How to quit your day job and become a successful influencer

When does a passion stop being a pipe dream and become a realistic goal?

In my most recent episode of I Shouldn’t Say This, But… I discussed a submission which I received from a journalist, who wanted my advice on whether or not they should leave their steady job to build their own brand as a freelancer/ influencer. She said: “All I seem to do is talk myself out of it and now I feel trapped.”

It’s something we hear a lot. The rise in influencer culture, combined with a growing sense of entrepreneurship in young millennials and Gen Z, has made solo gigs feel more accessible than ever. People want to be their own boss and they crave professional independence. But, more often than not, becoming enamoured by the perks of working for yourself can cloud your judgement and prevent you from thinking it through.

In last week’s podcast episode, I explored the benefits and the drawbacks of leaving your own business to join a big company—and it requires just as much thought (if not more so) when the situation is reversed. If you feel trapped, or like you have nothing left to learn where you are, then yes, it is probably time for a change. However, we can’t underestimate the impact that these changes have on our lives so it’s important to know what to expect. After you’ve taken that leap of faith, how do you ensure you land on your feet instead of falling on your face? It comes down to putting a realistic plan in place—especially when you’re considering leaving a stable career (and salary) behind.

What’s it really like to be an influencer?

Firstly, you have to decide who you want to be. What do you want to achieve? There’s a lot of negative connotations around the term influencer these days, due to the reputational damage done by influencer fraud, judgement on its ‘superficiality’ and cynicism borne from a string of poorly-matched brand deals.

There’s also a bit of snobbery at play; many people still don’t view influencer-dom a viable career, largely because of the allure that can surround their sometimes envious lives. The worry is that people who seek to be influencers themselves view it the same way—as a path to fame, rather than a dependable job. Mediakix found that 52% of children aged 6 to 17 want to be an influencer when they grow up—and I’d wager that’s down to society’s warped view that being an influencer is a fast and easy way to gain money and fame.

Although it can be glamorous for a lucky few, influencers are actually just self-employed businesspeople. They are their own brand; they are their own company. With that in mind, it is crucial that anybody seeking a level of online influence has some understanding of what it takes to run a business—especially if you intend to go it alone. A lot of successful influencers actually have teams of people to help them run the business side of things, so that they can focus on their chosen passion or craft. And, often, you’ll find that the ones who don’t are yet to quit their day job because they have not yet learned how to build a personal brand, or even what their individual brand should be. This is where freelancing comes into play.

How do I build a solid personal brand?

There are some crucial differences between freelancers and influencers so, while both can be self-employed, they aren’t interchangeable terms. Sometimes being one enables to you to become the other, and other times being one actually requires you to be the other. Your time should be spent determining which title best reflects your goals and priorities; are you happy to simply be your own boss, or are you seeking public recognition for your individual work?

Quitting your job to become an influencer brings to mind a dramatic situation in which a young person seeks fame and success without any real goals in mind, a plan in place or the financial stability to support their dream. Quitting your job to become a freelancer doesn’t sound like as much of a leap; people leave full-time work to freelance in their specialism every single day. But it does require the same amount of thought and planning, and it also requires you to build a solid personal brand. When building my own personal brand (with help from the team at Social Chain) we live by three C’s: content, collaboration and consistency. You can hear about those in more detail by listening to my most recent podcast episode here.

But for anyone who is considering quitting a steady job to pursue their passion—be it seeking autonomy or influence—there are a few key pieces of advice I have:

1. Convince me that you’re special

Is a talented person still talented if nobody cares? The first thing to be aware of is, even though you might feel like this is your one true path, nobody cares about you more than you do. So you have to find a niche—your niche, not any niche. Analyse what you have to say, who you want to talk to and what they want to hear. The market is so oversaturated that finding your niche can be difficult; you have to be genuinely passionate, talented and hard-working. But you also need to stand out; even the most talented person in the world will never be heard unless the right people are listening. And this does not mean trying to make everybody care, it’s about finding the people who already care about your message and then giving them a reason to believe you.

1. Never fake it to make it

Today’s online audiences are significantly savvier and better equipped to root out frauds and sell-outs than they once were. This means you have to be flawless in your authenticity—anything less and people see straight through it. Particularly when working with brands, partnerships have to come from a place of genuine affinity. I think many influencers get tempted to accept a brand deal that they otherwise wouldn’t, because the promise of a guaranteed paycheck is too persuasive. This is why I cannot stress enough the importance of having a financial plan B in case things don’t go as smoothly as you’d hoped.

Authentic partnerships also mean your engagement holds more value. We speak a lot about the value of engagement, as vanity metrics aren’t something we encourage a brand to lose sleep over. It is the key to increasing reach but, for brands, engagement isn’t the deciding factor on ROI. For influencers, however, it is your most valuable bargaining chip. It’s what you’re judged on, it’s what provides you with a platform necessary to call yourself influential. So, unless you already have a decent sized, highly engaged audience at your disposal, I’d strongly recommend building that up whilst still working your 9-5.

1. Choose carefully

One last thing I’d advise is not to spread yourself too thin. When you’re a one-person team, time will be in short supply. It’s therefore crucial to focus on one or two platforms that work for you and that are synonymous with your specialism. Think about where your target audience is spending their time and where your network of like-minded individuals is spending theirs, too. If you’re a journalist, turn to Twitter. If you’re a photographer, Instagram is your best bet. The worst thing you can do is try and do everything to cover all bases because, inevitably, you won’t have the time or the resources to give 100% to every platform.

When to quit your day job

I’d always recommend dipping your toes in before taking the plunge, but if you think you’ve checked every box listed above and you still want to hand in your two week notice to pursue your passion, then the final hurdle is getting things in order. This means making sure you’ll be financially sound after you quit and ensuring that you’ll have work waiting for you when you do.

Returning to the example of our anonymous journalist who sent me this week’s submission, I’d recommend writing freelance on the side of your job. Then, when you start to earn enough money, when you know you enjoy it and when you’ve built up your network, see if you can scale down to part-time. You’d be surprised how many successful influencers and freelancers still have a ‘regular’ job. When you’ve adjusted to part-time and you’ve set yourself up for the big move, you can then take the necessary steps to make your transition into full-time.

It’s not going to be easy. Self-employment or influencer-dom seems effortless to anyone on the outside looking in, but the successes you see aren’t new. Stars don’t rise overnight. Often, the stories of people who ‘make it’ are years in the making. So don’t underestimate the amount of time, work and dedication it will take to get where you want to be. Don’t assume it will be amazing immediately; have the patience to see it through. But if it really is your one true passion, if it comes from a place of tenacity and drive, if it is what you eat, sleep and breathe, then you know what to do.

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My latest podcast episode, ‘I Shouldn’t Say This, But Love Is Hard’ is now live! Click here to find out more about building a personal brand as well as how to gain the confidence to talk on stage, how I’m helping to support breast cancer awareness and (just in time for Valentine’s Day) how to find ‘the one’.