Rachel snaps up lucrative career as an influencer
SHARING holiday snaps might be just a fun pastime for most of us. But for some people it can be a lucrative career. Influencers – celebrities, bloggers, vloggers or experts in a particular field – can strike deals with brands to engage with their loyal audiences and persuade them to part with their cash.
Depending on their following, an influencer can make hundreds of pounds from just one photograph.
Former model Rachel Ward, from Northwich, became an influencer six years ago after becoming disillusioned with the modelling world.
The 27-year-old Instagram star now enjoys a jet-set lifestyle as a fashion, beauty and travel influencer, flying to exotic locations including Monaco, Cannes and the Maldives to create the perfect backdrop for her photoshoots, and working with brands including Dior and Estée Lauder.
But it’s not just travelling the world and reclining in sun-loungers. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes.
“I’m a fashion blogger, photographer, stylist and editor,” Rachel told The Diary.
“For my fashion degree I trained in Photoshop. Half of my work is images and editing.
“I travel the world to create good images. You go away, take pictures, and hope they’ll notice you presenting the location nicely and hopefully you get invited back.
“I post pictures of my outfits after brands send me clothes and I pick the things I would wear.
“The modelling world wasn’t for me. I have more control over the photos and the whole thing now.”
Rachel, who is married to hotelier Thomas Cottrell, 26, built her following on Twitter before advising fans to follow her on photo and video-sharing platform Instagram.
She now has more than 40,000 followers on Twitter and 255,000 on Instagram. More than 100,000 watch her style and make-up tutorials on network Tik Tok.
Her biggest following is on online fashion portal 21 Buttons, where influencers share their latest looks.
Rachel hit the headlines when she wore five wedding gowns across two big days for her marriage to Thomas – two for her big day in the Maldives and another three for a ceremony attended by family and friends in the Lake District after it turned out their overseas union wasn’t legally valid in the UK.
Rachel has also used her profile to share an important message after a cervical screening showed she had abnormal cells. She urged women to have a smear test, saying the screening saved her life.
Rachel takes all her photos on her iPhone, and she recently teamed up with this year’s Love Island contestant Rosie Williams, travelling and taking pictures together.
Rachel and her husband are now looking forward to their honeymoon, driving across Cannes, Monaco, San Tropez and Portofino – all Instragrammable locations. Asked for her advice on becoming an influencer, she said: “Choose your niche and do what’s of interest to you – mine is outfits in pretty places. People will see through you if your heart’s not in it so you’ve got to do it for you not just because you get free items.
“Choose strong scenes and always post what your followers like.
“Keep the content relevant and post at peak times when you know people will be checking Instagram, such as lunchtime, and only accept things that you would use yourself not because people are pushing you in a certain direction because their dress isn’t selling well.”