Finance 101 For Influencers

So you have a nice IG following or an awesome blog - but how much do you really know about this business you are in?

Do you understand how brands look at you?  If you have 50k followers or less, you are considered a micro-influencer.  If you have 50k-100k followers, you fall into the power-middle influencer group.  If you are in either of these groups, companies and brands are less likely to offer you long-term contracts. 

The amount of money you can earn will depend on the number of engaged followers you have, and the going rate is about $100 per 10k followers. So, if you have a solid following of about 35k followers, you may be able to get $350 for an Instagram post.

… Although it is more likely that you will be offered about $350 in products. Which can be a good start.

Of course, you can’t pay your rent on that kind of income – unless you are working your ass off 24/7 and taking everything that comes your way.

If you are taking everything that comes your way, you lose the voice that big brands are looking for.  It’s kind of a catch-22.  Should you or shouldn’t you? Sigh.  And so you decide to post something based upon whether or not you have money to make your car payment this month.

That is not a good reason, sister.

I’m guessing that the entire point of this venture is to give you enough income so that you have freedom and options. If you are working non-stop and constantly have your face in your phone, you are not living your best life.  There is so much more out there for you.

Here comes the Finance lesson.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket?”  Well, the reason you don’t put all your eggs in one basket is because if the basket breaks, you’re screwed.

In the financial world, they call this diversification.

This is a word that you need to know. Diversification.

When you diversify, you put your eggs in different baskets so that if one breaks, you still have another.  If you are investing your money, you buy stocks and bonds instead of only stocks. 

For example, if you put all of your savings into one company (like an airline), and that company went bankrupt because its planes were crashing, you would lose everything.  When you diversify you would buy stock in the airline, a tech company, some real estate,  and some treasury bonds, so that no matter what, your money would still be safe if something happened to one of your other investments.  It is that simple.

Why does this matter to you as a micro-influencer?

Because you need to diversify your business so that you always have a profitable angle. 

You need to have more than one source of revenue just in case you have a slow month making money for posts and getting free products. If this happens, you will have another source of income.

When you diversify, you will have a more stable and steadier stream of income, and you will have less of a rollercoaster every month.  You won’t have to accept promotions that are off brand for your style just because you have to pay your gas bill.  You will be able to organize your business in a way that will allow you more time to really work on the areas of your business that you want to work on.

Freedom and options, baby.

The bottom line is that if you are a micro-influencer, you are going to need a secondary way to monetize your influence so that you are not relying on little-known brands and shops to pay your bills every month (especially if you want to quit the 9-5 job you have). 

When you set up this secondary income, you will diversify your business, and start acting like the bad ass business owner you really are. 

If you are genuinely serious about having your own business, you need to know how to run it like a real business. And running a real business means that you are smart about where you put your energy (and your eggs).

When you have at least two sources of income for your Influencer business, you will see a higher return for your efforts, a more balanced life, and you may surprise yourself by making a freaking ton of money. 

How bad do you want it?  What is your why?

Diversifying is not hard – it just takes some smarts – and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Which you have.

Now that you understand what diversification is, you are already a huge step ahead. Every influencer should be doing it – but especially the micro-influencers because they are the ones that need the most stability as they build their business model.

When you add more than one way to bring income in each month, you are setting yourself up to have all the financial security you have been dreaming of! As an Influencer CEO you can take advantage of common business practices to make your business run smarter and more successfully!

Have you been able to diversify your influencer or blogger business yet? What are you adding to your business model?