basis of being an influencer be yourself show up and
post consistently um and I said people can see through the fakeness so share things you actually love tag companies reach out to Brands provide people value for example if you find a great pair of jeans that fit your body type that you love share them if you have a cleaning hack an organiz ation tip share it because I think that was a big thing with me was the fact that the first two years of me growing this I worked so I had my source of income already like this I wasn't doing people can see through
the BS I wasn't doing this with like hey I want to be an influencer to make lots of money that was and I feel like when people when you are doing that it's not genuine I was doing this because I really wanted connection like I felt like that was missing and I I love talking to you guys like even now with 300,000 followers I get so many messages a day I spend hours way too much time on my phone because I still want to me like Instagram's my biggest thing right like love messaging back and
talking to you guys and like I just I honestly love that like it was my baby and now I do I love YouTube like I love all of them Tik Tok I'm not as like it's more funny videos I'll comment back and forth I don't really go through my messages so I think just that like just sharing that is so big so my biggest tip is don't think about the money and like don't try to be selling things I know a lot of you want to make money off of this and the money will come
and there's great affiliate programs too like built bar for example I've been eating built bars forever absolutely love them and I got a code with them very ear early on I reached out and I was like hey do you have an affiliate program they said yes people buy buil bars like crazy for me and I don't even mention them anymore I still eat them daily but I don't even have to mention them because people I genuinely love them people that bought them genuinely love them so it was just one of those things that made sense
for me it was easy so there is money in it but think about really connecting and what you can provide value the biggest thing is you want to provide value for people and this got me in the beginning I was like I have nothing I'm just a mom I'm just a regular like I'm I'm not I don't know like I'm not super pretty but I'm not I don't consider myself ugly I am not super fit but I'm not like completely like um out of shape I am not the smartest person but I also don't think
I'm the dumbest person like I always just felt so like in the middle I'm a good mom but I'm not great at like crafting or anything I'm actually awful at crafting and that kind of stuff and I was just like I just felt like I was just boring like there was just I felt like there was nothing special about me like I don't stand out there's nothing special about me but it honestly worked in my favor because I get the comment all the time that I'm so relatable and I think that's what it makes me
special that other people can genuinely feel related to like they can relate to me and I love that so go in it and just be yourself like don't feel like you have to be anything but yourself all right I like go on tangent so all right first things do you like a knee shap having a niche so you want to have I don't know if I believe in the whole Niche thing because I started with one thing and went I started with workout like Health Fitness kind of thing and then I be motherhood Health Fitness
and then I went into like couples comedy marriage which I still is a big thing and then I kind of went into like all over lifestyle where now like you more or less want to go into having a goal audience I think that's the better way of doing it my goal audience women specifically moms ages like 25 to 50 like that is kind of my audience um I am married I do have a blended family so those are a little more niching specifics but just my goal audien is Rel leing to other women that are
in a similar age bracket and lifestyle Point as me but that is completely up to you like say you're a really great artist your Niche might be like I don't know many kind of art forms but like waterolor in one like watercoloring or if you're a great baker your Niche might be like baking these amazing cakes and you're reaching out to like that community of people that are interested in like cake design or something me I feel like I'm more abroad because I just want to be lifestyle I just want to be myself so I
think it's just a matter of having a goal audience so you can kind of like if I randomly started sharing I'm trying to think that's like something out of like scuba diving tips my audience would be like what are you like my followers would be like what are you doing Janie like they probably think it's funny but they would just be confused so like kind of saying that like that's why I like to share I like to share a mix of it all like my recipes that work for my family funny things that happen with
me and my husband outfit finds things that other women my age might be looking for or are looking for so have a goal audience in mind pick a couple of topics that you want to share about that you're interested in cuz trust me there's so many things but pick things that you're interested in um and and then like rotate them maybe for me it'll be like cooking clothing marriage humor trying to think what else family activities and rotate between them on your post um so that's the thing with Niche I don't think having like a
specific Niche is that important anymore at this point just have a goal audience so yeah actually we will go over that how I grew so fast reals reals reals has such a big reach like so I'm talking about pretty much Instagram specifically on YouTube shorts Tik Tok Tik toks which are short form videos so YouTube shorts really I started with long form and then once I did shorts my followers just skyrocketed um Instagram reals like reals reaches such a big audience um and posting no one's going to like to hear this posting daily I have
posted every single day on Tik Tok YouTube Instagram for the last 2 years every single day maybe I miss like one day but I will post a real a video and people are like how do you create that much content it's not that hard if a funny thing happens with my husband I'll film it like for me and my stuff if I'm making something for dinner I'm like you know what I should share this I'll film it add a trending audio over it add some cute text like 5 minute breakfast like easy you know um
