Why This Creator Revealed Her 6-Figure Earnings for the Year
Jan 24, 2024Episode 164
SheSpeaks, Inc.
In this episode, we sit down with the incredibly talented influencer & content creator, Kristen Sellentin. In a now-viral post, Kristen shares with us what prompted her decision to reveal her half-a-million-dollar earnings in 2023. We talk about her desire to inspire women through her transparency and the power of community. Kristen also breaks down her different revenue streams and helps to shed light on the misconceptions surrounding the influencer industry and the work that goes into creating a successful online brand.
In this episode, we sit down with the incredibly talented influencer & content creator, Kristen Sellentin. In a now-viral post, Kristen shares with us what prompted her decision to reveal her half-a-million-dollar earnings in 2023. We talk about her desire to inspire women through her transparency and the power of community. Kristen also breaks down her different revenue streams and helps to shed light on the misconceptions surrounding the influencer industry and the work that goes into creating a successful online brand.
The number one reason I decided to post how much I made last year was to show women specifically that you do not have to be stuck in one career or one part of your life. You can do anything. That's the number one thing I try to tell people. You can do anything. I did not have this job, I had a whole other career. You can be at the lowest point in your life and pick up and say I'm gonna do this.
Speaker 2:
Welcome back to the show. I am so excited to share with you today's episode. I come across lots of different creators and influencers and I Really felt like my conversation and meeting with Kristen Salenton was just a breath of fresh air, because she is such a positive approach to how she thinks about what she's offering people when they come to her account and they see her content and and she's very intentional with it Kristen has built her following. She did not make her Instagram public until late 2019 and Since then she has built her audience to close to a quarter of a million people on Instagram alone, and Last year she made half a million dollars from her influencer activities. In fact, she had a video go viral where she breaks it down and tells people what she made each month of 2023.
Speaker 2:
What I really enjoyed about this conversation with Kristen is that, first, she has this very positive Approach to her content. What we talk about in today's conversation is how she thinks about what she's going to cover. She talks about the recipe for success, so to speak, and it comes down to being authentic and Transparent, and community is another big thing we talk about and also how she thinks about giving value, who her audience is and giving value to that audience. I really appreciated Kristen's Transparency and openness to talking with me. I really enjoyed this conversation with Kristen. I hope you do too, and we're gonna jump right into it.
Speaker 2:
Kristen, welcome to the show. Thank you, I'm glad to be here. I'm so excited to talk with you. I recently posted a video of yours a Real you posted on Instagram. That went viral. It was a trend that I know some creators and influencers are doing, which is kind of what you made over the course of the year before so, of course, over the course of 2023 and that video went viral. Can you share a little bit about why you decided to post it and what the reaction has been?
Speaker 1:
The number one reason I decided to post how much I made last year was to show women specifically that you do not have to be stuck in one career or one part of your life. You can do anything. That's the number one thing I try to tell people you can do anything. I did not have this job. I had a whole other career then. I rate I was raising my babies and and I put my mind to something and I did it and I was. I am successful and I want people to see that that, not not just that they have. You know, it's a pathway to becoming an influencer or here's how to make this money being a content creator. It's really a bigger picture than that, which is you can be at the lowest point in your life and pick up and say I'm gonna do this and put your mind to something and do it and and be successful.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I, I love that. I am a big believer in being the master of your own destiny. And there are so many women who decide to take an off-ramp, let's say, to their careers and to raise their families. And then you know, because of the way the traditional work Works right, it can be a huge sidetrack right for women getting back up into the working world. And here you Created your own business because, being a creator and influencer, if you are monetizing it, you're, you're an entrepreneur, you are, you have created your own business and Quite successfully. So. So what has the reaction been to? I know the video went viral, but what has the react? What have been? What have people been saying to you?
Speaker 1:
My DMs have not stopped blowing up since that reel was posted. Every day people want to know how did I do it? How can I better my business? I'm getting DMs and emails from creators themselves with big followings asking me what are you doing? Looking for advice, but the overall message has been positive. On that reel alone there's over a thousand comments or so of just positivity. I don't think there might be one negative comment. It was taken in a really positive light which, thank goodness, my message was received loud and clear, that this was not me tooting my own horn. This was bigger than that. People are really genuinely happy for me, but happy to see a woman being successful and being transparent, because there's so little transparency in this industry being a newer industry too, I think you're 100 percent right about that transparency.
