Turning Adversity Into Influence With Michell C. Clark

EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE INSTAFAMOUS. WHAT UNIQUELY SEPARATES INFLUENCERS FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO GET LIKES?

Michell: Influencers just sell a higher volume of flat tummy tea. The term “influencer” is one of those “you got some nerve” phrases to proclaim for yourself. People put “CEO”, “President”, or “Owner”, or “Future Millionaire” in their Twitter bio too. You really can’t claim that because you havent even made an LLC yet. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For a while, the term “influencer” felt a bit over the top, but it is an actual industry. Companies look for people who call themselves “influencers” and who can affect change with their images, words, and their message. To me, a social media influencer, is someone who can use their personality, their perspective, their knowledge and their expertise and can package that to communicate to an audience that they’ve built. Doing that in a way that will make others actually care about what’s being said. Whether it’s talking about a product, or a city, or a cause, or a concept, do your words hold weight and with who? Who is your audience? Is it college kids? Is it people that live in Nevada? Is it people that are into fitness? It’s also about knowing your audience and being able to speak to them that is part of being an influencer.

From a company’s perspective, they look for a certain number of followers and the level of interaction because how much time do companies really have to research these things? Not too much. Half the time people that make choices about different influencers don’t even use social media actively. They come from the outside and look in and say, “I think I want that one.” At the same time, every one has influence. If you know somebody, anybody, then you have influence. Of course there are different scales and that’s where it comes to companies deciding. To secure the bag with the companies, there are a lot of different options. The most effective thing to focus on is relationships. We can talk about making effective content all day, but at the end of the day,  it’s about relationships and being able to talk to people and make connections. Right now, I’m blessed to be signed to an influencer agency so they’ll go out and look for contracts on my behalf. Shade Management is for Black and Brown influencers. They really understand us, are are part of the culture and really understand us. Being able to maintain relationship with them, talk to them about what I’m doing and talk to them like regular people….goes a long way.

PEOPLE HAVE LEFT THEIR JOB TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO IS THINKING ABOUT IT?

Michell: Figure out what your business plan is and start doing the work. Save some money up. If things are ideal for you and your job is good and you’re not being told that you’re going to be fired, I would figure out my plan, save money for two or three months and then get out. I had a few people who were doing similar things but no real mentors. I probably would have found more to help me put myself out there with the agencies but I didn’t really have any mentors.