Influencer Content and Earning a Living
By Patrick Hynes
1/13/2022
Influencers. The product of social media, these people have managed to gain followings through creating and sharing content across multiple platforms. Many people think of travel when they think of influencers. Influencers are often thought of in a negative light, since it's, "not a real job". In fact, Forbes reported in 2020 that influencers were on the decline due to the pandemic. However, influencers are really just social media marketers who have turned themselves into a brand. They go on fabulous trips, stay up on the latest fashion, and have the latest in tech. It can be confusing to understand how influencers manage to make a living. Here, I will break down how influencing has become a legitimate source of income.
Content for Comp.
Content is an influencer's best friend. It's their meal ticket, both literally and metaphorically. Influencers can review products, places, meals, and more to their audience. Some influencers will talk about a brand without being asked to, like if they have an especially good experience at a restaurant or with a skincare routine. Most micro-influencers will work to get comp'd stuff, such as an overnight stay at a hotel or a dinner at a bougie restaurant in exchange for content being created about it. The restaurant or hotel can then reuse this content as User Generated Content (UGC) and grow their audience. This is a two-way partnership: The influencer gets a comp'd item and gets featured on the social media of the brand. The brand gets UGC and gets exposed to the influencer's audience, ideally converting them into customers. While macro-influencers will charge, micro-influencers are focused on building their brand and will work to establish themselves as a reputable, reliable source before trying to charge for their services.
Pitching Yourself
Being your own brand means you have to forge your own partnerships. Micro-influencers (having a following of less than 50,000) often have to seek out these partnerships on their own. They have to negotiate with brands to figure out how much content they would have to produce. This starts with pitching themselves on social media to brands they are familiar with. A micro-influencer for fitness might try to pitch themselves to workout studios, weight lifting brands, nutrition-focused brands, etc. in order to start partnerships. While many big-name brands won't shy away from using macro-influencers (people with followings of over 500,000), brands have also found huge success with micro influencers.
Brands Seeking Influencers
Brands seeking to have influencer partnerships will usually look at an influencer's ER, or engagement rate. This is the percentage of followers that likes, comments, shares their posts. This is how brands can weed out people who have purchased their followers. An influencer with 100,000 followers means nothing if their posts only get about 12 likes. On the flip side, an influencer with 20,000 followers (one fifth of that!) that can consistently break 1,000 likes is a far more valuable asset. Their following is engaged with the content they're creating, and that means that the influencer's following would most likely engage with content that was comp'd by the brand. This could ideally turn into new users trying their product for the first time and falling in love with it.
1/13/2022
Influencers. The product of social media, these people have managed to gain followings through creating and sharing content across multiple platforms. Many people think of travel when they think of influencers. Influencers are often thought of in a negative light, since it's, "not a real job". In fact, Forbes reported in 2020 that influencers were on the decline due to the pandemic. However, influencers are really just social media marketers who have turned themselves into a brand. They go on fabulous trips, stay up on the latest fashion, and have the latest in tech. It can be confusing to understand how influencers manage to make a living. Here, I will break down how influencing has become a legitimate source of income.
Content for Comp.
Content is an influencer's best friend. It's their meal ticket, both literally and metaphorically. Influencers can review products, places, meals, and more to their audience. Some influencers will talk about a brand without being asked to, like if they have an especially good experience at a restaurant or with a skincare routine. Most micro-influencers will work to get comp'd stuff, such as an overnight stay at a hotel or a dinner at a bougie restaurant in exchange for content being created about it. The restaurant or hotel can then reuse this content as User Generated Content (UGC) and grow their audience. This is a two-way partnership: The influencer gets a comp'd item and gets featured on the social media of the brand. The brand gets UGC and gets exposed to the influencer's audience, ideally converting them into customers. While macro-influencers will charge, micro-influencers are focused on building their brand and will work to establish themselves as a reputable, reliable source before trying to charge for their services.
