Being a digital influencer is more than just blogging – it is a complete orchestrated social presence. That influence can deliver profit but it also comes at a price.
Read: How to make money from your blog
‘If you think you are leaving your job and taking up blogging as a lifestyle change, then think again. Blogging is a 24/7 occupation,’ warned Lorraine Murphy, of The Remarkables Group. ‘The more content you give them the more content they want.’
We are a society that finds it impossible to switch off. A report from 2013 found 79% of people 18-44 have their smartphones with them 22 hours a day, (and that) four out of five smartphone users check their phones within the first 15 minutes of waking up. 80% of those say it’s the first thing they do in the morning. Three years later it’s only getting worse.
The greatest challenge these successful digital influence face is the perpetual demand to be online – both producing content and building relationships with their followers by answering comments. At a recent VIVID Ideas festival panel at the Museum of Contemporary Art panelist Kate McKibbin was one of many bloggers who said she had to consciously switch off from the job.
McKibbin, produces the successful blogs Secret Bloggers’ Business and Drop Dead Gorgeous Daily, recommends putting an “end work” alarm on your phone. ‘I have an alarm at 8pm each day to remind me to turn my phone onto airport mode,’ she said.’
Monty Dimond, who runs Show + Tell, an Oprah-style couch chat with partners Brooke Bayes and Stacey Morlang Sullivan, also recommends controlling your time.
‘For a start don’t use notifications. That helps. I also have my phone on silent all the time. I’ll get to you when I can get to you.’
Another key tip is to avoid being sucked into constantly multi-tasking. Just because you can receive messages does not mean you have to. Dimond said her life work pattern changed dramatically when she adopted the quote “Where every you are, be all there”. She feels that the quality of her work has improved greatly since improving her focus in the moment.
Jen Bishop, who has been delivering Interiors Addicts for three years, agreed with Dimond. ‘It’s okay if you don’t reply to a comment in the first 20 minutes after it’s received. The world doesn’t end if you don’t answer it immediately.’ For survival she faces her weekends with a “no read” philosophy.
‘I give myself a mental break from writing by using a different medium. On the weekends I listen to podcasts. And I don’t look at competitive sites on the weekend.’
She also consciously avoids spending her leisure on the same issues which occupy her working day. ‘Even when you are switching channels or mediums, think wisely about the media you are taking in.’
Part of the challenge of volume is also recognizing when and how to outsource.
For McKibben the game-changer was turning to a scheduling tool to manage social media posts. ‘Map out a spreadsheet and schedule the bare minimum so you can still have a life.’
Image CC pexel.com
A little help from my friends
An emerging area of employment is what is called a Virtual Office Assistant, or a VA – a person who is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a home office.
All our expert influencers supplemented their own blogging through VAs.
McKibbin admitted that she had ‘outgrown’ her content. She has employed someone two days a week to produce content and another one day a week to manage social and what to do lists.
‘I also have a person in the UK who proofreads every post overnight so in the morning here it is clean to go,’ she added.
Bishop also has help with writing content two days a week. She felt that what is most important is that the content fits the brand, and that readers can’t tell who has written a post just affirms the strength of the product.
Bishop has administration support one day a week and also uses a freelance graphic designer
‘Outsourcing has been an absolute game changer for me,’ she said. ‘Trust is important and to let them do their job and not be too control freaky.’
Married couple Jim and Christina Butcher, share the load on Mr & Mrs Romance, a lifestyle and romance blog. But to free them up to produce content they have employed a VA in the Philippines to schedule social content, administer their newsletter, and transcribe audio posts.
Freeing yourself up from the shackles of administration allows time for quality content and developing business partnerships, which are vital for future sustainability.
