We're back, bitches! How's that for an intro?
I love that.
Welcome back to the Pretty Okay Podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Welker.
And I am Taylor Holman.
And it's been a minute.
It's been a minute. Like, however many minutes are in a year? 500,000. No, 500, 25,600 minutes.
Right? Clock that. We made it 35 seconds into the episode before Taylor sang. That was pretty good.
That's a record.
But that is a very good way to remember it. Honestly, that's the only way. Thank you, rent.
Thank you, rent. I mean, I was like, there's no, unless I'm picking up my phone and doing calculations. I don't know that number.
So. I like that you say picking up your phone and not picking up a calculator.
Oh, well, I only, you know. That's why you're smarter than me because you has a calculator.
Well, you know, what did our teachers always say? You're not going to always have a calculator in your pocket. And it's like, no, we do. Just kidding.
Oh, my God. That is 100% what our teachers used to say.
Yeah. And you're like, it's like, no, I do have one in my pocket, but I keep my actual calculator on my desk. So I have both. So like you're doubly wrong.
Oh my God. Oh, back to the days. Everyone's like, Oh, yep. This is typical Taylor and Sam, but this is what you come here for, right? The, the rants, the, um, what's the word? Rants, soapboxes, whatever, whatever comes to mind. It's very stream of consciousness, which is why it's entertaining.
Yes. And, you know, rant wise, do we have a doozy today?
We have a doozy today, you guys. This one, Samantha started ranting about on... The good old gram, as where any quality rant starts, right?
Right.
And I promptly swooped right in and said, we should make this an episode. So here we are.
Here we are. I think, too, when I started it, I was like. I'm just going to write a blog post or I'm just going to, I should just do a podcast episode or something about this. I have so much to say.
Yes. So what are we commenting about today?
Oh, great. We haven't even told them. Did we tell them?
No. No, we haven't told them.
I was, Sam was just ranting. That's all they know. Okay, well, it's going to become as no surprise to anybody that I was ranting about influencers. So here we are today.
So you can think of this as a follow-up to our Trust Me, I'm an Influencer episode. Yeah. But this one is, I think, going to be a little bit more cutthroat. So buckle up, bitches.
Buckle up, bitches. I, yes, I have many, many thoughts, obviously, which we will get into. But yeah, I think this rant mostly stemmed from frustration. And I know I'm not the only one. Like, As soon as I posted those stories, like every friend I have that has a brand is just like, oh my God, me too, me too. So if you're listening to this because you're like, oh, God, Sam's ranting about influencers. No, it's not just me. So... I'm trying to speak collectively for business
owners everywhere. Business owners, marketing managers, whatever your seat is where you're working with influencers. It's pretty much all the same.
Yeah, you know, and I have... Had this interesting experience. You guys, since we last recorded in an episode, I have birthed another business. And so, right. So NG is out into the wild. And I experienced this in a similar but different way because people make this assumption that if you have a tech startup, that you have $50 million in funding sitting in your bank. And hey, that is not what Engie is doing. We are totally self-funded. We do not have extra cash to throw
around. But I'm still getting these requests from not even necessarily influencers, just like people, assuming that I have money to burn and asking for dumb shit and like just coming in hot with the requests. So. Yeah, I'm I am very much excited about today's chat because, you know, it's. The takeaway, there will be some actual takeaways as there always are. Yes, yes, yes. But it's like how to ask properly and not be an asshole influencer.
And then also like from the business side, what do you need to do to maybe like repel some of these folks from reaching out too often?
Yeah, you know, I think even in the days before Taylor, came on the podcast, Julia and I did an episode, like I think one of our very first ones that was like how to not be. Gross when pitching yourself to brands.
And
If you're an influencer and you're wanting to get into the game, go listen to that one first and come back. Actually, go listen to that one. Then go listen to the... Trust me, I'm an influencer. And then come back because this is like a tiered subject here. There's a lot to unpack. So, I mean, let's start with... Kind of just talking in general about like. Who's an influencer? From a brand perspective, what is an influencer? Aren't we all influencers? We're all fucking influencers.
