The more I work with other influencers, the more I am seeing there is a nervousness around being paid. I want to unpick some of the worries that come up, because usually something is going on in our subconscious that’s holding us back from our true potential.
What is your ‘money mindset’
I hadn’t even heard the term money mindset until a few years ago when I started really working on my pwn personal growth and self development. ‘Money mindset’ cropped up often in podcasts I was listening to and books I read. Basically, our money mindset are our learned beliefs about money – often stemming from childhood – that now live rent free in our subconscious and drive much of our money related decision making without us even knowing it.
You may have beliefs around money such as ‘rich people are nasty’ or ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ or ‘don’t be greedy’. All these little voices in our brains about money can make a big difference to how we act.
Why is money mindset relevant to accidental influencers?
Chances are, if you consider yourself an ‘accidental influencer’, you didn’t set out to monetise your Instagram account in the first place. This can have a really big affect on how your perceive yourself within the community of content creators and it wouldn’t surprise me if you get the odd bout of imposter syndrome. If you haven’t set out to monetise Instagram, it can feel very strange when those opportunities begin to arise. And because you haven’t set out for this to be a business, you might start thinking ‘what business have I got getting paid for this?’
I often hear influencers say things like ‘I’d have bought it anyway’. Well of course! That’s precisely why you’re a great influencer! That authenticity is exactly what brands need from you, because then when you recommend the thing you would have bought anyway, your audience trust that recommendation and they go buy it too. That’s what being an influencer is! Yet there is a fear or shame around accepting payment and I bet if you do a bit of money mindset work, you’ll dig up some past childhood memories. Perhaps you were told not to be greedy, or that you were too materialistic or that you should be grateful for what you have.
Overcoming your money blocks
The biggest thing holding you back when it comes to Instagram collaborations is your mindset. That fear of stepping outside of your comfort zone and asking for payment can be stifling. If you want to push past that, you need to do the money mindset work and pushing past those blocks. It won’t happen overnight and mindset work of any type is an ongoing project. But simply becoming aware of your own money blocks will help you progress so much faster.
Repeat after me: I deserve to be paid.
Because you do! If you want to find out more about working with me, you can book a discovery call here.