Hi, and welcome to this week’s Influencer Dashboard newsletter!
This is Amanda Perelli, and I’ll be briefing you on what’s new in the business of influencers and creators.
This week, I highlighted the top 17 brands in influencer marketing. These brands have built lasting partnerships with creators on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and in podcasting.
Recently, brands are turning to more relaxed guidelines when it comes to influencer campaigns, and they are letting the creators take more creative control.
Ticket-selling service SeatGeek has a successful partnership with the YouTube star David Dobrik, who has 15 million subscribers. The partnership has led to viral moments, like Dobrik buying cars for friends - from Teslas to Ferraris - with "SeatGeek money" in exchange for a 60-second shout-out on his YouTube channel.
SeatGeek is like a character in Dobrik's popular vlog-style videos - maybe you've seen his fans recite the SeatGeek ad read on Twitter while seemingly loopy from drugs following dentist visits.
Innovative brands like SeatGeek are pushing forward the influencer-marketing industry and trusting the creators they work with.
Check out the full power list, including SeatGeek, Sephora, and Chipotle, here.
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A college TikTok influencer with 1.6 million followers explains how much money she makes - and her 3 main sources of income
I spoke to Cosette Rinab, a busy college junior at University of Southern California, about her popular TikTok page.
Rinab has 1.6 million followers on the app and said that she splits her time between studying film and public relations for school and growing her page.
While some of her peers are working part-time jobs in babysitting, or at restaurants, Rinab is earning her money off the app, and she treats it like a job.
She shared the main ways she earns money through TikTok, including brand promotions, music integrations, and livestreaming.
For an average sponsorship, she said creators will charge between $1,000 and $2,000 per 100,000 TikTok views, based on her experience and what she's heard from other creators.
Read the full post on Rinab for a break down of how she earns money on TikTok.
How 2 podcasters changed their strategy and made $25,000 in a month from Patreon - up from around $2,000
One popular business move among influencers (especially in podcasting) is to offer and charge followers for exclusive content.
Alyssa Meyers, a reporter on our media and advertising team, dove into the podcast business of stand-up comedians and entrepreneurs Kevin Fredericks and Anthony Belcher Jr. (known as DoBoy from Nick Cannon's long-running comedy show, "Wild 'N Out").
They host the podcast "Righteous and Ratchet," where they discuss anything from French fries to Kevin Hart.
Fredericks told Alyssa that their podcast wasn't earning much money until they decided to take it to the subscription-based membership platform, Patreon.
Since building a paying audience on Patreon, the podcast has generated as much as $25,000 a month.
Read the full post on how these 2 podcast stars made $25,000 in a month from Patreon.
A pair of 30-year-old video producers blew up on TikTok and are charging brands thousands of dollars for sponsored posts
TikTok isn't just for Gen Zers. Older creators are also gaining followers and earning money from the fast-growing app.
Dan Whateley, a reporter on our influencer business team, spoke to the 30-year-old TikTok creators, Nate Twer and Greg Auerbach, on how they turned their video skills into a serious online business.
Using a smartphone (and professional lighting), Auerbach has amassed over 590,000 followers on TikTok since launching his account in July.
The pair told Dan that they refocused their video-production company from shooting local commercials to making videos for TikTok. They earn money through sponsorships, which have proven to be a lucrative source of income.
The nominees are in for this year's Shorty Awards!
Foto: sourceAstrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Shorty Awards
Did you catch the nominees list for this year's Shorty Awards?
The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media, from people to organizations. This year's nominees include YouTube influencer Jeffree Star, actress Sophie Turner, and the internet's favorite GIFs, like Baby Yoda Sipping Tea.
New to this year's nominees: TikTok creators are nominated for categories other than "TikTokker of the Year," which shows the rise of the platform.
The nominees for "YouTuber of the Year" include popular creators like MrBeast, Wengie, and NikkieTutorials.
The Shorty Awards will be presented May 3 in New York City at 1515 Broadway Theater. Check out the full list of nominees.
Creator Spotlight: Laura Price
This week, I'm highlighting Laura Price and her YouTube channel for our Creator Spotlight.
Sometimes we watch YouTube videos to learn a certain skill; other times we watch in awe and in envy of someone else's talents.
Price is a YouTube creator with 198,000 subscribers, and she shares her journey as a Disney artist online. Price has worked on shows like "Tangled the Series" for Disney, and in her videos, she shares her experience and tips for landing a job as a designer. She also films tutorials on digital painting and parts of her everyday life.
I may have zero artistic ability, but watching Price speed paint characters and colorful backgrounds makes me wish I did. You can check out her channel here.
Send tips or feedback to me at [email protected].
Here's what else we're reading:
- TikTok is full of Sephora and Chipotle employees spilling secrets. That can get complicated: Deanna Patrice Jhaveri, from Vox, reported on how current and former employees can sometimes be the best brand ambassadors on TikTok, but companies aren't partnering with them.
- These teenage TikTok stars reveal how their 'goofy' videos made them financially independent: For MarketWatch, James Wellemeyer wrote about the popular TikTok star Josh Richards and how his viral videos have helped him build a career online.
- Inside Walmart's thriving TikTok account, which has over 127,000 followers and is luring a new generation of Gen Z shoppers to the superstore: Shoshy Ciment, a reporter for Business Insider on the retail desk, took readers inside Walmart's TikTok account and broke down the people behind it.