ABOUT
THE START OF MY ONLINE ADVENTURE
Hi, I’m Lian, a thirty-something Dutchie (hoi!). Though I also feel like an Aussie, as I’ve lived in Sydney for 3 years. I currently live in my hometown, Groningen (The Netherlands).
I’ve always been creative. As a little girl I was always drawing, making music or putting together fashion-shows. It wasn’t surprising that I needed a creative outlet next to my marketing job. And so I started a lifestyle blog in 2012 with unexpected success. It soon became a part-time job and I was nominated for an ELLE Award, a Viva Award and Grazia UK named me 1 of 15 influencers worldwide to follow. Score!
MY INSTAGRAM STORY: FROM FAILURE…
By then all bloggers moved over to social media platforms, like Instagram and since everybody did it, I did too. A reason for many people to start their social media accounts; because everyone’s doing it.
And so I posted without vision or a goal and was doing what everyone was doing. And I got stuck. I didn’t grow any followers and got more and more frustrated. Sounds familiar? I almost quit social media altogether, yet I decided to give it one last chance and really go for it.
TO SUCCESS
For the first time in my online career, I approached it as a business: What do I want to radiate as a brand to attract the right audience and the right clients?
I made a plan and adjusted my branding and my content, and started posting consistently within this style. Without realising it, I had just created my first Brand & Content Strategy. A successful one; my profile grew with 150,000 followers within a year. I now have 240,000 followers on Instagram and being an influencer has been my full-time job since 2018.
THE START OF MY ONLINE ADVENTURE
The tricky part of this success, however, was that I was the brand. I couldn’t remember who Lian was as a person anymore.
I distanced myself from being an influencer and while I rediscovered myself on a personal level, it also became clear where my strength lies: Creating a powerful online image. That’s what I want to help others with, what gives me new energy: Re-experiencing my success story with other brands by creating content strategies for them. And here we are now!
“WITHOUT REALISING IT, I HAD JUST CREATED MY FIRST CONTENT STRATEGY. A SUCCESSFUL ONE; MY PROFILE GREW WITH 150K FOLLOWERS WITHIN A YEAR.”