It's All About the Money

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I write a weekly column for Jewish World Review. My topics run the gamut from entertainment to politics, to cultural issues, to societal trends, to the purely personal. I have definite opinions on every topic of which I write and I attempt to explain why and how I've come to these conclusions. You might describe me as a commentator or a pundit, or maybe a reviewer of sorts.

It is certainly true when I write something that I believe in personally I would hope that I'm influencing my readers to agree with my assessments. Of course, as a reader you don't have to go along with my opinions on a subject, but it would be nice if you did. So, with all that in mind, I think from now on I'm not going to call myself a columnist anymore. I am calling myself an influencer. Influencer is the current popular nomenclature today.

I hear “influencer” being used a lot these days, but what exactly do they mean by it? Well, lucky for you I've done some research. For the most part it is a marketing tool for business. In the old days, influencer was simply known as a spokesman or salesman for a product. Now they've given it this ultracool new name.

Remember, a “product” is not only a manufactured item produced in a factory, a product could also be a fashion, an idea, a political party or a political agenda or a cultural mindset. Come to think of it, all of which are manufactured by a factory of sorts. All things become “brands” in this regard.

So an influencer is someone who has the power to affect the purchasing (or thinking) decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience. Influencers are usually active on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, X, TikTok, and Instagram. These social media influencers are people who have collected a social media following around their knowledge, expertise, or interest in a specific topic.

But they need not be necessarily knowledgeable or expert on the subject. Sometimes they might only have a certain cachet or personality that attracts certain followers.

Influencers regularly post about their topics on social media sites and generate large followers of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to their views. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote.

But here's the dirty little secret about influencers, most of them get paid and lots of them get paid quite a bit. Just taking Instagram for example, a survey showed that the average influencer salary was about $3,000 per month. Some even getting $15,000 or more on average. Influencers are typically paid per post, not per hour or per week or per month. It all depends on how many sponsored posts they do.

The money differs according to which social media platform the influencer is with, too. YouTube, Tik Tok, or whatever.

And the other, and most important factor of all is, how many followers does the influencer have? A rule of thumb is for every 10,000 followers, an influencer can pull in $100 per post. And if you happen to have a special level of dominance in a particular area, you can charge much more. It isn't unusual for top social media influencers to make millions of dollars a year, mostly off of brand partnerships.

I have no brand partnerships. I don't even have a brand. My brand is me. Considering all of that, I don't think I qualify as an influencer. No, I am definitely not an influencer. I don't have followers, I have (hopefully) readers. I am most definitely not a marketer, either. I am not even a salesman or a spokesman. So that leaves only one thing. I am a lowly columnist for Jewish World Review, that's all.

But at this stage of my life, that is more than enough for me.

(COMMENT, BELOW)