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Today we are exposing influencers. Let's just get straight into it. This is a close friends episode of High Scrollers, and we posted a TikTok and were asking our broadcast channel on Instagram send us in your questions about.
Anything influencer related, from.
Rates, how much people get paid, affiliate links, anything.
You basically would like. And nothing is off the limit, off the table here. You can ask us anything. And you know, people do these fucking episodes and they don't actually answer anything. I fucking hate it. Yep, And I went, you know what, it's about time.
We just rip the band the questions that the people have.
I'm over it, so there'll be no pussy footing around today. We're getting down to it. And I loved all of the questions that we got. Yes, let's not waste any time. Let's this sounds this is so weird. We're just getting straight into it.
To the chase can tell you what I love cutting to the chase. No fucking small talk. Let's just fucking say the facts.
Get to it.
Not just in this podcast, women in life in general can't be bothered with small talk. Let's just talk about what we need to talk about, right, You got a question first?
Yeah, I got a question here. This only got the most likes on our TikTok that we posted from aesha. I think that's how you pronounced that. Sorry, dal if I've butchered that. What was the highest paying sponsorship you've ever had or heard of?
So the highest I mean, if you want to speak about the highest, like the highest we ever hear of, is like the American influences that kept paid millions of dollars for like one TikTok video, But obviously that's not.
Us In Australia, I've probably heard the mass is about one hundred to two hundred thousand for a brand deal. But I also want to clarify that that's like either six or twelve month contract, like they've got to do a lot of posts over a lot of Yeah, I've never heard of like someone getting any more than Like I want to say, thirty thousand dollars for one TikTok.
Yeah, And I think for me personally, and I can talk about this so openly because I don't do influencing anymore, so I'll say whatever the fuck I want. I think when I was still doing all my brand deals, there was one brand in particular that I was working with every single month, and so I think every single month I was doing like a like an Instagram post and some stories like so every month I had to do one post and.
Like three story slides.
And I this is years ago now, so I can't exactly remember, but I work with them every month for like more than six months, and every month I was getting just from that one brand like maybe seven or eight thousand dollars a month.
So like let's just.
Even say it was seven thousand dollars for six months. So I got like forty two grand in six months just from the one brand. And that that's a fucking great income just from that alone. And then like another.
Which I also want to say, is unheard of for a lot.
Of people, that type of money. Oh yeah, I always I've.
Never had a deal like that before.
I openly say, like when I was influencing like that was me making the absolute most amount of money. Yeah, like I own Fate now, which is very successful brand.
I don't want people to listen and think that every bloody person.
No, so this is me being like one of the top influencers at the time kind of thing.
So bloody yeah, wish I get something like that.
So yeah, when I was influencing, like the biggest deals I ever got weren't so much like doing one thing and getting you know, fifty thousand dollars or whatever, and I know that's a ridiculous amount of money.
Trust me.
It was like working with brands ongoing, like having that one post every month that added up, you know, to be a lot over time. But I never did anything that was like one hundred thousand dollars or anything like that.
And also a lot of payment. When it comes to being paid by brands, a lot of the payment can come down to exclusivity as well, so you're not actually getting paid. You know, Let's say makeup brand pays you ten thousand dollars, supposed to TikTok, that ten thousand dollars might actually turn into thirty thousand dollars if that makeup brand wants to have you exclusive for six months, let's say, and you can't work with other other makeup brands.
And that's what I was getting when I was working with that one brand.
I wasn't allowed to work with any other similar brands like their competitor brands. So that's why it was like so much, because I was.
You would be losing money elsewhere, so they have to like foot the bill for that.
And the other thing as well where influencers can earn more money is then brands will pay a usage fee. So let's say I create a video for a makeup brand and it costs Let's say it costs them seven thousand dollars for me to make real but they then want to run that video with my face and my voice in it on their paid ads. Then I can charge them a few grand extra because they're going to
use it to make money through paid ads. So that's where you can make even more money as a creator, is the usage for them to use your face, name, everything to sell their products to their audience through ads.