Like, are we still allowed to cuss?
Yes, absolutely.
Um, so influencers, people think are somebody with a crap ton of followers who post something and it goes viral. That could not be farther from the truth these days. Like honestly, it would be awesome if it was, that was how it was for a hot minute when Instagram was, you know, kind of rolling along and the very first influencers, uh, were coming out. But I mean, there's a lot of different buckets for influencers these days.
And I think that, you know, content creators is kind of the main one that brands are looking to work with. And we're going to get into all of that later. But like, there's really two main purposes of why a brain works with an influencer. And I'm going to use the term influencer as like an overarching thing here, right? But two reasons they're working with influencers are either to, A, generate sales, right? Hoping that their reach gets people interested in your product. Or B.
Create content. Because when you have these different buckets, you've got your content creators who they might not necessarily convert all that much, but to create beautiful content for you to use. And they are incredibly valuable to your business, but in a different way. Right. Then obviously generating sales. So, I mean, I. Right now I work with, I think, I want to say we have about 150 influencers on our roster.
That is too many to manage.
Well, yes, it is. I inherited them. And, yeah, it's too many. I inherited them. A big part, you know, and. As I've been with Briar for the past year. Which I don't even know if anybody knows that. Cause if we don't podcast since I started with Brian,
I don't think so. So, you know, we all heard my business birthing baby. What's yours.
Yeah, I mean, I didn't birth anything. I just took someone else's, but.
I shouldn't put it like that.
But so I'm at Briar Baby now instead of Sully Baby, heading up brand and marketing. Very lateral move for me. Pretty much the exact same role, just instead of baby wraps, baby hats. Hence the beanie. I have to stay on brand. Actually, this is Christy Dawn, so don't tell anybody. But. I, yeah, I inherited about 150 influencers. And... I'm going to try not to make this episode just me complaining about the influencers that I work
with on a regular basis. Because I hate... You think 150 is a lot, but at Solly Baby, we did 150. It reached out to 150 a month. So it was a crap ton. And I know brands that do even more than that. All depends on your product. We'll get there. But. In terms of... You know, the ones that I currently have. I've been able to figure out which bucket to put them in. And so there's a small group that goes into the content creator, which it's like their shit's on brand for us.
We love it. We're going to use it. There's the ones that... Have a smaller account, but for some reason have a bitching like engagement rate. And like some of our top. Converting influencers have less than 3000 followers, but their audience is super tuned in. You know, they're very. Like. I would consider them an actual influencer because people are influenced by them to buy shit. And then we have the largest bucket. Which is just people who want free shit and nothing happens.
I would say that's about 80% of those 150. Which In general, is pretty common for most brands. You know, and it's, it's. As a business owner or a marketer, you know that it's just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. We don't know at the gate who's going to convert and who's not. It's trial and error. You know, you're taking a risk by... Gifting people product and whatnot. Which That's another thing. Gifting versus paying. Mm-hmm. A lot of influencers these days want to
be paid. And it's understandable, right?
They're creating content.
But unless they're getting paid for creating content, getting paid to actually just be an influencer. And like promote a product doesn't work for brands anymore. It just doesn't. So if you're listening to this, think about which of those buckets you fit in, you know? And if you haven't considered which of those buckets you fit in. It's time to do some soul searching because there's a good chance you're in that big old 80% bucket.
Which is the most annoying bucket. And those are the people that are currently reaching out to me. Like, I had someone who... Wanted us to upgrade their account, which there's no way to upgrade their account because when you create an ng account, you get access to everything, right? Like we don't throttle anything. But they literally just emailed me this morning asking that if they would write us a review. If we would upgrade their
account. And I was like, putting on my soft kid gloves as I'm typing, but in my mind I'm going, fuck off. Like, if you want to write a review, write a review. If you don't, don't. But don't come at me asking for free shit just because you are going to type some words that I don't even know what you're going to type.
