Taylor Olsen is a very young influencer who started her content production journey when COVID-19 began. As one of the early adopters of the TikTok platform, she proliferated since the platform wasn’t nearly as saturated as it is today. However, she changed her mind about using social media as her primary business platform, which helped her immensely.
Dropping Out of School Because of Personal Struggles
Olsen dropped out of school in 2022 due to personal reasons. She wasn’t accepted by any sororities and found it challenging to make friends because she was introverted. When she dropped out, she decided she wanted to make content full-time, so she moved from Texas to Florida to do just that.
Olsen managed to make enough money for a car and a place to live, but the money from social media influencing is uncertain since brand deals usually only last a short while. Beyond that, she was at the mercy of other creators using the platform, and she realized this after an unfortunate encounter with another influencer.
All It Takes Is One Comment
Olsen met another influencer in real life, and because of how socially awkward she is naturally, the influencer said that she gave off “mean girl vibes.” Olsen didn’t know what to do in this situation, and because of the other influencer’s comments, she lost 100,000 TikTok followers and over 40,000 followers on Instagram.
She even had her TikTok page reported, and the platform took it down, losing her a lot of income in the process. It made her realize that building her business on a social media platform and putting her success in the hands of people who didn’t know her was one of the worst decisions she could make as an online entrepreneur.
Authentic Connection is Lacking in the Influencer Business
Olsen knows how inauthentic people can be in the social media sphere. She’s experienced situations where people would say things for clout, not because they really believed it. In some cases, she says, social media is a lot like the toxic environment from high school, carried over into the real world.
With so many others pretending to be who they aren’t, Olsen forges her own path by being as honest with her audience as possible. Yet her most important decision was one that built on her success as a social media influencer and didn’t grow her brand. She decided to work for someone else.
Learning Lessons From Structured Employment
As a young person, Olsen hadn’t had to deal with the world of work before, but there were valuable lessons she could learn. She applied to be a social media manager and finally got hired. Her CEO and manager would give her regular reviews, and they would guide her on how she should approach social media for the company she works for.
That structure had been lacking in her social media approach before. Using that structure and the advice she got from those above her, she’s managed to connect with her audience more and offer them more value. She realizes now how out of touch she was with the people who watched her before and why it was so easy to lose so many followers to social media drama.
Keeping The Business Alive
Olsen might not be a full-time content creator anymore, but her business provides most of her income. She intends to have it running alongside the job she works and hopes to build both income streams. However, she advises entrepreneurs who plan to take this route that it’s difficult because it requires a lot of time management.
Growing a business while you work is not impossible, but finding time to do content while you’re working a regular job means setting aside time and planning the content properly. You need to know what you want on your page and how you will approach it.
Create Relatable Content
As an online influencer, Olsen believes that good content is relatable content. Part of the reason she lost so many followers because of her online beef with the other influencer is because her content was shallow and didn’t connect with people. She advises entrepreneurs to create relatable content to forge stronger bonds with their audience.
To do this, Olsen suggests finding out about the things that your core audience is most interested in. People who are curious or obsessed with a particular type of content are more likely to engage with content of that type. Find out who the other people are that your followers follow and see what type of content they make that gets the most engagement.
Don’t Let Social Media Take Over Your Life
Olsen advises entrepreneurs to avoid the alluring draw of social media that sucks creators in. Social media isn’t real life; the more time creators spend engaging on it, the harder it is to disconnect and have a real life. It can lead to depression, much like she had when she first became a content creator. This independent creator knows that friends are important in your business journey, and cultivating them means getting off social media sometimes.
Instead, Olsen advises creators to take time out for themselves. Content creation is a business, but it should also be fun. If you’re spending more time worrying about what your followers will think of your content than what that content provides to your followers, you’re approaching content production the wrong way.
Appreciating the Security But Enjoying the Freedom
With so many online business owners glamorizing about working for themselves, Olsen is an outlier. Instead of building her business as a solopreneur, she’s doing so as a part-time entrepreneur while holding down a job. Many hopeful influencers are doing the same thing, and they can learn a lot from someone like Olsen.
She also runs a podcast alongside Sam Taylor, where they discuss how they balance their social media lives with their real-world lives. As a young entrepreneur, the world of business can be complex, but with so many people who have been through it before, it’s just a matter of finding the right people to listen to.
