YouTuber Kira Shannon opened up in a new interview with Ruthless Media about the importance of staying “authentic” as a content creator.
While doing anything to increase views is always an option, Kira noted, “It’s important to have integrity as someone who wants to achieve long term success in any business — not just content creation.”
She continued, “You may be able to make money quickly from cutting corners, but this will never be satisfying long term nor sustainable for any type of business.”
Kira boasts 513K Instagram followers and 526K YouTube subscribers. Notably, she shares viral try-on hauls of herself modeling bikinis and other clothing styles.
To maintain her 1+ million following, Kira shared that a rigorous posting schedule and discipline is one of the main reasons she’s been able to grow her fanbase and keep her loyal followers intrigued.
“Follower growth is not always directly correlated to authenticity and punctuality, but these qualities will present aspiring content creators with a higher chance of being selected for opportunities that would likely increase their follower count,” the YouTuber said. “Not only will more users be inclined to interact with your content if you are kind and consistent, but it will also attract brands and other opportunities that will align a creator’s brand with the appropriate steps to scale.”
Although the beginning stage of becoming a successful influencer is difficult, as it could take months or even years for your name to become recognized, Kira revealed that when she started off as an influencer, it was actually quite simple because it helped her mold into what was right.
“To be honest, it was by far the easiest to be myself at the beginning of my journey on social media. I didn’t have anyone watching!” the YouTuber exclaimed.
She quickly made a name for herself by sticking to her plan of being as genuine and punctual as possible–Kira noted that once your follower-count rapidly increases, “it’s easy to begin overthinking your content or filtering it to give your followers what you think they want to watch.”
To help others achieve the success they’re seeking as influencers in the bustling entertainment business, Kira said she “challenges growing content creators to check in with themselves early on when the growth begins to make sure that they’re really creating content that aligns with who they are and their values.”
But “most importantly,” Kira advised hopeful influencers “to make sure you love what you’re creating” or else it’ll show in your output as well as your follower-count.
