Hey friends, I wanted to start on a new series for my blog where we can discuss, rant and share our experiences with similar issues from topics that aren’t really discussed. I want to welcome both creators and also non-creators to join me on this topic.

Disclaimer: This post was made to open a discussion and allow people to whether influencer or not, see the ugly side to social media reviews and what to look out for.

Today’s topic, I will be shedding some light on product reviews. Whether it’s on youtube, Instagram, Makeupalley, Sephora or Influenster. There are billions of reviews on the internet, some are helpful… some, not so much. I specifically want to target Instagram reviews today. I personally don’t trust Instagram review for multiple factors.

• You may come across some brands have really close deadlines when you receive the product – leaving you with limited time to try out the product and have an opinion on it.
• Some influencers (big or small) are afraid of giving bad reviews about products simply because they want to be on the brand’s good books – this can be harmful to the community and also those who are just consumers because the information listed/review is inaccurate and not truthful.
• There are some influencers I have caught where they just misinform their audience, whether that was done or purposely or not, I am not aware of that. Brands sometimes make insane claims about their products and I think influencers should be responsible for what they choose to say for and about the product. It’s vital for influencers to do their research about the brand, ingredients, and products prior to posting. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts where people just copy and paste the product description of the brand’s website. This is irresponsible behavior and needs to change.
• Take everything you see through the internet with a grain of salt. Brands will sometimes as you to write POSITIVE reviews on Sephora. Shady, I know. This is why I usually check reviews on youtube or blogs because these are evergreen content, you can always access them and people are likely to the tell the truth when exposed in that sort of nature. I find a lot of people are more comfortable speaking freely on blogs rather than Instagram (there’s also no character limit).

My tips how to survive as an influencer at any size:

• Whether you’re big or small, stay humble and always stay true to yourself and create genuine content.
• Be serious about yourself and brand because no one will take you seriously if you most certainly don’t. Hold yourself accountable to things you post and say on social media and own it!
• Stay professional, I know it’s funny and some of us may think it’s “cool” to be vulgar on social media but at the end of the day, remember that you have an audience of all sorts of ages. Be respectful and thoughtful with the content you choose to share to your audience.
• Set up a schedule for everything you do. No, not an internal schedule in your brain. An actual one! One that you can refer to, whether’s it’s on your phone as an alarm clock or calendar.
• Ask yourself if whether you are here for the long term or short term and set some goals what you want to achieve and your end game goal. We often get sidetracked with ideas and what our peers are doing with their accounts. What do YOU want to do with your account? Think, plan and make it happen.
• If you dislike the products you’ve tried and feel “uncomfortable” to share your feedback, you don’t have to post it at all. What’s worse? Misinforming your followers and readers or being honest and critical? You decide. I personally will post it anyway because I know my negative/honest feedback will always help someone!
• Don’t be afraid of being honest. A lot of brands will understand and take your feedback, you could benefit others and also the brand by providing them your honest feedback and experience. And if a brand, dislikes your feedback simply because it wasn’t positive then forget them! At the end of the day, it looks bad on them because they don’t know how to handle criticism.
• You should with brands you enjoy and have experience with. Never settle for less and work with just any brand even if you feel bad rejecting.
• Never take things personally especially on social media. There are trolls, people who are unaware, brands that may reject your PR inquiry. Point being is, you need to understand that there are people that won’t see you eye to eye and you may face rejection. Brands will always welcome you try again later. Learn to take “no” as a positive answer and give yourself the opportunity to level up your content game.
• Never see rejection as a failure, always try and try harder every time. If you give up so easily, that means you never really wanted it and if you make excuses for yourself… one after another, that means you were never really passionate about it. You just wanted something to come to you easily and fast.
• Most of us already think our content is perfect or/ and does not need to change. Truth is, sometimes we need to welcome change and accept it so that we can see growth. How will you know if you don’t even try? 
• Be patient with yourself, experiment around, change your content and learn what works and what doesn’t. Step out from your comfort zone and try something new!
• Don’t buy things for the sake of the gram. It’s just silly. Do you see how silly that sounds even reading that? Check out my blog on decluttering and getting organized, where I discuss being more of a smart shopper.

I hope this helped you and if you’re curious to know more about this subject or want me to share something along on the lines to this topic, please feel free to suggest it in the comment section or DM me on Instagram. I love hearing from you all! I hope you all have a fantastic and blessed week.