Affluent Influencers
Does affluence = influence?
Would it be fair to say that the people that influence you the most are the ones that demonstrate affluence the most? It seems that the word affluence can leave a bit of a bitter taste in people’s mouths because affluence usually generates images of people with big houses, shiny cars, big walk in closets, and spending money without even thinking twice - and you wouldn’t be wrong, but there is more to it than that. This is what got me thinking about the connection between affluence and influence - are influencers actually affluencers? Encouraging us to have more, be more, consume more, do more?
(saying influence and affluence over and over again is making them lose their meaning)
In his piece for Martech - a technology and marketing blog - Peter Minnium reports that : “It's been well-documented that when a product or service is seen or associated with the affluent market, it tends to drive interest down through and among the mass market — since so many aspire to live a more upscale lifestyle, thus making them doubly influential.”
So, what does this have to do with running a creative business?
As the consumers in our industry, we can feel like we need to do exactly what those who appear to be living the high life in our industry are doing - but in doing so, we dilute our own magic. We tend to spend money on the same furniture, presets, camera gear, backdrops, and even studio spaces in order to feel that we are even slightly capable of achieving what the affluent are doing. What we don’t realize is we simultaneously add to their affluence (thus increasing their influence over us) by purchasing through their affiliate links. And as someone who is an educator and affiliate for other companies I recognize I might be shooting myself in the foot by saying this - but ultimately, I only want you to purchase the things that I recommend if and ONLY IF you have come to a critical decision that it makes good business sense OR it aligns with your purpose and values. I have found myself spending money left, right, and center to build better sets, add more wardrobe, or get higher end products that did not end up aligning with my purpose or values and definitely did not make good business sense. I simply did it because I felt that it would get me to that next level - shockingly it didn’t because it wasn’t about the stuff - it was about staying true to my purpose and path.
2. It can be tempting to use affluent influencers in your business, but again, if those people are not going to align with why you do the work you do you may end up with more headaches than rewards. You want to make sure if you are inviting individuals in for free sessions that you are doing it because they align with why you do what you do and they will connect you with other people like them. Just because someone has a shit ton of money doesn’t make them an ideal client. This is why it’s so important to figure out your purpose, values, and mission - so you know who you want to bring into the fold. Most of the influencers for my business come from folks that needed someone to listen, needed to see themselves differently, and scraped and saved every penny to get their images.
3. So, what’s the upside to affluential influencing? Well, for starters affluent individuals tend to be less risk averse (because they can be) so they are okay to try new things, partake in the newest fads or get on board with revolutionary products/offerings. For futuristic people like myself, this can be very important because we tend to be VERY ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to our vision, so to align ourselves with individuals who are less risk averse gives us a bit of a footing - I know it’s not the most positive example, but think of Richard Branson & Jeff Bezos being the first civilians to “go to space” - most people would think it is absolutely disgustingly risky to do that, but they wanted to be the first and show everyone that it CAN be done. Now that it has, more and more trips are planned for civilians. And while photography and space travel are 2 very different things - when I first started my boudoir business I always focused on it being about the woman and not her partner, and I was told over and over by the marketing gurus in the photography industry that I had to still use the old tactic of telling them its for their partner - I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I looked around my community and loudly spoke about my mission and connected with other people who were body positive, body inclusive, and headed in the same direction - while they may not have been affluent financially (they might have, I’m just not sure), they were affluent in connections, followers, and had further reach than I did. I reached out via DMs, even flew to NYC to photograph the glorious Stefania because I had seen her in the Embrace documentary, and offered my services to other various individuals. I aligned with their messaging and I could see we were wanting to do the same thing - so why not go together? Remember affluence isn’t just dollars and cents.
4. Broaden what affluence means to you. If we go back to the definition of affluence it’s tightly wound with the word abundance - so by focusing on that, what do you want to have an abundance of in your life. Again - it doesn’t just have to be money. It can be money and stuff, of course, but it can also be time with family, freedom, peace, travel, alone time, education, time with friends, etc. Just as abundance is tightly wound with affluence, so is the vision of success being the big houses and million dollar cars - and for some that might be true, but I don’t think it is for everyone. If we broaden our definition of affluence it will allow us to feel less like failures and we will be able to cultivate an abundance of LIFE: joy, peace, love, and beauty. By staying focused on what we truly want from our lives, we can stop trying to “chase” the current affluent influencers, constantly buying what they are selling simply because we think it is the key to our success. YOU hold the key to your success, you just have to get quiet enough to hear it.
5. Perhaps you are an affluent influencer already? If that’s the case, you are probably bringing in some extra revenue which is fantastic, but similarly it is important that you align yourself with brands and companies that have the same values and general mission that you do - otherwise, you might find yourself in a sticky situation. I know for me it was easy to say yes to every opportunity that came along because who doesn’t like to be liked? But then I realized that that could do more harm than good because I wanted to stay true to myself and my character so I now try to align myself with people and companies that have a similar mission or vision that I do. I want to make it clear that I am not a super high up there affluent influencer and while my business brings in enough money for me to live my dreams, there are people out there making more money than me doing what I do - this is a good example of being affluent extending beyond just your financial abundance. I believe people and companies reach out to me because a)they align with my values and the work that I do and b)I have a wonderful community of humans that believe similar things that I do that I can introduce them to - IF and only if I actually find value and utilize their products or services. I’m not gonna lie, I’m probably one of the worst actual influencers out there because I always forget to promote shit until I’m told otherwise.