All right, let's meet. Well, this one's a quick and easy one. Emma said. Do the products influencers promote and get sponsored by do they actually love the product and use it, or are they just getting paid? Unfortunately, the true there's people lie. Ye can safely say that I never have, and I can safely say that there are plenty of people like me out there that don't just lie.
If this all comes down to the individual, like, there'd absolutely be some influencers out there just taking any brand deal they can get and they don't care if they've never used a product or whatever.
And girl, it's really obvious. At least it is to me. It is to me, I can see straight through someone when and it confuses me. I don't know if an audience whether it because I'm in it, I know, but I.
Think audiences would know. But also I will say, I feel like I'm seeing less of that lately, like compared to a few years ago, Like I feel like it's slowed down, like the ads that are really obviously fake. Yeah, I don't know, like you still see him every now and then, but I feel like four years ago, like the world of social media, which just flooded with influencers flogging things that they clearly didn't like. But yes, people
absolutely would lie just to get a paycheck. And I guess it's up to us as consumers to like be able to recognize that this.
One's a really good one that a few people have kind of asked in a different way. I think they call it dry begging is the correct term for it. But this person said to influences ask for free stuff indirectly by saying, so, what muscara do you recommend? And then they post that on their stories to hopefully benefit reaches out and goes, hey, babe, send you our new mascara, and now they've got a free muscaa. So that it's
called dry begging. You're like, not directly begging for a product, but by you getting on your stories and saying, guys, I need a new lounge.
Like people talk about this when someone's going to have a baby and people like what baby products does everyone recommend? And they're trying to get free products. Again, I think this comes down to the individual. People could just be genuinely asking for recommendations because they want to buy, but I also think there would definitely be people doing that in hopes to get free shit.
Yeah, which I guess sure there are probably people out there, but I've never actually heard of an instance where that is happening. On purpose or people are doing that on purpose.
I've never actually I've never interacted with anyone who's done that.
I know, I've never heard of anyone actually going, oh, I'm going to pretend I need a new lounge to hopefully get a new lounge from someone like that just doesn't happen. The thing is, I could just message the lounge company and say, hey, I want to give me a free lounge, And the thing is they probably.
Would if you put it on your story.
That's and you're begging, but like making it come off across as genuine, you've got to count on like one that works at a lounge place to see that story to then contact you, you know what I mean. Another thing is as well, additionally to that, I think people definitely and again like it comes down to the individual, but I think influencers definitely tag brands on their story in hopes of getting free products or a sponsorship, do you know what I mean?
Yeah, for sure. And my whole thing as well as like I'll tag like, I'll tag brands sometimes that you know the average person wouldn't tag, Like when I drink a V I'm tagging V Australia because obviously I want free V, but I'm not directly like asking, no one's going, hey, does anyone know a really good energy drink and then like hoping that V sends it. Like I'm like, that's what I mean. I'm like, if I want it, I'll ask for it.
I've tagged V a few times over the years, and like, we did a V Taste test sponsorship this year and it's one of the only two brand deals I've done in the last two plus years. But we asked for that sponsorship. So we contacted the PR agency that represents V and said, look, this is Brittany, she loves V. She puts V on her stories every week. Can we do like a paid collaboration? So that is a collab that I went out and sourced and asked for and
made happen. So there's definitely that in terms of begging, not that it's really begging, but influencers can also like reach out to brands and say, hey, I'd love to work with you if you have a budget to work with me.
There are also a lot of people asking things about like tax. Someone said, do you have to pay tax on the money you get paid? As and influencer absolutely. How do you even run like, are you a sole trader? Are you a company? Whatever? The answer is everyone's a little different.
Ye, sole trader, Like when you first start out, and then as soon as you pretty much get close to earning that seventy thousand dollars a year or eighty thousand dollars a year, don't know what amount it is, then you need to register yourself for GST because once you earn over that certain amount, you've got to start paying GST.
And then it's really up to you in your accountant, if you.
Have one, to determine whether you need to change to a proprietary limited company or stay as a sole trader.
But I did that like pretty early on for tax purposes.
