Showing posts with label Influencer Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Influencer Marketing. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

The $7 Million Social Media Marketing Affiliate?



It's easy to make money with a massive social media following. The hard part is getting the massive following..



Father's Day is usually a day for celebration. But on this particular Father's Day in 2014, Jason Stone's home was burglarized. It was only a year prior that he had embarked on his social media marketing journey, creating a personal profile that he then built up to 10,000 followers, a number that seemed dizzying to him at the time.

The criminals knew that he was out of town through his Instagram profile. They cut the power and he received an alert that said his security system had lost its power. Figuring it was just a power outage, he continued to enjoy his mini-vacation to Orlando. Unbeknownst to him, the criminals knew they had about a day to wait before the backup battery in his alarm system ran out. They patiently waited.



Two days after he returned from his trip, Stone was infuriated by the burglary. It was a massive affront to him. He deleted all his social media profiles, vowing never again to allow people to know his whereabouts. However, a month later, he ditched that notion after seeing a friend making thousands of dollars from a single Instagram post.


It was then that he knew he needed to get back on social media, but this time to do it differently. That's when Millionaire Mentor was born, the profile that's amassed 2.5 million followers in a very short period. It took Stone just six months to reach 100,000 followers. After that, just six more months to get to 1 million. All authentic. Not one was paid for.

What ensued after this has been a journey across social media that can be categorized as nothing short of amazing. In my conversations with Stone, although he realized the potential for success and monetary gain on the platform, he never thought that social media marketing would create a lifestyle that would allow him to get rich and afford him the freedoms that he enjoys today.

Thanks to social media, in the past 12 months alone, Stone, who only posts affiliate marketing offers on his profile that he thinks would appeal to his target audience, has netted a whopping $7 million in sales. That's without ever selling his own product or service.



Simply put, it's an astounding and astonishing number that reveals the allure of becoming an influencer on a platform like Instagram.

How to Market on Social Media the Right Way

Stone's social media marketing prowess wasn't something that happened overnight. In fact, in his earliest days, he struggled to gain followers. It wasn't until he joined forces with other Instagramers that his audience really started to skyrocket.

Forming a bond among 15 like-minded entrepreneurs, Stone and his newfound friends launched a Kik group. The goal? Give shout-outs to each other on a recurring schedule.

Each day, all 15 members would give a shout-out to one of its members every single day, rotating the schedule until all 15 were marketed on every profile.



The members included Tim Karskiyev, Joe Duncan from @before5am, Joel Brown from @addicted2success, Steven Mehr from @agentsteven, Mike from @motive8co, Katriel Caledron from @donkarlito, Brad Cameron @buildyourempire, Peter Boone from @achievetheimpossible, Jamie Erogan @bossthings, Farokh Sarmad @mrgoodlife.co, Nathan Chan @foundr and Ruben Chavez @thinkgrowprosper.

The tactic worked. And it was powerful. Each of the profiles that were in this mastermind-like group saw their follower numbers skyrocket. What ensued afterwards, was a platform for Stone and the others that could be leveraged and capitalized, not just for financial gain, but also for influence.

Clearly, most people know just how alluring social media platforms like Instagram and SnapChat are. They're avenues for connecting with the masses and spreading your message. However, not many people reach the saturation that's required to ensure high visibility.

When it comes to marketing anything on social media, without a large footprint, you'll largely fall flat on your face. But getting there is incredible difficult. In my conversations with Stone, there were a few primary strategies that he wielded to build up and amass such a large following. Stick to these strategies, and you'll find success in the social media realm, as long as you don't give up.



1. Define Your Niche Audience

Carve out your niche audience. Who are you targeting? Get specific? This is important because you'll be curating your content towards that intended audience. Everything that you do or say needs to geared towards these people. In marketing speak, they call this your demographic.

The more you can define your demographic, the higher your chances for success. If you ignore you target demo and try to go after and appeal to everyone, you'll be less likely to succeed. Millionaire Mentor is a very specific niche market, targeting people that are interested in business opportunities.


