Rip Us Out The Plastic - We're Acting Brand New!
Influencer 101
We’ve come to the end of our first week as influencers. We’re different now. We’re still approachable but we won’t have as much time for you as we did before, that’s just the nature of things, you know? Hope you understand.
If you missed our post and are wondering what I’m talking about, Emily and I were #EverlanePartners! Give this link a click and check out every Everlane item that landed on our bodies. They are all linked and ready to click. If anything strikes your fancy head to Everlane.com and use our offer code:
HTBLO20 (new customers) or HTBLO10 (existing customers)
The codes are good for the entire site. Not sure exactly how long they are live for so - do it now!
We love our new Everlane wardrobe and can stand behind the quality 100%. It all feels so good on. Everlane has stylish, grown-up, elevated basics, that are ethically made — just a whole bunch of yes.
This experience really opened our eyes to the world of influencing. A big #influencerlyfe take-away is that there are more: people, directions, communication and documentation than one might think. It’s giving more “actual job” and less “flip your camera around for funsies.”
Both Emily and I have been producers and feel fairly competent when it comes to navigating a brief, but in true How To Be Less Old fashion we bumped up against a few terms and acronyms that we had to learn-slash-get clarity on. We also got stuck on some embarrassing basics (not the t-shirt kind) - thank god we have our HTBLO community to unpack this with.
We shot the content ourselves. Emily’s friend graciously lent us her stunning backyard. We rolled in with clothes, hangers, a wardrobe rack, two steamers and a large light stand with phone mount. We were able to bounce ideas off each other, knock out our content and have a blast. The shoot we understood. The shoot was in our bodies and in our bones.
Next up was the content rollout - that’s where we got stuck on stupes and acted super brand new. Does everyone know this Latto song “Put It On Da Floor?” The opening line is brilliant - rip me out the plastic I’ve been acting brand new.
It spawned a TikTok trend of folks ripping themselves out of the plastic because they were acting brand new. Below is a compilation.
When it came to actually uploading our content we were truly acting brand new.
Brand New - acting a certain way or displaying characteristics that are not congruent with one's normal behavior. ~Urban Dictionary
I just went back to read the brief and it is quite straightforward. But the first time you do anything new you feel like you are wading through uncharted territory.
The words that we had to stare at and mentally unpack were — in no particular order: frames, approvals, dedicated reels, organic and net-new.
We were also tasked with adding an FTC Disclosure to our posts. What is an FTC Disclosure you might be asking yourself? Well, we were asking ourselves the same darn thing. FTC stands for Federal Trade Commission and it is an endorsement guideline. When you add an FTC Disclosure to a post you are letting your following know that you are featuring endorsements and or affiliate links. Simply put it’s an #ad.
The Everlane team was so great to work with. Our point person gathered all the links to everything we wore for the shoot and kindly put it in an email so we could link to our socials.
Now, we know how to link. We promote our Substack posts by linking the post to IG stories WEEKLY. Not only do we know how to link but we follow many fashion influencers who link their clothing in stories. But because we were presented with all the links we felt pressure to link everything! I actually asked the question “How does one link?” The poor man had to direct me to the toolbar at the top of IG stories! But I’ve been knowing that toolbar!
The rub is that you can’t add more than ONE LINK at a time. That’s why influencers direct you to their Linktree. A place where all your links can live freely without restriction. We knew you couldn’t link on a “post.” But did you know you can’t link on a reel? Can someone explain why that is? These are the nuances that we just hadn’t come across before. And is there a real benefit to “inviting a collaborator” over tagging?
Anyhoo! There was no expectation that we link everything at once. We just got overwhelmed by linkable options ha. Now that we have one brand partnership under our belts we are ready for more!
As Cardi B. says (featured in the Latto song above)
“Give these heauxs some melatonin, put their ass to bed.” (a guiding principle)
Hit me up with your favorite influencers so I can, “like, follow, subscribe!”
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EVERLANE CODE: HTBLO20 for 20% off (new customers), HTBLO10 for 10% off (existing customers). We’ve been wearing Everlane for years - the quality is 🤌🏻
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OMNILUX red light products. CLICK HERE for the Eye Brightener featured in our TikTok!
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You both looked amazing! Loved the outfits!
FEELING BRAND NEW! :) Love this, D!