There’s a recent story that emerged about an influencer that has over 2M followers and started a clothing line but couldn’t meet the minimum to start the line.
There’s a few things that I think are good takeaways:
- No one is commending her for not starting the line. This might be one of the biggest lessons to learn. Often, we have great ideas and when we put it into the market, we quickly find out if it’s a good idea or it’s not. The market determines that–not our ideas. My one hope is that she doesn’t stop but continues to pivot and tweak it until she finds the “business” that works.
- There could be an influencer bubble? This is what everyone is attaching to and most of what everyone is saying. If someone isn’t able to convert from 2 million plus followers, what is the state of marketing? Also for the brands that are paying these influencers, what are they paying for? I read a lot about the journalism industry and it something similar that’s happening in influencer marketing and people should be very aware the followers don’t necessarily = engagement or sales. They’re 2 different things. If you look closely, it’s eerily similar to the old advertising model for newspapers and in the journalism industry.
- Quality often wins out. I constantly read about bad economic times and during those times–quality wins out.
This is one of the reasons that I believe that there will be a few things that might be the future of the model–(1) Service/product based model (2) Affiliate model–essentially a commission or pay for performance model.
Here’s a bonus that I don’t think was related to this story but released around the same time:
Gresham W. Harkless Jr.131 posts
https://iamgresh.comGresham W. Harkless Jr.
Franchise Broker & Entrepreneur | Founder, Blue Star Franchise
Helping founders and aspiring owners find franchise opportunities that match their purpose, finances, and lifestyle. Host of the I AM CEO Podcast with more than 1,600 interviews.
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About Gresham W. Harkless Jr.
Gresham W. Harkless Jr. is a seasoned entrepreneur and franchise broker based in the Washington, D.C. metro area. As founder of Blue Star Franchise, he helps aspiring and established business owners discover franchise opportunities aligned with their goals, skills, and long-term vision.
With over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and business development, Gresham brings a consultative, client-first approach to franchise matching. Through his media company, Blue 16 Media, and the I AM CEO Podcast, which has featured more than 1,600 interviews, he has worked with hundreds of CEOs, founders, and small business owners to accelerate growth and build scalable business models.
His mission is simple: to help people “run their race” by finding franchise opportunities that align with their purpose, skills, and lifestyle.
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B.S., Business Administration - Howard University
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