Revealing Bethany

Wow. We’re already almost on week three of this experiment. Time is passing so quickly.

Stick around till the end of this post (or scroll down and skip over the heartfelt paragraph I poured my soul into) for my top 3 tips this week on how to become a successful influencer!

Up until now, I’ve honestly not been all in. I haven’t been 100% committed and there was a part of me that was still scared. Scared of failing, scared of making a fool of myself, of what my friends would say, that I would look like a try hard, that I wouldn’t make it anywhere. And I haven’t been letting myself enjoy social media. It’s become a chore and something I have to complete every day. It’s draining, it really is. The whole dang point of this thing was to make a career out of something I love.

I haven’t even been able to sit down and write a blog about this journey since week one because I’ve been so stressed about it. I’m paralyzed by what people are going to think. I’m terrified of what they will see and I have this insane desire to micromanage exactly what image they have of me in their mind. As you can imagine, it takes all the fun out of it.

Up until this point I have been trying to come across as a know it all, professional, super put together, that one girl that everyone wants to be friends with. But, honestly, I don’t know if that’s me. I haven’t been letting my goofy side shine out. For every ounce of professionality I have, I have about double that in goofy and spontaneous traits. For the past two weeks I feel like I’ve been a robot. My days have been: wake up, try and go to the gym, get mad at myself because I rolled over and watched Tik Toks instead of going to the gym, go to work, work on graphic design projects, talk to brands about deals, work on Shop Simko, design my website, go home, do homework, hangout with Cam, go to bed. Repeat.

That has every potential of being a pretty exciting life. But, I did it with no soul. Absolutely straight faced with no passion. Because I made it a chore and a duty. I honestly think that my followers could tell. Be honest, you could tell couldn’t you? That made me even more discouraged. My Tik Toks weren’t performing well, I was losing followers on Instagram and I just wasn’t seeing results. So what changed? The stupid video of my greasy hair that went viral.

On February 11, I posted a stupid little Tik Tok that I wasn’t planning on posting saying how frustrating it is when your hair washing schedule doesn’t line up with your life plans. It got 2.3 million views. And despite the comments roasting me about my hair, I was on FIRE. I won’t lie, I made a surprising amount of money off of that Tik Tok and it revitalized me. Even though it was something silly that I didn’t think was going to go anywhere, I was being myself. And it showed me that I am ok being who I am. The internet accepts that apparently. And it showed me that I can actually make a living off of this thing.

So here goes week three. No more holding back. No more fear. Get ready for more goofy and energetic Bethany. 

For those of you who read these for the little tips and tricks, don’t worry I didn’t forget about you. This week I’ve landed a few brand deals, one of which I got paid $250 for. HELLLOO I do like that a lot. And the best part is, you can absolutely do it too.

Insider Tip #1: GET A MEDIA KIT. For the love of everything holy if you don’t have a media kit yet you need one. A brand is not going to have the time to look at your Instagram and play a guessing game. Give them everything they need in one place. Make your own or go download the templates I’ve already made on the website under “Media Kits”. Now get your butt a media kit. 

Insider Tip #2: Join Influencer Platforms. My favorite BY FAR is AspireIQ (now Aspire.io). It’s the only one that I’ve found to actually get me legit and paid deals. But, here’s the kicker. It’s a waiting game. You can only apply to 5 campaigns a month. After that, it’s up to the brands to find you. Once you get a brand deal and they leave you a 4 or 5 star review, you can apply all you want. I didn’t get a deal for about a month. So, it’s going to require some patience. I’ll share some of my other favorite platforms next blog so I can have more time to mess around on them. 

Insider Tip #3: You are the sh*t. And you gotta act like it. Ever noticed how I act like I have 100K followers when I literally only have 3K? Well that’s how I got to 3K in the first place. No one will take you seriously if you don’t take yourself seriously.

BONUS Insider Tip #4: Stop taking yourself so seriously. Yes I am aware that completely contradicts with #3. It’s one thing to believe in yourself and know your potential, it’s another thing to let every little comment or set back get under your skin and offend your progress. Take a deep breath, shake it off and find another angle. 

Love you all, a less stressed and very excited Bethany:)