A Day In The Life Of An Influencer

1. What is an influencer?

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An influencer is someone who has essentially created a brand out of themselves. Whether it's beauty products, fitness or a lifestyle aesthetic, they have something that you want. These people put their name and face out there for the online critics to praise and cancel depending on the day.

2. The rise of the influencer

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The rise of the social media influencer has been quite impressive. These avid social media users have created careers, scored incredible brand deals, and have been part of major marketing campaigns. Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a digital celebrity looks like? Let's take a look!

3. 5:30am

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Honestly, a lot of times, this life is anything but glamorous, and it's definitely a lot more work than most people expect. Influencers report a lot of them wake up as early as 5:30 and start kicking back LOTS of coffee to get ready for a day of creating content.

4. 6:00am

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Depending on the influencer's most engaged platforms, one influencer reports that they try to finish the day's blog post and check emails around 6:00 am. This is also when they plan their content for the upcoming days and weeks. In order to be successful at this job, you have to be organized and prepared.

5. 8:00am

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One of the things about being an influencer is you're often in charge of managing your own schedule. That means there might be some days where your photo shoot starts as early at 8:00am in order to maximize the day. One influencer said this is her favorite time to do outdoor lifestyle shots, because places are usually less populated.

6. 9:49am

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Send out a tweet to your followers "just woke up." No one said it has to be accurate! One influencer said this is pretty standard for her, especially when she's been out the night before. She wakes up and spends time on her phone and most likely Googling a cure for a hangover.

7. 10:01am

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Now we're off to some meetings. One thing about being an influencer, you're virtually always on the go. There's always someone you need to connect with, network with, meet up with in order to keep successfully building your brand. People connect with your life experiences, so you're constantly working on the next thing.

8. 10:05am

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If you don't have any meetings, you have a little extra time to check emails and all of your social accounts. Maybe you spend some time checking out the latest news and entertainment stories to be in the loop of current events. If you're not, it's a sure way to get cancelled by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, even if on accident. One influencer said they check tagged photos and ask people to remove them if they are unhappy with their appearance.

9. 10:35am

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Time to send out a few more tweets if there's something that needs to be said. This is also the time a lot of influencers plan their first post of the day. Mostly a carousel photo dump of "life lately." Remember, while these photos may appear candid, they're often very curated to give you a certain aesthetic.

10. 10:43am

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This is about the time you'll check in with your manager or agent. Perhaps you've already spent the morning scrolling social media, and your competition has posted something you don't love, or you notice there's an event that you didn't get invited to. This is the time to air those grievances with your team.

11. 10:55am

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After you've made your first post of the day, on TikTok or Instagram, this is about the time when you start checking it incessantly! You can't not check to see how it's performing and what people are saying about it. While most influencers say it's never good to read the comments, it's human nature to be curious when you put yourself out there.

12. 11:30am

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You have a little bit of time before lunch, so you decide to dedicate it to your latest passion project. Maybe it's the next viral video or series or something totally outside of the social space, like writing a book. But either way, you try to make sure you put some time towards it daily.

13. 12:00pm

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Time to snag some lunch. This is technically a break, but if you happen to come across a lunch spot that doubles as a great spot for more content, you're definitely not going to say no. However, a lot of influencers say that a chill lunch is really important to maintaining balance in life.

14. 12:45pm

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After lunch, you'll do another sweep of the socials. Take a few minutes to check Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and any other accounts. Your new posts have been up for a minute now, so it's also a good time to check out any new followers. It's also a good time to engage with some of your fans and followers by replying to comments that are popping off on your pages.

15. 1:00pm

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If you have a little extra time on a given day, it's a good time to do a little workout. A lot of influencers say they'll go for a run or do some pilates or take a lunchtime class. It just helps get those endorphins flowing so you're ready to tackle the rest of the day. Some days, this just won't be possible though, because of filming or writing.

16. 2:00pm

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You're going to meet up with a friend for an afternoon coffee or smoothie. While you're there, you capture some content of both the location and time with your pal. Maybe you take a minute to hop on a trending sound or post about the next viral drink concoction at Starbucks.

17. 2:15pm

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The manager of the shop recognizes you, and your work and offers to comp your drinks if you post about the location. Of course you agree, but now this coffee has changed from meeting up with a friend into actual work. That's okay though, you love what you do, and who can say no to free drinks!

18. 3:00pm

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Time to respond to more emails. Maybe your agent sent through a couple of brand partnership contracts for you to review. If you don't have an agent, maybe you're pitching yourself to brands or reviewing contracts yourself to make sure you're being paid fairly and representing things that you like.

19. 3:30pm

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You get home and realize there are brand sponsorship boxes that you need to open. Once you open them though, a lot of them come with stipulations around what you need to post about for each one and on what platforms. So you set up your camera gear and get to work filming the products you got.

20. 4:30pm

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Back to emails and figuring out tomorrow's content. Tomorrow you're filming a "5-9 before my 9-5" video which means you have to get up super early to get everything prepped, so you can make it look like you're just getting up. Wild. But you know those videos do well on your page.

21. 5:00pm

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You decide to do a second post of the day. Sometimes spreading them out across the day but doing multiple in a day really improves their algorithm performance. But one thing you know for sure, on TikTok, more is better. You also decide to use the same GRWM outfit that you filmed the other day, because you have some fire shots when you were out with friends that you can post on IG at the same time.

22. 5:30pm

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A liiiittle more paperwork and editing. Sending out invoice, a couple of brand pitches, and doing some video editing so you're caught up. You also do a quick scan of all your pages and FYP to see if anything new is popping off at the moment. The biggest part of this game is to make authentic content while also figuring out the trends.

23. 6:00pm

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If you didn't get a chance to work out earlier, maybe you decide to wind down the work day with an evening yoga class. Honestly, it's the perfect way to melt away the stress of the day, because even if it doesn't seem like a lot, it takes a lot of creativity, flexibility and mental capacity to navigate your days.

24. 7:00pm

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Depending on the day and what else is going on, now it's finally time for dinner. Sometimes that's just at home for some peace and quiet, sometimes that means meeting friends out for dinner and drinks. Either way, you're excited and use the time to post on your stories.

25. 8:00pm

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Tonight is a little special, because there's an influencer event for you to attend. You get ready and show off your outfit, and head out to the event. It's a great time to network and meet other influencers. It also gives you a chance to collaborate with other creators and do crossover content, which you know fans love.

26. 10:00pm

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You decide not to stay out super late tonight, so after a few drinks and grabbing all the photo ops you can, you head home. Now you can finally unwind from the day and have some headspace all to yourself. Maybe you take some time to read or call your family if they're still awake.

27. 10:30pm

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You decide to check all your posts from the day one more time and engage with a few comments. Most of the time, you think it's good to have boundaries around your time on your phone, but you want fans to feel engaged. And then, maybe you do a little doom scrolling on TikTok like the rest of us.

28. 11:00pm

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Okay, now you're really ready for bed. But before you head off to dreamland, you pick up a journal next to your bed to make a quick to-do list for tomorrow so your anxiety doesn't spiral. You also take a few minutes to journal about your day and set goals for the week. It's the best way to reflect and prepare.

29. 11:30pm

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Lights out! The days can really vary. Sometimes you're meeting up with other influencers during the day to figure out partnerships, or you have a big filming day or photo shoot day. Sometimes you have to do press stuff, it really just depends. But it's truly like owning your own business.

30. In conclusion

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The life of an influencer is a lot more busy and a lot more work than people realize. The unpredictability can be chaotic, but it's also a lot of fun. Some days, the workload is massive, and other days are light and fun. It really just depends on the route you're headed.