2. Add Massive Value

You can't succeed on social media without adding massive amounts of value. Today, that's more important than ever. There's fierce competition in the marketplace, and everyone knows that the stakes are high. For those that can break through the proverbial glass ceiling and build a massive following, tremendous riches and opportunities await.


Find ways you can share your expertise with others. Find ways you can help the people that follow you in some way, shape or form. The more you focus on this mentality, the more likely you'll be to succeed in the long run. Stone did this with motivational sayings that inspired and pushed people to achieve their goals. How will you add value?

3. Create Viral Videos

Stone and many other influencers have leveraged videos to get their message out. Videos, which are done the right way, have the potential for going viral. And, when they acutely appeal to your target audience, they are potent and powerful on many levels.

Take the time to create videos that will appeal to your audience. Use a video editor or hire someone that can help you. Stone had someone create all his videos, investing a small amount of money little by little to building out his brand. He knew that was the surest way to reach the biggest audience.


4. Collaborate

Find like-minded entrepreneurs on social media who you can collaborate with. Reach out to them. Build a group. Join a mastermind. Or find some other way that you can team up with other people who might be in a similar situation as yourself, or with a similar amount of followers.


There is power in numbers. You can't expect to do this yourself or go it alone. It's called social media for a reason. Do shout-outs and joint ventures with other people if you want to experience explosive growth in followers and fans over time. Just don't expect it to happen overnight.

5. Leverage Hashtags

Many of the social media influencers that I've communicated with in the past have leveraged hashtags as a way of getting their message across. Years ago, it was far easier to do this when hashtags were relatively new. Today, it takes more focus and effort to achieve hashtag dominance.

Take the time to research the right hashtags and ensure that they're applicable to your audience and your content if you're serious about succeeding at the highest levels on social media.

Guest Authored By R.L. Adams. Robert Adams is a Writer for Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Engaget. He's a blogger, serial entrepreneur, software engineer, and best-selling author of dozens of technology, SEO, online marketing and self-development books, audiobooks and courses. Follow Robert on Twitter.





Having a strong online voice is part of your brand.

Any communication by or about you, such as your name being listed on your practice's website, is part of your brand.

Taking control of how you are perceived by others helps to build your professional reputation.

Whether you want to expand your practice, find colleagues to collaborate with, or are looking for career opportunities, your reputation is key to achieving your goals..
  • Crafted by:
    Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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Monday, May 19, 2025

Social Media Influence And Big Dollars?


The internet has given birth to a plethora of online sensations — from the Turkish chef who became a sensation as 'Salt Bae' just by seasoning meat.

To Jeremy Meeks, the felon whose viral mugshot catapulted him into a modeling career..



For many, social media can be a cruel and harsh place. Yet others, like non-celebrity "influencers" able to ride the wave of viral content to high follower counts and visibility, can easily make big money creating their own brand and promoting others.

According to Influencer marketing agency Mediakix, Instagram's influencer market is worth $1 billion, and shows no signs of slowing down. The firm predicted recently that by 2029, that figure would double.

"The fastest growing influencer marketing platforms are Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook, and YouTube," Jeremy Shih, head of marketing at Mediakix, told CNBC recently. For now, there's no comparable market for Twitter and the live video application Periscope.

Yet Periscope was a saving grace for Amanda Oleander, an artist based in California. In 2015, Oleander shot to fame on the platform by live streaming herself — eventually parlaying that into a six-figure income.



"At age 25, I [wanted] to be my own boss," Oleander told CNBC in a recent interview. When she first signed up for Periscope, she had recently been laid off and never considered being an internet entrepreneur.



After one week of being on Periscope, she became the most followed woman on the entire app.

"It kind of happened overnight," she said..

Live streaming herself painting exposed Oleander to a new class of clientele, with many viewers purchasing the illustrator's work, which costs an average of $5,000. Some of her clients include T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who owns two of her paintings — both of which he bought while tuned into one of Oleander's live painting sessions.

The artist told CNBC that her audience feels connected to the pieces she creates live, which encourages them to purchase the art. For example, Legere waited two years for Oleander to complete a $20,000 painting.

"I think people are attracted to that [rawness]," Oleander told CNBC. "A lot of the people who buy my pieces, they see the process," she said.



