How to Monetize a Unique Niche

GUEST-STARRING CHELSEA

Strong personal branding is what will set you apart from other creators on the internet.

With one glimpse at Chelsea’s (@chelseaasoflate) feed, you can surmise that she is full of good energy, passion, and joy. I can confidently say this is exactly how she is and I was so excited that she wanted to sit down and have a chat with me about her social media journey.

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Chelsea is active on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and dabbles a little in Pinterest. Even as a young child she felt the innate desire to express herself creatively. Later down the road, she was gifted her very first DSLR and channeled this energy into photography. Fast forward to 2012 and Chelsea started a blog where she was able to further explore her more creative side through photography.

Now, with a massive following across platforms and a strong personal brand and established niche, Chelsea took some time to sit down with me to reflect on her journey and how she managed to get where she is today.

1. Passion is everything.

It took Chelsea from 2012 to 2019 to become a full-time content creator. 7 years is undoubtedly a long time to keep hustling. She credits her genuine passion for the game as to what pushed her for such a long time. It came down to the creativity and love for executing the concepts she imagined in her head. This will always be something that fills her with a sense of purpose and thus was the driving force behind her success.

2. Perseverance is key to success.

While she was balancing a full-time job in public relations, Chelsea was also continually creating on the side. Ultimately, this meant that a lot of her free time was spent behind the camera and she was even shooting content during her lunch break. This drive and perseverance is what helped to propel her social media from side hustle to full-blown career. For anyone who is just starting out, it is important to remember that all good things take practice, time, and sacrifice.

3. Foster a loving community.

Throughout Chelsea’s digital presence online, the one thing that remains constant is her love and adoration for the community she has built. She remarks how supportive and trusting both her online friends and her followers are. They helped her to stay inspired throughout her entire journey. This just shows that the connection you build with your audience is of utmost importance. Your followers and fans allow you to be where you are today, which is why it is imperative to stay as authentic as possible.

4. Take a chance on yourself.

At the end of 2018, Chelsea realized that maybe she could actually make social media her full-time job. She sat down and realistically set financial goals for herself. Because of this careful planning, she was able to save up a year’s worth of savings before she ultimately quit her job in February of 2019. Although incredibly nervous once she did leave her 9 - 5, she decided to take a chance on herself and it paid off in the end.

5. Learn to adapt.

Since Chelsea’s content creation roots were embedded in photography, she resisted the idea of short-form video at first. However, she realized that in order to excel in social media, one needs to adapt or you get left behind. Thus, she found a way to marry both photography and video when Reels was introduced. This creative problem solving propelled her account to even greater success.

6. Build a library of content.

As Chelsea was navigating through the short-form video world, she quickly realized that she could lean on a set of series to grow. Since the start of her foray into video, Chelsea has debuted multiple different subsets of Reels and TikToks. Some include behind-the-scenes versus the final result, what she thrifted versus how she styles it, and so forth. These video collections force you to stay consistent. Plus, having this built up library of content adds to your personal brand and encourages other users to engage and follow.

7. Adopt a signature style within your niche.

Although Chelsea’s content is organically intertwined with life in New York City, her engagement does not suffer if she travels to a different destination. This is because her personal branding is so strong. No matter where she goes, she is able to stay true to her roots (creative photography) so every piece of content she posts feels authentic and true to her brand.

8. It’s okay to adopt a secondary niche.

That being said, it is completely okay to adopt a secondary niche within your branding. During the pandemic, Chelsea naturally fell into secondhand fashion and thrifting became a sub-category throughout her content. As long as you find a way to embed this secondary niche organically, you should have no problem introducing a variety of topics into your content.

Chelsea has truly a found a place for herself and her personal brand in this crazy social media world. Sticking true to her roots of creative expression and sustainable living, she was able to create an amazing community that supports her in all her endeavors.

FIND CHELSEA’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS HERE

INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE