Influencer Business: A podcast by Trove – Details, episodes & analysis

In our very last episode of Season 5, we sit down with Lindsay Alesso to discuss the intricacies and tactics of affiliate marketing. Lindsay is a Senior Client Development Manager at CJ Affiliate who has worked with global brands in the travel, retail, fashion, and sportswear space on their marketing objectives to create and execute short and long-term affiliate strategies. She’s been a panelist for many affiliate events that are focused on the value of content, and has received recognition and accolades for her own work in content strategy.

Some Takeaways from our time together: 

• Platforms change and that changes the way creators interact with their followers (which is important for the brand to know)
• To understand how strong your commission structure is, ask content creators!
• Before starting any campaign, before deciding any platforms you want to activate on, Define your goals and what your KPIs are for your efforts. 

For more on Lindsay:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayalesso/ 

For more about Trove: 

@trovebusiness 

www.trovebusiness.com

For more about Gush & Grow:

@gushandgrow

www.gushandgrow.com

A big thank you to our season's sponsor, CJ Affiliate (@cjnetwork). CJ is the affiliate network of choice for influencers and content creators. Through CJ you can get direct access to over 4,000 top brands, with the support, tools, and data to make your dream partnerships a reality. Learn more at cj.com/trove.

Amy Romfo (of @thecoastal oak) is a DIY blogger and content creator based in Charleston, SC. She talks candidly about pursuing content creation full-time with three young kiddos underfoot, flipping furniture, and pursuing home construction projects, all while taking her audience along for the ride (including the flops!). In this episode, Amy and I talk through: 

• The makeup of a compelling reel
• Her reel that went viral
• The downsides of viral content
• The value of being able to reach your audience outside of social and direct them to a platform that you own
• Why you have to be prepared to change your content strategy 
• And more

For more on Amy:

@thecoastaloak

thecoastaloak.com.com

For more about Trove: 

@trovebusiness 

www.trovebusiness.com

For more about Gush & Grow:

@gushandgrow

www.gushandgrow.com

A big thank you to our season's sponsor, CJ Affiliate (@cjnetwork). CJ is the affiliate network of choice for influencers and content creators. Through CJ you can get direct access to over 4,000 top brands, with the support, tools, and data to make your dream partnerships a reality. Learn more at cj.com/trove.

Kar Brulhart (kb_brandmarketing) helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs grow on Instagram. In this episode, she shares how she grew on Instagram by 15k followers in just 31 days—all organically. Kar has years of experience working at innovative startups and has created marketing campaigns for well established brands like Michael Kors, Google, and the UN. She left corporate life at the beginning of the pandemic when she was 9 months pregnant to pursue her dream of supporting small business owners. She is well-researched and her strategies are informed by Instagram’s ever-evolving features and content prioritization fluctuations. 

Kar has won many international awards for her work, and she joins this episode to share how small business owners can grow strategically on Instagram. This episode is for you if you want to learn how to create content that engages your ideal audience! 

For more on Kar:

@kb_brandmarketing

kbbrandmarketing.com

For more about Trove: 

@trovebusiness 

www.trovebusiness.com

For more about Gush & Grow:

@gushandgrow

www.gushandgrow.com

A big thank you to our season's sponsor, CJ Affiliate (@cjnetwork). CJ is the affiliate network of choice for influencers and content creators. Through CJ you can get direct access to over 4,000 top brands, with the support, tools, and data to make your dream partnerships a reality. Learn more at cj.com/trove.

Food blogger and third-time author Jessica Merchant of @howsweeteats joins this episode to talk about how she’s nailed her voice and shares unpopular opinions on what it takes to get better at writing. Jessica openly talks about her weaknesses, her favorite parts of the job (and least favorites!), and how staying true to her brand has helped her make better decisions.

She’s as relatable as she is fun and we were so thrilled to have her join us for a very lively conversation.

For more on Jessica:
@howsweeteats
www.howsweeteats.com

For more about Trove:
@trovebusiness
www.trovebusiness.com

For more about Gush & Grow:
@gushandgrow
www.gushandgrow.com

A big thank you to our season's sponsor, CJ Affiliate (@cjnetwork). CJ is the affiliate network of choice for influencers and content creators. Through CJ you can get direct access to over 4,000 top brands, with the support, tools, and data to make your dream partnerships a reality. Learn more at cj.com/trove.

