sometimes authenticity requires intention,
especially since being open and
vulnerable is an additional layer that,
in the early days when Lund started
her blog, wasn’t an essential part of the
fashion blogging experience.
When putting one’s life on display is
the business, it requires the influencer
to choose how much to share and decide
what might feel exploitative. Lund
shares her personality “in snippets.”
Although she does share photos of her
two children, she doesn’t feel she has
to share anything overtly personal in
order to convey her character. “I want
to hold a little piece of myself and my
family life and stuff,” she says.
For Titus, sharing from a personal
place has shifted her blog’s tone over
the last couple years. In the previous,
fashion blogger iteration of her creative
identity, about 30 percent of her feed was
gifted or sponsored. She would feature
posts like “2 ways to a tie-front cardigan”
on her Instagram and blog. Now she
offers a window into her journey of going
freelance, various art projects, messages
of encouragement and musings about
conscious living. What she’s selling now
is her creative ability, with her social
media posts drawing in design clients
and art commissions.
“It almost felt like the people who
understood me were online and seemed
to respond when I would put it out, so
it felt safe,” Titus says. “I try to formulate
what I share as life lessons and
talk about the journey. Because for me,
that’s really all there is — the transformation
over time and the willingness
to learn and grow. And I think that’s
something most people relate to.”
Making connections
There are more than 3,000 influencers
in Sacramento, according to
Sacramento-based influencer marketing
software company Grin. The biggest
is Joey Hickson, who runs a fitness and
lifestyle account and has 3.2 million
Instagram followers. Lund, with more
than 90,400 followers, ranks among the
upper echelon of local influencers in her
lifestyle niche. Over the last 10 years,
Sacramento’s economic expansion
has extended to cultural and artistic
growth, and the capital city is home to
a vibrant community of photographers
and bloggers with specializations, including
fashion, fitness and food.
Sacramento’s confluence of affordability,
leisure opportunities and
communal spirit fosters the influencer
culture. They mix, collaborate and
exchange tips through meetups like
Tuesdays Together and other organizations
designed to connect creatives
who are in what can be an isolating and
sometimes baffling business. Topics
include how to create a media kit and
how to score brand collaborations.
Lund recently contributed to this
spirit of community with the creation
of the retreat From Scratch. “We wanted
to bring like-minded entrepreneurs
together,” she says. “It’s a group of
women founders, super diverse of age
and career type. It’s a place for all of us
founders to have all these great conversations
of (things such as) how do
you get funding, all of the interesting,
businessy kinds of questions.”
This summer’s From Scratch event
has been postponed due to COVID-19,
but Lund, along with many influencers
across our region (and across the
globe), continue to share their daily
lives through travel throwbacks, athome
OOTDs (outfits of the day) and
styled picnics. You might think — with
influencer platforms like Fohr advising
influencers to prepare for a 30 percent
decrease in income — that they might
be grasping for content. But before
there were brand partnerships or #ads
or “visit link in bio to shop,” there were
creative people with smartphones and
the audacity to share, looking for a way
to express themselves.
Vanessa Labi specializes in culture,
arts, lifestyle and personal essays. As a
longtime style blogger, she documents
her personal style, daily inspiration
and favorite hangouts at Babe-sicle.
com (currently being redesigned). On
Instagram @babesicle.
Q
A
ASK YOUR
SALES COACH
How do I help my salespeople
overcome call reluctance
about prospecting during
these tough economic times?
For a salesperson, the key
to call reluctance has
always been, and still is
found in forcing ourselves
to make the attempts
despite our fears. In doing
so we will discover that
business is desperately
trying to get moving and
some people will want to
talk with us. Holding your
salespeople accountable
weekly to doing the
appropriate amount of
prospecting right now will
lead to opportunities as it
always does and that will
lead to more prospecting
confidence. Sensitizing our
language and approach
once on the call will help
the prospect be more
accepting of us, which will
further build confidence
although space prevents
me addressing that here.
Submit your sales questions
to [email protected]
Good selling,
DALE BIERCE
Sandler Training
www.sandler.com
July 2020 | comstocksmag.com 73