DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 13 BIPOC-led influencer management firms and talent agencies helping their clients build careers in the creator economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Influencer-management agencies help content creators land brand deals and increase their income. Insider highlights 13 influencer-management firms and talent agencies founded by a person of color. As influencers build their brands, some of them have turned to influencer-management agencies to help them navigate the industry. He founded his own talent-management agency after feeling that there was a lack of a dedicated space for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC creators. Here are 13 influencer-management agencies led by a person of color, listed in alphabetical order by company name:

Insider is keeping tabs on which creator economy companies are cutting back on staff. For more than a year, the creator economy was a red-hot industry flowing with new players, big deals, and massive investments. According to Crunchbase, funding for VC-backed creator economy startups topped $939 million in 2021. Those sunny days are coming to a halt, however, as creator economy startups grapple with a looming recession. Here are 24 creator economy companies that have laid off staff, as of December 2022:Note: Companies are listed in order of when layoffs occurred, with the most recent first.

☆ Leaked emails reveal what Revolve is paying influencers in its December ambassador contest — and some creators aren't impressed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Online fashion retailer Revolve has established a large customer base by leveraging influencers. Leaked emails that were shared with Insider reveal the requirements and payment for its December contest. Online fashion retailer Revolve has grown its customer base by leveraging influencers through seasonal contests centered on product sales. But some influencers say Revolve's ambassador program and "product gifting" strategy are out of touch with typical payments. "I honestly am so fed up," this person said, noting another frustration with Revolve: that it requires influencers to buy their products without guaranteeing payment.

☆ Influencers Reveal What Pinterest Was Paying Them for Short Videos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pinterest is ending its paid, invitation-only beta program that rewarded creators for short videos. Pinterest is ending its paid, invitation-only beta program that rewarded creators for engagement on short videos. The Information first reported that Pinterest would be ending the test program and would shift to developing other paid features for Pinterest creators. As part of the program, Pinterest rewarded creators monthly for completing specific posting goals related to the platform's short-video feature called Idea Pins. Example of Pinterest Creator Rewards goals in April (left) and in May (right).

Insider spoke with 13 influencers about how they price their rates for sponsored content on the app. As demand for TikTok creators has spiked, rates for sponsored content have also risen. "It's important to note that engagement with creators is growing, not slowing down," Rob Horler, CEO of influencer-marketing firm Whalar, told Insider. "It's something that I always wanted to pursue; I just never had the courage to do it," Baiden told Insider. The TikTok creators are listed in order by current follower count.

With a shaky economy, some brands have reduced or cut sponsored content deals with creators. "That was definitely a bummer," Williams told Insider. "I think people are wanting to try things before they go all in with larger investments," Samuel told Insider. Taking on speaking engagementsThree creators told Insider that speaking engagements, in-person and virtual, have been a growing income stream for them. "You need to understand where you're spending money," Reed Duchscher, CEO of management company Night, previously told Insider.

☆ Finance influencers on YouTube are facing anger and skepticism as crypto continues to reel with BlockFi's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Finance influencers are facing skepticism and backlash from fans following the downfall of prominent crypto platforms, which some creators took an active role in promoting. Crypto lender BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday in the wake of FTX's implosion, which has rocked the sector. One notable YouTuber who has criticized influencers for peddling crypto and NFTs is Coffeezilla, who has 1.5 million subscribers. In a November 28 video, titled "My response to FTX," Stephan reflected on the mistakes he'd made. The response from his fans has been overwhelmingly negative, and the YouTube video has more dislikes than likes (it has over 8,000 dislikes).

☆ How influencers use Amazon to earn money, from affiliate links to livestreaming
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon Live: A livestreaming platform where creators earn a commission from every sale. Anyone who is a part of the Amazon Influencers Program can join by downloading the Amazon Live Creator app. Read more:Why Amazon Live has struggled to win over content creatorsThe main problem influencers said they have had with Amazon Live has been driving traffic to the platform. Amazon doesn't have a portal where users can see all of the Amazon influencers that they follow, unlike TikTok or YouTube. Read more:How influencers are earning money on Amazon by reviewing productsTo make money reviewing products on Amazon, creators must upload at least three videos to their individual profile page.

☆ How much money a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers earns, according to 4 creators
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Four creators with 1 to 2 million subscribers shared how much they made from ads. To start earning money from YouTube, creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year on their long-form videos. Starting early 2023, creators who have 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views on short-form videos over the previous 90 days will also become eligible. Insider has spoken with dozens of YouTube creators about how much each of them earned from the platform. Four YouTube creators we spoke with had between 1 million and 2 million subscribers.