How To Elevate Your Influencer Game

Anna Rosenblatt, vice president of cultural strategy at advertising agency sparks & honey, recently told CNBC that to build a following, "live streaming works especially well for activities such as painting, gaming, and things people want to feel like they're there with you."

Otherwise, "Instagram is a top platform for micro-influencers, people who may not have millions of followers, but tens of thousands," Rosenblatt said.

As a result, micro-influencers are flourishing as brands increasingly unplug from people with far larger social media followings.

In recent years, some influencers have been able to purchase followers, enhancing the appeal of accounts with smaller followings but more targeted (and real) audiences. Rosenblatt explained that not only do micro-influencers tend to have a greater engagement with their niche, but are a cheaper deal: On average, most charge less than $500 per post.



Still, experts said the most successful micro-influencers are those who specialize in a small niche — such as art — versus a larger market like fashion. To encourage engagement with her fans, Oleander has meetups, giveaways, creates affordable prints for her viewers and even has a curated "peri-fam birthdays" list on her website.

If you are an individual and you want to get an influencer deal, you have to build an engaged and large following in a specific topic," said Matt Britton, CEO of Crowdtap, a marketing tech platform that aligns influencers and brands.

Britton told CNBC that the key between being an influencer and actually profiting from the industry is signing on to an influencer network, since "brands are not going to work with individuals directly," he said.

There's a definite hierarchy, Shih at Mediakix explained, as large influencers — defined as accounts with more than 100,000 Instagram followers and/or at least 300,000 subscribers on YouTube — usually get explicit overtures from brands.



"Influencer marketing companies and agencies, as well as networks, also work closely with brands to identify the right influencers for a given initiative/campaign," he said.

Meanwhile, smaller fish in the social media pool can use marketing platforms, which allow influencers to apply for specific campaigns, to get their own deals.

More importantly, once influencers get a deal, according to Rosenblatt, it's imperative that the brand deals align with their values, and that taste arbiters continue to stay true to themselves and exercise transparency.

That way, the audience does not feel like the influencer sold out.

"Credibility is key," Rosenblatt said. "We live in an era of trust over truth."

Guest Authored By Denise Garcia. Denise is a Freelance Photographer and Journalist. Follow Denise on X.





If you are an individual and you want to get an influencer deal, you have to build an engaged and large following in a specific topic..

  • Authoredby:Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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Saturday, May 10, 2025

Social Media Fast Fashion?


When you look at how social media is a part of our lives today, it’s hard to recall life without it.

Everywhere you go, someone around you is on their phone engaging with some sort of social platform..



And while some people use social media to share content, some people just use social media to see what their friends are doing.

According to Jeff Goins, author of The Art of Work, there are two types of social media users: “sprinklers” and “vacuums.” The sprinklers of social media share content, and the vacuums suck it all up. It’s in a way like the food chain, one can’t exist without the other.

Combined they keep social media alive, as they’ve fueled social influence and discovery and ultimately what we now know today as “social proofing,” which arguably represents the most powerful psychological trigger in marketing.

Fast fashion is one industry that is reaping the benefits of these habits, and it appears that it will continue to for years to come.

Before social media, many consumers would spend more on certain fashion items. The adage was often shared in magazines about quality “investment” pieces (you’ve all read the “splurge” or “steal” stories I’m sure). Items in one’s closet simply weren’t as exposed as they are today, and you could carry a handbag for 30 days in a row because no one saw it.



While high-end items are still a luxurious commodity, now in the world of Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest—where people post weekly, daily or even hourly—the psychology around wearing that same thing too often has quickly changed. Today, consumers want to display their favorite brands to their network so they can affirm their buying decisions and be part of the crowd.

Social media encourages the mentality that once an outfit or item is shared with the public, it can never be worn again and photographed. The problem with this psychological shift is that most people can’t afford to buy a high-end item and only wear it once.

One solution this created was fashion rental sites like Rent the Runway (with the rental model that people can wear high-end clothing and return it after they’re done, and no one on social will ever know whether they rented it or purchased it), but it is also where fast fashion retailers have seen incredible opportunities.

