I’m not going to lie, I’ve had writer’s block for quite some while. Over the last 15 days, I have drafted five blog posts, all which I deleted after writing 4 long paragraphs because I just didn’t know where I was going with them. I’m sorry for the hiatus, however, I’m back and only because of you guys!
A question I’ve been getting asked recently is, “How do you stay motivated?’ Initially, my answers were only two-fold. However, as I dug deeper, I realized there is a lot more that keeps me going. At the beginning of every social media coaching consultation, I tell my prospective students that if they want to start influencing and/or blogging, they must do it because they want to help, because they want to impact, because they want to connect, and because they have a natural inclination for whatever their intended craft is. Below, I have expanded on all ways I stay motivated in this ‘industry’ many may get easily lost or discouraged in.
- Do it for the right reasons. I personally don’t know anyone whom falls in this category, however, I have heard from others through their experiences that they’ve found that some only do it with the intent to ‘be better than others’ or to simply ‘get free stuff’. If this is your incentive to start, I would encourage you to find a deeper more motivating factor. If you’re doing it to get free stuff, I feel it may be easier to crash and eventually burn. Influencing, creating content, blogging, it is all a lot of work. People may scoff or think it’s a joke, but until they see all the hours that are put into it, they have absolutely no idea. I have never put in the amount of hours towards any job and internship than I have towards blogging and influencing. Luckily, I LOVE IT, so it’s not too much of an issue for me. I’m easily running 10-12 hour days, however, it’s stuff that I’m good at and things I can pound out easily. They’re all things I enjoy doing and always did on my spare time. So again, do it because it’s something you’re passionate about.
- Remember that you have fans, fans who are obsessed with you. Yes, obsessed. They probably even have your notifications turned on. Do it for those guys! They look forward to your posts everyday and are counting down the minutes to see what your next creation is whether it be an outfit, make up tutorial, travel tips or inspo, home decor inspo, wedding inspo, whatever your craft lies in. Do it for your fans and don’t let them down! You have an army backing you up. Wouldn’t you be sad if your favorite influencer or blogger suddenly stopped posting or only posted occasionally? I would legit feel lost if some of my favorite girls I followed slowly gave up on their dream. I rely on them for inspiration. They play a big role in how I create my content and outfits.
- Do it because you want to help and connect with people. That’s what social media is – a platform to be social with others, not a platform in which people are social with you but you do not return the favor. Don’t just post, expect to get a bunch of likes, and not interact with those who give you love. Love them back, get to know them. Don’t just make friends with those whom you think can provide something for you in return. Just. Be. Nice. To. Everyone. Everyone brings something to the table and everyone can teach you something.
- If you have deadlines with companies, you honestly don’t have a choice or the luxury to be unmotivated. You have to shoot and create content or else you’ll be reprimanded and maybe even dropped by the company. That one just speaks for itself.
- If you’re feeling stuck, take a day or two off. Delete Instagram, go out, go places, do things as if you didn’t have social media. However, do go on Pinterest. Pinterest is a great place to get inspired without getting the feeling that you are comparing yourself to someone else. I love it cause they’re just easy, unspecified photos. It doesn’t make you envious of any one person’s life. It’s just an endless board of pure inspiration.
- Talk about other things aside from your niche topic. In the beginning, when I first created my blog, I thought I had to only blog about clothes, sales, favorite picks, etc. because I was a fashion Instagram blogger. However, that quickly became a bore to me. I had to force myself to find clothing I found worth posting and honestly, it wasn’t giving me the satisfaction I was longing for. So I regrouped and thought.. “What gives me life?” I began a series called ‘Boss Babe Tips’ which consisted of things that I read in books or learned in grad school that I found insightful. Things I really wanted to share with others so they could have an epiphany moment just like I did. That was actually my initial reason why I wanted to start a blog – to share that info. However, I quickly diverted to only fashion because that’s what I thought I had to. Well here’s a shocking tip: YOU CAN BLOG ABOUT WHATEVER YOU WANT. Although I love creating content and shooting clothes, I realized that I don’t necessarily like to blog ABOUT clothes. I love writing about struggles, about wedding planning and things I’ve learned so that planning can be easier for you, about my Faith. AND, coincidently, those blog posts get the most views/hits. Go figure. So talk about things that matter to you. Your readers will feel the passion behind those posts. Don’t limit yourself to only one thing. You yourself are not single-faceted, therefore there’s no reason why you should portray yourself in that same manner.
- Write out your timeline. Start from the day you started your journey and map out, at every date, a big accomplishment. When you write all of those down, you’ll realize that you’ve come very far in a shorter amount of time than you’d realized. I had so many days or weeks where I felt absolutely defeated. However, instead, I chose to count my blessing. I chose to recognize all the companies that saw something in me and reached out because they loved my content and thought I was a great fit for their brand. Just because you don’t land a collaboration that everyone else is seems to be getting doesn’t mean your content and what you bring to the table isn’t of value.
- I am a GREAT believer in all will come when time allows. Just cause you don’t get a collab doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Maybe you would’ve ended up hating working with the brand or realized they aren’t a total match to your brand identity. There is ALWAYS a reason why things may not work or happen in the manner/time you want them to. Leave it that way. Other girls may be thinking the same about you… “Man, she’s so lucky cause she landed a *so and so* collab”. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side simply because you may on the greener side of someone else’s reality. *Mic drop*.
- I find motivation through my followers. This blog post alone was due to wanting to help you guys. If you all didn’t reach out to me asking for help, I would’ve easily gone another week without writing because I was simply unmotivated. The blogging and influencing road is not a one-way street. It goes both ways and thus I remain motivated because of my followers and readers. Without them, I would not be doing what I do so joyfully and passionately.