All You Need To Know About An Influencer Career

You heard that working as an influencer can be a great career and you want to learn more about this career path?

Great! This article is exactly for you since I will show you everything you need to know about being an influencer in the following chapters.

Not only will you learn how much you can make as an influencer, but we will also talk about career prospects, job satisfaction, work-life balance, working hours, duties, educational requirements and much more.

After reading this article, you will have a much better idea of what this job looks like and whether you still want to work in this field or rather want to go for an alternative career path instead.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it!

What does an Influencer do?

Influencers use digital channels to build a strong brand.

They share their ideas and attitudes on social media and often also start their own YouTube channel or blog.

To make money from what they are doing, influencers often do sponsored deals, receive ad income or do affiliate marketing.

Responsibilities & Duties of an Influencer

• Publishing content on a regular basis
• Leveraging of social media channels
• Growing an audience
• Monetizing an audience
• Building a strong digital brand
• Building relationships with companies
• Providing value to the audience
• Answering questions from followers
• Editing content
• Complying with legal rules and regulations
• Complying with copyright standards
• Promotion of products
• Promotion of services

What a Typical Day of an Influencer looks like?

Influencers usually start their workday between 8 and 10 a.m.

Since they work self-employed, they are pretty flexible when it comes to scheduling their workday and they can also start and quit working whenever they want.

After getting to work, the first thing influencers usually do is having a look at what they want to get done that day and answering the most important and urgent mails.

After that, influencers produce audio, video or written content all day long.

They also answer to comments from their followers and make sure that they grow their brand over time to monetize their audience in the long run.

After working with a computer for many hours, most influencers stop working between 4 and 6 p.m. even though some of them really love what they are doing and work much more.

Influencer Salary 2023

Influencer salary brackets 2023

Influencer salary 2023 by expert level

Influencer salary by state 2023 (average)

Job Security of Influencers

Influencers have no job security at all.

Since they work self-employed, they will just not have any rights regarding labor protection.

In turn, in case they get sick or lose their audience, they will often not be able to make any money and may struggle with serious financial problems.

Future Job Prospects of Influencers

Even though the attention of people shifts to the digital world and smart influencers will be able to make lots of money, the average influencer will still struggle to make a living from this kind of job since competition is fierce and you really need to know what you are doing in order to be and stay successful in this business in the long run.

Working Hours of Influencers

Since influencers work self-employed and don’t have a boss, they can start and quit working whenever they want.

However, most influencers still start their workday between 8 and 10 a.m. and finish their workday between 4 and 6 p.m.

Job Satisfaction of Influencers

Most influencers are not happy with what they are doing since they don’t have any job security at all and most of them also don’t make good money while they are still exposed to the general public and will have to deal with negative and insulting comments on a regular basis.

Promotion Opportunities of Influencers

Since you will work self-employed, there will also not be any promotion opportunities for you as an influencer.

Instead, it is on you to grow and to get better deals over time to be able to make more money and get more seniority in the long run.

Career Levels of Influencers

• Influencer assistant
• Influencer making money on the side
• Influencer making a living
• Influencer with a decent social media audience
• Influencer owning a YouTube channel or blog
• Locally-recognized influencer
• Internationally-recognized influencer

Fields and Types of Influencers

• Influencer focused on social media
• Influencer with expertise in building a blog
• Influencer focused on growing a YouTube channel
• Influencer focused on young audiences
• Influencer focused on mature audiences
• Influencer specialized in political topics
• Influencer specialized in lifestyle topics
• Influencer focused on fitness
• Influencer specialized in health

Educational Requirements for Influencers

There are no educational requirements for influencers at all.

You don’t need to get a fancy degree or any other sort of education.

In fact, what’s much more important than looking good on paper is that you are entertaining and know how to grow an audience in our digital world.

How to become an Influencer

1. Inform yourself about the advantages and disadvantages of being an influencer
2. Work as an intern for someone who is already successful in this industry
3. Work hard during your internship and stay in touch with important people in this field
4. Finish high school
5. Start your first digital projects
6. Ask your contacts to share your work on their channels
7. Grow an audience
8. Monetize this audience
9. Become a real expert in your field.