Because of this change, people are more inclined to purchase low-cost, fashion-forward clothing to stay on trend as they share their latest looks with their social followers more often.



Fast fashion retailers are seeing the benefits of these trends’ shorter life cycles because it’s resulting in people constantly looking for a product to satiate their moment of inspiration. Today, people don’t walk into a retail store to find their next look—they turn to their social media feeds to see what’s happening around them with friends or people they admire.

These behaviors support the concept of social proofing and empower the sprinklers of social media to become influencers in their own right and the vacuums to find a way to duplicate the look, before it’s gone (and affordably).

According to consumer studies, 81 percent of people are influenced by friends’ posts and 85 percent of people are influenced by celebrity endorsements when making a buying decision. Fast fashion retailer Boohoo reported that its profits doubled after paying celebrities to promote its products on Instagram to 16- to 24-year-old fans.

For retailers, this means social media is carrying more weight than mannequins in their own store windows and, more important, it’s a way into engaging and retaining customers.



User-generated content used to be images of users’ proudest outfits, and now it’s transformed into brands’ marketing budgeted strategies that provide incentives for customers to evangelize it. The possibilities are endless for fashion brands on social today.

Looking ahead, this cycle isn’t slowing down, and it’s now easier than ever for inspired shoppers to find their next look online—not to mention items that look suspiciously similar to high-end pieces.

By converging the act of shopping online with technological advancements like artificial intelligence, social influence and discovery have been supercharged, and retailers can now find consumers at any moment, and vice versa.

In 2017 alone we’ve seen significant progress with AI being integrated into the online shopping world. Wayfair is the most recent retailer to launch its own visual search engine to help its shoppers find the product they’re looking for and easily make their home decor inspiration a reality.



The company even claimed that this feature would be most beneficial for discount shoppers who love the look of high-end furnishings but need something more affordable.

Pinterest also launched Lens for Android and iOS and just recently launched the ability to increase the efficiency of its ads using AI technology.

While we can’t predict the future, we can use the track records of etailers like Asos and Goxip to see how successful social proofing can be in pushing higher sales and engagement.

Social media has become the direct path into online shopping baskets, and it’s undeniably connected to how easily people are influenced by others. It doesn’t matter if it’s a family member, friend or celebrity—we’re all affected by what’s around us and we don’t want to be left behind.

Guest Authored By Oliver Tan. Oliver is co-founder and CEO of visual recognition company ViSenze. Follow Oliver on Twitter.





"Fast fashion opens doors for people who want to replicate looks but who don’t have the means to purchase high-end items.

Add social media into the mix, and the fashion industry is constantly evolving with no end in sight.."


    • Authored by:
      Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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    Wednesday, May 7, 2025

    Influencing The Social Media Influencers?


    Social media offers an almost endless stream of data for businesses to collect on their customers..

    But what good is data without a smart way to apply it? The latest research from Gad Allon, Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions, offers a lifeline for firms drowning in the deep waters of social networks..




    Social media offers an almost endless stream of data for businesses to collect on their customers.

    But what good is data without a smart way to apply it? The latest research from Gad Allon, Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions, offers a lifeline for firms drowning in the deep waters of social networks.

    Allon and his team devised an analytics model that can help businesses identify high-value customers. The paper, “Managing Service Systems in the Presence of Social Networks,” was co-authored with Washington University professor Dennis J. Zhang. He talked with Knowledge@Wharton about the process.

    Knowledge@Wharton: Tell us about what you studied and the main questions you examined?

    Gad Allon: We’re looking at the intersection between social networks and service providers, and we're asking, “How should service providers think about these social networks?" Now, social networks have existed for many years. Think about reading clubs, churches and so on. But the emergence of the new social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, allowed firms to not only look at what customers do, but track it over time.



    Nowadays, firms have presence on these social networks. But more importantly, consumers use these social networks to communicate among each other and tell others about the experiences they had. Why is that interesting? In the past, we had key opinion leaders who had access to maybe The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal and wrote there about food and so on. Now, we have more and more people that have access to, let’s say, 1,000 followers on Twitter. So, we have to think about the idea of influence in a more nuanced way.

    “Technology enabled firms to micro-target and offer very segmented, differentiated services to customers.”