Austin Munhofen is the founder of Gush and Grow, a talent management and brand education company, Trove partner, *and* the new host of the Influencer Business podcast! She shares her non-linear path to influencer management and her take on the most exciting industry developments that are still to come. We cover a lot in this episode, including when you might be ready for talent management, her number one advice to content creators, and, finally, we introduce her as the new host of the podcast! As someone who sits at the nexus of brands and influencers and works with both of them on a day-to-day basis, Austin will take the podcast to new heights and we’re excited you’re here for it!

For more on Austin:

Website: gushandgrow.com
Instagram: @gushandgrow

Daniel LaBelle started using TikTok to help his photography business, but 12 months later he has morphed into a full-time content creator thanks to his nearly 15 million fans. His comedic takes on everyday life have catapulted him into a new career and he shares what that ride has been like. The highs, the lows and nearly wanting to quit. 

Daniel shares how he has maintained perspective on the crazy ride and how he is thinking about the future. In addition, he dispenses some invaluable advice to other creators on how they should approach social media and creating content. 

For more on Daniel Labelle:

• TikTok
• Instagram

Kathleen Barnes (@kathleen_barnes) joins this episode of Influencer Business to talk about how to handle the holidays (and avoid burnout), building her business while moving all over the country and dealing with tough times while you have a public profile. Kathleen doesn't pull any punches and is very transparent about what really goes on behind the scenes of an influencer business.

Kathleen started her blog after her dreams of being a journalist were put into question by a difficult economic point in history. Even as she moved around the country she continued to grow her audience and build her business. Her content and style evolved, but she has always made sure that her connection to her followers remained her primary focus.

For more on Kathleen:
@Kathleen_Barnes (IG)
CarrieBradshawLied.com (Web)

For more about Trove:
@trovebusiness
www.trovebusiness.com

Katie Rodgers (@katierodgers) is an artist who left New York in early 2020 (before COVID) after over a decade in the Big Apple. She had found incredible success in Manhattan and had built a great business and massive following, but something was missing. Katie had hit a point where she was not feeling inspired, so she went looking for inspiration.

She found it in New Mexico where she has lived a very different life, still creating, but also working on a farm and getting involved in the local community. In this episode of influencer business, Katie shares her journey to rekindling the magic of creating art and how it took an unconventional approach to get there.


For more on Katie:
@KatieRodgers (IG)
KatieRodgers.co (Web)

For more about Trove:
@trovebusiness
www.trovebusiness.com

Li Jin is an investor who focuses on the Passion Economy, a term that she coined herself that means this new economy where individuals monetize their skills. Li has been interested in and an active participant in the Passion Economy for years now. She embraced early blogging platforms and has recently launched a podcast of her own.

With a degree in statistics from Harvard and work experience in strategy at Capital One and product management at Shopkick, Li had a well-rounded background that took her to Andreessen Horowitz where she invested in early stage consumer tech companies and developed her thesis around the Passion Economy. She recently left to start her own firm (Atelier Ventures) where she could focus exclusively on early stage founders in the Passion Economy.

Li has an incredible perspective on the industry and a very different vantage point than most of the people we have on this podcast. She is able to look at the industry from a ten thousand foot view and share learnings that she has gleaned from her work with entrepreneurs across all verticals.

Bottom line, Li dispenses incredible advice and this is a must-listen episode for anyone in or interested in the Passion Economy. (That means you creators).


For more on Li:
Subscriber to her newsletter (https://li.substack.com/)
Learn more about about Atelier Ventures
Follow her on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ljin18)

For more about Trove:
@trovebusiness
www.trovebusiness.com

Makeda Saggau-Sackey is an OG influencer. She started her blog Glamazon Diaries back in 2007 when she was working on Capitol Hill and wanted to flex her creativity. Her blog grew rapidly and has taken her from wanting to work at Vogue to actually appearing in the magazine!

In this episode, Makeda shares her journey as an influencer (that has taken her from DC to NYC to TX) and why you need to focus on the followers you have, not on likes, comments or growth. We also get into planning a wedding ... in Europe ... during COVID and a whole host of other things (including a fan account that she runs, can you guess who it is?!?!).

It's a great conversation from an influencer who has been around and has seen it all!

For more on Makeda:
@GlamazonDiaries (IG)
GlamazonDiaries.com (Web)

For more about Trove:
@trovebusiness
www.trovebusiness.com