Pitching Yourself
Being your own brand means you have to forge your own partnerships. Micro-influencers (having a following of less than 50,000) often have to seek out these partnerships on their own. They have to negotiate with brands to figure out how much content they would have to produce. This starts with pitching themselves on social media to brands they are familiar with. A micro-influencer for fitness might try to pitch themselves to workout studios, weight lifting brands, nutrition-focused brands, etc. in order to start partnerships. While many big-name brands won't shy away from using macro-influencers (people with followings of over 500,000), brands have also found huge success with micro influencers.
Brands Seeking Influencers
Brands seeking to have influencer partnerships will usually look at an influencer's ER, or engagement rate. This is the percentage of followers that likes, comments, shares their posts. This is how brands can weed out people who have purchased their followers. An influencer with 100,000 followers means nothing if their posts only get about 12 likes. On the flip side, an influencer with 20,000 followers (one fifth of that!) that can consistently break 1,000 likes is a far more valuable asset. Their following is engaged with the content they're creating, and that means that the influencer's following would most likely engage with content that was comp'd by the brand. This could ideally turn into new users trying their product for the first time and falling in love with it.
Lazy Days & Mental Heath
By Patrick Hynes
1/10/2022
Laziness. A vice everyone struggles with from time to time. But in a society that's always going-going-going, are we neglecting the fact that we need to slow down? According to science, we are.
Lower your blood pressure
When people get stressed, their blood pressure spikes. It's not a conscious decision to do this. It's our bodies giving us a rush of adrenaline when we begin to panic, activating our fight-or-flight. However, sustained levels of stress can significantly increase your blood pressure. This raises the risk of developing health issues down the line, ranging from heart attacks, to strokes, to an increased risk of dementia. Taking one day a week to do what helps you relax allows your body time to de-stress and unwind, letting you get your body back into homeostasis.
Avoid Burnout
A 2020 study showed that over 75% of workers are struggling with feelings of burnout. While work from home has been a blessing for working parent, for others it blurs the line between work-time and relaxation. You're not leaving the house to go to work, but in the same breath, you feel guilty for not working because your bedroom has morphed into your home office. Working in the bedroom has been shown to cause a rapid deterioration in mental health. People get anxious about work while they lie in bed attempting to relax. Setting a clear boundary and taking a day for you means that you have to establish a clearer divide between you-time and work-time.
Clearer Skin
Stress and bad skin go hand-in-hand. For years, we've known that a sudden uptick in stress can cause acne breakouts, or "stress pimples". But did you know that it is also linked to flare-ups of eczema, psoriasis, and even dandruff? Stress causes inflammation, which is your body attempting to fight a perceived threat. In cases like a sinus infection, it can be good, but in situations where you're under mental duress instead of physical duress, it can be quite detrimental. Take a beat to practice self-care daily by doing a skincare routine, whether that means using a baby wipe to clear off grease, or a full-blown facemask routine. A day off helps reduce the mental stress you undergo in your day-to-day, allowing your body to reset.
1/10/2022
Laziness. A vice everyone struggles with from time to time. But in a society that's always going-going-going, are we neglecting the fact that we need to slow down? According to science, we are.
Lower your blood pressure
When people get stressed, their blood pressure spikes. It's not a conscious decision to do this. It's our bodies giving us a rush of adrenaline when we begin to panic, activating our fight-or-flight. However, sustained levels of stress can significantly increase your blood pressure. This raises the risk of developing health issues down the line, ranging from heart attacks, to strokes, to an increased risk of dementia. Taking one day a week to do what helps you relax allows your body time to de-stress and unwind, letting you get your body back into homeostasis.
Avoid Burnout
A 2020 study showed that over 75% of workers are struggling with feelings of burnout. While work from home has been a blessing for working parent, for others it blurs the line between work-time and relaxation. You're not leaving the house to go to work, but in the same breath, you feel guilty for not working because your bedroom has morphed into your home office. Working in the bedroom has been shown to cause a rapid deterioration in mental health. People get anxious about work while they lie in bed attempting to relax. Setting a clear boundary and taking a day for you means that you have to establish a clearer divide between you-time and work-time.
