Our next star influencer is Rabia Malik aka Drcardamom. Being a doctor by profession she uses her platform to guide people regarding healthcare issues. She also shares parenting and personal life experiences on Instagram. Due to her great content, she is being followed on Instagram by many people from different parts of world.
We asked her some question related to her Instagram journey and content creation. She had some very interesting responses as we have shared below. Give it a read.
How would you briefly define your experience as an influencer so far? Share your journey with us.
DrCardamom started off as a food blog under a different name and slowly evolved into the lifestyle blog of a doctor mom who wears many hats including a simple home cooking mother. As the blog evolved, my niche slowly evolved. While I don’t consider myself an influencer per se, I know I certainly have impact on others. I do my best to maintain a level head and show my true, down to earth and relatively simple lifestyle.
What/who became your inspiration for blogging?
I’ve always shared bits of my writing here and there as well as photos. Many friends suggested I start a blog so I took the dive in November 2017 with a photo of a homemade turkey burger.
As an influencer, what do you consider your strength?
I am relatable, transparent and to the point. I don’t sugarcoat discussions, don’t display myself in the facade of perfection and try to be inclusive of everyone to the best of my ability. I find followers and many co-bloggers appreciate these traits of mine.
How do you perceive your impact on your audience? (Nationwide or globally)
Being that I consider myself relatable, my audience finds comfort in reading my posts, seeing photos on my feed and watching my stories. They are seeing the honest, down to earth, relatively simple lifestyle of a doctor-mom. They feel they have tuned in on someone they consider a friend, not someone who is trying to make them feel insecure.
How difficult is it to generate unique content?
It’s not difficult if one is true to themselves and gives credit where due. While pretty much all topics are already touched upon to varying degrees, I try to find a twist that is unique to me and my niche.
Do you face plagiarism issue in content?
Sometimes.
For successful lifestyle blogging, what aspects should be considered?
Followers are here for you but not just you. They are here to learn, see, get influenced. While your lifestyle may be awesome, don’t just share your day to day life. Find your specific niche and subcategory of your niche and focus on those so your audience knows what they can expect in general. This will keep them coming back and continue to attract more people.
What do you keep in mind while creating something? Your audience or you just do what you like?
I certainly keep my audience in mind, however try to make the content true to my niche. This being said, I throw in plenty of things that I like but which I know my audience will enjoy as well I just don’t go out of my way or out of my comfort zone
Which platform do you prefer more for public interaction based on your audience?
Instagram .
Do fellow bloggers support each other in growing?
Yes.
How do you handle negativity on social media?
Being that I am an open person, I address negativity to some extent in my Instagram stories and rarely on my feed. I have also learned to back off from people and situations if I find they are bringing the worst out of me because that can be counterproductive. Fortunately, I have not had any serious negative experiences.
How do you react to the judgmental and negative followers?
If significant enough to talk about, I address their actions in my Instagram stories. I don’t name names but the offender tends to know who they are anyway.
How has this abusive and in tolerant culture been developed on social media? How does it affect your content creation?
Alhumdulillah, I am fortunate enough to not have experienced major trolling. Still though, I have experience some negativity. It does not necessarily affect my content creation but does put a damper on spirits for the time being.
Lifestyle blogging covers many topics, which particular topic do you love posting about?
My blog is about the down to earth lifestyle of a doctor mom. The sub-topic of parenting would be my favorite.
Your platform includes audience from different cultural backgrounds and regions, how do you manage to keep your content relatable for your audience?
Bloggers tend to attract audience that is similar to them to some extent. Like myself, most of my audience has roots in the subcontinent and live all over the world. This makes it easy to connect with them from the get go. Aside from this, the various topics I blog about connect with most of my audience in one way or another.
How important it is for influencers to generate relevant content?
It’s pretty important as followers are expecting to see certain topics when following you. However, throwing in a curveball here and there is not necessarily a deal breaker. Ultimately, niche and topics do change and evolve over time. For example, toddler moms do eventually become big kid moms! Mommy bloggers can enjoy fashion and also go on vacations.
Do you consider number of followers important for a successful blog?
Honestly, numbers matter quite a bit. They indicate how far you have come, how much support you have, how strong your blog is and give validation and proof when needed especially for sponsored collaborations. The caveat is that these numbers need to be organic. Bought followers don’t bring the engagement results one is looking for.
Any advice or suggestion for upcoming bloggers and influences:
Be genuine, be kind, be respectful and supportive of one another. Practice basic manners such as “please” and “thank you”. Befriend other bloggers and be good to them. They will be your biggest supporters in the blogging world. Your niche might change multiple times and you will find this is always a work in progress, so don’t beat yourself up over not reaching whichever target you set up for yourself. While numbers matter to some extent, don’t dwell upon them. Continue to learn as much as you can and focus on producing good quality content; you will see results.