Speaker 2:
This is an industry where there's no rate card that says this is how much you charge or how much money an influencer can make. I think you were, in many ways, trying to give women that perspective of it's an empowering thing to be able to do this. You basically decided I'm going to take this off ramp. You've been able to create a livelihood, a very viable livelihood, from what you started almost as a hobby in 2019. You didn't make it public until the end of 2019. You have close to a quarter of a million followers on Instagram. How did you build that following From the end of 2019, which is not that long ago I know A quarter of a million followers. How did that happen?
Speaker 1:
I'm seriously beyond blessed. I have the best community and you know how it happened is hard work. Every single day I try to post content, new, creative. I catching content every day. I just kept posting and that's what I tell people just start, just make that account and start posting the things that you love. The people will come. If you're making quality content, people will come and they'll want to be part of your community. I really try to keep things true and true to myself, and that has been a winning combination for me. I feel like four years has been 500 years.
Speaker 2:
Well right, because it's worth every single day. That's for me, yes, that's the thing that people do have to understand. I hear so many perspectives about, and a lot from people outside the industry with their perception of what the industry is. I think that what you just talked about in this short time since we've recorded you've mentioned transparency, authenticity, community and ultimately, giving value to your audience those four things together, those four elements, I think, are the recipe for success. No-transcript creators and influencers that I've seen over the years with staying power Good influencers, creators like yourself, understand inherently that you are building a community. How do you think about your audience?
Speaker 1:
It was to end of 2022. I had I was close to 100,000 followers or so, and I felt like I was struggling, in a way, to understand my audience. The demographics were staying the same, but I felt like I had lost a connection and so, for me, looking at it as a business standpoint, I hired someone to make a brand, to brand me, and I had them develop my website, make my website, and I did a brand intensive with them. And this scowl that's what she does. She is a guru for understanding your brand and teaching you about your audience, and it was well worth the investment.
Speaker 1:
We sat down and we did a. It was a three or four week. We would sit down a couple of times a week and we would look at my, my me and what I was building in my community, and she put me more in touch with the community. She brought to light so many insights. For example, I don't go to Starbucks. I could, so I maybe go to Starbucks once every two years, but she said your follower is the mom that's getting up and going to Starbucks and taking her kids to school, and she little things like that. And I was like, oh, I, that is not in my room, but it's a different way of looking at things, and so she really brought things to light for me, and that gave me the confidence to approach my audience in a way that was even more authentic, and I felt like I could open up to them a little more and make jokes and not just be this here's a pretty picture, but become a real person for them.
Speaker 2:
So, for those who are listening, who don't or not familiar with their content, what type of content do you put out?
Speaker 1:
I like to say I'm lifestyle. I try to do it all. I do a little fashion, I do a little. I do recipes, mom hacks, home decor. I love home decor, holiday, celebrating my life, things that are in I'm doing in my life and that may bring someone joy or teaches someone a new technique or a new trick or how they can do something fun in their life. I like to say I live a simple life, but I grew up in a very rural area and I always dreamed of having a beautiful home and all these pretty things. So for me it's kind of my childhood coming to fruition, where my childhood dreams of. I control the things that I bring into my home and I'm controlling the things that I'm doing with my life. I'm trying to do things that people are already doing in their lives too, and maybe I can help them do it easier or smarter.
Speaker 2:
You recently decided to get a manager to help you manage day to day. First, what made you decide like? Why did you make the decision to get a manager and what do you think the ingredients are to having a good, successful relationship with a manager For me?
Speaker 1:
I was struggling to get my work done and pitch to brands, bring in the business. I couldn't do it all myself anymore and even though it was a big, scary leap to bring on someone and hand over the reins, it was the best thing for me at that time because I just trying to balance work life. You know, and I'm finding okay, I'm creating the content, but now I've got to go out and find a brand to work with Because you know, when you're small, when you are smaller, you don't and you're newer, you don't have the attention of the brands yet. So you are out there pitching, trying to bring in the business. So I'm trying to bring in the business, but I'm also trying to make and create and it's a catch 22. So I had to. I really had reached that threshold of I can't grow my business If I don't bring on a manager.
