On being influenced (and influencing).

In 2021 being an Influencer is a bone fide career. As someone who has worked in retail, hospitality and run their own business since 2005, this isn’t really a new career… it’s just that it used to be called marketing. The difference? In theory, anyone can become an influencer, and make good money from it, just by having a good instagram following and affiliate links.

I say it like having a good instagram following is an easy thing to achieve. I am still languishing just over 2K followers. What I can tell you about those followers, is that most of them are - or could be - customers, so it’s a number I’m very happy with. Organic, genuine followers are - to me - worth a lot. People with tens (and hundreds) of thousands of followers often showcase new clothes or products, and legally have to show that this is an ad/aff link (but sometimes hide it quite well).

I was approached recently about gifting products for coverage. I don’t mind being approached, but I also hope that people don’t mind when I say no. It’s not what Harriet and Rose is about. I don’t do sales, I don’t do many giveaways (those that I do almost always involve a nominee being given a prize), and I give to two local charities. If I give something away, or if I send something extra out with a delivery, it’s at my discretion and because I choose to. I don’t doubt that I would get coverage from a tag, and that it could lead to sales enquiries, but as a small business based in - and deliveringnearly entirely in Jersey - my market is quite small! Getting worldwide and UK coverage - whilst lovely - cannot translate to sales for me, and since that at the very heart of marketing is increase in sales - this is why I’ve decided not to gift products for coverage.

I found it quite amusing when I was recently approached to feature a product (not one I sell), and asked my rates. After there was much LOLing about me being approached to influence, I declined (nicely, I’m not against the industry, I just think it’s an important one to understand). I declined because that’s not what my social media presence as Harriet and Rose is about. I mean, obviously I feature products that I sell! I want to use my grid as a way for you to see what the business is stocking, new arrivals, and for me to tell you more about the brands… but I don’t want to muddy this. It’s a transparent thing this way. Things get a bit murkier around AF/Gifted and Swipe Ups.

Affiliate links are just that… you click through, and the person that you’ve clicked from, gets a small commision on the sale. This is all well and good (and when I find a new brand this way, I’m HAPPY to pay that commision - costs me nothing, and it’s important that brands know how customers are finding them…) what I find a bit tricker is gifting. I mean, who’s going to say that something they’ve been given FOR FREE is rubbish?! I mean I would (which is probably another reason being an influencer is probably not for me). The Swipe Ups bother me a little bit more (especially when it doesn’t say where something is from), as those AFF links leave cookies on your device, and every purchase you make will pay something to the source of the AFF link for (I think it’s still) 60 days. Which is fine if it’s a random small business where you might make a one-off purchase, but if it’s on say, Amazon, it can quickly add up. Maybe I’m just a bit cynical, perhaps I’m completely out of touch, and I am genuinely happy to follow an affiliate link for something I couldn’t have found myself, but when that something then gives a commission on me buying things like loo roll, or printer paper, I find that a little less OK.

Back in the ‘90s I (briefly) worked for a huge record label as a student rep. One of my jobs was calling round student radio stations to try and get a single on the playlist (like I said, this was the ‘90s!). When someone told me that something wasn’t ‘because it’s rubbish’ (I paraphrase, they said it was s**t), I was taken aback by their honestly. But said ‘Yeah, I sort of agree with you’. They just laughed. I think it was then I realised that if I was going to sell stuff, it would have to be stuff I was passionate about. This could also be why my (also brief) foray into recruitment consultancy ended with me leaving to set up my own jewellery brand - I couldn’t sell a job to someone if it wasn’t what they had asked for. I wouldn’t say that a role for a Newly Qualified accountant would lead to a role in the front office trading equities… because it wouldn’t. Needless to say, I didn’t hit a whole lot of targets there either.

This is - obviously - incredibly positive when it comes to Harriet and Rose. If a product or brand makes it onto the website and into the stock room, I feel really, really strongly that it’s brilliant. Influencing as a job is brilliant, and marketing small, independent businesses is something that I’m genuinely passionate about. It’s just that I’ve chosen to do it in a way that won’t involve swipes or affiliate links because I want to be true to myself, and - more importantly - you, my customers.