Alina Shamanskaya: “A Million Subscribers in Two Years of Maternity

In just a few years Instagram was able to change her life. Now a lot of people start their mornings with Alina Shamanskaya’s posts, cook borscht with her, discuss important political and social issues, and are inspired by her success. Alina Shamanskaya spoke exclusively about Woman About her 1 million subscribers, advertising contracts, children’s content, and Tik–Tok. 

 Alina, recently there was an important figure in your Instagram – 1 million followers. What do you think, is it success, luck or the result of hard work?

In my case, it is the result of pleasant work. Honestly, a million subscribers didn’t just fall on my head.  A million was the goal and a deliberate strategy.  It’s impossible to get that kind of audience without doing something. But you have to love what you’re doing and give it your all – that’s how it is in any profession, if we’re talking about success.

Does a blogger’s income increase after the 1 million mark?

The blogger’s income increases only from the growth of audience activity. No one wants to pay money for a blank figure or a pretty picture. What good does it do the advertiser? No matter how much you have five million, if five people buy the product you’re advertising, they won’t pay you.
I raised my ad prices confidently because I am responsible for the result. To date, rates of increase in activity and sales of advertising pages after my advertising – one of the highest in Ukraine, and I am proud of it. I do advertising that not only pays off, but makes a profit later on. Sometimes people do business with my audience from scratch. I use Shanami’s personal secrets for this, so I don’t hesitate to charge a decent fee for it.

You are always selective in your promotional offers. What factors are important to you?

My first rule is that I don’t charge for advertising until I have personally inspected and tested the product. If the product is not of good quality, it goes back. After a million, it’s even harder to get on my page.  Now, not only will I not recommend people low-quality products (e.g., fake perfume, “ali-express”), but also what does not match my taste and idea of the thing. For example, yesterday my helper returned a tracksuit. Although it was of good quality and style, made in Ukraine, but I didn’t like the way it fit me and slid on the trainers. I wouldn’t go to the gym in a suit like that! So I gave it back.

How many subscribers can a blogger start receiving promotional offers now?

Today, the number of subscribers is not as important as their activity. There are 300k and million pages that are made purely for givaway with schoolchildren, but this is not a solvent audience. Or maybe a 60k engaged adult audience, which gives a swell result to the advertiser. But if you’re still asking for a figure, I think it’s 40-50k today. But you understand that the price of advertising on small pages – small.

You hold giveaways and raffles. How do you do this effectively so that subscribers don’t unsubscribe from the page upon completion?

Just a little while longer and giveaway will make everyone sick. Therefore, they must be done competently. Right now bloggers and I are getting a lot of circular givens with no sponsored pages. That is, in fact, we make an exchange audience offering to subscribe to their own friends. Thus, we don’t strain people with a huge number of sponsors. These givens are a great opportunity to show yourself to a new audience. Now, for example, we pooled together with the guys and gave a good car. I don’t use any holding strategies, you can’t force yourself. If the man likes me, he stays; if he doesn’t like me, why should I keep such people?

You run Arthur’s page as well. Children’s content is considered one of the most popular and profitable in the world. Do you plan to introduce your son to blogging as he grows older?

Definitely not. I don’t think blogging is a man’s profession. He’s better off playing sports. I don’t make any money on his page, as long as there are no ads there. I would call it a joy album, where I collect the pleasant emotions of his growing up. He’s too cool not to be filmed and share his uniqueness with people who love him.

Does Arthur see that his parents are very active, and is he already showing talents in some area?

He shows talents in our field. His acting could be the envy of many adults. He also impresses me with his mature and deliberate thinking. Sometimes I think he’s at least 5 years old. At the filming of the last commercial, the director set Arthur the task himself, not through us – the parents! He would walk up to him, take a seat, and explain what to do after the word “motor.  Arturchik did everything from the first take, remember, he is now 2.4!

Tik-Tok is actively competing with Instagram, and many bloggers are moving there as well. What do you think of this platform? Are you planning to develop there as well?

I don’t have an account there, and I have no idea what the network looks like. I have no interest in it. I’m sure Instagram has no competition. He’s in for the long haul. And Tik-Tok is a temporary phenomenon that I have no desire or time for.

Now you are on maternity leave. Would you like to go back to television?

If I really wanted to, I would have been back by now. But I liked the freedom a lot. Now I’m my own editor and producer. In two years of maternity leave, my page has become my personal mini-media. But I certainly miss the energy of television, it’s a drug you can’t get rid of.  I’ll tell you a secret, just today I got a message from the producer: “Alina, I want you back on TV! You’ll find out what happens next.

You’ve done a lot of commercials. Wouldn’t you like to try your hand at a movie by playing the lead role?

I don’t think that’s going to happen to me in life. Especially with her husband, a filmmaker, who is about to make a big shot in Ukrainian cinema. But, this is not my goal or dream. I don’t have a great desire to do a movie, just for the sake of doing a movie.

What goals are your priorities at the moment?

I am a person who announces his goal only after the fact. I believe in the energy of dreams! If you tell it to everyone, it will lose its magic and power. So let’s talk in six months. You will definitely want to discuss it (smiling – ed.).