Podcast: Want to be a good influencer? ‘Don’t be god damn boring’

When three hugely popular influencers get together and talk about their secrets to success, you might guess that the social media platform they would be on is TikTok… but you’d be wrong!

Nas Daily, Sarati Callahan and Caspar Lee talk about their respective journeys to where they are now – ie, with more than a million followers each. They also give tips on how to grow a loyal following, and they reveal the platforms that can make or break a career as a content creator.

Nas Daily recently raised US$11 million in funding for his startup Nas Academy. Caspar Lee’s Influencer.com now employs 75 people. So how do you go from viral sensation to successful entrepreneur in a matter of years? Here are some tips from Nas who gained fame on Facebook.

• Be interesting: “Just don’t be god damn boring, say something, scream if you have to.”
• Say something controversial to get people’s attention.
• Say something you believe in, be authentic.
• Be privileged: Have enough money in the bank to focus on high-quality content creation.
• Be consistent: When Nas had his first viral video it came after 270 videos that failed. He made a thousand videos in a thousand days.

Sarati Callahan’s journey started with TikTok: “I went from TikTok to SnapChat and then really blew up on SnapChat. Then I really started pushing on my Instagram Reels. So I took my TikTok videos and posted them on Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook and YouTube Shorts.”

She says she posts across all five because the same content elicits different reactions: “Sometimes [my content will] do great on TikTok and go super viral but will do horribly on Facebook and Instagram because it’s such a different audience.”

Speaking about being an influencer who is both married and expecting her first child, Sarati says: “I’m a goal for people on TikTok and SnapChat but on Facebook I’m relatable because they’re my age too.”

While Nas still bets on Facebook, Sarati thinks SnapChat is a winner. Caspar Lee, however, is looking to LinkedIn as a way to connect with other entrepreneurial-minded content creators.

Content creator and SaratiBody entrepreneur Sarati Callahan, YouTube star and entrepreneur Caspar Lee, and Nas Academy founder and CEO Nas Daily, were in conversation with Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz. They spoke on Centre Stage at Web Summit 2021.

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Main image: Diarmuid Greene/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)