easy hairstyle and some trending things and then that's it you could spend a day filming 10 reals and then that's it for like a week and a half and you have one to post every single day so don't make it anything bigger than what it is and you will get better so in the beginning it might take you longer or you might really be trying to make your content look perfect don't worry about that just get it out there you will get better my content does not look perfect at all I film everything besides long
form video YouTube videos everything is on my phone I film I edit I do it all from my phone so you do not need any special equipment right now as I'm filming this it is on my camera I have a very basic YouTube camera I will link it in the description I am just sitting in the window best lighting is your window lighting I do at this point have a ring light from Loom cube and it is the best thing but you can get that Alex Earl selfie light put it on your phone if you
have bad lighting makes a world of difference so you don't need any special equipment so if you're looking to grow fast reals and showing up on your for Instagram on your Instagram stories I'm just going to pretty much focus on Instagram but you could switch this onto other platforms easily but showing up every day on your Instagram stories just talking about what you're doing a find you found what you're making for dinner like let people get to know you and relate to you and it will help you so then other things Open start a like
to know it I'm pretty sure anyone could do it um that's where you link things and can get commission so if you're going to be sharing like if I'm going to share this sweatshirt I can link it on like to know it share share it and you make commission start an Amazon storefront where you can link things you are using easily share and then it directs people like people can go right onto my like to know it type in the bar sweatshirt it will pop up they can go on my Amazon storefront and type in
leggings the leggings I'm wearing will pop up or board game if I mentioned so those are great just to have something for your audience to show where to go to and you do get it's a very small commission but you do get commission so it all adds up um so like people always say they're like oh you get Comm you must get commission or paid for that like no if I'm sharing a lipstick that is $20 I probably get like I don't know I don't even you don't even get 10% Commission on it you get
like 8% maybe even less sometimes like 7% so like what am I really getting like a dollar something for this like commission like yeah it adds up but it's not anything crazy Amazon commission rates are pretty low so you're not going to be making I know maybe some people do but you're and you don't make a lot of commission it's just pretty much you do make some every bit counts but it's pretty much just to have somewhere to direct people and if you are sharing you might as well get something un like to know it
there are higher ones like I think Stanley Cups are pretty high which is something I use and love so you might as well um so just start those you don't have to be good at them um just create them you could take a mirror selfie in the outfit you're wearing post it on there tag the things you're wearing give yourself time it's a learning curb it takes time to tag and Link things but it's worth it um and then if you're going to make collages I use canva Pro I have the canva pro now but
you could use the basic canva for everything I think the pro the only different well there's probably millions of differences but in the Pro you could save like your branding colors so I have all the colors I like to use you could save like templates so it's really easy just to like put in like Amazon favorites and then switch out things and already have the template made but I use Cano for for everything so if you see a collage or anything like that it was made on canva and then how I record I went over
that my phone my good I have an iPhone my good old iPhone um people I find sometimes when you record with a camera um it looks too like Addie I guess I don't know like I feel like if I do a brand deal and I'm recording with the camera like I don't know it looks it just it looks more natural on the phone so use your phone um there's so many things that you can like just type on Instagram best phone settings for filming reals I don't even know what mine are but I do like
if I'm doing like makeup or something use cinematic mode cuz it'll focus on your face um and then I like I said I do have the ring light from Loom cube that one's the best I had an Amazon one and it would just break all the time and then I have the Alex Earl one that one's really good but sunlight is the best um and then creating reals people get so confused about this Instagram has made it so easy How I Learned YouTube videos literally YouTube how to create a real it will break it down
for you I have youtubed everything I paid $600 for a course I'm so embarrassed to say it for a course and it was like I was like how do I pitch myself to Brands I want to work with how do I create reals and all of that and it was stuff I could have gotten for free so I'm sure some of these courses have value I just see so many of them pop up and they charge an arm in a or it would be like an influencer a master course and I'm like what are you
like what like I don't know I feel like those people that are doing that are you really in it for the right reason I don't know I don't know they rub me the wrong way so just try youtubing or searching the real search bar or at like Instagram search bar or on Tik Tok Tik Tok has so many great things there's tons of like um creators on there that's specifically just focus on like how to grow certain things a YouTube channel I really love to watch is Robert Benjamin he is great it's very repetitive cuz
honestly a lot of it is repetitive but he goes over like # strategies real length like more in depth stuff when you get to that point um I haven't watched any of his stuff recently but like that really helped me so following him I'm trying to think if there's anyone I follow on Instagram I follow like this Lucas guy um that he'll put like helpful tips for post but like don't think too much into it like just have a posting schu think when your audience is online like if you're trying to reach a certain person
