Whether it’s street style or a formal outing, Akin Faminu always looks dapper. He is one of the few Nigerian menswear bloggers that continue to make a case for the conventional suit and tie look, changing the mood with adire and ankara and raising the ante of Afrocentric sartorial elegance. For the fashion flock, being featured on Vogue Italia as he has, is the ultimate badge of honour that has set him apart as a style influencer.
Akin’s influence is felt far beyond the Nigerian blogosphere. His beautifully framed photos, which feature him in aesthetically appealing locations, now appear on mood boards for designers and stylists alike. His photographic style has inspired countless advertising campaigns including a recent promotional video by YouTube.
He himself describes Akin Faminu as a brand about everything; fashion, content creation and influence committed to bridging the gap between designers and consumers, through a creative approach.
Is having an appealing Instagram feed and extra crisp photos enough? Working with top brands mostly entails great content creation skills along with an ability to slightly persuade readers/potential customers through the magic of language, grammar, and words that you an authority and to be trusted.
At the time Akin started to take his blog as a business, he barely had 10,000 followers on Instagram, however, from the beginning he understood the value of strategically creating value through content: “I always knew I was going to earn from blogging, but this wasn’t my motivation to start, and I was not in a hurry to start earning. I was more focused on my content” he explained.
The real truth is, there are unlimited SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits of blogging when you publish the right content and back it up with a smart content marketing strategy, you’ll be more likely to earn high-quality back-links that will drive traffic and boost rankings.
The importance of a good SEO-Content relationship cannot be overemphasized. So must a blogger having writing skills? Writing content tailored to the interests of your target market keeping it interesting as well as informative but does need a certain level of skill, which of course can be developed. Merely posting photos on a blog writing I wore a tshirt and jeans I totally slayed in just won’t cut it. Follower count will certainly drop.
For Akin writing was something he has always genuinely enjoyed doing. While it may be true that the mainstream is leaning towards videos, people are still digesting and enjoying the classics of English literature and that’s one factor that distinguishes bloggers who write well.
However, balancing medical school and blogging does not come cheap. Akin reached a point when he realised he was creating content that brands were benefiting from.
Also because brands started to offer him payment for the services he offered which range from content creation to social media promotion, he realised that there was serious fiscal potential in what he loved doing.
He’s now more at ease with charging for his services. He sees blogging as a business and as a customer-focused activity that attracts serious attention with the added potential for huge ambassadorial deals and collaboration opportunities.
“A brand will take you more serious with a media kit,” Akin says. Essentially, a media kit is a packet full of information about a blogger’s services, engagement statistics and rates for services to be rendered.
Now boasting of almost 50k followers and an impressive engagement capacity, there isn’t an exact formula he uses to calculate his rates. Moreover, his fees are based on logistics and all the necessary resources needed to drive high traffic. There really is no standard rate applicable to all bloggers, you can charge X amount per X percent of followers, but true value can only be measured by engagement, quality of content, experience, and the range of services provided.
The saying charity begins at home may be true but how well is the business of blogging acknowledged in Nigeria? In Akin’s opinion, “We’re starting to understand it just a bit, but we certainly have a long way to go.” In the meantime, Akin will continue to do what he does best “doing him” engaging with followers, offering exemplary advisory services and giving back, where he can. For the would-be blogger, it is this essential combination of services that will transform your hobby into a career.
