An influencer used to be defined as someone who either had great expertise in their field. Enough that they could influence others in that particular field in a given direction. Or it was someone who could greatly influence the decisions of other people. Primarily in regards to purchasing habits or social change.
These definitions are still true today. But, thanks to social media, there is a new definition. An influencer is someone who has an extremely large online following. Granted, these people often do influence their followers to act in certain ways or buy certain products. But, on the whole, the definition of a social media influencer is a lot looser than the traditional definition.
Being an influencer is more akin to a career than anything else. One that has become very alluring in recent years. Making it as an influencer takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, and a little bit of luck. And alongside all that you will need a lot of technology too.
Too many people assume that you can make it as an influencer with nothing but your smartphone. But this isn’t true at all. If you really want to build a huge following then you need a range of technology to help you create better content and better manage your influencer business. Here is everything you need to make it as an influencer.
Professional Lighting
Lighting is one of the two most important aspects of content creation. Without good lighting your content is doomed to obscurity. Now we aren’t saying that every bit of content you make needs to have movie quality lighting. But you still need to ensure you are taking lighting into consideration in every shot.
If you are taking selfie videos then we recommend investing in a ring light. These are ideal for ensuring you are properly lit. And they are extremely portable. For everything else you should consider investing in some tripod lights and reflective screens to increase your production quality.
Good Sound Equipment
Sound is the second most important aspect of content creation. If you don’t think lighting and sound are the two most critical aspects of your content, you might as well give up now. Without good sound you are destined to never reach a high follower count. Sure, you can boost likes on your TikTok or Instagram pages by buying followers. Which is a great way to start building your following as a new influencer. But without good quality content you won’t gain followers organically.
We recommend you invest in some high quality lapel wireless microphones. They should be as discreet as possible to ensure they aren’t visible in your content. This will allow you and your performers to be picked up on the recordings every time. Some larger boom microphones are also advisable. Make sure you invest in microphone covers if you are recording a lot of content outdoors. This will stop the wind getting picked up in the audio tracks.
If you are a streamer then it is essential that you have a good quality microphone. People don’t want to watch a streamer whose mic is echoing or crackly. Investing in your equipment will ensure you reap the rewards in the long run.
A Power PC
The longest part of content creation isn’t actually the filming. It is the editing and compressing that takes up the most time. And you will need a powerful PC to ensure this process is going as smoothly as possible. We recommend that you build your own PC as it is often far cheaper and allows you total control over its specs.
You will also want a powerful PC to allow you to better manage your uploading and administration. Being an influencer comes with a lot of admin. You will need to be interacting with fans, managing your finances, networking, and contacting potential sponsors. All of this can be done from your phone or laptop. But a PC will make everything a lot quicker.
If you are planning to get into streaming then you will definitely need a powerful PC. Streaming has become a very competitive field. So you will need to ensure that your PC can run any video games at maximum quality while also being able to handle the streaming process.
External Storage
There is nothing worse than seeing your phone or PC get damaged and you lose all of your unfinished content. It is a devastating, but all too common occurrence. Which is why you need to invest in a lot of external storage so that you can properly backup all of your content.
You will want a mixture of SD cards and external hard drives. You will want to make sure you have an SD card reader that is compatible with your PC and your phone to ensure you can easily backup and retrieve your data.
