Pet Peeve

Hey cuties! One of my mantra’s is you’ll never shine throwing shade and I really to try and live by it. I say this to myself every time I start to think or feel something bad about someone else, because it’s true. Instead I refocus that energy on me and being better.

I have a lot of strong feelings about things that other influencers or the industry is doing and for the most part I keep those to myself if sharing them does so in a way that brings people down. I also think influencers get enough hate and criticism from people outside the industry that we shouldn’t spend time doing that to each other, so I generally don’t. As a result, that’s why I’ve waited so long to say what I’m going to say today

Today I’m talking about one of my biggest pet peeves on social media, and I’m not doing so in a way to shame those who do it, but rather in a way to provide clarity and hopefully help both other influencers and those who follow along. I truly don’t mean to offend or accuse anyone, what people do with their business is just that, their business and not mine. So I’m sharing my opinion as a marketer, influencer and consumer in hopes to provide additional insight from another angel and ultimately help everyone, not hurt them.

Okay, now that the big fat disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get to it.

My biggest pet peeve on social media is when an influencer says this isn’t sponsored, just my honest opinion. And here’s why …

I feel anytime you share anything as an influencer, paid or not, it should be your honest opinion – and that you should only take on sponsorships for products. To me, that’s a no-brainer but maybe not because otherwise this disclosure wouldn’t exist.

I’m sure you can reference a specific caption or passage that someone wrote once upon a time; something that stuck with you. I have some that I hear / think about every time I’m doing an applicable activity – and that can be the power of influence. As an influencer, I think the things you post on social media have to be 100% accurate or at least 100% your honest opinion because people take those words as fact! Scary right. Sharing an inaccurate opinion because you were paid to do so isn’t only unethical and misleading, I would argue that it’s borderline fraudulent. A marketing company or ad can’t make false claims publicly without facing punishment and sometimes criminal charges, so as a creator who is now being paid by those same marketing dollars you have to treat your captions, posts and word with the same severity. Simply, don’t share an opinion unless it is true to you no matter how much money is tied to it, only work with brands that understand this distinction and always, always make it clear that it is your opinion unless you’re sharing accurate & proven facts, then site your source.

I also don’t understand why someone would use feel the need to use #notsposnored. As creators we’re required to use #sponsored #ad when we are paid so essentially any time that you don’t see #ad #sponsored then that post is already #notsponsored. I’ve been in situations where brands ask you not to use #ad (it happens) and I decline because again not only is that not ethical, it’s not allowed and not fair to my readers.

Oh and to be clear, I have no problem when someone asks “is this sponsored by XYZ brand” and an influencer replies “nope I bought it bc XYZ reason” or “or no I just loved it so much I thought I would share” and I don’t consider that the same thing I touched on above, lol okay now back to it.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but when something is sponsored I disclose it, you’ll see #ad or I’ll say “this video was #sponsored by XYZ brand. When something is gifted I’ll thank XYZ brand for giving me XYZ piece or sending me to XYZ location. I’m not sure if this is driven by my marketing & branding background or just my general idea of what an influencer should be, but I feel its is extremely important to disclose all levels of partnership, and that shouldn’t impact it’s performance or enjoyment level from my following. Why? Because the only partnerships you take on should be ones from brands or messages that align with your own personal brand and you would consider sharing without payment.

In fact promoting these brands without payment can lead to more sponsorships. Yes! Posting for free can get you paid. For instance: I never got broadway sponsorships or gifted tickets; to be clear I buy most of the shows I attend because I go so often, but sometimes I will reach out and ask for tickets or am approached by the show. One day I was complaining to Paris about some other influencers who got a broadway partnership that weren’t apart of the community and I had never seen them go or talk about broadway before. He alerted me that I rarely post about it on my feed or blog. It was a big part of my life and how I spend my leisure time but I only shared it on stories, so people could have easily missed that I’m such a big broadway fan. As as result, I started reviewing every show I went to – gifted or not, good or bad; and the offers started rolling in. This not only evened the playing field when it came to reviews, because you knew I was going to talk about every show I saw AND it alerted the broadway community that I was willing to do sponsorships or gifting opportunities in this space.

It’s also important to note that if you feel like you’re perfect for a project but you’re not being considered, you can always just approach the brand and introduce yourself or ask why you weren’t considered, as long as you do so in a kind way. I pitch myself to brands every day and introduce Color Me Courtney, sharing why they should hire me for their next campaign or my relationship with the brand itself. Pitching yourself is always okay, the worst they can say is no or not answer, but best case scenario it turns into a partnership.

With all that said, there is no short supply of money going around in the influencer world right now. No matter what size you are if you have quality content and the right work ethic you can get paid, you just have to know how to go about it. We’re in this interesting time where there are more #ad dollars up for grabs than ever before, but that doesn’t mean you have to take all thats available. Now, almost all of the collabs that approach me are a good fit because I’ve so clearly defined my brand online, but when I first started that wasn’t the case and I would say no to as much as 80% of the offers I received. I encourage you to only take what makes sense for your brand, because I promise, saying yes to a collab that isn’t the right fit for you will do you more harm than good in the long run.

Hope you liked this little blogging behind the scenes insight, if you want more posts like or about this let me know.