Yeah, that's an interesting one. That's like... Bare minimum.
100%. So annoying. Thankfully, I don't know who this human is outside of having contact via this email. So it's highly unlikely that they're listening to this podcast.
Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. You know, thinking about which of those buckets you might fit into. Content creator, you know, someone with a dedicated community who's actually going to convert. Other. I'll just say other is the third bucket. And you know, here's the thing is that influencers have
the ability to track this. They know it because a lot of the times brands are using a platform like Grin or Shopify Collabs where they have a back end and they can see how they're converting, how many link clicks they're getting, how many times people are using their discount codes, things like that. So there's no need to be flying blind as an influencer. And if it is something you really want to do and you really want to be a content creator for brands, you should be keeping an eye
on those metrics. Thousand percent, why wouldn't you? Because, you know, I would be willing to bet that all of these gals in the 80% bucket here I've never looked at that and are still just continuing to ask for free product, knowing that they've gotten zero link clicks. Like... Hello. Yeah. So. I encourage you to check out, you know, those backends. And if you don't have those, like if you're working with brands that don't have that,
which is, I think, kind of rare these days. Email your influencer coordinator or whatever, and just be like, Hey, how's it going? Like, what can I do? If it's someone you were actually want to build a relationship with.
Yeah, and if you are an influencer or content creator listening to this or like exploring the idea of adding this as a, you know, a revenue stream for your business.
Yeah.
That's exactly what it is. You have to treat it as another revenue stream of your business. Therefore, you have to treat it like a business. And a real business is going to track these numbers. And... From the business side of things of who you might be trying to sell your content to, or create these relationships with, that's the first fucking question I'm going to ask. Like what's your average conversion rate on things, right?
Like, because as the, as the company, I want to have an idea, even just a broad strokes idea of what I can expect from you and the, and the money or product that I'm investing in you. So. Yeah. If you are doing that soul searching and you are in that 80% bucket. Or you're looking at your business and the influence that you have, the influencers that you have, and you're looking at that 80% bucket. You personally need to make some pretty significant changes in terms of how
you're approaching your pitches, right? Yeah. Or how you're just operating things in general.
Yeah. And I mean, that actually kind of leads pretty nicely into. Talking about what a brand wants from an influencer, right?
I kind of touched on it a little bit. What a brand needs.
More singing. I've missed yours. Missed it. Looking at it from a big picture, which... I don't think the majority of influencers do. You know, It's... Not free marketing for brands to work with influencers. I've seen people post stuff like that, like influencers that I've worked with. And then I start following. I should say I have a handful of influencers that I follow on my personal account that I love, right, that I've worked with. And I'm like, you're a rad human.
You do a great job. Great. I'm interested in what's going on with you. Let's be friends. I also follow like other ones. And then It turns me off from working with them anymore when I see the stuff that they're posting, because like, I'll see them complaining about brands not wanting to pay them. And things like that. And it's like, I don't think you realize that. Influencer marketing is not free. We are paying for the products that we're
making. We're paying to ship them. We're paying, you know, we're paying for all like the platforms that we use to work with influencers. Grin's not cheap. That's like three grand a month. Oh, my God.
That's how much that big one is.
Yeah, it's stupid. It's an investment. Oftentimes you have people like employees who are dedicated to influencer coordinating. That's a salary. That's a person. Like none of this is free to a brand. And then you're looking at the profit margins. Like, you know, I know at Glitter Guide, I was always amazed by the amount of beauty products I would get sent. Like. Without asking.
