Two. It was supposed to say two.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from being an influencer and blogger, it’s that nothing really goes according to plan perfectly all of the time. You have to roll with the punches! Especially during 2020.
Since we’ve basically lost our sense of time as a collective society thanks to the pandemic, I only just realized that this month marks two years of me taking Val In Vogue seriously.
I wanted to celebrate with a cute balloon pic, but this is what happened instead…
I unfortunately blew up the balloon so much that it exploded. Oops!
I quickly observed the metaphoric connection here between that instance and influencer life (with laughter), and decided to expand on that.
So, Voguettes, I give you some more things I’ve learned in two years of my online presence.
- Roll with the punches. No, not every video/pic/post is going to be a slam dunk every time. They may not even turn out as you’d hope they would. Accept this and embrace this.
- Connection is key. The quality of your captions and what you’re saying online is way more important that however you could make your brand look.
- Nothing happens overnight. Your audience will come. Just don’t expect one post to be the thing that magically catapults you into social media stardom. You have to keep working at it!
- Analytics are your friend. When you find that “one thing” that ends up proving analytically successful – expand on that! This is what your audience is telling you they’re into.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. When you find that “one thing” that isn’t as analytically successful, don’t categorize it as a “failure.” You showed up anyway! That counts! Keep experimenting with your content and aesthetic until something clicks…pun intended.
- There is no “right” or “wrong” time to post. Sure, there may be times of the day that you may reach “more” of an audience than others, but ultimately the internet is a 24/7 medium. The fact that you posted something at all means someone will see it.
- Taking a “break” from posting is okay. We need it sometimes. Your mental health might require it sometimes, and that’s okay too.
- Authenticity will always win. People might behave in dumb ways and act stupid sometimes, but that doesn’t mean they’re all suckers. They know when you’re playing them and know when you don’t actually care about what you’re posting. You have got to post content you actually believe in. When you do that, others will believe in you.
- It’s alright to keep changing your aesthetic until one resonates with you. For years I thought I needed bright and poppy photos to make a scene online. That is SO NOT TRUE. You know what increased my engagement? My creepy and spooky music loving self being herself. The world wants to see something they don’t always see everyday, or something that resonates with them. Be original!
- Any response time is good response time. You know that BS about having to respond to comments within fifteen minutes to make a post soar when it comes to reach? NOPE. NOT TRUE. Responding at any time will still increase that reach. It’s way more important to respond at all, whenever you can.
- Expand your brand. Don’t be afraid to consider podcasts, videos, or other forms of media as a way to present yourself. People like a variety of things, and they may like some things better than others. If you’ve got more options when it comes to what you do, your audience is more likely to find you.
Perhaps most important, is to remember why you’re a content creator in the first place. Don’t lose sight of your original message – and by the way, if any of this is going to feel “worth it” to you, you should have a message that helps someone else. They day I stop standing up for the outcasts, representing women who aren’t “mainstream,” sharing the music that I love, and making mental health a continued topic of discussion is the day I should shut down. I would be the Val behind Val In Vogue anymore.
Keep doing you, Voguettes! Thank you very much for spending the past two years with me!