How to Create an Influencer Business Plan

Welcome to The Spark Show! In this episode, I’ll be talking about how to come up with your influencer business plan. Most influencers don’t go into this business with the right mindset. And that’s okay, I didn’t have a business plan when I first started out. A lot of us just kinda start posting and creating content, hoping that it works and that people consume it. That’s about it. Don’t worry, I did the same thing too! 

But the most successful influencers in the industry today, they evolve and eventually come up with a business plan - even if they don’t call it that. They call it a monetization strategy or execution strategy. It’s basically a way to know that 1) this is a business and as a business it needs to make money 2) how they’re going to make that money and stay in business, make it worthwhile to spend the time building the business and making a profit. 

Because if you don’t know this, then it’s just a hobby. Which is okay if it’s just a hobby for you and you don’t want to take this seriously. But if you’re listening to this podcast, then you probably don’t want this to just be a hobby - you want to do this as your full time thing. 

Now I have a lot of influencers that say they only want to do this as a hobby or on the side, because of fear. They’re scared that it won’t work so if they say they just wanna do it as a hobby then it’s safe and no one will know if they fail. But I wanna tell you, that never works! It won’t happen if you don’t believe it’s going to happen. And also it won’t happen if you don’t go all in - nothing rarely does. And the reason for this is something I’ve talked a lot about in previous episodes which is mindset. 

Most influencers have the mindset of going into this by dipping their toe in the water and when you do that, you’re not all in. You’re acting scared, you’re making decisions from fear so your content and the way you present yourself and show up is not 100%. And your audience will feel that energy. I’m not saying quit your day job right now and just do this full time right now, not knowing what’s gonna happen - you don’t have to do that to go all in. But you must - in your mind, body, heart and soul, know that it is POSSIBLE for you to do this full-time and that it is POSSIBLE for you to make the money you want to make as an influencer. 

So the first step in this plan is to figure our if you’re doing this as a hobby or as a business. And really have that honest conversation with yourself. The thing is, if this is a hobby, you can quit anytime. Like most hobbies, when you get busy, it falls to the backburner and that’s cool. You don’t have time for it, it’s not a priority anymore so you just kinda stop and start. If you find this has been a trend for you - creating content whenever it’s convenient - that’s an indicator that this is just a hobby. And that’s okay if that’s what you want. The key here is to figure out what you want. 

Now if you want to do this as a business, then you have to make it a priority and you have to make time for it. For example, I just got in from a flight from Europe last night and I’m recording this at 3am before I leave for a conference in San Diego in a hour or so. This podcast is a priority for me because it’s part of my business that I’m passionate about and committed to.

I’ve heard so many influencers tell me that they don’t have time and usually that’s because they haven’t fully committed to their business 100%. So the first step is to decide if this is even a business or not. Because as a business, it will become your 24/7, full-time thing even if that means you’re thinking about it all the time and that’s what you devote your time and energy to. 

Once you’ve decided that this is a business, the second step is to know your audience. Your audience is one of your customers and your job is to provide them value. You have to get to know them to know what is truly valuable to them - what they want and need. 

The third step is to decide your monetization strategy, which revenue streams you’re going to build in your business. If you want to work with brands through sponsorships, that’s your advertising revenue stream. If you want to create products and services, those are different revenue streams. 

When people start businesses, they usually have a business plan. And as influencers, you can do this to. It doesn’t have to be a 20-page document, it can be simple. It can be a simple one-pager or a few paragraphs that just describes what you do, who you serve and how your business will make money. That’s really it. 

You can get started with that and as you grow and evolve, you can start to get more specific and break things down some more like knowing which product your going to sell - physical or digital. What are those products, how will you price them and so forth. But you can do that later on. 

The most important thing here, in my opinion, is to get through Step #1. Because one that decision is made that this is a business, then the rest will get figured out. But if you’re not sure and you’re just dabbling, then it’s not gonna happen. You gotta cannonball you’re way into the pool and be all-in. 

So hopefully that helps you when you’re thinking about your influencer business plan. Don’t get stuck in trying to write a huge document, just keep it simple and decide. Thank you so much for listening to the Spark Show! In the next episode, I’ll be talking to my friend and YouTube expert, Erika Viera on how to grow your influence on YouTube, see you in the next one! 

Listen to the full episode here:

Book a call with Gwen: 

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Listen to Previous Episodes: 

How to Launch Your First Digital Project featuring Danielle Prahl

Answering the Question: What Do you Do?

Passion to Paycheck featuring Erika De La Cruz

How to Avoid Burnout

The CEO Mindset featuring Ali Daniel

Pick your Platform

Build Your Influence on LinkedIn featuring Brittany Krystle

Dealing with Haters

Building a Unique Brand with your Personality featuring Tyler J McCall

                      Connect with Gwen Lane

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