Probably one of the most frequent questions I’m getting asked lately is regarding mentorship and advice for those in law school who hope to become a “student influencer” by creating content on social media while in graduate or professional school. I am incredibly honored that I’m even getting asked to be anyone’s mentor, but the demands of law school have it such that I can’t commit to mentoring more than one person in this area at the moment. But that definitely does not keep me from giving advice or sharing resources on this, which is exactly what I hope to do in this blog post. So here is some rapid-fire advice for those hoping to become more of a student-influencer this year:
- Don’t do it for the money. At least not alone. I’ve absolutely been able to grow my platform on social media to one that is lucrative, much more than I would have ever imagined than when I set out. The reality is though, I started creating on social media (Instagram first) about a year before I started law school. It was a social and creative outlet for me. It was never my intention to make money off of it, and if the funds slowed down I would still find myself creating. It took maybe a couple of years of creating before I landed my first four-figure deal. In short, if the goal of creating content for you is primarily for money, then there are more guaranteed ways out there to side hustle than content creation. Reflect on why it is you want to become a student influencer and ask yourself “if money is out of the equation for the first 6 months or year, is it worth it for me?”
- Tune out the noise. Creating while in graduate or professional school is unconventional. While more and more people are doing it, it is still generally taboo. Yes, you may definitely get side-eye or confusion from classmates who don’t understand “how you have time” to something like this. The biggest word of advice I can give is to tune them out. Focus on those who you hope to help or inspire. On top of that, give your classmates the benefit of the doubt. Even if they don’t say it, there are definitely classmates who support and admire what you do. Not everyone is out to get you.
- Find examples as inspiration. On that note, because it is unconventional to find people who balance school/a career (especially a legal one) and content creation, it is very important to find examples of people who are doing what you hope to do. It doesn’t have to be an exact match because the reality is you still want to carve out your own path. But having a sense of what you like about other creators in your field can help you figure out what it is you’d like to do with your platform. Figure out what it is you like about their content and study why some of it resonates so much with their community. Some people who I’ve looked to for inspiration and positive examples of balancing school or a legal career with social media as Black women are @ijeomakola, @signedblake, and @marcherobinson.
- Start sharing more of your daily life. There doesn’t need to be a huge announcement that you’re now going to try to be an influencer. In fact, the most important part of trying to become a student influencer is figuring out if you even have influence in the first place. The best way to do that is to start posting. Instagram stories is a very low-stakes place to start. What are your routines? What are you working on? How are you studying? What is your day like? What are you wearing that day? Because the question about influence boils down to whether people even care about any of those things as it pertains to you. I hate to break it to you but if people don’t care, or if you’re not creating the content in a way that makes people want to care, then you might struggle with getting your platform off the ground fast.
- Be patient and consistent. The running theme of this entire post is that it all takes time. Set a realistic goal for the cadence of content you can put forth. On my platform, I commit to posting at least once a week on Sundays. My online community knows what to expect and that may help them look forward to it. Ask yourself: what can your community expect from you and how will you deliver?
This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creating content while in professional or graduate school. Let me know if you’d like to see a part two and I might be able to make this a series. I hope this was helpful and I’m wishing you the best of luck on your student influencer journey!
” And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1: 6