just think of like a mom like if me if it was Mom's like is a mom going to be scrolling on Instagram at like I don't know 300 p.m. probably not because she's probably getting the kids home from school like it's probably not the best time like maybe there's some sitting in par car pickup like scrolling but just think about that like the you and you could there's so many tools now that show you like the best time to post post and things like that but um just look it up like how to create things
and don't go crazy like if it's your thing to like love all these cool effects and that kind of stuff by all means do it but if you're just learning how to do reals do basic stuff like just start with the basics I see some girls that do like transform that what it's called transformation where they do like cool things I've tried and I'm like why am I spending so much time doing this and no one on my page I think would really care or be like Jamie thank God you started doing these videos I
like them so much better so yeah so one thing that I really bothered it bothers me so much when I get messages from girls that are and I've had quite a few and it's the same people messaging me like hey can you show me how to do this hey how did you do this hey how do like how do you do this and I'm like for me I freaking youtubed everything like if you're not going to take the time to learn and figure this out on your own how are you going to stay consistent like
if you just want it handed to you it's not going to work or another thing that bothers me is like hey will you do a giveaway with me like yeah I do giveaways a lot of times giveaways are with girls with a similar following group as you um and a similar Niche like if you guys are like if it's other people with moms or fashion whatever your Niche is like whatever your ideal audience is but a lot of times it's like with friends but it usually is a similar follower count but say I did a
giveaway with someone that has like 10,000 followers you're not going to all of a sudden hit 300,000 because you did a giveaway with me and people are going to follow you like if they click on your page and there's nothing else there or like you're you're not posting consistently they're going to unfollow you the second the giveaway is over so that is not realistic don't focus on giveaways giveaways for me are more a fun way to get together with a group of girls to give back and support the people that follow us like that's why
I like to do them and I do them every so once once in a while but people always say like hey like can you share this for me or do this and I'm like just because I share something it doesn't mean you're going to get tons of followers and if that's what you if that's how you want to go about it like I don't know it just sits bad with me or um like doing tons of giveaways on your own page that just doesn't look like a show people say there's some that are good if
you have like a sweatshirt com like if you have a company that you make printed graphic sweatshirts and you want to do a giveaway to get reach and you say tag another person and then people see like oh I really like this girl style like that's good but don't do them too often like people are really they want to see something more they don't want to just see giveaway after giveaway and engagement groups are another thing do not get caught up in them like when I first started I was in one for a very very
short period some girl was like hey do you want to be in this engagement group and I was like great we can all boost each other and get tons of likes and comments I quickly realized I don't want the likes and comments I want real people following me and relating to me like if you just because you get tons of likes and comments from other creators that what does that do for you and then it's a pain in the butt like they were like okay I just posted something now all go like my thing and
all go comment my thing and people figure it out and it just I don't know just don't get involved in those those are all gimmicks scams whatever you want to call them there's an easy way easier way and that is just posting and providing value providing for something whether and that value could be entertainment it could be tips tricks money advice fashion it can be anything providing some sort of value for the person watching and then engaging with that person or the audience or whoever starts commenting engaging with those people that are there because they
liked your content not with other people just because they want to grow like that is just something and it doesn't work it does not work talking on stories is very important uh just showing who you are I feel like that's very important and just be yourself it is so aw awward at first like when I first started doing it I felt so uncomfortable now I think because I talked to so many of you guys that it's just natural like it comes natural so it does get easier like it just I can whip up my phone
and start talking in front of people and I just I'm comfortable doing it so it does it's like anything practice makes perfect and then use your stories as like behind the scenes that's another note I have no matter what you are if you're a cake baker and your feed is mainly cake baking okay great but behind the scenes on your stories Maybe show you um getting ingredients in behind the scenes or show you like having a relaxing night what movie you're watching like just little things like I look at stories as like more of your
just daily life um and it's just really great like I love messaging people back and forth I literally watch stories all the time I just love maybe that's just me I just love them so those are really my main tips and tricks like the biggest things is like figuring out who your ideal audience is focusing on that audience providing value providing value whether that's entertainment value whether that's tips and tricks value Financial value providing people with some sort of value giving them information on something give them a reason to want to follow you and be
yourself people can see through the BS don't try to be anything you're not be yourself you are enough be genuine share your opinions on things be yourself and also when people reach out to you engage start a conversation grow that Community like cuz then other people would be like oh I love following this girl you have to follow her too she I messaged her she replied like that goes a long way with people if they message you about something and you reply like take if they took the time to message you take the time to
