Influencer Marketing: Beware of the Internet Famous

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a woman asking about my book. It was a bit of a sad email – reading that a woman who wanted to buy my e-book had spent a ton of money on the site where it was talked about and gotten no results in the past. Ironically, the article they read was one that I spent a ton of money on to put there.

The internet famous person’s site had very impressive numbers and an even more impressive list of advertisers. They claimed well over 50,000 daily readers between all their distribution sources. That’s a significant audience! And the audience was a shoo-in for my product. It was all there: eyeballs, intent, and targeted audience.

Or was it?

A month after the post ran, I don’t even have 200 visitors from the site. That’s visitors… not conversions… simply visitors. Of the two hundred visitors, not a single person purchased the e-book. I found myself in the same predicament as the woman who wrote me. She complained that she had spent a lot of money and never received a result from any advice she paid for from the website in question. The website was from someone Internet Famous.

My Theory on Internet Famous

So, with that in mind, and the collection of Internet Famous people I know or have done business with, here’s my theory:

Internet famous people are good at one thing… making themselves Internet famous.

Many don’t work with clients (outside of those who want to hire someone Internet famous and don’t expect results). Most of them are busy trying to keep up the appearance that they are widely followed and more intelligent than the rest. Most are quick, intelligent, witty, and masters of the obvious. Many of them have book deals. Some of them are busy exaggerating the numbers to keep up the appearance.

They figured out that transitioning from hard work and results to simply being Internet Famous was an easier way to make money. Why? Because we want some of their juice… we want to hitch a ride… we want the easy route, too.

It’s not easy, though. Don’t expect to get results when you throw some money at the Internet Famous… remember that you’re helping keep them famous. (And that’s okay, too!)

About Us

That’s why I’m so passionate about this blog and the bloggers on board (with more to come). We’re all marketers who work daily to improve our clients’ success. The blog is our passion, not our profit. Perhaps one day we’ll break out and be Internet Famous. If that’s me, be sure to write about me and hold me accountable, though!

As for the woman, I sent her a copy of Corporate Blogging for Dummies for free and asked her only to pay if she benefitted from the book. That goes for any of you! If you’re skeptical, I’ll gladly send you a copy!