Frank iTom has gained notoriety for his transition dance videos. He has built, since he started during the pandemic in 2020, a following for himself. On Instagram, he has over 280k followers. On TikTok, he has more than a million followers.
Regularly, he features A-List stars from Richard Mofe-Damijo to Funke Akindele. Frank iTom was one of the young and aspiring creators who attended the Creator Lab live hosted by Meta last month for creators in Nigeria.
Last week, Frank iTom sat down with Technext for an Instagram live session on his tricks to becoming an influential creator on Instagram. See below some of the take-aways. While the interview has been edited for length and clarity, you can watch the full session here.
How the journey started for Frank iTom
“When we talk about content in this day and age, we only look at it from the sense of creating content for social media as it where. But it comprises longform and shortform as well. I’ve been within that space since 2009.”
“I was a graphic designer at the time. And from graphic design, I started to learn photography. Then I got a job working in internal comms for a company. Then I moved to branding. Then 2020 happened and the lockdown happened. And then I became a “content creator.” But I’ve been there [in the space] for a long time.”
What to expect from creating content
What a lot of people don’t know is that even though I have been creating consistently, I have been in a bubble since November last year, until a few weeks ago. I didn’t feel motivated enough to create.
I felt burnt out.
And there were days when I didn’t want to see anything creativity or creation. I didn’t want to edit anything. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was overwhelmed with the pressure of putting out quality content. But there was one thing that kept me going, the phrase ‘just keep creating.’
Frank iTom
How to overcome burnout by Frank iTom
On the days when things are not going well for me, I think about the end goal. And the end goal for me is not to end up as an Instagram content creator. It is to inspire. It is to create things out of social media. Frank iTom said.
Sometimes creators don’t pay attention to what their mind, to what their body is telling them. ‘Yo, slow down.’ ‘Yo, take a break.’ But it’s like ‘No, the competition is so stiff.’ I can’t slack. So you put yourself under so much pressure.
Building a community
I don’t even know if I think I have a community to be very honest. What I think I have are people who I connect with, and that is why in the beginning I started saying that we are itomics.
What I describe as iTomics are people who don’t take life that seriously. I don’t take life that seriously. I will make a joke out of everything. I try not to have a bad day. My followers like me for that reason. There are people who follow me for the content. But many of the people who I connect with who send me DMs are iTomics.
The power of collaboration
Collaboration is the key to unlocking limitless potential. Some of my biggest videos are from collaborations. The first video I did with Funke Akindele I got 20 thousand new followers on Instagram in one day. I got 400 thousand followers on TikTok in one week. But you need to have something of value that you can bring to the table.
How to monetise content by Frank iTom
It didn’t bother me that brands were not coming to advertise. People were like ‘I don’t know where to position you. I was not focused on brands noticing me. I was just creating. But because I stayed consistent and created a name for myself in my field, and I got better, brands began to notice me.
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