Using Your Influence For Good

Welcome to the Spark Show! In this episode, we want to talk about using your influence for good. Especially now in times of uncertainty, people are looking for certainty, reassurance, and hope. They’re also looking for support and community.

As influencers and content creators, we can provide value to our audience right now. But I know some of you may be asking yourself HOW. 

First off, you have to be aware of yourself, your own mental and emotional state. Because if you’re not okay, it’s gonna be hard to help people. You gotta take care of you first. I know sometimes this sounds backwards because we’ve heard people say you gotta put others first but just like the oxygen mask on the plane, you gotta help yourself or you won’t be able to help others. 

So really ask yourself on a day-to-day basis, how do you feel? Really talk to yourself, I know it sounds crazy but it’s the only way to really know and be aware. Ask yourself, what emotions you’re feeling. If saying this out loud is weird, write it down. I feel (fill in the blank). 

I can tell you from my own experience that some days, I feel anxious and I don’t really feel like working. And that’s okay. Don’t fault yourself with how you process because everyone is different. There are some days where I feel super energized and excited to work on things. However you feel, you gotta take care of yourself first. 

Once you’ve practiced self-care and have the energy and capability to help others, you can then think about how you wanna use your influence for good. And it doesn’t matter if you have 100 followers or 100,000 followers - online consumption is at an all time high right now. 

You’ve seen celebrities doing concerts, musicians and fitness influencers doings LIVES every single day. You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I want you to start a brainstorm and write a list of things that you can offer your audience right now. 

So let’s go back to what they’re looking for: support and community. Are you able to provide this through live sessions or Zoom gatherings? Are you able to organize a virtual event for your followers? Even just giving your audience a space to gather and vent is great. 

If you’re not looking to do this, is there something you can teach or create for your audience? Is there something you can share that might help with the current situation they are facing right now? 

For example, people are providing lessons or workouts. Is there something you can give people that will keep them entertained or can educate?

Now is the time to start thinking about how you can build your connection with your audience even more. 

I also wanted to take this time to talk about some influencers who are not setting a good example. I saw some influencers who were not staying home and decided to go to their second homes and a lot of their followers did not take that well. 

I also saw influencers doing weird things for their content like licking toilet seats and trying to catch the virus on purpose, and ended up testing positive - definitely not the time to do it for the gram.

But it’s not all bad news...I also saw some influencers partner with the City of New York and the World Health Organization to encourage people staying at home. I even some some huge TikTok influencers create a dance specifically for social distancing partnered with a huge brand that was donating money to help health care workers. 

These are the types of things I think we should all be thinking about - how we can help and contribute. People will remember who we are in times of crisis more than normal times. 

Start thinking about you, your brand and how you want to be remembered. 

And it doesn’t matter how many followers you have. All that matters is that you’re showing up for your audience right now when they need you. 

Everyone is obsessed with growing their following and I’m gonna tell you this is the wrong way to go about it, especially if you’re not serving your current audience right now. What are you doing for your 100 or 1000 followers right now? If you’re waiting to show up until you have 100,000 followers, you’re never going to get there. 

I want you to stop looking at what you don’t have and focus on what you do have. If you want to grow, you have to show up for your people now. That’s the only way to attract more people to follow you, is to show up for who you have now. Until this switch happens, it’s gonna be really hard for you to grow - ask anyone who’s grown their following in the past 5 years.

I hear all the excuses:

• No one’s following me. No one is going to follow you if you’re not actually posting and putting yourself out there and it’s going to take time because they don’t know you exist yet
• I don’t have time to post. If you’re not going to put the effort in, how do you expect others to put the effort into engaging with your content. 
• People unfollow me. Yes, that is going to happen. That’s like expecting people to stick around to your show forever. If they like what’s playing, then they’ll stay. If they do, then they’re gonna unfollow and that’s okay. You can’t force people to stay if they’re no longer into what you’re posting about. And that goes for you too - you can decide to change and decide that you’re no longer passionate about something and that’s okay. 

Influencer is just another word for leader. If someone follows you, it’s because they are looking to you for something: inspiration, education, encouragement, fun and laughter. Figure out what that is and how you can provide that to them right now. 

So we want to give you an action step for this episode. We want you to brainstorm that list and then commit to doing one thing: whether that’s doing an Instagram LIVE or a series of lives, creating a weekly Zoom call or virtual event - whatever it is.

Share it with us on Instagram tag @thelagirl and @thesparkschool and I’ll repost it. 

Listen to the full episode here:

Watch the Masterclass

Gwenlane.com/masterclass

Listen to Previous Episodes: 

Virtual Photoshoots featuring Ashleigh Taylor

How to Find Balance in the Chaos

How to Pivot Your Content featuring Lindsay Myers

The Right Time to Launch Your Online Business     

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