Character Traits you need as an Influencer

• You should be able to deal with lots of insecurity
• You should be an open and outgoing person
• Influencers need to have empathy for difficult people
• Willingness to deal with snarky comments
• Patience helps you grow your channels
• Perseverance helps you not to give up
• Persistence helps you publish enough content
• You should be open to critical feedback
• Willingness to help out your audience

Hard Skills for Influencers

• Excellent knowledge of how social media works
• Knowledge of how to start a blog
• Knowledge of how to start a YouTube channel
• Expertise in digital marketing
• Good graphic design skills
• Math skills can help you scale your business in a profitable manner
• Knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO)
• Expertise in building and growing an audience
• You need to understand what your audience wants
• You have to put your audience first
• Understanding of where the attention of people will be in the future

Soft Skills for Influencers

• Patience is key to stick with it until you are able to grow a decent audience
• You have to believe in yourself so that you don’t give up too early
• Confidence helps you deal with insulting comments
• You need to understand your audience
• You need to know what provides value to people
• You should not be afraid to become a public figure
• You should understand the importance of building a strong personal brand
• Good time management skills help you publish more content
• You should be passionate about helping your audience

Exit Options for Influencers

Since influencers learn a lot about digital marketing and about how to build a brand, they will often have an easy time working as a digital marketer or social media expert for big corporations in case they don’t want to work as self-employed influencers anymore.

Influencer – Similar Careers

• Digital marketer
• Social media expert
• Brand consultant
• Editor
• Monetization expert
• Website builder
• Activist
• YouTuber
• Blogger
• Graphic designer

Influencer Career FAQs

Is working as an influencer physically demanding?

Working as an influencer is not physically demanding at all since you will do most of your work with a computer and while butchers, fallers and many other people have to work in a heavy physical manner all day long, you will have a rather relaxed time in this regard.

Is working as an influencer mentally demanding?

Working as an influencer can be mentally demanding since you always have to figure out what your audience wants and how you can grow your business in an environment that changes pretty rapidly.

Consequently, you have to stress your brain quite a lot to stay competitive with what you are doing in the long run.

Is it dangerous to work as an influencer?

Being an influencer is not dangerous since you will work in a classical office environment or even from home and your risk of suffering from serious accidents at work will be rather low.

However, some people who don’t like your opinion on certain topics may still come after you or may insult you once you get a certain level of fame and people will recognize you when you walk down the streets.

How long do influencers stay in their jobs?

Many influencers quit their careers after just a few years since it is pretty hard to become successful and most influencers will never be able to make a living from what they are doing, even though a small minority is able to make really good money.

Is it easy for influencers to find a new job?

If you no longer want to work self-employed as an influencer, you will have a rather easy time working as a social media expert, digital marketer or editor for many companies out there since people who understand how the digital world works are in high demand right now.

Is it hard to switch from being an influencer to another field of work?

While you will have a rather easy time finding a job in your field, it will be pretty hard for you to find a job outside the digital world since you will often just lack the skills necessary for it.

For instance, it will be almost impossible to switch from being an influencer to working as a roofer while it will be rather easy to switch from an influencer career to a digital marketing career.

Do influencers have a high social status?

Influencers have a pretty high social status since they are admired by many people and are also able to build a huge audience.

In turn, you will have lots of power to influence people and to get them what you want them to do, even though this also means that you will have a high level of responsibility.

Can you help out your family and friends as an influencer?

You will have a rather hard time helping out your loved ones as an influencer.

Even though you might be an expert in the digital world, you will still not be able to do much good for people in their daily lives and while craftsmen are able to fix many things around the home, you will not be able to provide much value to your favorite people and may have a rather low standing among your circle of friends.

Can influencers work remotely?

Influencers are able to work remotely whenever they want.

Since they work self-employed, they don’t have a boss and can work wherever they want whenever they want.

Hence, you can work from home on a regular basis and can save lots of money and time commuting to work and back like many other people out there have to do on a daily basis.

Is it easy to find a partner as an influencer?

Since you will be able to build a huge audience, it will also be easy for you to get in touch with people and some of your followers will also be willing to get into a romantic encounter with you.

However, since you will have no job security at all and will most likely also not make good money, you will not be considered a good provider and may have a hard time finding someone for a long-term relationship.

Do influencers have to work on weekends?

Influencers don’t have to work on weekends.

Since they work self-employed, they can work whenever they want and can also take days off if they like to.