Clearer Skin
Stress and bad skin go hand-in-hand. For years, we've known that a sudden uptick in stress can cause acne breakouts, or "stress pimples". But did you know that it is also linked to flare-ups of eczema, psoriasis, and even dandruff? Stress causes inflammation, which is your body attempting to fight a perceived threat. In cases like a sinus infection, it can be good, but in situations where you're under mental duress instead of physical duress, it can be quite detrimental. Take a beat to practice self-care daily by doing a skincare routine, whether that means using a baby wipe to clear off grease, or a full-blown facemask routine. A day off helps reduce the mental stress you undergo in your day-to-day, allowing your body to reset.
Dungeons & Dragons & Professional Development
By Patrick Hynes
1/6/2022
1/6/2022
For decades, Dungeons and Dragons has been the pinnacle of nerd culture. People often envision the sweaty, Cheeto-fingered, living-in-mum's basement types to be the ones to play. But in the past several years, with shows like The Adventure Zone and Critical Role gaining mainstream audiences, Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition has become wildly successful. In 2020 alone, sales of Dungeons and Dragons products (from starter sets, to books, to dice, and more) jumped by 33%, as reported by CNBC. Dungeons and Dragons has become a cultural phenomenon. It's the most engaging form of build-your-own adventure. People escape into magical worlds where they can be heroes, working together to tell a collaborative story.
Now I'm sure you're wondering: Patrick, how does any of this tie into professional development?
While D&D is a game set in a fantasy world, filled with fantastic beasts and magic, it also has a lot of lessons that can tie into the real world, whether it's creative problem solving, teamwork/collaboration, or even how to think and react on the fly when a wrench is thrown into your best-laid plans.
Creative Problem Solving
Dungeons and Dragons is a roleplaying game first, before anything else. When creating 5th edition, Wizards of the Coast (the company behind D&D) wanted players to be rewarded for roleplaying. Characters have more than just offensive abilities. The main selling point of D&D has always been being a hero, but 5th edition allows characters to explore nonviolent solutions. Each character has a 'Charisma' stat, and the higher that stat is, the more persuasive, intimidating, or deceitful the character can be. Now instead of just slaying a dragon, players can opt to converse with it, reason with it, and figure out ways to move forward that don't necessarily require vanquishing enemies. Now this isn't to say that battling enemies is bad. On the contrary! Some of my personal favorite moments from my players have been from combat. Battling on a snow-covered mountain? Why not cause an avalanche to wipe out the enemy! The man your party is bounty-hunting is about to slip away in a bustling city? Cast the Hunter's Mark spell to track him for an hour! D&D allows for players to flex their creative muscles, to think outside the box to solve problems. A paper published by the Wharton School of Business in 2019 stated that, "Learning how to adapt... and how to think critically... is important... The entirety of D&D is based on that." Creativity and role-play make the game more enjoyable for everyone, and can help you learn to look at problems from different angles. You never know when that wild idea might be the best solution.
Teamwork and Collaboration
As previously stated, Dungeons and Dragons is about collaborative storytelling. There's the Dungeon Master (DM), who crafts the world that the players reside in. They voice everything from the hotel innkeeper, to the crazy shop owner (shoutout to Crazy Greg's Cursed Wares!), to the evil warlock threatening to destroy the world. While they create the larger, overarching story, the players really drive the tone, pacing, and how the story unfolds. My players (goofy as they are) are a formidable unit when they go into combat together. They coordinate attacks, use spells to bolster each other, protect each other from harm. Players also get to work together to create solutions to problems. One player could be charming the king while another sneaks into the castle to steal the king's treasure. Working together helps them achieve common goals! Now where else could this lesson POSSIBLY apply... oh that's right, the real world! Where working together, whether it's with one partner or a team, is vital to success. Communication skills are key in-game and out of game. Boileau Communications agrees, stating that, "the skills for good business collaboration are doubly so in D&D."
