How to transfer your skills outside of social media, monetize your following, and create print-on-demand products using free online tools.
There are many people who have over 10k followers on social media and still haven't made a single dollar. That just goes to show that what matters isn’t the number of followers you have, it is having an entrepreneurial mindset. Don't rely on big brands to make a living, learn to make your own products to monetize your following!
The longer I stay in Los Angeles, the more I meet people who are “insta famous” or “tik tok famous” and it’s shocking how most of these people haven't made a single dollar online!
It’s crazy to me that I’m making more money with 800 followers on instagram than someone with 40K followers. As an entrepreneur and artist, finding and maintaining a steady audience has always been my main focus. With an audience that big, sales should be happening effortlessly…right?
Wrong! There is a reason why it’s called tik tok famous, the fame rarely extends outside the app. Fame and paying clients are two very different things.
A lot of these young “influencers” are posting just to get likes, for validation. They aren’t posting with a money-making mindset.
It’s ironic, being an influencer is praised as a way to become your own boss, but the pattern I have witnessed since being in LA has told a very different story. These young women whose lives look glamorous on social media spend hours everyday fabricating images. They need their followers to believe that they maintain a certain lifestyle.
They use their own money to buy expensive clothes for photoshoots and become slaves to high priced luxury items because that’s what gets the most likes.
I met someone recently whose career is a perfect example of the dark side of social media. She is in her early twenties, pretty, and stylish. She enjoys wearing makeup and taking sexy photos for her instagram. Nothing wrong with that! However, she has to support her insta with a part time job. For her photoshoots she buys expensive designer clothing that she can’t afford.
How do I know she can’t afford it? Because she is one of four residents in my artist collective. On her social media, she poses with glasses of champagne and sits on sports cars parked in front of mansions. In real life, she works at a deli counter to pay the rent. Her insta shows the glamorous life of a model. The comments below her picture are about her body but she writes really amazing music. She wants her music career to blow up, but her pretty pics get the most attention.
She has over 40k followers on Instagram but hasn’t made a single dollar from her following. That just goes to show that what matters isn’t the number of followers, it is having an entrepreneurial mindset. What scares me most about some Gen Z girls who are becoming style influencers is that they have absolutely zero transferrable skills outside of social media. They rely on the apps and big businesses for income.
If instagram and Facebook crashed tomorrow, I know I’d be able to find clients the old fashioned way. But what side hustle can a style influencer do outside of social media? Some may argue that since they are good at styling outfits and posing, they could be models or stylists but I have to say that is dead wrong. As someone who has worked as both a stylist and model for over four years, I can tell you there is a huge difference between a professional and a casual influencer.
I've hired style influencers to pose for my website images in the past, and they rarely have the skills necessary to compete in the real fashion industry. To put it bluntly, they move too slow and don't know how to interact with a photographer since most take their own photos in the comfort of their homes.
The main distinctions between a casual influencer and professional model
When posing for your own instagram, you can take as many photos of the same pose as you like to get it exactly right. When you’re modeling in a real photoshoot, you have to constantly switch poses, there’s no nit-picking, and its your job to know how to pose. The photographer will not trying to make you look good the same way your friends do when they take your picture.
When modeling for a real shoot or a runway show, you can’t take all day to style your outfit or put on your makeup. Sometimes you have less than five minutes to change. If your shoot is in a remote location, you have to change outside. The modeling and fashion industry is fast paced, and high pressure.
Finally, the main difference between a professional and a casual IG influencer is knowing how to secure paying clients. It starts with knowing your offer and what makes you unique, crafting a pitch that speaks directly to your potential clients, then having the guts to actually go out and start booking gigs.
I’m a huge advocate for entrepreneurship and self reliance, especially for young women. But after witnessing this pattern for some time, I felt I had to speak up. What's happening with the younger generation is scary, they have become slaves to approval from society. When new fashions or makeup brands are trending, they run out to the stores and buy it so they can remain relevant in their viewers eyes. With the new updates to instagram, it’s easier than ever to see something trendy and buy it impulsively from the app.
What social media has created is not a generation of entrepreneurs, but a generation of consumers. They think that being a brand ambassador for a handful of large companies makes them an entrepreneur when in reality, they are just advertising someone else’s product. They are using their money, time, and image to promote someone else’s dream company. People have become walking billboards, with every garment shouting a different brand name.
It just doesn't add up
My hope for women on social media is that we stop consuming and start creating. Every woman with a large following should be able to create her own business and not rely on large corporations. The easiest way to do this is by selling digital products, or print-on-demand merchandise. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Billie Eilish just released these hoodies and they were sold for over $100 originally. If people like you, they will buy your merch, period. Just make it.
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