How I Became An Influencer/Content Creator & My Tips For You
My journey with content creation began in 2019 when I started an Instagram account on behalf of my brand new puppy - Adelaide (@iggyadelaide). We had no idea at the time that this passion project would take us down a path to creating content for my dog, my own channel, and working for brands - making this a real job for both me and my husband.
What do I mean when I say I’m a content creator?
In my understanding of the role, a content creator generates media/digital content (videos, pictures, etc) that is shared through a media channel or platform. A content creator can create content both on their own channels or produce content for other brands/companies.
For me personally, I mostly create short-form video for TikTok (@jkmckay), but I am also on YouTube creating long-form content and on Instagram.
While we started on Instagram, we dabbled in TikTok video creation and found so much inspiration there that we kept going. In my opinion, TikTok has the edge right now on all social media platforms if your goal is discoverability. TikTok is also a cultural phenomenon. Whether it’s dance trends, funny viral videos, educational content or shaping the trends of society - I think social media has the power to truly influence what people do and say on a small and big scale. With the ability to see all new creators on the FYP and the chance to go viral, it’s no wonder why so many new creators are finding new communities with this app.
While I never studied media or marketing, I have gained a lot of experience from posting daily content across several popular platforms and working with brands both as an influencer and content creator. And while it’s not a marketing degree, I do have my Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory, where I studied performance techniques and storytelling. Naturally, I gravitate towards projects where I can perform and TikTok has been a great creative outlet for me since starting daily posts on @jkmckay in April 2021.
My story of turning a social media account into a gig is not uncommon, but I wanted to share my tips for anyone aspiring to work in social media or content creation.
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Tips for getting started in content creation
I’ve organized some tips below based on my experience with social media, and specifically creating content and a brand for myself. While you can be a content creator by producing digital media/content for other people or companies, I’m focussing here on the experience I’ve had with content for my own brand. I also create content for other companies, but for now I’ll keep this a list pertaining to content creation mostly for yourself.
Pick a platform
Experiment without expectations
Pick topics that you’re passionate about (No, this does not mean you have to “niche” down, but if there’s one single topic you could talk about forever and it lights you up - go for it!)
Avoid gimmicks or hacks
Start to notice patterns within your own work - what is speaking to people, what is bringing more people back to comment or view your content
Throw away perfectionism - you will learn and find your groove
Be yourself
Pick a platform
It can be overwhelming sometimes to choose a platform when wanting to explore content creation. Many people have given me the advice to use the platform where your audience is according to demographics. This advice can work for some, however I would recommend to start first by thinking of the type of content you like the most. Long-form video? YouTube. Aspiring photographer? Instagram. Bite-sized video? TikTok. If I had followed the advice of choosing a platform that corresponds with my “audience” I may have never found TikTok - thinking it was meant only for people younger than me. Once you’ve really found your groove with one platform, you might start to think about which other platforms you might like to add to your content creation. For example, I started with TikTok for @jkmckay and after a few months, I realized that I wanted to do more in-depth videos and reviews, and YouTube was the next best logical step.
Experiment without expectations
One of the hardest things when starting with content creation can be the fear of failure or not living up to your expectations. My advice for beginners would be to experiment and eliminate any expectations of metrics. I’m not saying to ignore your metrics forever, but in the beginning it’s easy to fall into comparison and even comparing your current posts with your own previous work.
When I started really experimenting with content on TikTok, I realized quickly that it wasn’t just Instagram in video form. I found a sense of freedom knowing that there wasn’t the pressure of having a perfectly curated feed or “aesthetic”. I encourage you to experiment as much as you can with types of content, different filming/editing techniques and transitions, varying topics, and overall styles. Following accounts that are inspiring to you is a great idea, as long as you’re feeling inspired and it doesn’t stop your own individuality or creativity.
If you’re looking specifically at TikTok - you don’t have to confine yourself to just one topic (especially at first). Try original content, create a series for yourself, and don’t be afraid to talk to the camera. If you’re inspired, following trending sounds and trending topics can be a great way to dip your toes into it and can continue to be a strategy to reach more people.
