A young mum, who joined social media as a hobby a few years ago, has spoken out on how she now makes thousands of pounds out of sponsored posts by squeezing in holiday snaps and blogs while her little one sleeps.

Sanja Grohar, 35, never imagined herself to be an Instagram star when she joined the app after her move to London with her partner, Matt, 37.

The former Miss Slovenia, who now lives in Chingford, London, started taking pictures for fun, which later spiralled into 'accounts tagging her' and 100,000 followers, which has since made her an Instagram sensation.

But it's not been without effort. She recalls waking up at 5am for the perfect shot – and spending hours on social media interacting with her followers – which are rising by 20,000 a year.

And it paid off.

Today she earns £40,000 a year through Instagram, sharing fashion and beauty snaps of herself in between juggling family life and her six-month-old son, Nicolai.

Sanja's become so reputable, she even managed to blag £7,000 in designer dresses for her lavish wedding to husband, Matt last August, for free – along with a £30,000 Slovenian ceremony.

That's on top of invites to London Fashion Week and running a campaign with Pandora worth thousands of pounds.

But topping her list of luxuries are her free holidays to Mexico, Spain and Italy worth up to £6,000, with her favourite vacation being to the five-star Cavo Tagoo Mykonos hotel in Greece.

But she admits juggling her busy life of an Instagram star has become tougher since the arrival of her son.

"It is way harder now. Sometimes I want to stay in my PJ's, with messy hair, no makeup, just being a typical mother," she explained, revealing her favourite binge-worthy films are Bridget Jones or Harry Potter.

"I have less time to do blogging and content creation overall as my baby is a priority. I take 10 times longer to do one video or photo than before. So I have to do more planning and base it around the baby's schedule.

"However I love our boy so much, so I don't mind. He is our world. Being a mother, a director, and content creator can be hard, but I am not complaining at all. I'm happy we have this chance to do it," she explained in an interview with the Mail Online .

In order to make her schedule work, Sanja explained that she'll spend time on her shots while Nicolai sleeps – with his pram always by her side, despite him being out of the picture.

The early days

While Sanja is now making £40,000 a year out of her posts, she admits she often wakes up still stunned by her success – which has snowballed in just a few years.

"Instagram basically started as a hobby and not in my wildest dreams did I think this could become a job as well.

"If someone would say then, that almost 100,000 people would be following me, I'd say they were barking mad!"

She said her husband is her biggest supporter. Matt takes most of her photographs – despite starting off with no photography experience.

"My husband is my best friend and he is my biggest support! I am so happy as it makes my life easier," she said.

When her blog first took off, she'd be waking up at 5am in search of the perfect view and the perfect sunrise. Accounts then started tagging her – which grew her popularity.

"Brands used to advertise in magazines, however online social media is so strong now. People are on their phones all the time. 

"Of course if I like the product I would gladly promote it and show it to my followers. However, I never promote a brand or product that I don't believe in."

A 24/7 job

There are negatives to Sanja's line of work – one of which is her inability to "switch off".

"You literally work 24/7," she said.

"When we are on holiday my husband sometimes just wants to switch off and I don't know how to. 

"It can come with a lot of pressure as you need to make enough campaigns for your yearly salary and that can sometimes affect your mood."

But the positives surely out-way the negatives, with Sanja's success affording her a £30,000 intimate wedding in Žiče Charterhouse, Slovenia, in August 2018.

Sharing her top tips for being an influencer, Sanja said to "find your niche", capture people rather than "behind shorts or places", and imagine "how the picture will look like at the end".

She also said she won't spend hundreds on a camera – instead using her phone to take photos – followed by apps like VSCO to edit them.

"Try being different and unique as this way more people will follow you. Also plan your feed," she added. "Choose your colour. Use hashtags this way people discover your IG account."

And when it comes to choosing who you want to be, she said avoid comparing yourself to others – embrace doing your own thing, as that's what people want to see.

"Sometimes it's worth using hashtags that are not the most popular," she added. "For instance the Fashion hashtag is too popular and your post can get lost in a million other posts. 

"However, if you use Fashion with an emoji or another word next to it – that hashtag will be less popular and people would discover you quicker."

Speaking on her biggest misconception, she said her life isn't perfect.

Talking on Huskie.com , she said: "We all have our own issues and goals – we all fight our own battles."

While Sanja is earning over £40,000 on social media, thousands more are raking in huge sums through blogging, vlogging and the art of aspirational photography.

Instagram's most recent 'rich list' – which landed this week – named Kylie Jenner as its biggest influencer, earning £1,266,000 per sponsored post.

Mike Bandar, co-founder of HopperHQ.com – who created the rich list – said: “It’s incredible how much influence these professionals have over their followers, so from a brands point of view these paid ads are often worth every penny.

"Kylie Jenner has had an incredible year, becoming the youngest ever self-made billionaire, so it’s no surprise that she’s topped the list again this year. Ariana Grande is second in 2019, but in previous years, she hasn’t made the list at all. With a strong year in the spotlight, the public have followed her through her ups and downs – and it has appeared to have had quite the effect on her Instagram as a result."

Sanja's top tips to becoming an influencer

• Always imagine how the picture will look like at the end 
• Instagram prefers portrait over landscape
• People's faces get more likes than behind shots or places
• Find your niche! Try being different and unique as this way more people will follow you
• Plan your feed and choose your colour. Influencers use feed planner so they can see how posts will look on IG once posted
• Use hashtags this way people discover your IG account
• Sometimes it's worth using hashtags that are not the most popular so more people will see your post

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