7 steps on how to become an online influencer

First and foremost, in the world of digital marketing and especially in our own country Uganda, there is a large number of people who refer to themselves as “social media influencers" who only have a Twitter account with unclear header image and a bio that describes their love for food, sports teams like Manchester united, Barcelona, PSG and other things they interested in. Moreover, when you scroll through their feed you have hard time getting a sense of their direction or focus since their tweets are about their day to day activities, food, sports, sex, alcohol and many others.

For starters, a Social Media or online Influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry or someone who generates content in order to shape an opinion, change behaviour, and amplifies a message.  A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.

According to (Glucksman, 2017), the success of social media influencers is vitally important to brands; therefore, technology has been developed to identify and track influencers’ relevance to a brand or organization. This technology tracks the number of hits on a blog, times a blog is shared, likes and comments, and followers. All of these points are pivotal aspects of a social media influencer’s success

Now have you ever wondered how you too can get into this space and get paid to enjoy the finer things in life? Here are a few tips on how to become a credible and trustworthy online influencer.

1.  Understand your audience

Define your target audience through the people who follow you. Invest a considerable amount of time in finding who your audience is, what do they love and want. If you can understand them, you will know what type of content you should be focused on creating on a daily or weekly basis.

2.         Content generation.

After understanding the kind of audience you have, determine what kind of content you will be generating online and stick to it. If its Sports, lifestyle, technology, fashion, politics, entertainment. It is important to be consistent and continuously put out this content to position yourself as a thoughtful Influencer in the field you chose to specialize in, thus build your audience that will trust your content.

3.  Be active on social media

After knowing what content and specific field you want to venture in, then start being active throughout by sharing information about the field chosen.  You will notice social influencers get a considerable number of comments and shares on whatever they post. That is because they have already established themselves and have developed a community of their own.

4. Identify the companies you would like to work with, and find ways to grab their attention.

See that restaurant that you always love to go to like KFC, Cafe Javas? Tag the restaurant and talk good about it every time you post a selfie dinning from there, highlight what made your experience so memorable. These authentic endorsements will definitely catch their eye.

Continuously document your experiences or interactions with a product or brand online, and always tag them. Review their products on either your platforms or there’s, and give them constructive feedback.

Companies value customer's sentiments and where possible, even go as far as implementing them where possible. They will notice you and may even consider working with you to advocate for their products or campaigns whenever they have them.

5.         Build your portfolio

After all the gigs you have worked on, develop your profile as an online influencer clearly indicating your current audience (followers), sample content that you generated that received a wide reach, and document any work you have previously done for other brands, or content you have proactively generated about a company or brand. Paint a picture showing why any company would benefit from working with you as their influencer of their brand, product or service. This can be done using the google analytics on the campaigns you run. Use a power point for a good presentation.

   6.  Promote your content and yourself

To be an influencer, you need to have people to influence. You cannot expect people to go to you when you don’t introduce yourself to them. In order to grow your audience, you may need to promote some of your posts online in order to reach more people. Social media marketing is very targeted and allows you to be specific with regards to the people you would like to reach with specifications of age, region, cities, countries or interests.

7.         Collaborate with other influencers

Don’t worry if you haven’t established yourself as an influencer yet. Because one way of achieving that is to be friends with other established ones. Thanks to the event and hashtag of Ugandans on twitter #UOT that happens on Wednesday every week. Now this is the best time for you to join these fellows and make a good collaboration with other influencers. You can collaborate with those within your industry but doesn’t sell something that you do. When you contribute on their blog, you are also tapping the audience that they have. But also collaborate with those that are not in the same filed with you to gain more confidence and experience.

Conclusion

Becoming an online influencer doesn’t happen overnight. It will take you months, even years to get to a point where people recognize your name without them having to search for it. But with hard work and a right amount of luck, you will surely get there. Remember to always put up good content and always tag the brands, products or services that you would love to work with.

References

Benitez, C. (2018). 10 Ways to Become a Sought-After Online Influencer. [online] Available at: https://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/10-ways-become-sought-online-influencer-02005869 [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].

Ethangatta, V. (2018). 5 steps on how to become an online influencer. [online] Linkedin. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-steps-how-become-online-influencer-vivienne-ethangatta/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].

Glucksman, M. (2017). The Rise of Social Media Influencer Marketing on Lifestyle Branding. [online] Elon.edu. Available at: https://www.elon.edu/u/academics/communications/journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/153/2017/12/08_Lifestyle_Branding_Glucksman.pdf [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].

