Not too Late. How to Build a Niche Influencer Account

Back in 2019, I had started an influencer account with a specific focus: things to do in my New England hometown state.

Working in New York City and living in the suburbs - often co-workers teased myself and other commuters for not being as trendy. The suburbs are apparently where fashionable city people go to die (we get it, “New York, or nowhere”).

There was little to no competition, but what I realized (working full time in corporate America) was only the biggest national companies have enough resources and budget to advertise.

But what about your local contractor, real estate brokerage, fine dining restaurant group or boat charter company who all have discretionary funds and want to get their name out?

All these businesses were interested in advertising to increase their sales, but there was no way to tip your toes in with television or online media buys and let’s face it - the local Pennysaver everyone throws out.

So, I devised a niche influencer account focused on

• Local Destinations and Things to Do

• Home design and swoon-worthy properties in the area

• Best places to Eat

• Where to Shop

The goal? Make the suburban state a cool destination for those in the next chapter of their life (post-city single life). And in three years I built an audience of 20,000 from zero completely organically.

While 20k is not a huge amount, the premise was it was extremely valuable as it was 20,000 real people in highly concentrated area.

For advertisers, you could see the analytics town by town to make your case of “30% of our followers live in TOWN where you’re looking to sell a home” or “40% of our followers live within 15 minutes of your storefront.”

The Instagram page grew to be a huge passion of mine, a blog for longer form articles and a side PR hustle that made quite a bit of money.

We got landed placements on local news stations for Yacht Charter companies and national magazine features for home builders and lumber fabricators.

The takeaway? It’s never too late.

If you’re thinking of that side hustle to start…tomorrow, you’ll have wished you started yesterday. Here’s the Wealth Elf’s best tips on how the magic manifested incase they could apply to your idea.

• Have a business strategy before you start. If you’re creating content for all verticals and trying to be “everything for everyone” you’ll end up without a brand. Stick to your content themes and say no to anything that isn’t your vision. You want your followers to be able to explain to someone else easily what you’re about.

• Provide value. Every day we posted 3 Instagram stories and 1 in-feed post but it wasn’t to “inspire” or without a clear intention - each asset had “must-read” information such as “where to go this Saturday with your kids for free” that would improve their routines. Research and go the extra mile to provide richer content.

• Be consistent. Your followers over time will anticipate your schedule and be on your wavelength. Your goal should be to build a united community.

• Be positive. When I started my niche Instagram account I anticipated folks would troll the comment section “that restaurant sucks” or “that home isn’t that special” but I purposely kept copy and assets inspiring and positive. Take a look at NextDoor - who doesn’t love to argue with their neighbors? The goal was to encourage the audience to feel that we all take pride in living in the area and should pat ourselves on the back for choosing to live in a sought-after region. The results? 1 salty comment in 4 years of posting daily. Not bad!

Are you dreaming of your next side hustle? Let us know what it is at Wealth_Elf on Instagram!