Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Order
Speaker 1: Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we
Speaker 1: get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
Speaker 1: like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
Speaker 1: which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
Speaker 1: the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
Speaker 1: as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
Speaker 1: the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
Speaker 1: and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money. It's just
Speaker 3: me Victoria coming into your ears today for another special
Speaker 3: Saturday episode. I have been adoring these, so don't expect
Speaker 3: them to stop anytime soon. Today's chat was sparked by
Speaker 3: a really intriguing article I read by Jess Graves at
Speaker 3: the love List titled the Rise of the Edfluencer, the
Speaker 3: relatability Trap and what creators actually owe you. If you're
Speaker 3: curious to dive into the article yourself, you might hit
Speaker 3: a paywall, though there is a free trial if you
Speaker 3: are keen and you know what, that paywall is actually
Speaker 3: a perfect segue into one of the key points. Jess
Speaker 3: makes the reality of content creation as a business and how,
Speaker 3: just like any other profession, influencers and content creators need
Speaker 3: to earn a living. She also dives into the wild
Speaker 3: world of influencer culture, shining light on the tricky type
Speaker 3: rope influencers walk between keeping it real and making bank.
Speaker 3: It's all about finding that sweet spot between being genuine
Speaker 3: and commercial. Plus, it raises the juice se question about
Speaker 3: whether influencers owe their audiences affordability in what they showcase.
Speaker 3: Do influencers need to keep things budget friendly or is
Speaker 3: it fair game to flaunt the finer things in life?
Speaker 3: The article brought up a really good question for me.
Speaker 3: Is there a double standard in how we perceive transparency
Speaker 3: and sponsorships for influencers versus more traditional forms of media.
Speaker 3: Let's think about it. We don't bat an eye for
Speaker 3: a thirty second TV spot or a glossy magazine ad,
Speaker 3: but when an influencer posts a hashtag sponsored photo, suddenly
Speaker 3: we're all saying, what a sellout. It's almost as if
Speaker 3: we expect influencers to work for free, even though we're
Speaker 3: okay with ads in every other part of our media
Speaker 3: consumption on their lowest plan. We're even happy for Netflix
Speaker 3: to feed us ads when we are already paying for
Speaker 3: that service. So why do we expect influencers to put
Speaker 3: hours and hours into producing content for us to con
Speaker 3: without having any monetary gain for that? Why do we
Speaker 3: hold them to a completely different standard to a personality
Speaker 3: in a TV commercial. Personally, I think it's due to
Speaker 3: a few things. The first is a failure to recognize
Speaker 3: that being a person of influence on social media is
Speaker 3: actually a legitimate form of work. Influencers spend a massive
Speaker 3: amount of time creating content, shooting their photos, editing videos,
Speaker 3: writing their captions, getting their captions signed off by the
Speaker 3: brand that they're working with, and engaging with their audiences.
Speaker 3: It's a full time job. Often it involves really long
Speaker 3: hours and significant personal investment. Just like traditional media professionals,
Speaker 3: influencers they need to earn a living, they need money.
Speaker 3: Yet there's still the lingering perception that social media content
Speaker 3: isn't quote real work, and therefore influencers shouldn't be compensated
Speaker 3: like traditional media personalities. Let's be real here, if we
Speaker 3: didn't have these influencers sharing their insights, their style tips
Speaker 3: and life hacks, our feeds would be a lot less inspiring.
Speaker 3: It's time that we acknowledge that creating engaging, high quality
Speaker 3: content is a skill and it is actually a job.
Speaker 3: The second issue here is the entitlement we feel as
Speaker 3: their audience. This could be a spicier one to cover.
Speaker 3: There's this unspoken expectation that because we follow their journey
Speaker 3: and engage with their content, we somehow have a say
Speaker 3: in how they should be operating their business. This entitlement
Speaker 3: can sometimes manifest in really negative ways, like when audiences
Speaker 3: expect influencers to provide valuable content for free, they criticize
Speaker 3: sponsored posts and demand personal details about their lives. And finally,
Speaker 3: there are the impossible standards that we seem to hold
Speaker 3: influencers to. We expect them to be relatable and authentic,
Speaker 3: yet always accessible, but also somehow perfect when it comes
Speaker 3: to their lifestyle choices, that they should showcase affordable products
Speaker 3: while also living a life of luxury that many aspire to.
Speaker 3: Influencers are expected to be this perfect role model without
Speaker 3: making any mistakes, all while navigating the complexities of public scrutiny.
Speaker 3: This creates an unrealistic and often unfair pressure that can
Speaker 3: be incredibly challenging to manage. We're about to take a
Speaker 3: quick break, but stay tuned, because when I come back,
Speaker 3: I'm going to keeel back the layers on these intense
Speaker 3: expectations and standards that we seem to hold all people
Speaker 3: of influence to welcome back my friends. I feel like
Speaker 3: this is a spicier episode that required a lot of
Speaker 3: nuance to put out. So let's dive a little bit
Speaker 3: further into the expectations that we put on influences, or
Speaker 3: as I like to call them, people of influence. Jess
Speaker 3: Graves article dives into the relatability trap, where influencers feel
Speaker 3: the pressure to stay relatable to their audience even as
Speaker 3: they climb the ladder of success. Audiences often expect influencers
Speaker 3: to keep things affordable and accessible, which on a level
Speaker 3: absolutely makes sense. But as influencers grow and become more successful,
Speaker 3: their financial situations naturally improve. It's a bit unrealistic, don't
Speaker 3: you think to expect them to stick to only budget
Speaker 3: friendly items when their personal taste and purchasing power has
Speaker 3: evolved over time. Influencers are people too, and their content
Speaker 3: should reflect their genuine experiences and their personal growth. And
Speaker 3: let's talk about the economic realities of being an influencer.
