It seems that everyone we know now is a struggling blogger or entrepreneur in one way or another. We all would like a slice of that pie, but because the world of the young entrepreneur is oversaturated, it can be thoroughly intimidating for anybody to try and break into that sort of industry, especially if you feel you don’t have the background knowledge, the experience, or even the it factor that seems to be so important now. Well, you don’t have to be so down on yourself before you start off on this long road, because it is a long road, but it’s something that can most definitely be achieved. We all have dreams and ambitions, and if you’re looking to make an impact as a blogger, vlogger, or as an influencer or entrepreneur in a certain field, the solutions to get there are, surprisingly, pretty simple.
Finding Your Niche
Regardless of your vision of the final product, you need to start out by finding exactly what you want to communicate. Regardless of the shape your product takes in the end, whether it is a video blog, a business, a fashion line, it’s all about pinpointing exactly what your voice is. When you look at any creator, from stand-up comedians, to writers, to business owners, they’ve all started out trying to find exactly what it is that makes them who they are. Now, you’ve probably seen many entrepreneurs discuss the fact that when they started out, they wanted to make money. Sure, money is a very nice outcome, but before you get to this point, it’s more about the connecting with your audience, your consumer, or your viewers. All of these require a symbiotic relationship, and this is about getting their attention, which you can only do if you have something unique to say that connects with people. This is why many businesses or blogs go off the rails. They try to cater for everyone, but this isn’t the best solution. By having a one size fits all approach, you may have varying degrees of success, but you might not hit the stratosphere. So, your niche, combined with what it is you specifically want to say, is the key to starting out.
Creating your product
Whether it’s a podcast, a blog, or an article, it’s all about that magic word, content! You will spend most of your time creating content, and it needs to be as high quality as you can make it. In creating your products, it is about implementing a proper work schedule first, and it’s about learning what can make the product as good as possible. For example, if you do a video blog on video games, for people to click on and to listen to what you have to say, they expect nothing less than a comprehensive knowledge. This is your baseline when it comes to creating this content. By starting out in a specific niche industry, by having the knowledge, you can then open up the world to making your content engageable. But if you don’t have the necessary knowledge at the outset, this is where you need to begin. Become a sponge, absorb anything and everything that you can find. If music is your thing, you need to live and breathe music. Depending on your chosen genre of music, you may want to stick to a certain area, but a knowledge of contemporary, classical, and anything in between is going to give you that bit more edge over your competitors. Yes, this does sound like a mammoth task, but this is why you are picking something you are passionate about, and you’ve got a voice to communicate this stuff. You’ve seen people who are completely disinterested in what they do- there is no passion, no enthusiasm, and no genuine belief. It sounds like a simple equation, but if you’ve got an extreme passion for a certain subject, this means that you won’t treat it like work. Granted, there are other aspects to it that are work, but if you are enthusiastic about a product, an item of clothing, or gardening, regardless of the subject matter, this is how you are going to engage people. And in engaging people, now with the thousands upon thousands of blogs, podcasts and the like, you need to give people a reason to come to you. This means being consistent in your product. If you have a podcast, release it at the same time on the same day every week or month. You need to give your audience a reason to click onto you, and to subscribe to your video blog.
It’s Not What You Know…
In becoming an influencer, or an entrepreneur, it is the age old adage of it’s not what you know, but who you know. Lots of people misinterpret this, so they don’t actually feel the need to learn anything. But, yes while there is an element of luck involved, it is about getting yourself involved with the right people, and utilizing their resources, but also, them utilizing yours. It’s a very difficult and intimidating arena to break into, especially when you’re starting out from nothing. But, there are fashion bloggers who have regular networking sessions, small businesses that have conferences, and, lest we forget, the internet is a smorgasbord of communication tools. When it comes to making your products of a good quality, there are so many services out there that can help you. As well as the message boards and networking opportunities that present themselves, there are various production companies that are looking to help aspiring vloggers create a product. Perfect Image Video is one such company that works with businesses and entrepreneurs to create video content. There are so many video bloggers going guerrilla in their approach to creating content, and while so many have success with a basic set-up, in getting yourself ahead of your contemporaries, a product with a bit more sheen on it may be what you need to stand out. In becoming an influencer, the product is yourself. And you need to work in this mindset to get ahead. But this also means using the resources available to you to create as good a product as possible. Lots of people feel they can go at it themselves, but if you don’t have the knowledge, this isn’t going to work in your favor. This is why you need to make the most of people you know, not just in terms of developing the product or the business, but in every aspect. This doesn’t mean you should be a user of people, you have to give in order to get. This is why networking and actually being a genuine human being will help. It’s important to remember this, because of another old adage, be nice to people on the way up, because you never know when you’ll see them on the way back down!
Just Start!
If you want to learn how to build a house, then build one! The same applies when starting up a business, a blog, or any type of product you want to get out there. You will make mistakes along the way, but like any creative art form, it is the best way to learn how to sharpen your pencil, find your voice, and learn to promote your product better. So if you’ve spent a long time thinking about doing something, it’s much better for you to get started. We can spend so long trying to make it just so, that we are so concerned about it falling down early in the process, we are tempted to give up. Instead, just start! This will force you to think on your feet, and learn how to roll with the punches. Here’s a fact of life, every person makes mistakes! And if you want it to be perfect from the off, this isn’t going to happen. Instead, you are much better off learning how to do something, and make mistakes along the way. We all learn better from our mistakes than we do our successes; it’s a fact of life. And so, in creating any sort of content, you can spend a lot of time researching how to do this, but it’s by putting it into action where you will truly learn, firstly, how good you are at it, but secondly, if you are actually passionate about the subject matter. The temptation at the very start, especially with YouTube videos, is to go through the comments section, but this only serves to depress you, and give up before you get going. Any successful vlogger will tell you that they have as many haters as they do fans. It’s very easy to get bogged down in these comments, but it’s the supporters that you need to engage with. Yes, even the supporters will give you suggestions on how to make things better, but it’s up to you whether you want to take this on board or not. At the end of the day, you are the product, especially when you’re writing a blog, presenting a vlog, or hosting a podcast, and you need to learn how best to present yourself. But you can’t do this until you get out there.
Being an influencer, a blogger, or anybody in an entrepreneurial guise is a tumultuous task, but it’s not impossible. The approaches are very simple, and these are things that most of us have heard before, but choose to ignore. But, once you finally get into the swing of it, you will realize it was these basic ideas and approaches that will keep you going. Don’t give up, if you want to be a success in the blogging world, you can do it!
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