They would just show up at my door. And it's because beauty products have a much lower cost margin, right, than we have for, say, making handmade baby bonnets. It's a lot. Different, especially if you're producing your product overseas. That's also a big factor. So there's just all of these things to kind of look at when you're looking at the brand that you're requesting product from or requesting to work with. Are they local? Where
are their products made? What obviously you're not going to know the exact answers, but like take a guess based on their industry, what their profit margins might be. So, you know, if it's a bottle of baby bubble bath. Great. Like they're doling that shit out like candy. But when you have stuff that's more handmade or more has really a lot slimmer profit margins. They can't be doling product out to everybody who comes in requesting
it. And I know like for us, we get a ton of repeat requests, like influencers who just want new product. Like if we come out with a new style, they're like, great. Or, hey, my baby grew out of this. Can I size up? And it's like, we're not just. Like. Your closet. Outfitting your kid. Yeah. And so I think, you know. That's just a big component. To me, that's the biggest one that influencers don't take into consideration is the actual business
and financial side of it is that. No, you're not technically getting paid when you're doing a gifted collaboration, but it's not free marketing for the brand. Like if anything, they're taking a bigger risk than you are. So yeah, 100% off your fucking high horse. No, I'm just kidding.
But also, yes.
But also, I'm not kidding.
Yeah, no, I think that's one of the huge things that just people in general don't realize or appreciate is that everything costs something. Even if your business does have like a dedicated affiliate coordinator or influencer coordinator, that's still time from that person's day that is the cost on top of the, you know, the actual financial investment. And I was talking to a new friend of mine just yesterday and one of her kind of broken record phrases to herself, maybe kind
of a mantra is minutes matter. Like that's what she's really leaning into this year. And I was like, oh, that is so good. Right. And that ties into this whole thing where it's not free. Every minute that a company is trying to execute on any sort of request costs it money. So nothing is free.
When did we agree that you could get new friends?
Oh. Okay, fine. Sorry. She's in Florida. If that makes you feel better, like I will.
No, it doesn't. Why are you hanging out with people in Florida?
Well, on the internet. On the internet.
Lives in Florida and I'll trust her.
I know that whole state. Unfortunately I know like more than a few people that are in Florida. I'm like you need to leave. You need to leave.
You're better than this. Yeah.
Oh my goodness. I like that though.
Minutes matter.
Yeah. The minutes matter. Everything matters. Right. Time is money.
Money is power. Power is pizza.
I was totally going to say that. I used that gif in an email newsletter for ng.that long ago.
And I was like, oh, I know where she's going with this. I'm so proud.
Yep.
Oh, so good.
You guys, you guys. Let's talk about something helpful for all of the small business owners that tune into this.
Are you saying the rest of that was not helpful?
No, I think it is helpful. I'm just kidding. It is helpful because you always want to know like what shit is happening out there, right? Like, you know, half of this, half of surviving the lifestyle of owning a business is knowing what could potentially come at you that is just a total bullshit opportunity, right? Yeah. And so that is, even though we're wrapping this up as a rant, it's still very helpful for people to know, right? Like, don't just give your shit
away for free. Please don't do that. And that is so rampant in the wedding and creative industry, just like people giving away things for free that have hard costs. So please don't do that. And the other side of this equation, for anyone who wants to work with an influencer of any type. What are the, we should probably talk about the things that are positive that they should look for in a collaborator. So we already kind of roundabout talked about how that influencer should have some
numerical data. To give to you, provide to you. And if they... Resist, that is a clear sign to just like... The fuck out. Right. Yeah. But what are other things that businesses and brands should look for? In an influencer if they're considering them. Asking for a friend.
Yeah, sure.
Asking for a friend.
I get a lot of media kits sent my way, which... Are fine. Like, For me, I'm not really looking to see the whole huge breakdown of who your audience is and like which. You know, you can see when they send over a media kit, I guess, you can see the other brands they've worked with. And that's helpful because then you can. Like, be like, oh, cool, they've worked with so-and-so. So, like... I've had brand friends too, who will
reach out like. In the same industry and be like, Hey, Do you mind sharing some influencers you've worked with who work really well for you? I'm like, yeah, I'm happy to share those with you. Because as long as they're not a competitor, you know, if it's like. Somebody else with another baby bonnet you fuck off um but i don't think people most of the time people aren't that dumb
No, I would hope not. Please don't be that dumb. Guys, don't be that dumb.