Yeah, because you get taxed slightly less as a company. But yeah, you absolutely have to pay tax when you're an influencer, and when you get that money into your account, you have to know basically thirty to forty percent of that is not yours. You got to hang on to that for tax time.
Yeah. I think there are definitely people out there though that don't pay their taxes, but I'm sure that'll catch up to them. Yes, a lot of other people as well, saying, as a beauty influencer, can they claim all beauty products as a tax right off? I've always wondered this gray area loophole. Obviously not every beauty product, but sure if they see the gray area is it has to be from my understanding, you have to have for the product
for the means of your business. So them doing a hall and filming a hall, a price line hall, going to Priceline, spending a few hundred dollars at Priceline and going here's everything, I got a price land. No, you can't claim your price line hall. But if it's hairspray, because you've got to do put hairspray in your hair every day to make your videos and sit down and filming YouTube videos anything, it's different. It's yeah, if it's
you know, like Australia's because Glemason. Yes, I can claim my hairspray, my fake nails, and my jewelry, and I can claim a lot of my makeup that I use for on stage, et cetera, but not every product beauty pros.
Yeah, a lot of confusion around tax right off, like as a term. So essentially for anyone that doesn't know when you're a business or you're working for yourself, you get paid the money directly into your bank account, like whether you've set up your business account, which i'd highly recommend, don't just have your money coming into a per small account,
set up your business bank account. So let's say you're getting paid ten thousand dollars for a job that you're doing with a makeup brand, ten thousand dollars boom, straight to your bank account.
That money is not yours.
What you have to do is you have to hold on to i'd say thirty to forty percent of that. And what's going to happen is like you're going to get hit once a year with the amount of money that you owe the ato boom, there's your bill, you owe the.
Tax per man money.
And the tricky thing with people becoming influencers is like you can come out of being paid a wage every week or whatever and the tax being done for you, But it's completely different when you are working for yourself or as your own company. Now people always like throw the word, yeah, that's a tax deduction, like that's a you can claim it, yeah, a tax right off. But I think there's a lot of like mis education around what that means in Australia because like let's say, for example,
I go and buy a fancy new computer. People go, oh, that's a tax right off. Yes, but that's not what a lot of people think it is. I think people go tax right off and they think it's free.
Yeah.
So this is like just say I've gone by five thousand dollar computer.
Yes, it's a tax deduction, but I still pay five thousand dollars for that computer. At no point do I ever get any of that money back. That money is gone. What it does, though, is it helps reduce that huge tax bill that you're going to get at tax time. But it's not by five thousand dollars. It's by like so many cents in every dollar. So like nothing is free, and I think a lot of people go oh, I'll just write it off on tax. That's not how it works.
Like you don't go out for lunch, go oh, just put it on the workhoud because I'll write it off on tax. That's not how it works. It's not free. You one hundred percent have to pay for whatever that is, and then your tax bill at the middle of the year, in the end of financial year would just be a tiny bit smaller, but you should never go and buy something for the sake of in your mind it being a tax right off, because you are paying for one
hundred percent of that product. And there's so much misinformation around that if you buy one hundred thousand dollar car, you're not going to get one hundred thousand dollars back at tax time. You're going to get fuck or you're not even getting anything back at tax time because it just helps bring the bill down, but you're still paying the bill.
I also want to say that this has all got to do as well with your like understanding and your accountant. So although I'm saying yes I can claim beauty products because I'm Australia's biggest glamason and it's part of my brand to have the beauty products et cetera, et cetera, stage, makeup, et cetera, et cetera, there would be other There would beauty influencers out there who don't claim a single thing because they just don't know how it works and they
don't keep receipts and then do it. To be plenty of people who don't claim all of the stuff, and there be other people who claim way too much and overstep they're claiming, so to speak. So I mean all these questions, I feel like we can say it's really comes down to individual circumstances all the time. How much do you actually throw away from how much do you actually throw away from free PR from brands? I can safely say I never throw anything in the bin. It
goes Christmas presents. If I use it, I give it to family and friends Christmas presents donations. My A few of my friends and family work for charities, and they're always looking for you know, gift baskets for to raffle off or lucky Door prize to raise money for you know, charities on the Central Coast. So sometimes I'll just do up a hamper for them full of PR that I haven't us. I have gotten much better though, because I
now tell the like I don't. I don't accept it unless I ask, But unfortunately sometimes brands just send them out anyway.
