There is a lot behind the scenes running a successful influencer business. Most people initially assume style influencers just take a photo and post it on Instagram, then just live their best life traveling and getting free stuff. While there is a lot of curb appeal to being an online influencer, there is actually a lot of work behind the scenes.

Today, I’m pulling back the veil to show you everything I currently use to run my business. All the apps, equipment, software, and team members I currently use to run my two businesses, Strawberry Chic and The Profitable Influencer.

Everything I use for my Influencer Business

Everything I use for my Influencer Business

Strawberry Chic Team

Now before we jump in, don’t let this overwhelm you! If you’re wanting to create a successful influencer business, it takes time to build and invest in your business one by one. I’ve been doing this for almost 8 years now, and it wasn’t until this year where I leveled up my business and hired on team members. You absolutely do not need all of this to run your business. I was completely solo on this (besides an accountant) up until this summer. But now with running two businesses, I was way overdue to hire on some help.

Accountant

Nothing makes you feel like a real business until you get slapped with taxes the first time, lol. This year I needed to hire an accountant to handle the financial end of my businesses.

Virtual Assistant

My virtual assistant is an angel from above, literally. I would be so in over my head without her! I wish I hired some help sooner…So take it from me – when you can financially justify it this is the first thing I would hire out!

Video Editor

This is the newest addition to my team, and has significantly helped unload my editing demand for videos now that I have two youtube channels. I still edit a few videos if I need a quick turnaround time, but it’s been so nice to unload this workload to someone who loves editing much more than I do (and is way more efficient at it).

Pinterest Manager

Pinterest can be a huge traffic source to your blog if you spend the time scheduling out pins and focusing on SEO. I’ve used Tailwind for a few years to schedule out pins, but this year I wanted to hire out an expert to take over this task for me. It was just something that easily fell off my radar month to month, and hiring someone to manage it took the stress of it off my plate.

SEO Manager

Recently, I hired a team to help me improve my blog SEO. They improve old blog posts, fix errors on my site, and help me optimize future posts. To be honest, SEO wasn’t my top priority over the years, but after seeing a few blog posts rank in Google it’s something I want to prioritize moving forward.

Photographer

I work with a photographer monthly to shoot sponsored campaigns for brands and to have professional images to share on social media and my blog. I shoot with KVC Photography in Atlanta. We always have so much fun together!

Lawyer

Anytime I need assistance with a contract my friend Ashlee is the go-to in the industry. She is an influencer herself, so she’s very familiar with the business. She also helped me with trademarking my business name and writing policies/terms for my website.

Everything I use for my Influencer Business

Apps and Software I use for my Influencer Business

Tailwind

Up until I hired a Pinterest manager, I used this monthly to schedule out pins and add my content into tribes to help increase discoverability of my pins. Now, my Pinterest manager uses it to do it for me! If you want to grow your blog traffic on Pinterest, I highly recommend using this tool to do so. You can batch schedule pins so you don’t have to constantly be thinking about pinning day to day.

You can use my link here to try it for free

Planoly

I use Planoly to schedule out my posts for Instagram and see how my feed will look ahead of time. I don’t always schedule out my posts for @strawberrychicxo but I do like to put my photos in there so they don’t get lost in my iPhone camera roll. I also use it with my VA to schedule out posts for @TheProfitableInfluencer.

Flodesk

I use this email provider for my Strawberry Chic newsletter. It’s very simple and easy to make pretty emails. They’re a new platform and don’t offer as many analytics as other providers (for now) but it’s so user friendly I recommend it to anyone just getting started!

If you sign up with this link, you’ll get 50% off your subscription.

rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOWit

I use these apps to link products and outfits for my viewers. I talk more about how to use LIKEtoKNOW.it as an influencer, here!

TY Studio

This is the youtube creator app I use to reply back to comments and check analytics on the go.

Lightroom

I edit all the photos I take with a preset in Lightroom. I prefer to edit on my computer, but I also have the app on my phone if I need it. I usually airdrop photos back and forth between devices.

MileIQ

I use this app to track my mileage when driving to photoshoots or business-related trips.

Canva

I make literally everything on Canva. My thumbnails, collages, graphics to share on social media, overlays for videos, IG stories, etc. It’s very user friendly and it’s what I’ve used since the beginning.

Quickbooks

I use QuickBooks to keep track of finances. Every month I audit my accounts, mark expenses, and set aside money for taxes. If you sign up with this link, you’ll get 50% off your subscription and a $50 visa gift card.

Inshot

I use this app to quickly edit videos for IGTV, Tiktok, and Reels.

Toggl

This is a newer app i”m still trying to get the hang of, but I’m hoping it helps me stay on task and manage my time better throughout the day.

Business Credit Card

I just wanted to throw this in here because it makes your bookkeeping so much easier when you have a dedicated business account and card to put all your expenses on. I choose to use Delta American Express for my business so I could earn SkyMiles to encourage me to travel more. Might as well build credit and get free flights out of all those business expenses! If you sign up for the card with this link, you can earn 40,000 SkyMiles.