MEDIA ADDICTION.

Remember how the world worried about drug addiction, now forget about drug addiction anymore there is a new addiction that is on everyone’s talk of the day that probably won’t come to an end and that is the Social media addiction which has of nowadays been used so excessively among users more especially teenagers. They have constantly checked updates, statuses or even stalking other people’s profiles on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, twitter and snapchat for many hours and this can be defined as compulsive manner that leads to negative effect among people where by people feel compelled to do certain activities such as assignments, face to face interactions, physical exercises like jogging, playing football or even going to school and work (walker 2016). Social media addiction can be caused due to several things such as too much dependency on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter or snapchat by stalking people like friends, friends of friends, work mates, school mates and more especially celebrities like actors, actresses and in particular musicians in order to know what they are up to, where they are traveling to or holding concerts from.

Another sign of social media addiction can be decrease in work productivity where by people who work mostly spend too much time through chatting with their friends browsing on social media sites (Dr. Biswajit Das and Jyoti Shankar sahoo) for example during traffic jam, after work or even at work, after lectures or even waking up in the morning, the first thing to do is to check ones Facebook page for posts, comments and reviews and tweets on twitter, Instagram for picture uploads and snapchat to check what others are up to or what they did the previous day or night, in that way some of the employees have lost their jobs due to social media addiction. As per a study authorized by Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing firm, 54% of U.S. organizations say that they have banned workers from using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and MySpace while at work. The study found that 19% of organizations permit informal communication use just for business purposes, while 16% permit restricted individual use (Gaudin, 2009). Social media addiction among teenagers in this era may be the worst social media behaviour and it’s quit hard to change the teenagers from this addiction, other social media negative behaviours may include social media depression and cyber bullying. All in all social media users should be kin and sincere to themselves and plan on how long to use social media sites and I urge everyone to spend more time doing oral interactions such as face to face communication rather than social media interactions because no one can control social media use expect you as an individual and social media is there to stay.

According to a study commissioned by Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing firm, 54% of U.S. companies say that they have banned workers from using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace while on the job. The study, released today, also found that 19% of companies allow social networking use only for business purposes, while 16% allow limited personal use.

This is a YouTube link of social media addiction documentary; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgMnh3uxIU

 

WHY DO ALMOST ALL WOMEN EXCLAIM, "ALL MEN ARE THE SAME"!!!!!! WELL TO YOU ALL LADIES MEN ARE NOT THE SAME?.

There are numerous things in which the greater part of the men think alike or act alike, like enthusiasm and passion for games, sex, hanging out with friends, boosting around, so is it reasonable that ladies classify every one of them in the same category based on these attributes!

The majority of the ladies have numerous things(more than we men have) common among them, such as shopping, tattling or gossiping, bitching, make up.....but you never hear any men say that all ladies are the same, questions is why?

We really never hear a man say all ladies are the same? When you infer that most ladies say "All men are the same!", it makes me wonder if you realize that you actually simply did precisely the same that you are blaming these speculative ladies for. You are fundamentally inquiring as to why all ladies are the same and say all men are the same. At the point when actually all men are not the same, nor are all ladies.

Speculation aren't going to help you make sense of ladies. Particularly when you characterize every one of them as being occupied with tattling and bitching and make up,well i  know a lot of fellows who love bitching. And the various things as well.

What do all men have in common? Male life systems (anatomy). Furthermore, the other way around for ladies. Past that, there are a billion things at play. Society, culture, genetics, social strata, money related security, communication skills, and so forth...

In the event that the ladies you are interacting with reliably saying that you are like every other men, then you have to take a gander at the regular component in each one of those situations. Whenever you hear it, in the event that you are getting dumped or rejected, rather than assuming all ladies are the same, express gratitude towards them for telling you. At that point inquire as to whether regardless they would still talk with you, to clarify what the major behavioral things you did were that incited that reaction, since you need to figure out how to make strides. In the event that you haven't estranged them, they may be useful and clarify where you turned out badly. Ask your person companions as well. On the off chance that they are genuine companions they might have the capacity to convey something you are doing that could be off putting.