I mean, isn't that kind of just the equivalent of like when people ask you to... Do consulting to be a marketing consultant. It's kind of the same thing. It is the same thing. But like, you know. When there's people in the same industry, but selling a different product, like I'm happy to share that with them and vice versa. I think it's good to, you know, if someone has a track record, it's basically like asking
for a reference in a job interview. Um, And, you know, like we said, a lot of it is just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. But tracking it on your end is crucial, which if you don't have a platform like Grin or Shopify Collabs or anything like that. I mean, honestly, Shopify Collabs is free, so you should be on it even if you're not. And because most brands are on Shopify these days, Shopify collabs is easy to track. Recommend jumping on that bandwagon. Um, and.
You know, I think... I've had people just send over screenshots of their last few posts that are like, look, my reel got X amount of views. Like that's always handy. Big one for me, this is just like a personal pet peeve maybe, is, you know, canned. Blanket requests where they don't even say your brand name in it. They're just like, I love your brand. Would love to collaborate. It's like. Try a little harder.
Yeah.
And. So like those basic canned inquiries and then also. You don't fucking follow the brand on social yeah I don't. The other day I was combing through our influencers and I was like, these ones don't follow us on social and we give them free shit. Like, how does that make sense? Yeah.
How can they be an actual? Organic representative of the brand if they're not engaged yeah and so i mean that's a big for me that's a big sign if they're not already following you when they reach out like They're just on the hunt for free shit.
Yeah. And, you know, from from my side of things, because I'm very much like actively trying to find the right people that would be good influencers and affiliates for Engie. Yeah. And. I guess you would call it a tactic. I don't know. It sounds really aggressive to call it a tactic, but these are the things that I'm doing. Strategy. Strategy. These are the strategies that
I'm doing. And so I'm trying to find folks, and oftentimes I'm finding them on Instagram, just seeing who's connected tangentially to my network. And the first thing that I do is I follow them. Right. And then I engage with them, like genuinely engage with their content, liking stuff, commenting, you know, just kind of friendly banter. For quite a long while, before I ever think about making an ask.
Because how long do you think would you say ballpark?
Two months?
Okay.
I mean, I really, because, you know. I mean, people could say this about me too, where like maybe on the surface level, they think it's a good fit. And then they really follow me like, oh, maybe it's not great.
Yeah.
You know, because you just really have to get to know someone if you're trying to build some sort of real long term relationship. And so I want to see if there are any sort of like. I mean, let's just be real. I am looking for political red flags. Like, does this person live in Florida and think Ron DeSantis would be a great president?
Why are you making friends in Florida then?
This person is not voting. Well, Ron DeSantis isn't even on the ticket anymore. But this person is definitely not a Republican. So she clears that gate. But, you know, I think that that's. That's important to know as a brand. Like who are you proverbially getting in bed with? So you need to scope that out before you are deciding to tap someone in and really... Treat them. Well
and compensate them for their time. Because you just, you know, you don't want to find out that, oh, this person has been out there touting your product, your service, your business, your brand. And then like something comes out of left field and you're just like, ooh. Now I have a nice PR kind of crisis that I need to handle.
Yes. Yes. I, especially with big time influencers. I always do a deep dive on them. You know, it's always great to do a Google search before you're working with somebody. Like if you're just gifting somebody something like, OK, you can look as deep as you want. If you're like doing an actual paid partnership with somebody or a collaboration, you need to Like, you need to be your own FBI. Investigate the shit out of it. Because things will come out. And I remember one
time with Solly, like. Wee. I think it was like right before I left, but we gifted this gal something. And she posted about it. And then like our audience got so upset because she's. Can't remember what her deal was her and her husband like were super trumpy and super like they said some really like shady shit i guess i genuinely don't remember the details because i was like um If you're not watching the camera or the video, I did not fart.