Speaker 1:
And the second part of that is, you know, hiring a manager and how do you find? Or how, how, how do you know they're the right fit? Yeah, it's definitely. You know, while they're interviewing you, you're interviewing them. You've got to mesh well with with this person because they become I mean, they become a part of your life. I talked to my manager More than my mom I. We are constantly texting, emailing you know. When I've got issues they're working on it. Like you have to trust them.
Speaker 2:
Going back to the transparency that we talked about earlier, I'm very appreciative that you're, that you're willing, you know, to be transparent and share that. If you think about the ways, so you know influencers, creators can make money a lot of different ways. Can you just kind of top line share, you know? Do you mostly make money from brand partnerships? Is it affiliate? Where is is the majority? Or is there some sort of you know hierarchy of of how you're able to earn income from this?
Speaker 1:
So for me it's 80, about 80% is brand partnerships, 20% and I think it's like 17% is affiliate. So you're thinking Amazon, you know LTK shop style, any kind of affiliate program, and then a small percentage is my website revenue adds on my website and then a very tiny, tiny tiny about is your views.
Speaker 2:
I've heard so many influencers talk about the struggle with trying to make money from views.
Speaker 1:
I've never looked at the views as a way I wanted to get paid anyway. Yeah, I've really loved my brand partnerships and building building that connection and I love, I love affiliate. Linking to those have worked really well for me For things that you have said.
Speaker 2:
That to me are those indications of success, of a successful creator, and it's the authenticity, the building community and understanding the coo fought, the community that follows you, it's transparency and it's giving value to the audience. So, kristen, just to kind of close out, I wonder if I could ask you one last question about just generally how you think the influencer, creator, space is depicted. Do you think that people understand this space? What do you think or what do you wish other people understood about this space that maybe don't work in it day to day?
Speaker 1:
I you said earlier that I think that people don't understand how much work it truly is. That's the number one thing.
Speaker 2:
And.
Speaker 1:
I think people just think that it's all fun. There's so many more facets to this business that they just don't know about. They just think that you're making a post. I hear this all the time. When people find out, because most people in my life don't know who I am or what I do. I literally live in my bubble and so in my community people will go. They'll come out to me and go. I have to tell you, I saw you. I saw you on Instagram. I saw this like gingerbread house reel and it's you and I'm like me. This happens to be a lot more lately as I'm getting bigger and they're just like in shock. And then they're like no wonder you're always so busy and a lot of work. They're like wow, I never knew that there was so much work to it and it's so hard to explain to people, too, how this whole business works.
Speaker 1:
And their eyes glass over very quickly that it's not just a video that you made or a picture you took. No, no, there are hours, and out into every photo I do or every video I do, it's probably at least 10 hours of work sourcing products, shooting, editing content, working with my manager on the contract portion, whatever it may be, no matter what the industry, people don't really realize what's going on behind the scenes. They just like it.
Speaker 2:
Well, it's a lot of work, and it's not just the hours, I think to. The thing that's interesting about the influencer creator space is that it's also what I call a lot of share of mind, because even when you're not actively doing the work to create the content, to plan and buy, do all the things you need to create the content, you're then pushing it out and you've got to respond to people and there is so much of that and that happens at all hours of the day. So I think there's a lot more of the work, as you said your point about. It's a lot more work than people realize, but it can, as we've talked about, can be hugely beneficial for the right people.
Speaker 1:
I regret not starting sooner. I regret not making my account public several years before I did, and because I was producing fabulous content, just no one saw it. It was a great secret. It was wonderful I was making no money.
Speaker 2:
Right and now and that's the beauty of this is that you can take something that is interesting to you and make it into a business.
Speaker 1:
Right and flexibility for me was so, so important because, coming from the corporate world, you know, having my kids and I, just I could not see myself going back to the office and it just it was not jiving with me. And because family is everything to me. So this job allows me to travel. I make content wherever I go.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And it's been fantastic. It's been such a dream and such a thrill Well, kristin.
Speaker 2:
thank you so much for spending this time. If people want to follow you, where is the best way for them to do that?
Speaker 1:
They can go. My website is wwwchristinselantinecom. All my handles are at Kristinselantine, k-r-i-s-t-e-n-selantine S is in Sam E-L-L-E-N-T-I-N. I really appreciate you spending time with us today, thank you.