Therefore in conclusion, to you all ladies who exclaim all men are the same, should from today stop saying so because in reality its not true at all. from the thorough research and i mean thorough research, yes thorough research, all these ladies who exclaim that all men are the same, are these ladies whose marriages or relationships have totally failed because of this total false perspection they have in their heads, remember whenever you try to be negative about something you indeed will never achieve that particular thing, take an example for those in high school who used to say chemistry is hard, trust me indeed no one passed it, do you think if steve jobs (RIP) was so negative about himself, we would have apple gadgets or  if bill gates was negative, we would have microsoft. so please ladies and all women be positive always and wash your brains without that false perspection of "all men are the same", for God's sake all men are different and so do women!.

MICHEAL BOLTON AYEBS.

LETS FOCUS ON BIGGER ISSUES THAN SMALL ISSUES

Today I have woke up when am really so sad and totally mad, I have started hating my own Ugandans on some few things hear and there, whenever we have someone battling with cancer, Ugandans are very good at collecting money from the society to take the victims over seas like India, UK, USA for treatment, they always have washing car days for cancer patients, fundraising from society and schools at large, and in fact they collect the expected amount of money for these patients and even exceed to the expected amount of money, quote me well this is a very good way of sympathy, care and love but how many times are we going to do this, why can't we really collect that money and buy our own machines and be treating the cancer patients from our own country without them traveling over seas, why do we only collect it when we see someone reaching to the death trap and start these things of fundraising. 

Whenever we loose someone through boda boda accidents we always the first to post on social media platforms that "RIP, you have gone to soon and  we shall miss you" and you start hating on the boda boda cyclists that they are very bad at driving, well yes some of them are very reckless but question is how many times are we going to blame them for their reckless when our very own traffic light police can leave these boda boda cyclists to ride and go when the traffic lights are red, stop blaming these boda boda men and blame the laws governing them, in Rwanda, Malaysia, Singapore and other more countries have laws governing these boda boda men, you can't ride without helmets and also they have their own cyclists roads, why can't Uganda really do that, why can't we really blame the government and the traffic light police for not doing their work, why wait for someone to die and post on social media "RIP these boda boda cyclists are killers and reckless" can't we really prevent and reduce these boda boda accidents. Please let's stop blaming these cyclists and blame the bad laws that govern them. Otherwise may your soul rest in peace Doreen, have no idea about you but the information have had about you is that you have been so clever in class, well mannered young girl and a beautiful young girl.

"What can we do to stop motorcycle accidents in Uganda??" Comment below.

MICHEAL BOLTON AYEBS

MY FIRST HIGH SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!

Apparently we all well know how sweet to be loved is and how to love is, this was back in my high school when I finally found love for my first time in my life and that's when I was in form three, OMG I was so hyped that there was nothing I would really worry about and nothing would ever go wrong in my life, if someone would talk wrong and trash about me, I wouldn't care cause I had a "girlfriend", I really think I was to to happy and excited that it ran all my emotions, the girl that time I had was extra ordinary, I bet anyone would really love to date her she was indeed very beautiful, bootylicious and had a charming face though. And the thing about LOVE is, it makes you foolish, stupid, dump, idiotic things, one day I really thought that we indeed serious in this relationship cause we had been together for about a year and plus, you know it was my first time so I thought she was the apple of my eye for my entire life, I had to introduce her to my dad, thinking that she would really know that am very serious about this relationship, good enough my dad is some extra ordinary African parent, he indeed loved this pretty girl. Am sure some people are now saying how would I really do this telling my dad that am in love- yes I did so cause I really loved her and my dad is a cool one, I was very nervous though before I took her to my dad but I prayed a lot so as everything would go on smoothly and indeed it did work out well cause my dad hopefully knew I had a girlfriend since it was the stage and I was about 17 years old. You know how fearful you can be to your dad, introducing a girl to him, my mind run a bit mad and crazy on how to introduce her as a friend or girlfriend but I was so courageous I really did introduce her as my girlfriend, my dad was surprised cause he knows me as a "quit quiet guy", I was speechless though.
But let me tell you friends yes I introduced her but then after we broke up I have never got any other courage ever again to introduce my girlfriend to my dad. The only advise I can give you dear friends is never introduce any so called girlfriend or boyfriend to your parents until you very sure that you will live with her for life and ever and that's when you take your vows in church, girlfriends and boyfriends are are not even supposed to be introduced to parents, though it's a good practice but trust me if you are a guy or babe who falls in love with another babe or guy after months or weeks or even a year, well don't even dare introduce your bae or boo to your parents, the more girlfriends you introduce the more you will be judged either being called a womaniser or a whore.

TO BE CONTINUED.

