Accidentally Becoming an Influencer in the Hair and Beauty Space with @laurscurls (EP.2)

In an exclusive interview with Nate2xs from ForTheWxnners, Lauryn of @laurscurls opens up about her journey of accidentally becoming an influencer in the natural hair care and beauty space.

This 20-year-old social media sensation discusses how she has embraced her naturally built platform as an influencer and has continued to grow her Instagram and Youtube channels.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IofHwOtCRg

Listen on Apply Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/forthewxnners-podcast/id1505728737#episodeGuid=37d9c284-20ec-435b-884d-2420c6a3cd5a

Listen on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/forthewxnners/ep2-laurscurls-accidentally-becoming-an-influencer-in-the-hair-and-beauty-space

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/60eF4uX6c2byLe0QPCwWNP

Building a Following and Increasing Engagement

Since she was a young teen, Lauryn found herself interested in the natural hair world of Youtube. One day in mid-2017, she was hanging out with her mom and best friend when her friend suggested she start creating some natural hair content herself.

Lauryn made an Instagram account right away, but was hesitant to start a Youtube channel because she felt like she didn’t have the right equipment.

Each social media platform is unique, so Lauryn explains how she grew on each and how each is monetized.

Building Her Instagram Page

Instagram was the first platform that Lauryn found success on. Her main goal was to create content on natural hair, and her status as an influencer came later.

She posted photos and interacted with bigger pages until her number of followers grew higher and higher. Lauryn kept the conversation flowing in the comments of her posts and quickly boosted her engagement.

Lauryn says that she used hashtags to extend her reach. She used genuine interactions to build relationships with followers and other influencers alike.

Something unusual that Lauryn did at the beginning of her journey was block some people she knew from her hometown. She wanted to be able to put her most authentic foot forward without feeling the judgement of her peers.

Building Her Youtube Channel

After a year of growing her Instagram page, Lauryn started her Youtube channel to cash in on her following. In the beginning, she mentioned that not having the “proper” equipment held her back from filming. But the only equipment she ended up investing in was a $50 tripod. She records on her iPhone.

Lauryn credits her success on Youtube to a hair wax video that blew up. When she published this video, hair wax (used for temporarily coloring hair) was not very popular. This video made it to the suggested page and pulled her other videos up with it.

Aside from catching the Youtube algorithm at the right time, Laryn believes that finding success on Youtube comes from posting videos in one of two popular formats: trendy content or honest and genuine content.

Monetizing Her Platforms

Lauryn monetizes both platforms with brand partnerships and affiliate marketing. She also makes money on Youtube with Adsense.

Her influence over her loyal following is what allows her to profit off her content creation.

When it comes to working with brands for sponsored content, Lauryn says to remember that the ball is always in your court. She says that you need to make brands appreciate the time that you spend creating promotional content, and they need to make the paycheck worth it.

Tinder’s Request for False Advertisement

You hear about people catfishing others on Tinder, but you don’t often hear about Tinder catfishing its users.

Lauryn shared that Tinder recently reached out to her for brand partnership. They asked her to go to a college campus and say that she met the love of her life. Lauryn turned them down because she refused to lie to her followers.

Lauryn’s honor to genuinity is one of the many aspects that keep her followers loyal to her.