Pick topics that you’re passionate about
Picking a topic does not mean you have to “niche” down, but if there’s one single topic you could talk about forever and it lights you up - I say go for it! If you have multiple passions and don’t know where you’re going with your content creation yet, this is where your experimenting will help you to find your groove. When I first started with social media, my efforts were mainly focussed on Instagram but I also had a corresponding blog and podcast. When my husband and I started working on these together, we collaborated to brainstorm 50 different blog posts or podcast episodes within our topic. Sometimes journaling and writing down different ideas can help you keep track of where you want to go with your content and you can figure out how to get there over time. If a certain topic is something you’re really passionate about, it should be relatively easy to be able to think a lot about it.
Avoid gimmicks or hacks
It’s easy to fall into the trap of “follow for follow” or engagement hacks, but these are not the greatest tools for finding your real community with content. There are also ways to purchase followers, but I will always advise against this. Metrics like follower count or views can be bought, but if you do this, your content will not be reaching real people. If your follower account is high but your followers aren’t real, your engagement won’t be high. Engagement is a term used for interactions with your content, whether it’s comments, likes, shares or more. For anyone who has aspirations for brand partnerships, having low engagement or a low engagement rate will hinder your relationship with prospective brands.
Start to notice patterns within your own work - what is speaking to people, what is bringing more people back to comment or view your content
Once you’ve started experimenting with your content and style, you can start to notice some patterns. For me, I started with more fitness-related content and most of the content performed similarly. I had similar views and similar comments, and to be honest, they were low! You’ve always got to start somewhere and comparing myself to others or any of the content I’d made for my dog’s Instagram account before wasn’t going to help me to keep going. As I kept posting about fitness I realized that I wanted to share my expertise from working at lululemon and I wanted to help people to shop during the pandemic when many stores were closed for in-person shopping. After posting my first lululemon-related TikTok video, I saw an increase in engagement. I decided to go further with more videos on similar topics - and noticed a pattern. These types of videos helped me reach more people and people who were still interested in fitness too! From here I realized what I really wanted to do - I wanted to reach more people with my content, share positivity and help to empower women to feel confident in their bodies, wherever they are in their self-love journey.
This topic evolved quite naturally for me and I found myself wanting to talk about it all day long. If you’re still searching for the purpose behind your content, that’s ok. The reason behind your content doesn’t always have to be extremely deep or complex. If you keep bringing yourself and your personality to your content, it will be uniquely yours. Your goal with content creation might be to build a career or it might be to have fun and meet new friends - both are valid and wonderful.
Throw away perfectionism - you will learn and find your groove
This point goes along with the experimentation. The more you experiment, the more you practice the art of letting go of perfectionism. I want you to feel proud of the content you create but I also want you to notice if your fear of making something “perfect” is slowing you down or even stopping you from posting. For me, I always felt that posting on Instagram meant you had to have makeup on or your hair done to be “camera ready”. TikTok gave me an outlet to start posting without having to do these things before every post. Once I realized that my “likes” or “comments” weren’t dependent on my makeup, hair or appearance - I started focussing more on the subject matter.
Be yourself
Sometimes just being yourself can be the scariest thing, because there’s nothing to hide behind or fall back on. Sometimes when creating content, we experience one of two things - we fear that being ourselves and showing up online just as we are, isn’t enough or exciting for someone else. Another thing that happens is, we look to others for inspiration but get stuck feeling like a copy cat. While it’s not a requirement to “overshare” or share more than your comfortable with on social media, giving your audience a glimpse into who you are as a person is such a great tool for building an authentic connection with your community. If you don’t have a community yet, sharing about yourself can help you to find one. You’d be surprised how your content can really impact someone else you didn’t know needed to see it that day. There are many lifestyle vloggers/bloggers out there and it’s not the exciting things they do that bring people back to consume their content. People fall in love with creators who can tell their own story. If you ever feel like posting about yourself won’t interest someone else, remember that your individuality is what makes your content special. You never know who is watching your videos and how it might impact them. This is all to say that you don’t have to be anything but yourself. If you’re having a bad day, your content doesn’t have to be “good vibes only” or reflect some ideal lifestyle. Humans are flawed and knowing that the person behind the content is not always perfect, is not just relatable but it’s also just life.
I hope that these tips are encouraging for anyone aspiring to pursue content creation whether you’re dipping your toes into it or wanting to dive right in. I am still learning and growing as a content creator and am a big advocate for always being a student in life. If you ever want to connect about content creation or how to get started, please feel free to reach out. Thank you for going on this journey with me and I hope to see you on my FYP, or elsewhere online.
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