"Life Is Not Giving up Whatever May Come and Have Faith in God" - Panchali Mitra

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1. Tell us about your background and journey.

Hi, I’m Panchali Mitra , a B.com graduate in Accounting and Finance and a passionate beauty, fashion and lifestyle content creator on social media. I was mostly focused on my studies and never even thought that I would be doing this today. 

I was a very shy and under confident person since my teenage days since I have been bullied several times due to my weight and appearance. When I got introduced to the idea of content creation on social back in the year 2018, that’s where this amazing journey started . 

I discovered about POPXo and wanted to join their team as a campus ambassador and thankfully I made it. It was big happy moment for me and that’s when I slowly started to discover the world of content creation and got very fascinated and interested in it . 

I attended my first blogger event at 2018 organised by Westside stores and since then I started to work on this seriously and day by day my passion and love for

content creation have increased a lot. Till date, it has been a rollercoaster journey. I have faced a lot of ups and downs, had some amazing experiences, learned a lot , grew myself as a good content creator and still trying to a better version of myself everyday. 

Social media has really helped me a lot in getting in regaining my confidence and made me feel loved( Thanks to everyone who supports and encourages me ). So my love and passion for content creation has become a permanent part of my life now.

2. What led you to start your page on Instagram and what is it about?

A: As I have mentioned above that in 2018 I started my own instagram page and definitely POPxo was a stepping stone for me. Also, I slowly started to discover a lot of famous influencers on instagram that time, followed their content and tried to learn from them. I then started to experiment regarding what type of content i want to put out and how i can make it more valuable and shareable on social media.

So, finally I decided to create beauty , fashion and lifestyle content on my page

(@theglossymusingss) and started to work on it accordingly. My page is all about originality, own ideas and style which i feel makes my content unique from others.

3. How would you distinguish the term blogger from an influencer?

The term blogger and influencer is quite closely related but are distinct in their own ways . According to my point of view , a Blogger is someone with a website where they host a blog and publish their own original, valuable content and generally aim to inform, entertain, coach, or teach through content, which could come in the form of articles and images.

 

Whereas an Influencer's someone with an online platform who has the ability to affect their target audience's buying decisions by using the influencers’ experience, training, background, knowledge, quality content or authority. 

Influencers don’t necessarily possess a blog/website since they influence mainly through social media like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube etc. Most importantly , every blogger is an influencer but every influencer is not a blogger.

4. Is it financially sustainable to be an influencer today?

To be very honest, according to the current scenario of this ongoing pandemic, it has become quite hard for me to vouch on that because not only the influencers are facing financial loss but the brands as well so financially it may not look quite sustainable since if someone is a budding influencer he/she has to invest a considerable amount of money, time and hardwork of course to produce quality content to attract brand collaborations 

So, the ROI may not look good at this point of time but bad times come and go just like the good ones, so if an influencer has the perseverance, dedication and patience things will definitely fall in place and success will surely come . Till then one has to hustle very hard and keep patience if he/she wants to consider it as a full time profession.

5. What do you think influences consumer behavior?

Consumer behaviour is basically influenced by four major factors i.e. social, cultural ,personal and psychological factors. So from my perspective, the target consumer/audience behaviour is mostly influenced by the influencer’s valuable content that he/she is creating on social media.

The honest reviews of brand products, introducing new brands them, keeping in mind what the target audience likes/wants and how creatively way an influencer persuade the consumer to buy certain products without promoting the same aggressively . 

Your promotion shouldn’t look fake and money minded to your target audience/consumer .

6. What is your idea of success or your mantra in life?

My idea of success is all about learning, growing and developing as the best version of myself both personally and professionally and being able to contribute the same in a meaningful and rewarding way. 

Also, my mantra in life is not giving up whatever may come and have faith in God. I have faced more NO’s than YES’s in my life and I still face the same till now but at the end of the day I don’t agree to give up but work more and keep being strong and patient .

7. How can someone become a successful social media influencer?

For being a successful social media influencer one should be very particular about his/her content and keep on producing valuable and shareable content on social media. Consistency, perseverance and patience is the key , always maintain your originality and try not to copy blatantly from some other creator because you are unique in your way and so should be your content. 

Most importantly,try to garner genuine audience rather than giving into short cut way of getting followers because in the long run your organic and dedicated followers will help you get success even if your growth on social media is slow on initial stage since we all know slow and steady wins the race!

Also, you will face a lot of rejections rather than approvals in your journey but if you love this profession and passionate about it, don’t give up whatever may come. Keep on creating because your success should not be measured by how many brand collaborations you did but by the amount of great content you have created and the organic followers/supporters you have gained in your professional journey who values and loves your content.

8. Which is your favorite book and why?

I am an avid reader and definitely have a lot of favourites but till date one of my most favourite books is “The Kite Runner” by author Khaled Hosseini. Firstly Khaled Hosseini is such a gem of an writer and so are his books. 

The Kite Runner is so special to me because that book drives a knife through your heart but at the same time makes you realize the gratefulness and existence of hope in the most honest and real ways. 

Also this book throws light upon certain issues which are of utmost importance like gender norms, war time violence , child sex abuse, vulnerability of human soul etc. which will definitely leave you shaken and grieve for the characters.

Interviewed by - Vayun Sahni