Yeah, I've taken myself off all PR lists a couple of years ago. But what I was doing towards the end there where I still was getting a lot of PR was I was giving it to all the fakeer release and they absolutely fucking loved that. And sometimes brands now will just send something to like our Newcastle store because it's like a public address. And I'm always like you bustards, cause I just don't accept gifting for many reasons. Number one as well, I know how much a cost
to send products of people. I'd just feel guilty. I'd rather support your business than be given free shit. But I just share it amongst the fake girls if anything ever comes our way, because yeah, it was becoming a lot at one point there.
Oh, this sounds a good one. How much did you get paid for your first brand deal?
Mine was when I was nineteen years old with Colgate for their Optic white toothpaste. It was brand new at the time. I did two YouTube videos. I had twenty thousand subscribers at the time. Instagram barely existed. This was so long ago, and I think I got paid three thousand dollars for two YouTube videos, so fifteen hundred dollars for each video.
It could have even been like fifteen hundred dollars for the two.
I can't remember because it was that long ago, but yet it was something around that amount for two dedicated YouTube videos.
What do you remember what yours was?
Matt No but it was only a couple hunts. I think I got like three hundred dollars and I kind of remember what it was.
Yeah, And other than that, my brand deals after that was like when Instagram started and it was a photo app and you would just get paid to hold up a Maybelene mascara next to your face and say I love.
This and tag Maybelene.
And I was getting like one hundred and fifty dollars for one Instagram photo.
Nice little question here, how often is a day in the life filmed over multiple days? Can saftly say I've never done that, I've never even noticed other people do that, but potentially it does happen. I don't know the answer to that one.
Someone here is in our broadcast channel said, what has been the most exciting deal each of you have received? And have you ever turned down a deal and then later seen another influencer promoting it and thought lame.
Yes, huh love this. I have a saying in this industry, I truly believe I'm fucking good at what I do, so I charge good money for what I do because I believe if you booked me to do a job for you, I'm going to fucking kill it. And it's proven time and time again every brand that I work with. It's just that you are a dream to work with. You are so fabulous. You nailed everything ten stars across the board ninety nine percent of the time. That's the
feedback I'm getting. So I have a saying that says that goes a little something like this, pay pay nuts, get monkeys. Okay, if you don't have the money to pay me what I believe i'm worth, go and pay someone else a lesser rate and see how good of a job they can do, because I know they're not going to do it as good of a job as me.
And so often I see some other people. There's one in particular who I won't mention, but he always seems to get the ones that they couldn't afford me, so they go with him, and I just think, Fuck, what a shit job he's done. And you could have paid well another thousand dollars for my rate, and you probably would have got a good video that people would actually care about.
What's the most exciting deal that you've done?
Oh, probably are a celebrity. Get me out of here. That's going over to South Africa. I don't think anything will beat that, surely.
I would say that.
One from this year was like obviously working with v and getting paid to do a taste test because I just love b and have it like every fucking second day. But like back in my brand deal days, I would say, like the coolest one that I got to do was I worked with a US.
Travel company, like I don't know who.
It was, like Explore USA or one of those things, and I got to go to the US. I took my friend Katie and we went to like Boston and like we went like on a bit of a road trip in the US, and I got to promote like traveling in America. And that's just like a once in a lifetime fucking opportunity. Went to a softball game, like, did all the fun things. So I'd say that's like a pretty iconic memory for me. Okay, here's one how our influences so wealthy. Fancy holidays, always in their jet
setting era, fancy bags, BMW cars, beautiful homes. Like the work a lot of them do doesn't feel like it equates to a massive paycheck. I don't get how they are living such luxury lives unless it's all for so influencers get paid a shit ton because having a following online is worth a lot of money because at the end of the day, it's advertising. So like brands pay top dollar to be promoted because that's.
What it's worth.