reply please I try my best and it really irks me now because sometimes I'll get so behind in my messages and I'm like oh no I feel so bad but I also don't want to I'm not I don't want to like I do have and also know this too because now that I am bigger I I work with the Creator company they help me set up my lengths they help me with my collages this is all new because I was talking to another influencer girl like girlfriend of mine and I was just like oh my
God how do you pump out so many of these collages and she was like I hire someone like you do and I felt like an idiot and she was like yeah and then more creators I talked to as they grew they started investing in the and hiring people and I was like that's how they get so much done so hire if you can like as you grow first do it yourself learn it yourself but then as you grow and you see these other bigger creators pumping out so many things don't feel defeated no they probably
have a team behind them and now I do have the Creator society that I work with a couple of days a week I love them and she's always like oh I can go through your inbox for you and I'm like no those are my people I will talk to them um and she does sometimes will like help me go through my like message request and she'll be like hey I went through your message request these are people people like looking for things they're genuine they're not just like sometimes you get rude comments and she'll be
like I so you can like go review them and respond how you would like so that's really helpful um I just thought of something that I was like oh my gosh this is something I wanted to talk about oh reaching out to Brands how have I not done this reaching out to Brands so first don't expect a brand to want to work with you if you don't follow them you've never mentioned them like that's just weird Brands you should be T like anything use whether you if I'm drinking diet coke actually I never tagged Diet
Coke tag Coca-Cola and then after a while reach out to them hey I love Coca-Cola my audience really loves Coca-Cola is there an email I can reach out to for a potential collaboration and just know at first you're probably going to be doing things for gifted collaborations they're going to send you stuff which is wonderful and then you're going to create a video eventually they will start paying you um some not all companies pay but some do so really tagging the companies make a list of things you use no matter how basic you think it
is like even your hand soap with look at the brand is it something you use every day that you swear by then tag them reach out to them maybe someone else if you have like great laundry detergent that have no scent because your kid had a really they really sensitive to laundry detergent and you swear by this one tag them reach out to them see it say is there an email and then when you email them say Hey you know go on canva Google Media Kit fill it in with your stuff so easy use canva
for everything make your own Media Kit your goal audience it literally LS it out for you in there or just Google how to make a Media Kit go and canva create one real fast reach out to the company hey I got your Instagram from your email from Instagram I really would love to do a collaboration with you this is my audience I use your product I think I could be great value for this this this reason you know whether it's personal EXP experience or something you want to share here's my Media Kit I look forward
to hearing back from you that is it if they don't answer okay message another one who the heck cares if they do great now you have a chance to work with them it is that easy you can literally Google how to pitch myself to a brand template and it will come up you could probably even AI it right now like chat GPT and just write in there like write me an email template to pitch myself to a brand for an Instagram collaboration there are so many tools right at your f fer tip so please don't
don't pay people money for things that you could literally just do on your own that just was gets me so I hope this was helpful I know this is super long and I went on so many tangents that's just how I am this is not my normal thing like never I never thought in a million years I'd be making a YouTube video on how to become an influencer just because I it still feels surreal to me it still feels very surreal to me that I get to call this my job I am lucky to have
these platforms to share I don't I'm just I'm so beyond grateful and so lucky to have this so if it's something you really want and you're in it for the right reasons do it because it's just I don't know I just still it's still I say to Dave all the time I'm like I can't believe that like I accomplished This and like I have people that like value my opinion or like going to Meep or advice or looking like going to me for fashion findes or things like that like not that I'm a fashionista but
like they want there other moms that want a comfy outfit that still looks cute to wear to a holiday party like okay I got you I'll throw in leggings and a cute sweater like let me link it for you so it's just it really is the greatest thing like I know people bash influencers I don't care it is hard work but it is the greatest thing and I love it so if it's something you really want just do the research Google take notes from this video put yourself out there be yourself pit yourself to brands
show up consistently every single day or as much as you can whether that's 5 days a week and it will happen but take time like you saw my starting statistics from 2021 it is about to be 2024 this did not happen overnight and I feel like a lot of people forget that it wasn't like bam 300K like 240,000 subscribers on YouTube no this was me showing up consistently so do that take time don't compare yourself to people that have been doing it for a couple of years that have a team that have people helping don't
compare yourself CU it is defeating don't do that start where you are and just work on growing so that is really all I got I hope this was helpful sorry I talked your ear off but I just love you guys I adore you thank you for being [Music] here he
