IF YOU WANT TO BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY YOU NEED TO SHOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE, SAYS PODCASTER AND DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR RAJ SHAMANI. IMAGE: Raj Shamani, left, with influencers and content

creators Nick of Beyounick, Prajakta Koli aka Mostly Sane and Mallika Dua. Photographs: Kind courtesy Raj Shamani/Instagram How does one become an influencer on social media? What is the

secret to getting more likes, tweets and followers? Entrepreneur and podcaster RAJ SHAMANI, who has approximately 900,000 followers on Instagram and over 15,000 on Twitter, tells us how you

can grow your social media presence: 1. RESPECT THE PLATFORM Whatever platform you are creating content on, you need to respect the medium by exploring their new features and creating

announced live streams and YouTube shots. Similarly, Twitter launched space and Twitter fleet, which you can use to curate content and promote accordingly. 2. EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN OR INSPIRE

Your content must be entertaining, informative or inspiring. Educating or informing your audience about things that will add value to their life or help them solve a problem is worth

sharing. Entertainment is quite often best done by video or memes. Content that entertains should be funny and highly shareable.  Inspiration comes from the stories of failures and

challenges that successful people have faced along the way -- inspiring people to be better, to push their limits or to be successful should be integrated in your content. 3. HOOK PEOPLE

WITHIN FIRST 3 SECONDS OF YOUR CONTENT To hold the attention span of your audience you need to show them the best part of your content right in the beginning. Just like how a fisherman baits

a fish, put your best foot forward and create mystery to hook people to watch your content. Create the mystery in the first 3 second so that your audience is curious to watch the rest of

the content. You need to put the funniest or most interesting part in the beginning to hook your audience. 4. COLLABORATE OVER COMPETE If you ask me to give just one tip or one rule to

become a content creator then it would be collaborate over compete. Don't think that any other content creator is your competition. Think of everyone as your friend who's there and

you all are here to win together by giving the best value to your audience. Think of every other content creator as someone who is going to help you in your journey and you are going to

help them in their journey. 5. DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR. TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR With so many trends going on everyday, content creators rush to create

content just because it's trendy and have the potential to go viral. Most of them are doing it because it is a ready-made recipe. You must remember this content is not unique. There is

a very thin line between creating trendy content and creating trendy content which suits your personality. It's important to talk about things you believe in, share your views and

opinions on the same and find the niche you would want to be known for. 6. ENGAGE WITH SENSIBLE COMMENTS AND DIRECT MESSAGES One of the most important aspects to grow on social media

organically is to connect to the target audience. Connecting to the target audience is vital for any business, organisation, personal brand, content creator particularly in order to

determine how the target audience reacts to events, items, your content or situations. The reactions of the target audience directly relates to growth. Engage with people and join in on the

conversation. If people see you are responding, more people are likely to comment, and your content will get pushed out to your target audience. 7. MAKE A COMMUNITY; GO ULTRA NICHE People

don't realise the power of building community. A community is something that your audience will feel a part of; it's meaningful connections and shared interests coming together in

one place. Creators can build relationships to leverage other followers and come up with creative ways to keep your connections. Choosing a niche will allow creators to focus on how to

become the go-to for whatever you are selling or suggesting. Niche it up, and you will become a thought leader people want to listen to. 8. ENGAGE WITH OTHER CREATORS CONTENT BY ADDING VALUE

Let's not forget that Instagram is a social media platform where you can meet new people and communicate with those who share common interests. To engage with other creators start

liking and engaging content that is related to your niche. Leave your comments under other posts, let them know that they are doing great, or share your own opinion on this topic. 9. BE RAW;

SHOW THE WORLD THE REAL YOU For every perfectly angled and edited glamorous shot, there are at least a dozen less flattering versions. The world where everyone wants to show their best self

showing unrealistic body goals, photoshopped pictures. Show your real side, so that people can connect and relate to you. If you want to build your community you need to show who you really

are. It's important to show your vulnerabilities, and insecurities. Promoting something which isn't real won't help you grow in the long run. 10. CONSISTENTLY CREATE CONTENT

Consistency is one of the major factors that helps a creator grow organically. It is important to be consistent in what you share, how you share it, and when you share. Quality and frequency

are key when it comes to consistent content. You will create authority and trust among your audience by frequently creating qualitative content, your brand will become known as an expert in

its field. It will help you create brand recognition, generate more leads, increase in engagement and you will get regular feedback and help you learn more about your audience and their

likes and dislikes.