And I know that the work doesn't seem like a lot, So I know exactly what you're saying. And I've been in the position where I was getting paid a shit ton of money to just upload a reel or a photo or whatever. But at the end of the day is because it's numbers and it's marketing, you know what I mean. Like these businesses and brands are paying seven, eight, nine, ten thousand dollars for one reel because it's going to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people that is
in their direct demographic. Like you almost can't put a price on a brand being able to hit their target market.
It's the same way like if you're a business and you.
Want to advertise in radio or TV or on the back of a bus, like all of these, like marketing things come at a premium because you're getting eyeballs on your business, and with influencers, you're getting eyeballs on your business. But it's the right audience, Like it's you can just you know what I mean, Like you can hit your target demographic with an influencer and know that the people watching that sponsored video are the exact people you want shopping with your business.
So back to the like living such luxury lifestyles blah blah blah.
A lot of it's gift.
A lot of it's gifted. I mean, if you you know, for example, the fancy holiday might be gifted the fancy bags they can afford because they didn't have to pay for the family holiday.
So you know what I mean, Like influencers get a lot for free.
Yeah, and so as we said earlier, like if they want a new lounge, they could probably ask someone for a new lounge and they'll do a post for the lounge, and that'll be happy because they didn't pay them anything.
No thing to influencers will do.
If it's like a high ticket item like an expensive lounge or whatever, they might do it for free. Like they will take the free lounge in exchange of oh, do a story series or whatever for your lounge if you give it to me for free.
Which then they technically should be claiming that as income. So they haven't actually paid for it, and they haven't been paid to promote the lounge. But because they're accepting that yeah, monetary value, so they need to pay tax on that, So it actually works out way worse to do it that way.
But yeah, I think like a lot of influencers can do all these fancy things because they get so much for free, Like especially like the beauty and makeup influencers, Like they're never playing for clothes, they're never paying for shoes, they're never paying for handbags, they're never paying for makeup.
So not only like are they getting all this stuff for free and then getting paid a lot to work with the brands they do, they then aren't shopping like the way that everyone else does when they've got excess cash, because they're not going out and buying clothes because they're just getting it all gifted to them.
Makeups have to be gone. Makeup it be very expensive to keep up with. But obviously, yeah.
Look at how much like we have to spend ourselves at Mecca. I'm in a fucking level four beauty Live, you know. But influencers get all the makeup for free, so they never have to go and spend the thousands of dollars at Mecca. Also, I would say, like it on that same question, they're like, is it all a facade?
Some people would definitely make it a facade, Like it's.
Really easy to fake an aesthetic on social media, and I think working in business and seeing brands, like, it's so easy to portray an aesthetic of a brand on social media. So you can absolutely do that personally as well, Like if I wanted to tomorrow, I could start. I could say I want to become esthetic and luxury looking, and I could easily make my life look that way if I wanted to, Like, it's really fucking easy.
I almost want to do it as a social experiment.
One time, someone said, how does it work being under management? How big is they're cut? Usually across the board it's about twenty percent twenty to thirty percent. That's for like a company, if it's someone by themselves, like if you've just got a manager who's just running their own business, it can sometimes be less or sometimes be more. Yep, were there any other ones in there? We should probably wrap this up, but were there any sorry, oh my goodness,
I'm all over the shop? Were there any other good juicy questions in there.
We've got one. I've got a juicy one.
Right.
Are there any influencers that you you know, who are only in it for the money and they aren't genuine or don't enjoy their job, their only money focused.
I want to say personally, no, I've.
Never met someone that's probably in it for the money, but there would absolutely be.
There would absolutely be.
Well, let's leave it there. I think we've answered enough. I'm having one last pick. Look here, Sorry, I just want to end on something.
I feel like we could do a part too, Matt. I feel like we've got so many good questions. You'll have to let us know in our broadcast channel if you enjoy hearing about this kind of stuff.
Should we do a part?
Well, anyway, maybe in twenty twenty five, we're kicking off the year just exposing everyone. Maybe this year is just all about exposing everyone. We'll do more of these. Let us know if you like this in our broadcast channel and we'll see you next Tuesday,