That was me saying I'm out. Just realized not everybody's going to be seeing my hand motions. Uh, yeah. So it's, you know, it's, it's easy for people to get riled up. We know this, like we know people are easy to get fired up on the internet. Don't even get me started on the kite baby controversy.
Oh, I don't know what this kite baby is. Did someone put a baby on a kite?
Yes, we'll circle back to that. We absolutely put a baby on a kite. No, that's the name of the brand.
Oh my god, you guys, this is such proof that Sam and I work in different industries. Also, as a non-parent, I'm like, I don't know what Kite Baby is.
Oh, I'm surprised. I mean, it's like, like all the news outlets have picked it up and stuff. That's why I thought maybe you'd heard of it. Like, yeah. Anyways. Yes. I mean, even when you're just giving someone product, like they're a representation of your brand, right? And. Because let's be honest, like. People know when somebody's posting something that's gifted. Or paid. Instagram makes that very clear that you need to. Say, this is a paid partnership or... You could just tell.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like, you can just tell the way somebody writes a caption. They're like, I love my... It's like, yeah, we know. They gave it to you for free.
Which is fine.
For me, like... I think that. It's better to be safe than sorry. So if you feel like there might be red flags with someone,
Just hold on.
Wait, do the Taylor thing. Wait a few months.
Scope it out. Scope it out. So, I mean, in addition to really getting to know the people that you're working with, I think. One of the big mistakes that smaller brands make when they're starting to work with influencers is... Not having a contract. Right? Every grandma gets a contract. Right, Sam?
Even your grandma gets a contract.
Grandma gets a contract.
Yes. It's a little different with gifted than it is with.
Yes.
Compensation. If you're expecting something specific in return for gifting product, you need to be very clear about that. You need to outline it in your campaign terms, however you're. Onboarding your influencers. That needs to be written out. If you're gifting them and just like... You know, like, hey, I gave Mandy Moore a baby wrap. Really hope she posted about it. I wasn't going to be like, hey, Mandy Moore, can you sign this contract? You know, it depends on the situation. Yeah, if
money is exchanging hands. Grandma gets a contract. A lot of the times you get people who, even with like a campaign. That they opt into, which is the. Kind of the main way to do it in the product industry. You get people still just doing the bare minimum.
Mm-hmm.
I can listen. I'm going to rant about a few things for this topic. But one of my biggest ones, Unboxing is not fucking content.
Stop making unboxing videos.
Nobody bought anything based off of somebody's unboxing video. It's boring. It's lame. It makes you look like you're showing off the fact that you got free shit. And it does nothing for the brand that sent it to you. End rant.
And...
On our campaigns, I always put stuff like. You know, because you put deliverables, right? Yeah. So say you're launching a new product, you create the campaign. That people can. Apply for. From your influencer pool. So putting in those deliverables in there, like I want. Two Instagram stories on these dates for the launch, one static and feed post on this date. And you can put, or I always at least put things like in parentheses, unboxing does not count.
Yes. Yeah. Because you want this content to add value to your brand and your product, right? And What people want to see before making a decision to buy from you is how it works and how it helps someone else. So that's the kind of content that you want your, you know, your influencers, your brand ambassadors, whomever, your content creators to create, because that's actually going to help you not just look at this beautiful, you know, USPS brown box that I got.
Right.
And I pulled out this product.
Yeah. I'll tag you. I'll tag you in my stories if you send me. Something. It's like.
Yep.
And the thing too, like with stories, stories only last for 24 hours, right? So I know a lot of people like to focus on their stories because they tend to get better traffic these days than in feed because the algorithm hates us. But stories are just, they're too quick. Mm-hmm. Like. They're too fast to be anything more. Then a shot in the dark at converting.
