What I’ve Learned On The Road to 200k!

200k FOLLOWERS! Eeekk! You guys, it’s so humbling to have that amount of people who want to follow along my journey on Instagram. When I thought about acknowledging this milestone, I almost talked myself out of it. I’ve never done a “follower picture” or whatever you want to call it lol. Not for 50k, 100k, nothing. If I’m honest, drawing attention to my follower count makes me a little uncomfortable because I pride myself on not being consumed with numbers in this wild Instagram world, because let’s be real, it can definitely consume you if you allow it. Then my mind immediately goes to “well there’s influencers out there with millions of followers, 200k really isn’t that big of a deal.” But I realized I have a bad habit of downplaying my successes and it’s almost like we’ve been programmed to think you can’t be humble and celebrate/recognize your successes simultaneously. However, I mustered up the courage to celebrate and acknowledge this milestone because it’s worthy of a celebration. IT’S A BIG DEAL! And hey, I worked my little butt off to get where I am today, I’m proud of myself! I wanted to share a few gems that came to mind when I thought about what I’ve learned on the road to 200k:

Be You!

So many people ask me what are my keys to success in this influencer world and I always tell people “just simply be yourself.” People can sense a genuine person from a mile away. It’s easy to look at what everyone else is doing and what’s made them successful and try to emulate that but trust me, you’ll get a lot further, a whole lot quicker, just simply being yourself. I know there’s only one me. I have a unique testimony, journey, gifts, talents, and value that only I can provide my audience. I remember the very first time I shared my testimony on Instagram. At the time I didn’t have hundreds of thousands of followers. I don’t even know if I knew what an influencer was back then. I just felt led to share my journey from a single mom to being engaged at that time and the response I got was insane. The post was shared numerous times on other pages, and I got so many messages from women saying how they needed to read my post at that very moment and how it gave them hope. I realized in that moment; I have a specific testimony that I couldn’t just keep to myself.

Ever since then I’ve been sharing in a genuine way and my following has consistently grown.

Be Real!

Social media and even the whole influencer industry can get a bad rep at times because people think it’s all fake. People can create whatever online persona they want to, but I credit a lot of my growth to people craving realness in this space. One thing about me is I’m going to keep it all the way real and transparent in my content. While I realize my feed is very curated as far as pictures, you can expect a realer than real caption to go along with the pictures. I share my journey through single motherhood, dating as single mom, married life, blended family life, etc. all in a very transparent way because I realize so many compare themselves to others on social media and end up feeling less than because most people only share the good. They only share their wins and the Instagram worthy moments. But they don’t share their struggles or hard moments, although we ALL have them. I personally will unfollow a person fast if I feel like I can’t relate to them, and I personally can not relate to a perfect life. I’ve learned the people that I can truly be real and myself with and share my lows and hard times are the main ones who celebrate my highs and good times with me too. Yall rock with me for real and I really appreciate yall for it.

Your Worth Isn’t Tied to Numbers

Speaking of being real, let’s just keep it real, it’s hard not to get consumed with numbers in this Instagram world. I mean that’s pretty much what the app is centered around…likes, comments, views, impressions, etc. And as an influencer, it’s even more centered around numbers. You guys, brands ask us for our insights (fancy words for numbers) before they even work with us on most cases. We have to send them screenshots of our average number of story views, how many times our post was seen, etc. So when this is truly a job for some of us and it’s how we make our money, numbers can sometimes feel like they are tied to our value, at least to brands. But I’ve had to be extremely intentional about having a healthy relationship with numbers and realized at the end of the day my worth isn’t determined by the number of followers I have on Instagram or how many people liked a picture.

Instagram could be here today or gone tomorrow. Or they can make our follower count invisible to others like they did with our likes a little while back. Which is why I focus on the things I can control like consistently putting out quality content that provides value and let everything else fall in to place how it should. I’ve also come to learn on the other hand there’s “small” influencers out here KILLING THE GAME and making a whole lot of money and there’s “larger” influencers who you would THINK are doing the dang thing but that’s not the case. Whether I have 1,000 followers or 200,000 followers, I know I’m worthy either way and so are you!

Hard Work Pays Off

People think being an influencer is simply posting pictures with catchy captions, ha! That couldn’t be furthest from the truth. I’m currently typing this blog at 1:22am after a full workday and when I’ll have to be up in 5 hours with another full workdayahead of me tomorrow. And when I say workday, I mean blog work. There’s SO much work that people don’t see that goes in to being an influencer. And even before I made one dime from this stuff, I was creating content on a consistent basis. I mean spending my whole Saturdays getting me and the kids together, driving across town to shoot on location, and taking pictures with my kids while my husband was at work. You could find me on my phone drafting captions in advance and all before making any money from being an influencer. I’ve been at this for over half a decade and now the hard work is truly paying off. It took years though, so if you’re reading this and wondering when your time will be, keep pushing. Most people think being an influencer is a make money quick business but it’s not. It truly takes work!

Remember Your “Why”

When I first started this journey, my “why” was to show other women no matter what twist and turns come up in life, you can have the life you’ve always dreamed up. Thousands and followers later and hundreds of brand deals later, that’s still my why. I don’t ever want to lose that part of my platform. As you grow and get more opportunities or even have more opinions thrown your way, your “why” can get lost in the midst of it all. But I realize a large part of my loyal following is around because of my why. A lot of you guys have been around back when I was just dating my now husband or maybe even before that when it was just me and Carrington, and my story has provided you hope and inspiration. I won’t ever stop sharing my story or “switch up” because of the growth I’ve had. I know why I first started on this journey and that will always be my driving force for sharing my life with you all!

All Glory to God

Lastly, I will always give God all the glory, no matter how much I continue to grow or what brands I have the opportunity to work with. In my bio the FIRST thing you’ll read about me is I’m a Christian. Before I have wife, mother, or influencer listed, I have Christian. As an influencer, sometimes being a Christian or incorporating God into everything isn’t the most popular thingto do but I know without God I wouldn’t be where I am today, so I wouldn’t dare eliminate Him out of the equation now that I’ve reached a certain level.

I also want to acknowledge that I also wouldn’t be where I am without YOU GUYS. Your constant support and love help me do what I love to do every single day. Most days I feel like I’m living a dream. I want to pinch myself I get to share my life, take cute photos, and make a living from it and that’s thanks to you guys. I truly love yall! Here’s to the next big milestone that I’ll no longer shy away from celebrating. Thanks for celebrating with me.

As Always…Love you All,

Courtney N. Williams