I can still remember the day I told my boss I was quitting.

It had been almost 3 years since I joined Google, working with some of YouTube’s top creators, not to mention a flurry of different celebrities.  Technically I was already a creator myself, I just wasn’t taking it as seriously as those who I worked with.

You know when you’re so close to something but it still feels out of reach, like you’re on the other side? And it’s not until you take that leap will you actually finally cross over.

Leaving Google was that leap for me.

After being so close to the creator world for so long, I knew I had to focus on it full time - it was just about finding that perfect moment to go all in.

The first thing I learned about becoming an influencer?

There’s never a perfect moment.

This week:

🧠 What I’ve actually learned being an influencer

- The role consistency plays
- Authenticity has become my currency
- Building a legit business with an audience

👕 Classics from Suitsupply

🎥 The vlog is heating up these days

THE STORY YOU DON’T SEE
IN YOUR FEED

If there’s one thing social media has done, it’s opened up a side of the world you would otherwise never see - for better or worse.

At the same time it’s created this universe where people make a living for being active on social media.

However, as I’m sure you’re well aware, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that you don’t really get to see, that probably would make a lot of people think twice about becoming a full time influencer…

• A continuous flow of content

• Managing a content calendar

• Structuring brand deals / just finding brands who want to work with you 

• And simply trying to grow your audience (which is never easy), 

There's A LOT of work that goes into building our own personal brand online.

I’ve been through it all, basically still going through it while learning new things everyday. 

Consistency has to be your superpower

I’ve been in this game for over 10 years now and I’ve seen a lot of similar profiles to mine start out and rise and then slowly fade away.  And it’s not because the content was bad or the person wasn’t good at what they do.  It was because they just stopped posting, they stopped showing up.

You’re going to get no attention at all for a really long time, potentially years, but if you keep posting content online, refining your craft, eventually it will click.  

There’s an audience for everyone, you’ll find yours being consistent.

They’ll trust you when you’re authentic

Building an audience takes a lot of work.  Building an audience in a whole other language and then switching your niche from gaming to men’s lifestyle and grooming is a whole other challenge.

And no, people weren’t happy when I switched from Portuguese to English.

When I started making content outside of the gaming world, I knew I lost a lot of followers, I was known as the gaming guy in Brazil.  But I also noticed a bunch of my followers stuck around for everything beyond gaming, which I like to attribute to the fact that I remained the same person, I just expanded the kind of content I made.

I know now, no matter what kind of content I put out, because I’ve stayed the same person (more or less, I mean I’m not 25 anymore) my audience will come back because of the trust I’ve built with them.

Diversify your brand

When I went all in on content creation, I knew this was essentially a new business I was building, as well as potential future businesses down the road.  

I was already familiar with how YouTube paid creators but in being in that world, I also saw all the other opportunities that surrounded influencers who put out quality content.

What I noticed was the best creators expanded their brand beyond their content with products and services that complimented who they were, which ended up reinforcing their brand to their audience.

Once you have an audience, give them something else aside from content, something that relates back to why they follow you in the first place.

Engage with your community

If you want to grow your audience and build a strong community, not only do you need to create relevant content for them, which actually brings them value, you also need to engage with them. 

The idea of being an influencer is to be influential - what a concept.  In order to make this work, you have to engage with who you’re making content for. 

Your community is only as strong as your engagement within it. 

Elevate yourself with a team

Once my content really started to take off, one of the first things I did was look for help.  How could I scale this even more?  How could I expand my business?  What kinds of things could I do more of?  I needed to build a team.

To truly scale your business as an influencer, you can’t do it alone.  

From the scripting, to the filming, to the editing, to managing socials, and everything else, there’s only so many hours in the day.  Finding the right people allowed me to focus on high-level creative decisions while still maintaining a consistent output for my audience.

Prioritize your mental health

If you know me then you know the gym is a non-negotiable in my life.  And even though I love working out, it’s also the thing that helps me find balance when it feels like you’re always “on”, especially because I used to think I had to be producing content constantly or I’d fall behind.

The social media world never stops but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a break - in fact you absolutely should find time for mental breaks.  

I’ve gotten into a good groove where I plan out a bunch of ideas, script them, and then film a bunch of content in blocks.  This way I can schedule it all and take a break so that I’m not burning out from trying to produce content daily.

Always be ready to evolve

All you need to do is look at my hair on YouTube over the past 10 years to see what I’ve learned about evolving. 

If you want to stay relevant as an influencer, you need to keep up with the times, knowing what’s in style, what’s on trend, and essentially what the world currently cares about.

As your audience’s interests and taste evolves, so too should yours.  No one wants to see the same video over and over again.  Be open to change, this is where you’ll see the most growth in your content and business.

A wise man once said…

IN MY
SHOPPING CART

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