Yep.
So if you're actually looking to like build a relationship with a brand, you need to offer more than just stories.
Yep. Yep. And... For all of the brands out there, please track some metrics on each of your folks. These people, like you said, Sam, like they're going to come back to you and ask for more. They're going to ask for more free shit. And so it is your responsibility as the business owner to know who deserves more free shit.
Right. So. And can I tell you who does not deserve more free shit?
I don't know. Tell me.
So one of my big things. If you're going to come back to me and ask me for more stuff. Please don't be posting competing brands. Oh, yeah. On your social channels. Yeah. If you're deciding you want to work with a brand in certain industries, right? Whether that be a certain apparel, certain like technology, whatever. We'll just continue to use baby hats, for example. So say I send you a bonnet and then you come to me and ask me for another bonnet and I go to your socials.
And you've just posted your baby in another company's product. Tagging it like It just... It's not even like, oh, she's working with our competitors. It makes it feel so incredibly... Not organic.
Yep. Like, it feels gross.
It's like... It's gross. So that's a big thing. If you really want to work with brands on an ongoing basis, you have to build a relationship. And that means, you know, engaging with them on social media, following them on social media, engaging on social media. Those are my favorite influencers are the ones who I didn't. You know, I'm not asking for shit. They're just doing it because they genuinely love the brand.
Yep.
And that kind of in tandem means not promoting other brands with competing products if you want to continue working. With the original brand. It's really easy to want to try to get as much free stuff as you can. I get that. It's they're like, it's exciting to have brands send you stuff for free. But from my business perspective, like you have to make smart choices. Yep.
Yep. And that's the lesson from today's episode, folks.
Make smart choices.
Make smart choices and stop asking for free shit, right?
Well, unless I mean, you don't have to stop asking, but you have to be worthy of the free shit. And having X amount of followers does not make you worthy of said free shit. Like that's the part people need to realize. Or when they say like, well, I can create content for you. It's like, OK, well, take a look at the brand's content. If your content is not up to par or not the same vibe and they're not going to repost it, does nothing for them.
Yeah.
And, you know, I mean, I'm sure with NG too. When you're looking to work with influencers for your brand, please use the product correctly. Don't post stuff using it incorrectly. That was always a huge thing at Solly. People would post these reels of them wearing their wraps and their babies got like one leg out and they're going to fall. And it's like, Jesus Christ. Okay.
Yeah. So
That's another thing. Pay attention to brand guidelines.
Yes. Yes. And. OK, I'll revise my lesson for the day is that both from the the influencer perspective and the brand perspective, you are looking for a true. Brand ambassador and loyalist who believes in the business. Right. And so you need to be that as an influencer and not just be grabbing for stuff. And then as a business owner, you need to be trying to connect with and find those folks. So, you know, I have. Run different, I know affiliates is different than influencers
to some degree, maybe to a major degree. But, you know, when I look at The... Affiliates that I've got, most of them fall into that 80% bucket where You know, they will... Post their affiliate link on a resource page of their website. And then that's basically where it stops. And... That it's like, that's not, this is not what we're trying to do here. We're trying to look for people who are genuinely stoked about what it is that you're bringing to the table. So. So yes. So yes.
People. So yes. Influencers. We could rant about influencers till the end of time. Sure.
But we don't have that much time to record.
No, we don't. We don't. You've got two small children. I have a to-do list that won't quit. You also have a to-do list that won't quit. So if anyone wants to continue this rant, you know where to find us. We're all over the internets. They are all over the internet.
Yeah.
So. Well, as we're wrapping up, you guys, we have kind of a big announcement to make. Samantha does need to step away from the podcast.
Yes, it's been.
You've been on, you've been doing this for a long time. Five years.
That's a long time. It's a long time. And I mean, I guess we can't technically count last year because we just kind of went for last year.