☆ Seeking nominations for the leading talent managers and agents for influencers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is updating its database of the leading managers and agents for social-media influencers. We want to hear from you on who to include in our updated database. Insider has a database of top managers and agents for influencers that we are in the process of updating. To that end, we are seeking nominations of new players in the industry, as well as updates to information on those who previously appeared in our database. The updated database of top firms will be determined by Insider based on a mix of our reporting and the nominations that we receive.

☆ How influencers are trying to recession-proof their businesses, from locking down long-term deals to testing out fan-paid revenue models
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Tanya Chen | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Traditionally, brand deals have been the biggest income driver for Tosone. Unless any last-minute deals arise, Tosone said platform incentives (like Instagram's bonus program) will overtake brand deals. And for creators, Ashley said diversifying their businesses is the "best insurance plan." Relying on affiliate marketing, however, can still be a risk. Establishing a fan-paid model with memberships, subscriptions, or coursesTosone launched a Patreon membership and she's coaching other influencers on social-media strategy.

☆ Googlers are making memes to deal with the looming threat of job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meanwhile, former Yahoo CEO and one-time Google exec Marissa Mayer is sounding the alarm bell that the web itself could be degrading in quality. Google employees meme past the graveyard. Elon Musk fired as many as two dozen Twitter employees this week who had criticized his leadership style. Now, Twitter employees are deleting internal Slack messages they fear Musk won't like, so as to avoid his wrath. A Twitter exec went so far as to warn employees to use Slack "wisely."

☆ Finance influencers are cashing in on YouTube. A creator with 269,000 subscribers shares how much his channel earned every month this year.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Finance YouTuber Joshua Mayo shared exactly how much his channel earned every month this year. "When I started my YouTube channel, it was a slow start," the 29-year-old Mayo told Insider. His channel earned $55,459.35 from Google-placed ads. Personal finance videos tend to be lucrative because their audience is seen as more valuable to certain advertisers, particularly those in the finance space who are willing to pay top dollar. How much Mayo's YouTube channel earned every month in 2022Creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year to apply for YouTube's Partner Program.

100 Thieves and Cash App have ended their sponsorship arrangement, Insider has learned. Block Inc.'s Cash App was the title sponsor for 100 Thieves esports and gaming compound. 100 Thieves once planned to replace Cash App with a crypto sponsor, two former staffers said. It called for a 15,000-square-foot Cash App-branded compound in Los Angeles, as well as branding on 100 Thieves jerseys. Representatives from 100 Thieves and Cash App did not respond to Insider's multiple requests for comment.

☆ Finance influencers who promoted FTX are saying 'sorry' to fans and promising to do better — and it shows the risks of giving investment advice to your followers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Crypto-exchange platform FTX has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Finance influencers who promoted FTX are doing some soul searching in the wake of its implosion. FTX had several high-profile deals with celebrities, athletes, and influencers, including a 19-year sponsorship of the Miami Heat for $135 million. Among the celebrities and influencers FTX paid to talk about the platform was the personal finance YouTuber Graham Stephan, who published a video on Thursday titled, "Let's talk about FTX." "As much as I trusted the information that I was given, I was wrong and I'm sorry," Stephan said to his 4.1 million subscribers.

☆ Meta, Cameo, and Twitter are 3 of the latest creator economy companies to be hit with layoffs. Here are 22 that have cut staff recently.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Amanda Perelli | Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is keeping tabs on which creator economy companies are cutting back on staff. For more than a year, the creator economy was a red-hot industry flowing with new players, big deals, and massive investments. According to Crunchbase, funding for VC-backed creator economy startups topped $939 million in 2021. These sunny days are coming to a halt, however, as creator economy startups grapple with a looming recession. As the creator economy responds to the changing markets, Insider is keeping track of which companies are laying off staffers.

☆ Q4 is typically full of big paydays for creators, but this year they're having mixed results
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here are the trends in Q4 marketing deals and ad rates this holiday season. The last quarter of the year is typically the busiest season for influencers, with holiday campaigns and end-of-year deals leading to lucrative payouts. While some are seeing brands spend more than ever, others say the number of deals — and the dollar amounts — have held steady compared to last year. In 2020, for instance, some holiday campaigns began as early as August. Johnson said typically his team begins working on holiday campaigns in early to mid-September.

