Have you ever been nervous or scared about reaching out to an influencer for a shoutout to promote your online business?
What if they say no…?
Or what if they ignore you…?
You know that palm-sweating feeling when you are about to send that DM…
But before you talk yourself out of it, you need to listen to this episode of the Because I Can Life podcast! I’m bringing in Lidia from Bodoke Kids because less than a year ago, she was having these same thoughts.
Lidia is a wife and mom of (almost) 4 kids.
She is pregnant right now with her fourth boy now, which is exciting because right before her due date, she is speaking at Because I Can Live 2020. Let’s see if she comes 39 weeks pregnant or with a newborn baby!
How Lidia Started Small With Bodoke Kids
Lidia got her start online after her and her husband decided that she would be a stay-at-home mom and take care of the kids. She wanted to make the most of those tiny pockets of free time she had, so she decided to leverage her skills in making handmade stuff. Before she knew it, she was making sales and growing her little spare-time business.
This is how she discovered the potential power of the internet.
She knew there was more possibility in how big she could make her business, so she started scouring the internet looking for someone or something that could help her make this happen.
That’s when she came across the 0-$100k System and joined the Because I Can community.
But before Lidia found the course, she had already invested in her first batch of inventory for Bodoke Kids. Thankfully, without knowing it, she followed one of our rules and started small with her first batch of inventory. In fact, she only spent $42 on her first stock!
After going through the course, she listed her inventory on a deal site and quickly got back $150 on her $42 investment. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a 3x return on my investment ANY DAY!
It’s not like she had a ton of other expenses either. She listed everything herself, she took all the pictures, she fulfilled it – everything. So that meant all that money could go back into buying more inventory.
It’s been so amazing to watch her journey over the past two years.
It’s important to note Lidia didn’t have everything set up everywhere correctly overnight. She started with the deal sites, then she opened her Shopify store, and then she built out a beautiful Instagram account – Bodoke Kids Boutique. It didn’t all happen at the same time.
Remember, where you see someone now in their journey is not where they started. Just because Lidia has a lot of things in her business built out now doesn’t mean that it was always like that. I see a lot of people get discouraged and overwhelmed because they try to do everything all at once. Baby steps. Baby steps.
What she did to grow her Instagram account was genius.
She didn’t go out and hire little baby models for her outfits or hire a professional photographer. She leveraged influencers in her space. After poking around on Instagram and learning about her dream customer, she noticed that they were already taking amazingly cute pictures of their kids. All she needed to do was to get them to take those same pictures in Bodoke Kids Boutique outfits. So, that’s exactly what she did!
Soon, she had influencers supplying all her lifestyle shots for Instagram and her website without having to hire models or pay an expensive photographer. I call that genius!
Getting Influencers To Approach Bodoke Kids
Establish a base of followers.
Lidia says that in the beginning, influencers might not take you seriously if you don’t have an audience, but it doesn’t have to be big. Seeing a nice storefront and an active social media presence shows the influencer that you are serious about this and you aren't going to be here today and gone tomorrow.
She spent a few months building out her audience online before any influencers started coming to her about promoting Bodoke Kids Boutique.
Leverage the influencer community.
Ensuring an influencer has a great experience with your products can mean getting your name out there in a big way, quickly.
Lidia noticed that there was actually a tight-knit group of influencers out there, and if one person had success promoting your brand, then others would be eager to join in on promoting your brand as well.
One influencer, even if they aren’t big, could lead to big things for your brand.
How Lidia Got Over The Fear of Approaching Influencers
Throw your fears away.
Lidia took my advice, wrote her fears down on a piece of paper, and literally threw them away.
Go ahead, grab the paper, and write yours down.
I’ll wait…
Don’t give up.
In the beginning, you might strike out (a lot). You can’t stop there because the power of influencers is real. Take your time and figure out how the network of influencers in your space operates and don’t give up on it because you will figure it out.
Show them the opportunity.
Lidia found out that a lot of the time, people might have decent-sized audiences on Instagram and still not know that they can make money by sharing a brand's products with their audience.
Be clear on how it’s a win-win-win. A win for them, a win for you, and a win for their audience.
Make sure you press play above to learn more about how Lidia from Bodoke Kids grew her online business bigger than her wildest imagination in less than 2 years!
Additional Resources…
- Save 40% at Bodoke Kids by using code: ALISON40
- LeadDyno
- Shopify
