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Influencer In Focus: Josefin Strand

We interviewed Josefin Strand, Miss Intercontinental Sweden, Vlogger on Youtube and Graphic Designer. We learnt it can take up to 20 minutes to edit, preview and post a picture and that the most important thing to grow followers is to network and study your insights. Keep reading to find out more on how to grow your socials and how Josefin went viral with a video on tiktok with more than 1M views!

"How many times have you, as a creator, looked up to another influencer and thought "what's her real story?" or "how did she really made it to the top"? Or perhaps you wonder how other industry peers collaborate with brands and you want to compare the way they approach their clients to yours. Will their growth strategies work with you?... Well, this is why we created the community!

In our new section, "Influencer Interviews", we'll be sitting down with some of the most popular and successful influencers in various industries to gain insights into their experiences, tips, and strategies for building and maintaining a successful personal brand. We are excited to kick off our series with an exclusive interview with Josefin Strand, a well-known lifestyle influencer and blogger who lives in LA, who will be sharing her journey, her tips, and her secret to a successful personal brand. So, whether you're a curious influencer yourself, or simply interested in learning more about how other creators approach their content creation, be sure to check out our first interview with Josefin Strand to kick start your learning:

Back in December 2022, we sat down with Miss Intercontinental Sweden, graphic designer and influencer Josefin Strand to talk about her job as a creator, and we discovered that one of the most important things she learnt from being a creator is to stand your ground and be proud of calling yourself an influencer.

By the end of this interview you will learn her tricks for Instagram, Youtube and how she went viral on TikTok with a video that reached millions of views in no time:

1. Thank you for coming to our offices Josefin, it is great to have you here with your camera, mic and your great vibe and positivism, can you tell us what you are known for on social media?:

Hello! First of all thank you for having me here! I am Josefin and people know me as @strandjosefin on social media. I work full time as a graphic designer, so I visualize people´s ideas through art and people also know me for modelling, beauty and women empowerment.


2. Can you tell us how the moment you realised you went viral was? How did you react?

Right now I have 101,000 followers on instagram. I was 11 when I first got instagram, but it has only been during the last year that I started growing. I always loved creating content. When I wake up in the morning I want to do content. I have been posting every day for 3 years and I think it was only the quality of the content that made my instagram go "boom!". Video creates 30% more engagement, so video has definitely made a difference. I went viral was last year when I started Tiktok when I reached more than 1M views and it felt surreal. Views on tiktok doesn´t mean a loyal following, so on instagram when I saw 1K or 2K followers a day was amazing and just a few months ago.

The video that went viral was just me following a trend but doing my own thing around it–I took the video down as it was a screen recording of a text conversation with a friend where I asked him a random question and I recorded his live reply.

3. What is the best part of being an influencer?
Creating content, I think it is amazing!

4. What is the worst part of being an influencer?
I think there is nothing wrong with being an ingluencer because being an influencer in itself is the best part, and we must take pride on that, be proud of saying you are an influencer!.

5. When an agency or brand approaches you, what things make you say YES to a collaboration?

When I agree to work with a brand it is because it feels fair, we are on the same page, and because the people who approach me have a similar vibe to me and if I feel like I can really contribute to their brand. I have grown a lot in one year but it is hard to get paid, a lot of brands want me to work in exchange for items, and sometimes it can be great if it is something you really like or need but on the other hand, it is minimizing my job and look, it doesn´t need to be a lot, but just pay us a little bit to show us respect. In EU I worked with smaller companies.

6. Can you tell us 3 things you hate brands and agencies do when working with you?
Sending me messages to buy their products with a discount. I hate that and I actually delete those messages when I find them in my DMs.

7. What is something you really appreciate from agencies and brands?

That they value my time and that the job feels fair

8. What have been your top 3 paid collaborations? Why did you enjoy each one?

Selfcare LA, I met the owner in LA and she was really cool to work with.

9. Many people who read this will probably be looking to grow their social media, can you give them 3 tips that worked for you?

Network, take pride in saying you are an influencer and spend time looking and studying your analytics.

10. What has been your biggest learning as a creator?

To realise your own value, because it is a pretty new role, so knowing how much I am worth and knowing how much to ask someone to pay you for your content is difficult. The whole role and the purpose is a new thing. So finding our own value has been the biggest learning.

11. People don't often know how much time is put to create a post on instagram or Tiktok, how long does it take for you to post?

Well, just editing a pic takes me 20 minutes, and to give you an idea of how much I spend on my social media, I post every day, at least 1 video and stories, and I recently started my youtube channel and trust me, vlogging takes a lot of time! but now Jonte helps me with youtube. I also tend to preview and schedule the posts on an app.

12. Going back to an important topic for creators, how did you manage to get your first paid collab?

It was for a commercial shoot and I don't even remember how much I got paid for it. It was for a dentist clinic who wanted to have someone in the video and through some connections they recommended me.

13. What has been your worst experience with a brand?

It was with a brand that seemed to have a great product but when it arrived home, it was far away from good... So the product was worse than they advertised. I expected something great and the product was the opposite. Another big no is when brands approach me with discount codes– but I think I already mentioned that, right? (laughs).


Thank you so much Josefin for sharing your story with us and other influencers! You are for sure on your way to becoming a giant on instagram and tiktok and we hope to see you in our office soon!!

Head over to our stories on instagram to find Josefin Strand and follow her on her journey as an influencer!

Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on instagram to learn how other influencers have grown their social media and other interesting social media trends from the Gigapay team!

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