    That's on the social network side. From a service provider side, technology enabled firms to micro-target and offer very segmented, differentiated services to customers. They can offer upgrades based on who you are, your history, what you've done.

    The combination of the two & the fact that firms can look at customers not only in terms of the value they bring, but also how they influence others on social networks poses very interesting questions.

    The main question we’re trying to answer is: How should service providers allocate scarce resources, whether these are priorities or better service, to customers based on their value, but also their social network presence, and how they're influenced and being influenced by others?



    Knowledge@Wharton: What did you find, and how can your findings be applied in business?

    Allon: First, we built a model of how customers tell others about their services, how they form beliefs about the quality of the service based on their own experience, but also what other people tell them. We’ve identified and indexed an idea we call “centrality of the customer.” The economically adjusted centrality of the customer. It looks at not only the value they bring, but also how they influence others and how they are being influenced by others.

    The main takeaway is that firms should think about ranking their customers according to this index. Essentially, a customer should get high priority, or a better service, if they fit into one of three categories: they have many friends; they have very few friends, but these friends bring very high economic value; or this customer himself brings very high economic value, but is not being influenced by others. If he’s being influenced by others, I'm better off giving it to one of their friends.

    One of the main things that this doesn’t have in it is this idea of “friends of friends.” As you notice, you need to look only at the closed circle. That stands in stark contrast to what we know about products or political opinions. The reason for that comes from the nature of services. The nature of service means that I'm offering a customer a service only when they are there, which means that I can provide a very differentiated quality of service, which means that when the customer comes, I don’t have to really think about how this information is going to propagate. The moment they bring their friend, I can then decide on the right quality of service to provide. What it means is that it makes it much easier for a firm to track and to combine this information into the decision-making process.



    Knowledge@Wharton: How does this interface with the concept of customer lifetime value? It sounds similar.

    “While many firms track the lifetime value of their customers, very few understand how their customers interact on social networks.”

    Allon: While many firms track the lifetime value of their customers, very few firms understand how their customers interact among themselves on social networks. Should firms really go and obtain this information? We say that for firms to obtain this information, this information needs to be valuable. We look at the correlation between the economic value and social value. Surprisingly, we see that for some businesses, there is positive correlation. This means the more vocal customers are also the ones that have higher lifetime value. In which case, it’s pretty easy. I know that I need to target those with high lifetime value.

    However, the situation we see in many businesses is that it’s negatively correlated, meaning you have highly vocal customers and customers with very high lifetime value. In this case, knowing the social network and how it interacts with the lifetime value is crucial. In fact, we’ve obtained data from Yelp that showed for restaurants that are above-average in terms of their pricing, they're very likely to have negative correlation between the two. In which case, knowing not only the lifetime value, but also the exact way that your customers interact with their friends, is going to be crucial to obtaining better value from providing better service to the right customers.



    Knowledge@Wharton: What’s next for this research?

    Allon: The main question we try to answer now is: How should firms think about the difference between pure information and opinion on these social networks?

    There are many more markets for influencers, what we call key opinion leaders, where firms try to ask these people to tell their friends, tell other people, maybe celebrities, tell their audience about a product. But what part of that is purely informational? The goal is to bring additional volume. What part of that is really trying to shape customers’ opinion?

    Clearly, if you hear about a celebrity that got an amazing service from United, you’ve heard of United before. The question is, can this information shape your opinion about a firm that you already know something about? Is it only for an emerging market, or is it for a market that already exists? What we try to do is, both empirically and theoretically, disentangle these two effects.

    Guest Authored By The Wharton School. The Warton School is committed to sharing its intellectual capital through the schools online business journal, Knowledge@Warton. Follow Knowledge@Warton on Twitter.





    "The main takeaway is that firms should think about ranking their customers according to this index.

    Essentially, a customer should get high priority, or a better service, if they fit into one of three categories: they have many friends; they have very few friends, but these friends bring very high economic value; or this customer himself brings very high economic value, but is not being influenced by others.

    If he’s being influenced by others, I'm better off giving it to one of their friends.."


      • Authored by:
        Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
      F
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