Speaker 3: While I know you're going to scoff at that because
Speaker 3: you think that maybe influencers have it all, they really
Speaker 3: do need to make a living and sometimes this means
Speaker 3: promoting more expensive items. This isn't just about showing off.
Speaker 3: It's actually part of the business model. More expensive products
Speaker 3: usually pay better. Just like any other profession, influencers have
Speaker 3: financial goals and obligations. Think about it this way. If
Speaker 3: influencers didn't higher end products or take on paid partnerships,
Speaker 3: then they wouldn't be able to sustain their content creation.
Speaker 3: It's a job, and jobs need to pay the bills.
Speaker 3: By understanding and respecting this, we can appreciate the hard
Speaker 3: work that goes into creating the content that we love.
Speaker 3: Influencers aren't just living a dream life, they are running
Speaker 3: a business. While influencers should be transparent about their partnerships
Speaker 3: and financial growth, Jess Graves argues they do not owe
Speaker 3: their audience affordability. Instead, she says, what they truly owe
Speaker 3: us is honesty and authenticity about their personal journeys and
Speaker 3: the reason behind their recommendations. From my perspective as somebody
Speaker 3: who started sharing finance content when she was still in
Speaker 3: personal debt who now owns let's be real, multimillion dollar homes,
Speaker 3: I think it is wildly unfair to expect that my
Speaker 3: personal growth would be stunted back where I started. I
Speaker 3: want to be able to share my SNOO growth. I
Speaker 3: want to be able to share how I went from
Speaker 3: being in forty thousand dollars worth of personal debt to
Speaker 3: being financially what people would deem successful. I want to
Speaker 3: make sure that you guys see that change is absolutely
Speaker 3: possible and that the money story you currently have is
Speaker 3: not the one you always have to have. I agree
Speaker 3: with this. It's not about keeping everything within a certain
Speaker 3: price range to make everyone happy. It's about being real
Speaker 3: with all of you. If I love a high end
Speaker 3: product and I genuinely believe in its value, I'm going
Speaker 3: to share it with you, but I'll also be upfront
Speaker 3: about why I love it and how it fits into
Speaker 3: my life. And equally, I'm going to share those budget
Speaker 3: friendly hacks because at my core, I love a money win.
Speaker 3: Honesty and authenticity. That's what builds trust and from my perspective,
Speaker 3: that's what really matters. A platform that plays a significant
Speaker 3: role in how influencers can remain authentic while still running
Speaker 3: a sustainable business is LTK formerly known as Like to
Speaker 3: Know ITK is a game changer. This isn't sponsored by
Speaker 3: the way, It genuinely is a game changer that bridges
Speaker 3: the gap between promoting products and influencers being able to
Speaker 3: earn a living. So how does it work? You've probably
Speaker 3: seen it already with every Man and his Dog now
Speaker 3: responding to your comments of oh my gosh, where is
Speaker 3: your jacket? From the links in my bio, will influencers
Speaker 3: create content featuring various products from fashion and beauty, to
Speaker 3: home to core lifestyle and even now baby items, and then,
Speaker 3: through their LTK platform, influencers generate unique trackable links for
Speaker 3: these products, and then when one of their followers clicks
Speaker 3: on these links and makes a purchase, that influencer earns
Speaker 3: a commission from the sale. This provides a direct income
Speaker 3: stream from their recommendations, which at its core makes absolute sense,
Speaker 3: and from my perspective, I like the idea that there's
Speaker 3: more accountability here if they're not sharing recommendations that resonate
Speaker 3: with their audience. They're not going to get paid. Followers
Speaker 3: can easily shop for the exact products featured by their
Speaker 3: favorite influencers without the hussle of searching for the items themselves.
Speaker 3: When followers purchase through lt K links, they directly support
Speaker 3: the influencers that they love, helping them to continue to
Speaker 3: create high quality content. It's a win win for both
Speaker 3: creators and followers. By providing transparency and convenience and a
Speaker 3: reliable income stream, LTK helps influencers stay true to their
Speaker 3: personal brand and maintain their authenticity, which if now we've
Speaker 3: been through all of this, you probably agree with me
Speaker 3: on I feel like we have covered a lot today.
Speaker 3: I feel like I've got a little ranch that's been
Speaker 3: sitting on my shoulders for a long time off my chest,
Speaker 3: and I feel hopefully that we're maybe on more of
Speaker 3: the same page. From the economic realities of being an
Speaker 3: influencer to the expectations of affordability and the importance of honesty.
Speaker 3: Influencer culture is multifaceted and ever evolving, and it's important
Speaker 3: for us to understand the businesses behind the content that
Speaker 3: we love and have a level of respect for it.
Speaker 3: I hope that you found today's discussion a little bit insightful,
Speaker 3: and be sure to tune in next week because I'm
Speaker 3: going to dive into the nitti gritty of just how
Speaker 3: influencers make their money beyond platforms like LTK. So thanks
Speaker 3: for hanging out with me on Saturday and for this
Speaker 3: special episode. I'm going to go get an oat latte
Speaker 3: and I think that you deserve one to The advice
Speaker 3: shared on She's on the Money is general in nature
Speaker 3: and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the
Speaker 3: Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be
Speaker 3: relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If
Speaker 3: you do choose to buy a financial product, read the
Speaker 3: PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.
Speaker 3: Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
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