MICHEAL BOLTON AYEBS.

TYPES OF PARTY ANIMALS.

We all know how people around the world love to party and mostly my own Ugandans a very good at partying, and today I would love to look at different types of people you always see at different parties and having their own fun in their special ways and to my friends or your friends with whom you party with can surely tell you which type of party animal you are:

1: The Dancers. These are type of people who go to parties and fully dance hard to every song and every song is their song, they dance "paka chin" as if they won't have any other party tomorrow. Most of all they don't care whether their is someone on the dance floor or not, they don't care if their friends are gonna dance or not. They just step on the floor and dance off their feet. Congratulations to these people they make the party most interesting Anyways.

2: The Wall warmers. These really love going to parties but they don't really dance at all, they always go to hold the wall and look on as if they have lost someone, you will force them to go to the dance floor but they will never dance, they are always on their drinks drinking as if they are FBI or investigators just watching over people having good time. I salute these people Anyways.

3: The Requesters. These are people who go to parties and tell the DJs what music to play they be like "hey DJ play so songs from Chris Brown, wizkid etc, they usually get angry if the DJ doesn't play their requests and blame the place for boring always. I always wonder what these guys come to do at parties for Gods sake why can't they buy their own systems and become DJs, hell no I hate these people.

4: The fly guys (Smart guys). These don't attract people cause of what they are dancing but rather what they have wore that night, they always shut down the entire place. They always have the most expensive clothes, shoes, watches like Rolex phones like IPhone, nice perfume, sun glasses as if there is sunshine at night. Sometimes I hate such guys but on the other hand I love them cause hey pull of the swagg.

5: The chair dancers/warmers. These are people who go to parties and just sit in their chairs and sip some wine and when their song plays, OMG they are the best dancers and only dance in their chairs. At times they tend to be the best dancers and when someone tells them to get on the dancer floor they like ooooooh no I don't wanna dance. I love these guys thought especially when a babe is seated on the guy, it tends to be so romantic.

6: The let's Go party people. These are people who go to the party and when you reach there, they are like you know what bruh!!! Let's go back home the party isn't good enough am even feeling sleepy. I personally I hate these such guys they really suck and piss me off.

7: The take aways (skippers). These are people who always attend wedding ceremony, graduation ceremonies, baby showers, birthday parties or even house parties, and when the party ends they always pack food and have themselves a take away. They never care about what party it is but all they care about is have they packed their "take away". I love such people cause they are confident enough and when it comes to food well am not a joking subject.

Just comment below and tell me what type of party animal you are.

MICHEAL BOLTON AYEBS.

YOUR BEST FRIENDS ARE THOSE WHO BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOU.

A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses. The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate, for the good and the bad. Think about it, almost all of our sorrows spring out of relationships with the wrong people instead. The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve, it’s because the people you associate with aren’t worthy to stand on your side besides there are good ones who will stand besides you, support you in any form as long as they can.

In life, if you find yourself taking two steps forward and one step backwards, invariably it’s because you have mixed associations in your life and that’s friends. Remember the most important attribute in most successful people is their impatience with people who think and act negatively. Misery wants your company but you don’t have to let it in the door, instead have self-esteem, confidence, belief, respect for others, faith and trust in God the almighty because he is above all things and with him everything is possible.

We become like those with whom we associate. We need to be very careful of the kind of insulation we use in our lives, we do need to insulate ourselves from negative people, ideas and failures but we should never insulate ourselves from Godly counsel and wisdom, for he can solve all the problems we encounter in life. When you go astray, sit down with your friends, get together make a foundation level then you will see the improvement on your life because I believe they bring out the best in us and influence us to improve. They cause us to have a greater faith and confidence and to see things from God’s perspective. After being with them, our spirits and our sights are raised as they keep advising, encouraging and being Godly.

In life, I found out that it is better to be alone than in the wrong company. A single conversation with the right person can be more valuable than years of study. When you surround yourself with the right kind of people, you enter the God oriented power of agreement. Remember in the eyes of average people, average is always considered outstanding. Look carefully at your closest associations, because it’s an indication of the direction you are heading to.

Lastly but not list, two can accomplish more than twice as much as one, for the results can be much better. If one falls, the other pulls him up but if a man falls when he is alone, he is in trouble and one standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer, three is even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken. Two heads are always better than one therefore a friend in need is a friend indeed.

                                                                                                             MICHEAL BOLTON AYEBS