So, you want to be an influencer?

IN 2009, when blogs were not yet the today phenomenon, Chiara Ferragni launched her website to express herself which today has become a source of inspiration and style for millions of people in the world.
The same went for our own Malaysian bloggers, Careen Tan and Audrey Ooi, who now boast 16,000 and 114,000 followers on Instagram respectively. The two made blogging a successful career, but would they encourage those interested to do the same?
Unfortunately, they wouldn't advise anyone to take the same path as them.
"It is a very volatile career path. I don't even consider this as a career because you progress in a career. Here, you get to build your blog and influence, but I don't know whether you progress or climb higher and achieve something. There is also no guarantee of success.
"Not to say other careers don't have a guarantee, but many career paths have a projectile route. Being a social media influencer depends entirely on your popularity – how do you maintain that popularity?" Ooi said.
"It is very easy for the younger ones to feel like followers and likes are everything. I am the eldest of six sisters and I am concerned about my younger sisters feeling the same. They are on Snapchat and YouTube more than me, and would say they get lesser views and likes than me, and express that it is so cool to have more," Tan said.
"I didn't know it would hit so close to home. They think that likes are everything as much as I tell them it is not. To them, social media is how they are supposed to be valued, but I always teach my sisters what you see is the best, don't think that is all they do," she added.
Both Tan and Ooi struggle with what they should call themselves. Anyone with a blog is a blogger and how can you call yourself a social media influencer? How do you measure influence?
"As an influencer, what is needed is creating good content which keeps people following. For someone to feel connected to you, it always goes back to storytelling. If you are just a pretty face on Instagram with nice photos, people will follow you, but there is a limit to the influence you build.
"I don't think anyone in the industry has figured out how to measure influence yet. Likes are one thing, but the best way to measure a person's influence is when he or she writes about a product and sales goes up. But it still depends on the product or service the person is writing about.
"I would say don't drop out of school or don't bother to find a job to focus on this. Sometimes I do wish I have another career where I will be learning a whole bunch of new skills. In terms of self improvement, I don't think blogging is something that contributes to that. There are tangible skills like writing or photography skills, but if you don't make it as a blogger you will only have those skills to rely on; your options are limited," Ooi said.
Tan believes it is possible to make it your career, but it is not easy. You cannot expect that once you start, people will recognise you now that the industry is saturated. If you want to do it as a career, you need to know what you are doing, you need to have solid content and you cannot be in it for the money.
Some people say blogging is dying or dead but Ooi thinks it is still as big as ever. All the good ones have become so big that they are now professionals. People are reading blogs more than ever but in a different way; now everyone is reading on their mobile phones. As a blogger, Ooi has to adapt to these changes so she can continue reaching the people she wishes.
"You cannot say you are a blogger, I am not going to use Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube. If you don't ride the wave, you lose a chunk of potential followers as every platform has different users and you gain loyal fans from different places," Tan said.
Encouraging individualism
MANY regard social media influencers as "anyone who owns an Instagram account", "selfie factory" or "annoying person who spends 15 minutes taking pictures of food" but Cheesie takes it quite literally as a person who has the ability to influence a large group of people through his or her social media channels.
"People who have stepped foot in the industry will know that it is not as easy as it looks. I know many new and young influencers who put in a lot of effort to produce quality content and making their channels attractive, and I admire them for that.
"It is easier and harder at the same time to be a social media influencer. Easier because advertisers are more aware of the power of social media, there are more user-friendly apps available, and you gain followers at a greater momentum. Harder because there are so many people ahead so you need to be extra special.
"The social media industry is getting popular and crowded but with any other industry, to stay in the game you always have to work hard and level up. I think being a social media influencer encourages a lot of creativity and individualism since your career is about yourself and your life. Every influencer has to constantly better themselves and find their own uniqueness," she said.
Cheesie believes one has to be genuine and keep their audience and followers in mind, and be thankful for them as they make their channels commercially viable.