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Foto: Source: Olivia Reaney/Business Insider

Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Influencer Dashboard, our weekly rundown of what’s new in the influencer and creator economy.

There’s no doubt that the influencer industry has grown tremendously in recent years. And throughout our reporting, my colleague Dan Whateley and I have watched as hundreds of talent managers and agents have raced to sign the next generation of stars.

But we noticed there wasn’t a central place to view the top power players in the business and see who they represent. So after months of conversations with industry insiders, and from our own reporting, we decided to build one.

This exclusive interactive database gives an inside look at who is working with the top creators on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more in 2020.

These 95 managers and agents help many influencers expand their digital businesses by selling consumer products, securing lucrative brand partnerships, or developing other opportunities.

For many creators, the need for representation has grown in importance as the pandemic and economic downturn have required them to rethink how they earn a living.

View the exclusive interactive database, here.

You can read most of the articles here by subscribing to Business Insider. And if this is your first time reading Influencer Dashboard, subscribe to the newsletter here.

A TikTok influencer group launched a new 'travel house' in spite of the pandemic

Clubhouse

Foto: Source: Screenshot of Clubhouse BH / YouTube

While many states in the US are still in the early stages of lifting shelter-in-place policies, some popular social-media influencers seem ready to return to normal.

This month, Clubhouse, an influencer group based in California, traveled to Tulum, Mexico, to launch a new "roaming travel house" called Clubhouse Explore, and documented themselves hanging out on the beach, playing pool volleyball, and attending a dance club - no masks in sight.

The group uploaded a three-part series to their YouTube channel Clubhouse BH (77,000 subscribers).

"We're mobbing to a rager to end the night right now, a little quarantine rager with the team, we'll get some shots there," house member Isaak Presley says in one of the YouTube videos.

The group received a few disapproving comments on social media.

"Have y'all forgot about the pandemic?" one commenter wrote underneath a Clubhouse Instagram post.

But Chris Young, the president of the holding company that owns the Clubhouse brand, told Business Insider that he doesn't consider the trip a mistake.

The group also plans to launch an influencer content house in Bali soon. Read more here.

An Instagram influencer's guide to negotiating a brand sponsorship

Austen Tosone

Foto: Austen Tosone. Source: Austen Tosone

Austen Tosone is a beauty and style influencer who has 11,000 followers on Instagram and runs the blog Keep Calm and Chiffon.

Influencers like Tosone rely on brand sponsorships to earn income and creators often negotiate with the brand directly. There are strategies influencers use to get the most out of a deal, and Tosone broke down her tips for negotiating a sponsorship.

She says:

  • Take on some gifted projects at first, like a free product in exchange for promotion, but not too many. As a general rule, about 95% of the collaborations she does are paid projects.

  • Figure out what the brand is looking for. Is it brand awareness or sales?

  • Look for key terms like "usage" or "image rights" to understand how the brand plans to use your content and set your rate accordingly.

"I don't recommend agreeing to giving a brand rights to use your image or likeness for more than a year," Tosone said. "I will never sign a contract if it is in perpetuity. Even if it's your favorite brand you just never know."

Read more on how to negotiate an Instagram influencer sponsorship here.

Inside Biden's Instagram influencer campaign strategy

Joe Biden

Foto: Source: Paul Sancya/AP

Former VP Joe Biden is working with social-media influencers on his presidential campaign and his strategy is the opposite of Bloomberg's meme-buying spree.

Dan spoke to Village Marketing, the agency behind Biden's Instagram influencer campaign strategy.

The Biden campaign worked with the agency recently to coordinate a #BidenTownHall campaign with six Instagram influencers. Village founder Vickie Segar said the campaign was looking to get in front of young voters during the pandemic.

The creators hosted Instagram livestreams with Biden and posted short videos on their accounts. None of them were compensated to post the content, Segar said.

"None of these influencers are paid, and many will tell you this is not even an endorsement," Segar said. "That's what I think is so authentic and awesome about this campaign and this approach. We picked people who have the right voice or the right audience to have a topical conversation."

Read more about the strategy, here.

What else happened on BI this week:

Industry updates:

  • The entertainment company Fullscreen and the media platform TheFutureParty are hosting a virtual event on Black creators, brands, and systemic racism on June 29.

  • Select Management Group recently signed more than a dozen new creators including YouTubers Aaron Burriss (1.46 million subscribers), Heyitsfeiii (1.59 million), and Jelian Mercado (1.08 million), and also hired Brittany Gilpin and promoted Lori Puzon as talent managers. The new signs will be managed across the desks of Lori Puzon, Charley Button, Mike Jezusko, Fred Johnson, Amy Neben, Lisa Filipelli, and Caroline Nardilla.

  • Naomi Lennon (Lennon Management) signed TikTok stars Our Fire (5.8 million followers), Nathan Piland (3.8 million), Alan Chikin-Chow (1.9 million), and Romain Bernus (1.7 million).

  • TalentX hired Amber Howard as the head of talent at its joint venture TalentX Gaming. Howard was previously a talent agent at A3 Artists Agency.

Amber Howard

Foto: Amber Howard. Source: A3 Artists Agency

This week from Insider's digital culture team:

Here's what else we're reading:

  • MrBeast is launching an app and giving away $25,000: Julia Alexander from The Verge wrote that Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) has partnered with internet collective MSCHF for "Finger on the App," a one-time multiplayer game. The last person to take their finger off their phone screen wins up to $25,000.

  • Women in gaming speak out about sexism and harassment: Taylor Lorenz and Kellen Browning from The New York Times wrote about the more than 70 allegations that surfaced on Twitter recently and why some say it's the beginning of real change in the industry.

  • Instagram expands shopping features: Sarah Perez from TechCrunch wrote that the platform is expanding access to Instagram Shopping to more businesses, including creators who want to sell their own merchandise.

Thanks for reading! Send me your tips, comments, or questions: [email protected].

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