Take a few cute photos, post them on social media, and make tons of money, right? Hmm, not quite. The influencer market is on the rise and it feels like these days everyone and their mama is an influencer.
If you’ve been wondering how you can combine your love of your sisterlocks, making new friends, and beautiful content, then keep reading. In this blog post, I’m going to share the beginner basics on how to become a sisterlock influencer.
What is a social media influencer?
A social media influencer is a person who creates content with a social media following. Content can be anything from feed posts, videos, reels, Instagram or Facebook Lives, etc. Social media influencers gain a following by sharing quality content that inspires, entertains, educates and connects people.
There are five types of influencers: Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 followers), Micro-Influencers (10,000 – 50,000 followers), Mid-Tier Influencers (50,000 – 500,000 followers), Macro-Influencers (500,000- 1 million), Mega-Influencers (1 million – 5 million), and Celebrities.
As a new influencer, you would be considered a nano-influencer. This is a great group to be in. Don’t get hung up on your number of followers as an influencer. Influencer marketing is a huge industry that is growing rapidly every day and big brands and companies love working with nano sisterlock influencers!
Benefits of Becoming An Influencer On Social Media?
There are many benefits to becoming an influencer. The first thing that comes to mind is the money! Everyone is trying to go where the money resides. Well the money resides in influencer marketing if done right. Brands will pay influencers who make quality content and have an engaged following no matter how small or large their audience size is.
Sisterlock influencers have the potential to make a substantial income in different ways by being authentic and creating engaging content. You can pitch your favorite brands to partner with them to help spread their brands’ awareness, apply to sponsorship opportunities on influencer platforms, or become an affiliate to hair products and accessories you already use. I’ll dive more into these income generating ideas in a secondary blog post.
Other than the money, becoming an influencer allows you to have creative expression if you are a creative person. From photography, video making, caption writing, blog post writing, and design, posting online can become an art form if you want it to be.
Lastly, becoming a sisterlock influencer can help you find your tribe. Social media was originally created to get us to become more social. It’s intention was to create and build communities. One of my favorite things is to find other sisterlock sistas on Instagram and connect with them. I’ve met so many amazing people, created friendships, and even business partnerships using social media.
How To Get Started As An Influencer?
Getting started as an influencer is easier than most people realize. To become a sisterlock influencer, start by simply using a good camera (or your smartphone) and documenting your hair growth, loc maturation, your maintenance routine, and how you like to style your hair. You can get a few basic tools such as a ring light, tripod and use your cell phone to start documenting your journey. This is probably one of the best things you could possibly do for yourself because it’s like having your own personal hair journal.
Reasons why you should start documenting your sisterlock journey:
- It opens doors to connect with other sisterlock sistas.
- It’s a great way to reflect on your growth and progress, which will keep you motivated and inspired.
- It’s going to help boost your confidence because you will be able to see where you started and how far you’ve come.
You can document your journey on different platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, a blog, Tik Tok, etc. I recommend you choose one platform to focus on and not try to spread yourself too thin and be on every platform. Choose a platform that best fits your personality and style. Always take lots of pictures and videos even if you do not plan on posting them. Keep your content organized by putting them in specific photo albums so you can always refer back to them easily without having to scroll through tons of pictures. Trust me, you don’t want to waste your time doing that and I’m all about saving time.
8 Tips for Taking Instagram Worthy content:
1. Use Natural Sunlight. Whenever possible, always use natural sunlight to take your pictures. If you are standing near a window, make sure you are facing the window with the camera in front of you.
2. Use Artificial Light. If you don’t have natural sunlight available, use artificial light such as the ring light or studio lights to lighten up your face, hair, and the room.
3. Clean The Camera Lens. Whether you use an iPhone or digital camera, clean your camera lens prior to shooting. For an iPhone, you can simply use a cotton T-Shirt to clean the lens. For a digital camera, you’ll want to use a microfiber lens cloth.
4. Adjust the Camera Settings. If using an iPhone, set the camera setting to “Portrait” mode for photos. For videos, set the camera setting to “Cinematic” mode (for iPhone 13). These settings will ensure that the camera focuses on your sisterlocks and blurs the background.
5. Get Those Angles. Capture your sisterlocks from different angles i.e. top, left side, right side, back, etc. Open your grid up and take pictures of your grid. Capture your sisterlocks from far away and up close so you can capture the full length and your loc texture. Capture your sisterlocks with different parts i.e. side part, middle part, half up-half down, etc.
6. Avoid Taking Blurry Pictures. You want your pictures to be very crisp and clear with good lighting. Use a tripod with a remote clicker or ask someone with a steady hand to take the picture.
7. Practice, Practice, Practice. Try taking pictures/videos of your sisterlocks a few times a week. Try out different lighting and different angles to find the best way to capture your sisterlocks. Use what you have. Watch YouTube videos on how to utilize different tools, apps, and equipment. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on expensive equipment.
8. Organize Your Pictures. You may have a couple thousand pictures saved in your phone. To help keep your sisterlock pictures organized, create albums/folders for you to save your pictures. Give names to the albums/folders such as Install, Retie, Progress, Month 1, 2, 3, Year 1, 2, 3, etc.
To get a full list of social media influencer tools, check out my Amazon Shop.
Now that you have had the mini crash course on becoming a sisterlocks influencer on social media, share with me in the comments, what platform will you use to get started?
Comment below and let me know!
Tiffany Carpenter
I will be reading and re-reading this! I don’t think I’m doing enough and would Looooove to partner with companies but don’t have a clue how to get the attention of the right ones. I’ve been scammed a lot by smaller companies trying to get off the ground and just using those that post alot! I’ll keep watching your blogs for the continuation of this. I need and want to do more. Thanks for sharing ❤️
tashaonlock
Tiffany CarpenterHey Tiffany! Like you, I too have come across those scammer brands and learned my lesson early. With the increase in influencers and more brands focusing on influencer marketing this year, there’s tons of opportunities coming. I highly encourage you to go after it, align your brand with what brands want to see and you’ll definitely be getting some brands reaching out to you. Additionally, you can pitch directly to brands. I’ve actually just recently joined a brand pitching program by a successful influencer. I’ve learned so much about partnership proposals, getting clear on my niche, target audience. etc. Highly recommend her if you are at the point where you want to step up your brand deal efforts.
Good luck!