If You’re An Influencer And Losing Followers, Watch This Now in Life, Thoughts on 02/07/20 I remember when Fohr first launched; it was flawless marketing. What is now a major digital hub, specializing in influencer and brand partnerships, was initially known as a hot piece of tech every Instagrammer wanted to be a part of. All of a sudden, influencers started posting about Fohr on their stories: a green screenshot that indicated they were Fohr card verified, meaning, their following and engagement was 100% real. It wasn’t clear how certain influencers were able to get access to this tool, and I remember thinking oh my god, what does it mean that I wasn’t asked to be apart of this? I saw my fellow bloggers posting that green screenshot, and as more and more people kept posting, I kept thinking, what if people think my following is fake?! I need to sign up. Eventually I did, and I too (weeks after their launch), was provided with my green screenshot indicating “The Blonde in Pink is Fohr card verified.” Like I said, genius marketing. Everyone knew what Fohr was within weeks. Behind Fohr is James Nord, the founder and CEO and influencer expert. He does a weekly Youtube series called A Drink With James, which cover various topics regarding building a brand and trying to make it as an influencer. I haven’t seen all of his episodes, but he without a doubt is incredibly smart and knows wtf he is talking about. I’ll be honest, I sometimes find myself trying to avoid harsh realities in today’s Instagram landscape, so sometimes I don’t want to hear advice that might help me. Engagement is down, followers are fleeing by the hundreds, anddddd yeah. It sucks. I can barely remember the days when I considered anything under 1,000 likes to be a poor performing photo. I can barely remember the days when my pictures would have impressions between 50,000-100,000, meaning, people were actually viewing my content. Now, it hardly every breaks 10,000, normally tallying around 2,000-5,000. Even though I have over 50,000 followers. So, when I got a message in my inbox about this episode, follower growth, I almost didn’t click on it. I didn’t need to hear how shitty my negative following is, what it should be for someone of my following size, yada yada. Well, I am so happy I did, as it was honestly some messaging that I really needed to hear. I’m sure some of you may need it as well. I jotted down a couple takeaways in case you don’t feel like watching the whole clip: you won’t build a brand based off hacks (giveaways, engagement for the sake of engagement, ie. commenting on lots of pictures trying to get new followers) there is temptation to look for the hacks because we don’t want to do the hard work…. ie. providing people with something they want find THAT thing. The thing people will seek you out for. That they will share with their friends THATS what you should be after. That kind of content and then do it over and over again. Find a formula that works HALF of the influencers that are on the Fohr platform (myself included!!) are losing followers every month So, if you gain 20 followers a month, you are doing better than half the people on this platform Most people on average are not growing their followings Again, do not focus on the hacks!!! Find the thing that people can connect with… that is what can change your life and make you start growing it can take years of experimentation you have to make sure you’re focused on the right things: your audience, finding out what they want, keeping them happy don’t focus on getting your next follower, but making sure that your most recent follower is getting value how do I make them stay? I really needed to hear this. It’s so easy to focus on who actually is growing on Instagram (even though, wow, most people are also losing followers) and forget about what is important. It’s not easy work. But if you truly want to grow a following, build a community, and establish yourself as a brand, you have to remember that the value of your content is what defines you. Not your numbers.