How I Survived the Influencer Plague

Jordan Catapano of This Girl Walks Into a Bar had a successful cocktail blog that was humming along from 2011 – 2014 with paid sponsorships, partnerships, trips, and appearances. But then influencer mania seduced her clients and she watched as her paid gigs started going to high profile influencers who had no expertise in cocktails. This forced Jordan to reexamine the goal of her brand, to reinvent her site, and to emerge with a business that exists both in the virtual and the real world. If you are looking to launch a real world business from the credibility of your food blog, you will want to listen as Jordan shares her journey and her tips for success.

Transcript

4. Forget Forget
5. Trust Forget Trust
6. Identify Identify
7. Test Test
8. Brief History of our Blog A History of Our Blog
9. 2011 •Launched blog on Blogger.com 2011
15. 2012 - 2017
25. Bungalow Clothing Dole Foods Fireball Whiskey Patron Tequila Royal Rose Simple Syrups Sterling Wines 2013
26. 2014 Caesarstone Bradford Exchange California Olive Door Dash eHarmony Apothic Wine Dark Horse Wine Slim Rock Tabasco Answers.com Random Gambling Company
27. 2015 Distillery No. 209 Mr. Beer Pottery Barn RumChata Lucky Buddha Beer Sage Spirits
28. 2016 Bolthouse Farms 1915 Organics Curious Creamery Door Dash Four Roses InShape Fitness Clubs
29. 2017 Four Roses InShape Fitness Clubs State of Florida
30. 2018 Chopin Vodka Deep Eddy Vodka KöE
31. 2019 Chopin Vodka
32. Where we failed…
33. Early entry to social media platforms
34. “Free” product acceptance
35. Resistance to selfies
36. Resistance to sharing intimate details
37. Rejection of off-brand partnerships
38. Billing ignorance
39. NOT a follower magnet
40. That moving target…
41. The Moving Target
42. RSS Feed Subscribers?
43. Unique Visitors?
44. Facebook Fans?
45. Twitter Followers?
46. Pinterest Pins?
47. Instagram Followers?
48. Influencer Invasion
50. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Series 1 Series 1
51. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Series 1 Series 1
53. 0 50 100 150 200 250 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Chart Title Sponsors Profit
59. 254 Impressions per month
66. Blog Solid Foundation
67. Steps Towards a Business
68. Start with one simple launch point
69. What’s your hyper-niche?
70. Concept
71. Insurance
72. Soft-Launch
73. Materials
74. Marketing & Design
75. Kitchen Certification
76. Chamber of Commerce
77. $25K to get started
78. Success
79. @GirlWalksIn2Bar