Influencing as a career

Angeline Ong, a full-time yoga teacher and cycling enthusiast.

SHE can bend like a pretzel, cycles like a devil and with her lean, mean bikini body, she is a fitness inspiration.

So it is no wonder that Angeline Ong, 40, a full time yoga teacher and cycling enthusiast, has garnered over 170,000 followers on Instagram and counting.

And it all started when she took a fitness course in Perth, Australia for a year and progressively took up yoga training.

“I then accumulated followers over the years by attending events as a food blogger, travel blogger and fitness ambassador,” says Ong, who was a cycling ambassador in the Asian Bike Tour and was part of the Malaysian team to finish the 1,200km bike race in Thailand.

Gaining a wide reach on social media, Ong, from Kuala Lumpur, gets approached to promote products from time to time, ranging from fitness apparel, casual wear, beauty products to health food and supplements.

But with so many other influencers on social media, Ong admits facing a lot of competition from others.

“To keep a high number of followers, I have to plan and strategise my content.

Make-up artist and entrepreneur Noriana Mohamad Nazuir (left) posing with Yuna (right).

“I also make sure I send out regular information, which must be beneficial and of value to my followers,” she says.

Ong does believe one can make a full time career out of being a social media influencer.

“If you’re creative, good with video and photography, and love being around people, you can consider it as an option.

“You must believe in whatever you do and believe in yourself that you can accomplish the things you set out to do,” she says.

As for singer and sports enthusiast Talitha Tan, the cute 21-year-old rose to fame when she started posting up songs on YouTube.

From performing at open mics, she gradually enjoyed more success with singles like Okay being played on radio airwaves.

With her large following on social media, Tan, who is also passionate about extreme sports like parkour and rock climbing, often gets offered to promote products and services in the beauty, sports and lifestyle categories.

But she admits to being selective about her choices.

“What’s the point of promoting something you don’t believe in? I wouldn’t enjoy doing it, and probably wouldn’t be able to give it my all.

“But I’d much rather work with someone that actually likes what I do.

“Not because I’m just another girl on Instagram that happens to have a following. I want to be able to create content,” Tan says.

And with music being her first love, she emphasises that it’s singing that gives her true happiness.

Malaysian singer-songwriter Talitha Tan.

“Honestly, I just want to perform. I love singing and performing for people. I love to entertain,” she adds.

Make-up artist and entrepreneur Noriana Mohamad Nazuir, known as @norianathefacedesigner on Instagram says she gets approached by businesses almost everyday.

“It’s usually make-up in general. But others include beauty and health products, events, food, fashion items, clothes, accessories, gadgets, phones, apps, travel tours and the list goes on,” says the 31-year-old who has done make-up for popular singer Yuna.

Noriana says she tends to be “brutally honest” in her reviews and says no to any controversial, illegal or harmful products or brands.

“When I am approached by an unknown brand, I normally do a little research on them.

“If the brand and products are what I would personally use or I believe I would use, I’ll most likely accept the offer,” she adds.

Noriana tries to promote her work and profile which indirectly allows her to gain followers.

“To grow my numbers, I keep it real and original, relatable, constantly posting good content and just staying true to myself,” she says.

While many aspire to be influencers, she says it is also good to have a fallback.

“You have to be different and extremely smart in managing your time, energy, money, people online and in real life,” advises Noriana, who dreams of being a beauty TV show host and having her own makeup brand one day.

Meanwhile, some aspire to be an influencer as an alternative career.

Antonius Ang, 32, a marketing executive, wants to be a social media influencer but admits it is tough to make it a full blown career.

His company has restrictions on having a side job and he respects such a policy.

“I’m a foodie and aspiring musician. It’s one of my ambitions to be an influencer because they are like modern day celebrities.

“I think you will still need a day job but it is possible to one day become a full-time influencer if you are successful enough,” he says.