However, many influencers still voluntarily work on weekends since they want to grow their business as fast as possible and also really like what they are doing.

Do influencers have to work on holidays?

Influencers also don’t have to work on holidays.

Instead, you can use those days to spend time with your loved ones or on your favorite hobbies.

Do influencers have to work at nighttime?

Influencers don’t have to work at nighttime.

Instead, you can finish your workday whenever you want and will therefore have more than enough time to meet up with your favorite people after work.

Do you have to travel as an influencer?

There is no need to travel for business trips as an influencer.

Instead, you can work remotely and can do all of your work from home. In turn, you will have more than enough time to spend with your family while many other people who have to do business trips will be away from home quite often.

Are influencer pensions good?

Since influencers work self-employed and most of them don’t make good money, also their pensions will be rather low.

Thus, make sure to put money aside for retirement age if you don’t want to suffer from serious financial issues once you quit your active career.

Are influencer salaries going up?

While the income of the most successful influencers has increased significantly over the past decade, most influencers are still not able to make decent money from what they are doing and many of them are not even able to make a living but rather have to still work a day job.

Can you have a positive impact on society as an influencer?

You can have a big positive impact on society as an influencer since you can have an influence on what people think about important topics and you can also shape the thought process and the attitudes of people so that they become more tolerant and empathetic towards others to make the world a better place in the long run.

How long does it take to become an influencer?

You can become an influencer overnight since you don’t need any fancy education to work in this field.

However, it can still take you many years until you become successful and are able to make a living from what you are doing.

In fact, many people never get to this stage at all and only make some money on the side.

Is it difficult to become an influencer?

While it is not difficult to become an influencer since educational barriers to entry are rather low, it is still difficult to belong to the small group of people who are really able to make a decent living from their influencer careers since most small influencers are barely able to make any money at all.

Do you need to be smart to work as an influencer?

You don’t need to be smart to work as an influencer.

Even though this helps, what’s much more important than your IQ is that you have high emotional intelligence and understand what your audience wants and how you can help out your followers so that they stay interested in your work and you are able to monetize your audience well in the long run.

Do influencers have a good work-life balance?

Influencers have pretty good work-life balance since they don’t have a boss and work self-employed.

Hence, they can work whenever they want from wherever they want and can also go on vacation whenever they feel like it is the right time to do so.

Thus, you will be quite flexible in this regard and can spend more than enough time with your favorite people or on your hobbies.

Do influencers have to work many extra hours?

Influencers don’t have a standard workweek and may work much overtime.

However, they don’t necessarily have to do so.

Many influencers just want to grow their business as fast as possible and the more they work, the faster they reach their goals.

How to maximize your chances of becoming an influencer?

If you want to become a successful influencer, you should have a look at what other people do who are already successful in this field and you want to adopt those characteristics for your own work to improve your chances of becoming successful as well.

Can influencers work part-time?

Since influencers work self-employed, they don’t work part-time or full-time.

Instead, they are free to decide how much they want to work and when they want to take breaks and how much they want to work in general.

However, most influencers still work many hours since only then they are able to make a living from what they are doing and working part-time would just not be enough.

Do influencers work indoors or outdoors?

Influencers work indoors with a computer most of the time and while other people out there have to work outdoors during times of bad weather, you will not have to worry about climatic issues related to your job at all and will have a rather relaxed life in this regard since you can even use air-con or heating to make your workday as convenient as possible.

What does the workplace of an influencer look like?

Influencers often use our digital world to grow their audience and to promote their products and services.

Consequently, as an influencer, you will just work with a computer all day long and since you can work from home, you can just pick your favorite spot within your four walls to feel most comfortable during your job.

Do you have to look good for working as an influencer?

The better you look, the higher your chances of being successful as an influencer.

This is just true since good-looking people have an easier time building and growing an audience.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to look like a model.

It just means that you will have an edge over the competition if you do while you can also succeed as an influencer if you don’t look great as long as you provide enough value to your audience.

Is an influencer career beneficial for your private life?

Since you will be a public figure, people will often make fun of you and may even insult you when you walk down the streets.

Moreover, you will also not have any job security and may have to worry about your financial future all day long, which may lead to serious mental health problems in the long run.

Consequently, an influencer career will often not be beneficial for your private life.

Do you need a college degree for becoming an influencer?

You don’t need a college degree for becoming an influencer.

