OpinionEntrepreneurship

BY SHOLA ASANTE

He was a little on the serious side; in-house counsel at a shipping firm with no discernible interest in women’s fashion. Yet his ears pricked up at the conversation between his wife and I as we sat at the kitchen table talking about my new business.

Where are you going to sell your products?

How are people going to find out about your brand?

All valid questions, for which I had answers, but it signalled the beginning of what I have come to realise is an unintended consequence of starting a business: everyone from family and friends to recommendations and megawatt smiles percolating in our collective consciousness. access to A-list celebrities is beyond the reach of m small enterprises, further down the food chain there is more chance of collaboration If anything, in fact, there is possibly too much choice The influencer marketing industry is forecast to be worth $13 8bn in 2021, up $4 1bn compared with last year, according to the latest Influencer Benchmark Report But how do brands, particularly small businesses, pursue this marketing strategy? “You’ll find there is some low-hanging fruit,” say the owners of The Steak Shop, an online meat supply company “After this it gets more difficult You must our the internet for the best creators. much about subscriber count, but [rather ent and views rate [as] this is much more will help your results.” The Steak Shop, to Steak on the Green, an award-winning west London, was founded during the first 020. The ability to reach a large, targeted trust the influencer’s opinion was e for the business.

All valid questions, for which I had answers, but it signalled the beginning of what I have come to realise is an unintended consequence of starting a business: everyone from family and friends to random strangers will offer you unsolicited advice One nugget from the hall of fame is that many people will tell you to “find an influencer” This is usually delivered in assured tones as the only decision you need make in order to sell your wares and guarantee success This is not entirely wrong Think of the association between Michael Jordan’s gravity-defying dunks and Nike, or what George Clooney’s rakish charm has done for Nespresso coffee. There is a certain alchemy at work when influencers and brands team up, their lowly, gifting cuts of meat to content would invariably post YouTube videos of aring steaks in their back gardens. The mmediate: increased traffic to their website o sales So much so that the company has anager to focus on this marketing strategy t for every success story there is a e Blue Elvin, a brand that creates rtswear for women who weight train, erience disappointing They gave away a , but the influencers did not deliver in or content As a result, they see this being more relevant for bigger companies “It is a great strategy for larger brands who have better profit margins, tonnes of stock and multiple products,” says co-founder Tamara Short. “They can offer more attractive packages to influencers that smaller brands just can’t afford,” she adds. “ . . . It’s a numbers game, and so you’re up against it from the start.” This is a difficult situation to navigate for small businesses. It is hard to make demands if you cannot afford to pay, but with no power of enforcement, companies can feel exploited when expectations are not met.

That is where authenticity is key: finding people who love what you do and would use your products regardless of whether or not they get paid

Indeed, for now, Blue Elvin has shunned short-term influencer partnerships in favour of building a paid ambassador programme. This has allowed them to find athletes who share their values. “It is much more purpose-driven than the way we previously worked,” says Short If they were to explore the influencer route again,

Short says, Blue Elvin would focus on working with micro-influencers, with fewer than 15,000 followers. Research suggests that this category tends to have greater engagement, compared with accounts with larger followings But either way, influencer marketing is still no silver bullet which is what I told my friend’s husband before graciously thanking him for his advice and needs to be executed alongside additional activities such as events and paid ads. My business experience of this marketing strategy has fallen somewhere in between the two examples above and we are still refining our marketing mix It is all trial-and-error, but if you are lucky, the combination might just turn to gold.

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Indeed, for now, Blue Elvin has shunned short-term influencer partnerships in favour of building a paid ambassador programme This has allowed them to find athletes who share their values “It is much more purpose-driven than the way we previously worked,” says Short. If they were to explore the influencer route again, Short says, Blue Elvin would focus on working with micro-influencers, with fewer than 15,000 followers Research suggests that this category tends to have greater engagement, compared with accounts with larger followings. But either way, influencer marketing is still no silver bullet which is what I told my friend’s husband before graciously thanking him for his advice and needs to be executed alongside additional activities such as events and paid ads My business experience of this marketing strategy has fallen somewhere in between the two examples above and we are still refining our marketing mix. It is all trial-and-error, but if you are lucky, the combination might just turn to gold

By Jennifer Nash

The HML Foundation was registered as an NGO in 2017 by Jennifer ans Tim after operating as a personal project so aimed at Saving Lusaka Libraries since 2006.

The foundation aims has since continued on that path to save or offer alternative public & community spaces. The 2017/18 agenda focused on Libraries - with the belief that a library should remain as a public seat of knowledge, resource and wisdom. A library should by right be a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing It should provide a physical or digital access to material in a physical building or room or a virtual space or both Preferably and traditionally a building in the case of a Library

The HML Foundation is working with Ark & Brook, a PR agency founded by Jennifer Nash to continue her work with other like minded Female Entrepreneurs,through the Global Ignite Vision Awards platform, working with these individuals or organisations that are willing to forge ahead the 2030 UN-SDG's goals no. 4, 8, 9 & 11. The mission is to have Female Entrepreneurs to immortalize their lagacy by becoming a friend of HML Foundation so you can help create the future digital hub of information and resource. Together, We're So Much Better!

We need to raise £1,000,000 GBP for our ambitious plan to work with Jannou Africa Group - a developer working with us to build new community library to complement existing poorly managed public infrastructures as an alternative modern facility with broad band connectivity and amenities We also would very much like to hear from you if you have an idea about the designing of the Statue or Sculpture that will reflect the purpose of the building and express the love and legacy of the people that will help us build it

This is an ambition project, I know! But imagine this, if a million people gave £1 in the next 9 years, we could achieve this easily! That's why This is A Drop Of Ink To Make A Million Think project

It's also my first public crowd fudning fundraising appeal ever because Due to Covid-19, building a community library has become an emergency as we need to build faster so we can alleviate digital poverty sooner.

Previously I've spent 10% of my own income totalling to over £13,000 spent on the Foundation in the last 4 years since its registration as an NGO in 2017.

Together We Can Give A Gift That Keeps Givingand that is what a library does. Thank you in advance for sharing this vision. Come back soon for updates :-)

Thanking you in advance for all your support!

Jennifer Nash, Trustee and Founder

Note To Readers:

By time of writing this article we have raised £270 from the Global Ignite Vision Awards! Thanks to Kathy Kasten and Christine Holter.