Also not a farting.
But I mean, you know, we didn't record at all last year because I was just so overwhelmed with work and the punk ass baby that, you know, it just didn't work out. And I think I'm just at a punk ass baby didn't work out. No, he worked out fine.
The way you said that made it sound like the punk ass baby didn't work out.
No, I kept the punk ass baby. I have to get rid of the podcast. Something I had to give. Yes. But, you know, I mean. It's been a wonderful five years for me, five, four, whatever you want to call it. We've talked about a lot of really fun stuff and I think we've helped a lot of people. But fear not because the podcast is not going away. I'm just going away.
I mean, I am personally very sad that you're going away. I was reading back through some of our reviews and I love most of them are like. About our relationship and our friendship and just how there is a, a very special chemistry to be totally cliche that we have. And I love that we've gotten to share our weird fucking friendship with the world. Because. It makes me so happy that people, A, find it entertaining and B, feel like we're a place that they can come to learn.
And so it really, you know, I am taking over the podcast with all of the responsibility. I'm like, let's do this. It's going to be different because I won't I probably won't say fuck as much because I don't know if all of my guests will want me to say fuck as much.
We'll see. Those are the wrong guests. OK. We'll see.
It'll be different, but I'm gonna definitely keep. The baton going with all the small business talk, all of the spicy topics. Like I want this to continue to be a place where people are going to get brutally honest. Yeah. I think conversations about running a business. So, and who knows, maybe every once in a while I'll drag Sam back into a conversation. Yeah.
I'll pop in. I'll pop in every now and then.
So, but yeah, I mean, I'll pop in. The plan is to release new episodes on a monthly basis. I have hired podcast editors because Sam was that person and I just got to show up and be the pretty face and talent.
In addition to all of the outlines. Come on. And sell yourself short.
But, yes, I've had to hire someone because I was like, I don't know how to do this.
It's a lot of fucking work. Hence why I had to.
Yes, exactly. So but the podcast is going to live on. It will still be the Pretty OK podcast because that is the best podcast name ever. And I don't think that much will change other than the fact that it's going to be me and some other rotating human on a monthly basis.
But which, you know, to be fair, has been it's not a new thing. Because you picked up an awful lot of slack in those early Milo days.
You know, those punk ass baby days, you know, that is, that's what partners do, Sam. We pick up the slack. So, well... That is, I guess, the last episode of this iteration of the Pretty OK podcast.
I bet you didn't know when I jokingly asked you if you wanted to be my new co-host that this is where you'd end up. I know.
And I still. Taking the reins. I know. You guys, we've talked about this before. When I was a guest way back when. It was kind of like a joke. Like, hey, do you want to be my new podcast partner? And I remember... And I immediately, I remember texting Cassie and immediately I was like, oh my God, I think Sam wants me to be your podcast host, co-host. Like, I took it very seriously.
So I'm glad it worked out.
It did work out. But yes, little did I know that, what, I think you and I have been doing it for two and a half years, three years, something like that.
More than that, because Milo is two and a half.
Oh, okay. So like three and a half years probably then. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yes, little did I know that I would be taking the torch, but. You know.
Well, here you go. Take it.
Taking it.
I can't wait to be a listener.
Judge the shit out of all of my guests.
Yes, if they're from Florida.
No one on my guest list is from Florida. I promise you that.
Okay. Well, we'll see. So, but yes, I know you're going to do great things with it and I can't wait to listen to it.
Yeah, it'll be fun. Well. This is us signing off from the Pretty Okay Podcast. Show notes will be up on prettyokaypodcast.com. There will be intermittent social media shenanigans happening on Instagram still at Pretty Okay Podcast. But thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. We'll catch you next month. And Sam, I love you. You're the best. Thank you for birthing this podcast and giving it to me.
Hey. This is probably the only thing I'll birth and give to you. So, you know. Love you too.
All right, everyone. See you later. Bye, guys.