What’s much more important than looking good on paper is that you provide real value to your audience and that you are also an entertaining and outgoing guy or gal who really understands what people want and how to grow a brand in our digital world.

Do you need to be certified to work as an influencer?

You also don’t need any certifications to be able to work as an influencer.

Instead, you can just start your influencer career from one day to the other and may become successful if you are willing to work really hard and to learn a lot about digital marketing.

How much does it cost to become an influencer?

Since you don’t need a college degree for becoming an influencer, you can save lots of money on tuition and other expenses related to college and while your friends may have to take on student loans, you will not have to worry about those things since you don’t need any fancy education for succeeding as an influencer at all.

Is being an influencer a good career?

Since you will have no job security at all and will most likely not make good money from what you are doing while you will still often have to deal with snarky and insulting comments, being an influencer cannot be considered a good career by any means.

Is it easy to start your own business as an influencer?

Since you will work self-employed as an influencer, starting a real business around your brand will just be the next logical step to make and since upfront costs will be pretty low, it will also be pretty easy for you to start and scale your influencer business.

Can influencers teach themselves?

Influencers are able to teach themselves most things they need.

In fact, you can get all the information you need on the internet and don’t have to spend lots of money on fancy education.

You will also just learn many things on the job and if you are willing to work hard, you can really succeed in this industry, even though your overall level of education may be rather low.

Do influencers make good money?

While a small minority of influencers are able to make really good money, the vast majority of influencers don’t make good money from what they are doing and many of them are not even able to make a basic living from what they are doing.

Is it ever too late to become an influencer?

It is never too late to become an influencer.

In fact, the older you are, the more life experience you will have and the more value you will be able to provide to your audience.

Do influencers have to quit their careers early?

Most influencers don’t have to quit their careers early since they don’t have to work in a heavy physical manner like construction workers who often have to quit their careers early due to physical health problems.

What is the most challenging thing about working as an influencer?

The hardest part about being an influencer is that you will always have to deal with negative people who just want to bring you down and if you don’t have a stable emotional mindset, those comments may really bother you and hold you back in the long run.

Can you provide for your family by working as an influencer?

Providing for your family is pretty hard as an influencer since most influencers are not able to make good money from what they are doing.

Instead, they are barely able to make a living for themselves and will not be able to provide for their families well.

Will influencers suffer from old-age poverty?

Many influencers will also suffer from old-age poverty since they often don’t make good money during their active careers and are also not able to put enough money aside for retirement age.

Consequently, once influencers quit their active careers, they are often no longer able to pay their bills.

Can influencers retire early?

Most influencers are not able to retire early since they don’t make enough money during their active careers and still have to work until retirement age or even in their 70s since their pensions will often not be enough to pay their bills.

Do influencers get a fixed or variable salary?

Since influencers work self-employed, they don’t get a fixed salary.

Instead, their income greatly varies across time and you should be willing to deal with huge swings in income and with a high level of financial insecurity in general before you decide on becoming an influencer.

Can you get rich as an influencer?

While a small minority of influencers really get wealthy or even rich, most influencers don’t get rich at all and many of them even struggle to pay basic expenses from what they are doing.

Do influencers need a second job?

Many influencers don’t make enough money and need a second job to pay their bills.

Only a small minority of influencers really make enough money to cover their expenses and you should not expect to be one of them.

Do you get continuous training as an influencer?

You will not get any training as an influencer.

Instead, you will have to train yourself and it will be on you to really hone your craft if you want to stay competitive in what you are doing in the long run.

Do you get sick pay as an influencer?

Since you work self-employed, you will not get sick pay as an influencer.

Instead, you should grow an emergency fund that you can use in case you get sick and are no longer able to make money from your influencer career.

Do influencers have a high level of responsibility?

Influencers have a high level of responsibility since they can change the minds and attitudes of many people and you should be aware that what you put out to your audience can have a significant impact on society in general.

In turn, you should try to make the world a better place with every piece of content you publish.

Can influencers work abroad?

Influencers are also able to work abroad.

In fact, it will not really matter where you live since you can do your work from all over the world as long as you have a working internet connection.

Is it stressful to work as an influencer?

Working as an influencer is not that stressful since you can work at your own pace and will not have a boss who bothers you all day long as in many other jobs.