Adapting On-The-Fly
As a Dungeon Master, it's my responsibility to craft a world that my players want to engage with. I can create any number of plot threads for them to decide to tug on, from a mysterious beast tormenting the town, to a malevolent lord taking advantage of the townspeople. However, players don't always want to follow these threads, and that's alright! If they decide they want to go to a bar instead, that's ok! Make up a name for a bar, and create a couple occupants. What's this? The players are fascinated with this one-eyed bartender who speaks in a southern drawl. They're asking more details about this thing I created less than a minute ago... Adapting on the fly is key for D&D. Being able to change the story and the world to focus around players want to do is key. While many people online tell you about how much preparation goes into being a DM (which, it does), all of these plans can be thrown out the window by any player choice you didn't predict. The players want to adopt a goblin? They want to burn down a tavern? They want to abandon the continent and be sea-shanty-singing-pirates? It's the duty of the DM to react and keep it moving so that everyone can engage and have fun.
Now I'm sure you're wondering: Patrick, how does any of this tie into professional development?
While D&D is a game set in a fantasy world, filled with fantastic beasts and magic, it also has a lot of lessons that can tie into the real world, whether it's creative problem solving, teamwork/collaboration, or even how to think and react on the fly when a wrench is thrown into your best-laid plans.
Creative Problem Solving
Dungeons and Dragons is a roleplaying game first, before anything else. When creating 5th edition, Wizards of the Coast (the company behind D&D) wanted players to be rewarded for roleplaying. Characters have more than just offensive abilities. The main selling point of D&D has always been being a hero, but 5th edition allows characters to explore nonviolent solutions. Each character has a 'Charisma' stat, and the higher that stat is, the more persuasive, intimidating, or deceitful the character can be. Now instead of just slaying a dragon, players can opt to converse with it, reason with it, and figure out ways to move forward that don't necessarily require vanquishing enemies. Now this isn't to say that battling enemies is bad. On the contrary! Some of my personal favorite moments from my players have been from combat. Battling on a snow-covered mountain? Why not cause an avalanche to wipe out the enemy! The man your party is bounty-hunting is about to slip away in a bustling city? Cast the Hunter's Mark spell to track him for an hour! D&D allows for players to flex their creative muscles, to think outside the box to solve problems. A paper published by the Wharton School of Business in 2019 stated that, "Learning how to adapt... and how to think critically... is important... The entirety of D&D is based on that." Creativity and role-play make the game more enjoyable for everyone, and can help you learn to look at problems from different angles. You never know when that wild idea might be the best solution.
Teamwork and Collaboration
As previously stated, Dungeons and Dragons is about collaborative storytelling. There's the Dungeon Master (DM), who crafts the world that the players reside in. They voice everything from the hotel innkeeper, to the crazy shop owner (shoutout to Crazy Greg's Cursed Wares!), to the evil warlock threatening to destroy the world. While they create the larger, overarching story, the players really drive the tone, pacing, and how the story unfolds. My players (goofy as they are) are a formidable unit when they go into combat together. They coordinate attacks, use spells to bolster each other, protect each other from harm. Players also get to work together to create solutions to problems. One player could be charming the king while another sneaks into the castle to steal the king's treasure. Working together helps them achieve common goals! Now where else could this lesson POSSIBLY apply... oh that's right, the real world! Where working together, whether it's with one partner or a team, is vital to success. Communication skills are key in-game and out of game. Boileau Communications agrees, stating that, "the skills for good business collaboration are doubly so in D&D."
Adapting On-The-Fly
As a Dungeon Master, it's my responsibility to craft a world that my players want to engage with. I can create any number of plot threads for them to decide to tug on, from a mysterious beast tormenting the town, to a malevolent lord taking advantage of the townspeople. However, players don't always want to follow these threads, and that's alright! If they decide they want to go to a bar instead, that's ok! Make up a name for a bar, and create a couple occupants. What's this? The players are fascinated with this one-eyed bartender who speaks in a southern drawl. They're asking more details about this thing I created less than a minute ago... Adapting on the fly is key for D&D. Being able to change the story and the world to focus around players want to do is key. While many people online tell you about how much preparation goes into being a DM (which, it does), all of these plans can be thrown out the window by any player choice you didn't predict. The players want to adopt a goblin? They want to burn down a tavern? They want to abandon the continent and be sea-shanty-singing-pirates? It's the duty of the DM to react and keep it moving so that everyone can engage and have fun.