How do you use macro, micro, or nano-influencers to grow your reach on social media? How do you partner with them in a way that’s collaborative and benefits both parties? Is it worth the time, money, and effort? According to Neal Schaffer, Becoming an influencer—or working with them—can be SO impactful on your business. If you’re ready to embrace the age of influencer marketing, give this episode a listen! 
Neal Schaffer is the founder of PDCA Social. He also teaches digital marketing at Rutgers, Guinness, and the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. He’s spoken about digital marketing in four continents and over a dozen countries. He’s written FOUR books on Social Media, including his most recent, “The Age of Influence.” He’s also the host of the Maximize Your Social Influence Podcast. Don’t miss his expert advice. 
What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social
[3:34] Neal Schaffer’s background
[5:08] What led Neal to write his book?
[7:22] Have influencers fallen out of favor?
[10:48] How influencers can help start-ups
[11:38] The miseducation about influencer marketing
[13:46] Instagram takeovers in interior design
[16:08] Paying for an influencer: What is the going rate?
[18:03] Leveraging user-generated content
[20:01] The power of a collaborative relationship
[23:49] The ROI of Influencer Marketing
[25:45] The two sides of influence 
[27:11] What up Wingnut! Round
[29:12] How to connect with Neal
[32:03] Blooper Reel!

Connect with Neal Schaffer
Neal’s Website
PDCA Social
Follow on Twitter
Connect on LinkedIn
BOOK: The Age of Influence
Maximize Your Social Influence Podcast

Resources & People Mentioned
BOOK: The 4-Hour Workweek
WEBINAR: How to Become a Social Media Influencer in 2020

The influencer industry is shifting to nano-influencers
When most people think about influencers, they think about people like the Kardashians. That’s a problem. The world wants reality—so there’s been a shift in the industry. Things are becoming less staged. We’ve moved from macro-influencers (like the Kardashians) being important to micro-influencers (10,000+ followers) and have landed on nano-influencers (1,000+ followers). 
Neal points out that instead of paying big bucks to work with a macro-influencer, consider this: Who do you know that has 1,000+ followers? Maybe employees, partners, or customers? Can you tap into people that already know, like, and trust you to be influencers for you? 
Neal emphasizes that you should tap your sphere of nano-influencers before external people. If these people are already bought-in to who you are, they’ll talk about your company in an authentic way. It’s a quicker way to incite word-of-mouth and will be a lot more successful and long-term than a single transaction with a macro influencer. 
Per Neal, ”When we redefine influencers as 1,000 followers as a minimal threshold, there are just more chances with every day that we can work with more of the people in our sphere of influence through online collaborations.” 
WHY work with nano-influencers?
An influencer is most likely a content creator at heart. So if you’re not a content creator, why not tap into those that are? You can look at influencers for content amplification AND content creation for you to leverage on your website, social media, and ads. Why outsource to irrelevant companies when you can preview an influencers’ style just by looking at their feed?
For some influencers, working with you (or anyone else) isn’t always about the money. It might be about the prestige. Or you have a product or service they really like. People will do things for product-service experience—NOT always money. It’s a win-win situation. It’s negotiation. It’s a sale.
If you work successfully with an influencer or creator, what they create can live on for years. Blogs, Pinterest, YouTube videos, podcasts—all have a long lifespan. It all depends on the life cycle of the social media platform(s) you use. 
What’s the going rate for a nano-influencer? How do you meas