However, you will still have to deal with many negative comments and a high level of insecurity in general and you should make sure that you are able to deal with those issues in an emotionally healthy manner so that you don’t get stressed with your influencer career in the long run.

Is it boring to work as an influencer?

Working as an influencer will never become boring if you are really interested in content creation and growing an audience.

In fact, it can be pretty exciting to work in this field and to learn new things every day.

Is being an influencer hard?

Becoming an influencer is not hard at all since educational barriers to entry are pretty low.

However, becoming and staying successful is really hard in this industry since you have to deal with fierce global competition on a daily basis.

Are influencers at risk of burnout?

Since influencers don’t have much stress at work and also don’t have to work much overtime, they are not at great risk of burnout compared to investment bankers or consultants who have to work long hours with high stress on a regular basis.

Is there a dress code for influencers?

There is no dress code for influencers.

Instead, you can wear whatever you want.

If you are creative and also want to make some money on the side, you could also design your own t-shirts or other clothing and sell it via your YouTube channel or your blog.

What kind of influencers are paid the most?

The bigger you grow an audience and the more popular you become, the more money you can make as an influencer since brands will be more eager to do sponsored deals with you and also your ad income will increase with the number of views or visitors you get to your YouTube channel or blog.

What percentage of influencers are women?

Almost 80% of all influencers are women while only around 20% are men.

Hence, this industry is dominated by women but you can also succeed as a man if you provide enough value to your audience.

Do I need a mentor to succeed as an influencer?

If you start out as an influencer, it can make sense to have an experienced mentor on your side to help you push through difficult times and to give you emotional support in case your projects don’t work out as planned.

Will you be personally liable for mistakes as an influencer?

Since you work self-employed, you may also be personally liable for mistakes as an influencer.

Hence, you might get proper insurance in this regard or also ask a lawyer to be on the safe side.

Do influencers have a high life expectancy?

Since influencers constantly have to worry about financial problems and about their future prospects in general while they also have to deal with lots of adversity and many negative comments, many influencers suffer from serious mental health issues in the long run and their overall life expectancy is therefore rather low.

Do influencers suffer from sleeping problems?

Influencers also often suffer from sleeping problems.

Even though they don’t have to work at nighttime, they will still worry about their future quite a lot and snarky comments often also keep them awake at night.

What states are best for working as an influencer?

Since it doesn’t matter where you live for your success as an influencer, you should choose a state or region where living costs are as low as possible so that you can make a living from your influencer career and don’t need to work a second job to pay your bills.

Who do influencers work with?

Influencers often work alone.

In fact, they mainly produce content for their audience and while influencers sometimes also do collaborations with other influencers or companies, be prepared that working as an influencer can be quite lonely.

Is working as an influencer cool?

Many people out there consider working as an influencer cool.

However, most of them have never seen the downsides of this career and only see the good things that come along with it.

Can you start a side hustle as an influencer?

It is pretty easy for influencers to start side hustles since they are able to work whenever they want from wherever they want and will therefore be quite flexible to start new projects on the side.

Do you have to be creative as an influencer?

Being creative definitely helps to become and stay successful as an influencer in the long run since only if you are creative, you can provide value to your audience in the long run and also make it interesting for people consuming your content.

Do influencers suffer from being overweight?

Many influencers also suffer from being overweight or even obese since they just work with a computer all day long and don’t exercise enough to burn enough calories.

How employable are influencers?

Good influencers can make decent money from what they are doing.

However, the majority of influencers still struggle to make a living from what they are doing and the overall level of employability of influencers is therefore rather low.

Are influencers happy with their jobs?

Many influencers are not happy with what they are doing since they don’t make really good money while they still have to deal with lots of insecurity regarding their future.

Is working as an influencer exciting?

Being an influencer can be really exciting since you will do new things on a regular basis and will never know how your audience reacts to your work.

Can you have a positive impact on our environment as an influencer?

If you work on environmental topics, you can also have a pretty big positive impact on our environment as an influencer since you can convince many people that it would be a good idea to care about our planet.

What are the pros and cons of working as an influencer?

If you still want to become an influencer, you should also have a look at additional pros and cons of an influencer career.

Sources

https://www.statista.com/topics/2496/influence-marketing/

https://www.statista.com/topics/8371/influencer-marketing-in-the-us/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1198525/influencer-marketing-share-usa/

Interviews and own research.

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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