Are you Australia's next hospitality influencer?

Influencers use their online presence, authority and credibility to share food trends, techniques and promote venues to their followers. Find out how Le Cordon Bleu can give you an edge on the competition.

The power of social media influence

In the age of social media, followers are power. Influencers are using social media to change our opinions and engage us. They can affect a wide audience of consumers and it's the authority and credibility they hold that makes them a desirable marketing avenue for so many businesses. In fact, hospitality influencers can boost the volume of social media users talking about a brand by 61-87 per cent, suggests research by Hootsuite. This marketing power is what forms a career for influencers.

If you're a food blogger you won't automatically become an influencer - a reputation must be built over a period of time based on the quality of your writing and photography. Le Cordon Bleu workshops can help you develop the necessary skills.

Learn to write about food

To write about food, you need to understand it. Food is about so much more than just satiating your appetite - it's a symbol of status, a means of expression, a source of entertainment and, for some, a business.

Food journalism, too, is more than just restaurant reviews. It can reflect on a certain trend, an era of food and its relation to wider society, or it could investigate major food vendors and their contribution to nutrition. Quality food writing requires you to be the eyes, ears and mouths of your readers. Stimulate their brains just as much as their tastebuds.

Bloggers wanting to push their food writing beyond its current limits need to register for the Food & Wine Writing Workshop at Tasting Australia. Attendees of this course go behind-the-scenes at the event as a food writer, with coaching from an experienced food and wine journalist.

Learn to style your photos

Being a good writer is not enough for someone looking to gain influence - images are by far the most engaging content on social media, research by eMarketer shows. That said, social media is a crowded space - eight in 10 people use social media in Australia alone, and 40 per cent of those people are sharing photos of their food, according to Sensis. In such a competitive online space, standing out is essential.

Everyone has a smart phone and Instagram filters - you need professional photography skills to stand out from the crowd. This means you'll need to understand composition, lighting, food styling and much more. You can learn everything you need to know in Le Cordon Bleu's two-day Food Photography and Styling Workshops. Working with an accomplished photographer, attendees will be guided through the process of food photography from conception to post-processing.

If you're looking to build your social media skills in food writing or photography contact us today and increase your chance of success as an influencer in the culinary world.