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Strawberry Chic

This is everything I use to run my blog, Strawberry Chic

Siteground

This is the hosting I use for my blog. They have great customer service and my site is rarely ever down.

Google Domains

I used this years ago to get my domain name (strawberrychicblog.com). I know it can be a little confusing on what a domain and host means, so I talk about it a little more in my post on How to Start a Blog.

Theme

Having a beautiful looking blog design can be pretty easy if you purchase a theme you love. I use a theme by Empress. In addition to the theme, Over time I also purchased her add on plugins: Grid, Shop the Post, Link in Bio, and popup for my newsletter.

Content Calendar

Along with a planner, I use Google Calendar to plan out my content and stay on task. I also use a content planner to stay ahead with my content. You can get my exact content planner, here!

Google Sheets

Every year I make a spreadsheet to keep track of brand collaboration payments, a master content list, random expenses I don’t want to forget to enter in QuickBooks, and any keywords I plan to target with blog post and youtube videos.

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youtube and blog Equipment

Computers

I use both my Macbook pro and a iMac to run my business. I still like editing on my laptop vs desktop for some reason, but I prefer to write up blog posts on the bigger desktop computer and use a split-screen for all my tabs (always guilty of having way too many tabs up!) It’s totally not necessary to have both, I used my laptop alone for years. If you’re wanting to do Youtube, I recommend getting the Macbook pro.

Cameras

Canon M50 – I use this for sit down videos or for photos when traveling, although I mainly prefer my iPhone for photos because it’s easier.

Canon G7x – this is a very user-friendly camera and what I would recommend to any new Youtuber or someone wanting to vlog.

Lighting

Lighting will make or break your content. You don’t need artificial lights if you know how to take photos outside or have a well-lit room, but for my preference, I use these to help with shadows in my awkwardly shaped room.

I use these standing lights and a ring light. These aren’t the best quality, but they get the job done.

Background and Try On Mirror

I consider this apart of my business because it’s where I create all my content and has become apart of my branding. You can see my office space here.

iPhone

I still use my iPhone to create a lot of content for my blog. All my mirror selfies, flat lays, and photos around the house are taken with my iPhone. I also use it to create any video for IG stories, tiktok, or reels. If you have a relatively new phone, it’s all you need to create content!

Editing software

I’ve always used a free version of iMovie on my MacBook. I’m sure eventually I’ll pay for final cut pro, but for now I just don’t want to learn a new platform.

Storage

I use Google Drive to share videos with my editors, iCloud to manage all the photos on my computer and to backup my iPhone, and an external hard drive to store older photos and all my videos.

Microphone

I use a RODE mic with my Canon M50 to improve the sound quality of my videos. This was a recent purchase and I still don’t think I’ve mastered the ideal settings for it.

Tripod

I use this tripod to hold my camera or iPhone for videos.

Backup memory cards and batteries

I learned in the beginning to always always always have backups for these two things. Every time I film a video either my battery dies or my memory card is full. You don’t want to have to wait for everything to recharge to finish a video!

Keywords Everywhere

I use this Chrome extension to come up with keywords for videos and blog posts.

TubeBuddy

Tubebuddy helps simplify productivity when it comes to youtube. I started with the free version but eventually upgraded to have more features. Essentially it helps with keyword research within Youtube and makes it easier to add tags, filter comments, etc.

Everything I use for my Influencer Business

The Profitable Influencer

If you didn’t know, I started The Profitable Influencer to help mentor aspiring influencers grow their business. I know how frustrating and tiring it can be to figure out how to grow and monetize as an influencer, so now I’m teaching others how! Most of these are new business expenses, so I don’t really have any feedback on using them yet. But I know a lot of other course creators who use and recommended them to me.

If you’re like hold up, where do I sign up?? You can learn more here! I also have a free Facebook group here to connect you with hundreds of other influencers.

Convertkit

I use this email provider for all The Profitable Influencer emails. It’s very userfriendly and has amazing integrations with other services if you ever want to launch a course. I’ve tried a few different email providers, and this one has the best email deliverability and overall features.

If you sign up with this link, you’ll get your first 1,000 subscribers for free.

Leadpages

I use this platform to create my pages for The Profitable Influencer.

Easy Webinar

I used this to do a free live training on the biggest mistakes I made (and I see so many others making). I will probably do another free training early next year if you missed out on this one! Join the waitlist to be notified when that time comes 🙂

Teachable

This is the platform I use for my course, The Profitable Influencer.

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Again, I hope this post doesn’t overwhelm you but gives you an idea of what apps or equipment may help supplement your influencer business. Integrating all of this into my business has been a very slow process throughout the years as my demands change and grow. If you want more free influencer resources, head here next!

Do you have any apps or business platforms to share? Let me know in the comments below!

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xoAmanda

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