8 creators shared how much money they made per 1,000 YouTube views with Insider. YouTube creators can monetize their content through Google-placed ads on their videos when they join the YouTube Partner Program, or YPP. Insider spoke with eight YouTube creators in a variety of content categories to understand how their ad revenue has changed over the past year. The creators broke down their average RPM rates in October 2021 compared to October 2022. Here are their RPM rates, in order of lowest to highest:Insider verified all of the earnings figures and RPM rates with documentation.

One of the first things advertisers ask for during a pitch is to see a creator's media kit. Many influencers, especially those primarily working on Instagram and TikTok, say brand sponsorships are their main source of income. To get brand deals, influencers often use media kits as a tool to showcase their value to a company. Media kits also often include information about the brands that a creator has worked with and their audience demographics. Here are 19 examples of real influencer media kits from YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok stars (arranged by follower count):

☆ Software company Amaze has acquired Spring, the creator economy merch startup formerly called Teespring
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Creator merch startup Spring, formerly Teespring, was acquired by software company Amaze. This announcement follows Spring's recent struggles rebranding as a creator economy company. Merchandise startup Spring, formally Teespring, was recently acquired by software company Amaze, the company confirmed to Insider. Spring was one of at least 20 creator startups that experienced cuts this year. Lamontagne will join Amaze as president and lead Amaze's creator community and commerce group, while Jansen will take over as chief business officer, according to Amaze.

To see how much jobs in the creator economy pay, Insider analyzed salary data from 142 work-visa applications filed with the US government and decided on between October 2020 and June 2022. The pay data includes salaries ranging from a data scientist position that offers $170,000 per year at Discord to a staff engineer role that earns $250,000 or more at Patreon. At Cameo, a principal software engineer would make $230,000Steven Galanis, CEO of Cameo. Senior Manager, DevOps : $140,000: $140,000 Statistician: $116,979 to $170,000 (Spotter said it internally calls this position "Data Analyst.") At Teachable, a senior software engineer would make $150,000Teachable is a platform where creators can build and sell online courses and coaching programs.

Organizations: & $

☆ How a creator economy startup that invests up to $2 million in individual influencers decides who to work with
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Payment startup Creative Juice invests directly in YouTubers in exchange for a cut of their ad revenue. Some YouTube creators are ditching traditional banks and turning to creator economy startups for capital. Rather than getting a loan from his local bank, he turned to creator economy startup Creative Juice. She told Insider that receiving investment from Creative Juice allowed her to make that jump and establish industry relationships. Creative Juice picks which influencers to work with based on a list of metrics, including historical and estimated future revenue, engagement, and views per video.

Snapchat has reduced the size of its creator fund for its short-video feature Spotlight. Snapchat has once again lowered the total amount it's paying to creators who use its short-video feature Spotlight. Two other Snapchat creators similarly told Insider they saw drops in their Spotlight payments in this year and that Spotlight is less lucrative than it was when it first launched in November 2020. Snapchat doesn't say exactly how it decides which creators get paid from the Spotlight fund. Snapchat's move to reduce its Spotlight fund comes at a perilous moment for Snap.

☆ Top creators share their favorite YouTube features and the ones they want to scrap, from Shorts to Super Chats
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

YouTube is constantly updating its suite of creator tools and features. We spoke with seven creators who shared their favorite — and most-hated — YouTube features. YouTube has recently begun rolling out a new look and slate of features as part of a redesign. Last month, it announced an overhaul to the creator monetization program — sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators for the first time. To learn what creators think of the 17-year-old platform, Insider spoke with seven YouTubers who shared their favorite and least favorite YouTube features, and which tools they wished the platform had.

☆ Former employees at merchandise startup Spring complained about working with creators who spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, but said the company turned a blind eye: 'These people make the
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A second former Spring staffer echoed the first's concerns, telling Insider they were uncomfortable with the company letting Godlewski earn revenue using Spring's services. Five former staffers at Spring told Insider it was an open secret that the platform worked with problematic creators, oftentimes because these creators made the company a lot of money. All of the former employees Insider talked to spoke on condition of anonymity to protect career prospects. Five former employees told Insider that We Are Change, and other storefronts like it, were some of the platform's bestsellers. Most staffers knew about it, the first former employee told Insider, and kept it hidden from leadership.

Search resuls for: "Amanda Perelli"

25 mentions found