The Local Entrepreneurial Route to Being an Influencer

Winfluence - The Influence Marketing Podcast

The stereotypical influencer is someone who has a topic, industry or talent. They create content around that and create an audience to build a platform. If they’re lucky, they monetize it in a way that supports them. If they’re real lucky they become famous and sign entertainment deals and such to spin off into more traditional show business or media roles.

But there are different paths for influencers. John Chamberlin started a blog in Pittsburgh about 10 years ago. The original intent was to give local businesses and events a pathway to reach audiences in the Three Rivers region. But with the stories and news, events and promotions that the mainstream media outlets often passed on. The website and blog was called YaJagoff.com. Accompanying social media channels like Facebook and Twitter helped establish the site and John as an influencer.

Eventually, he added a podcast. That helped him see more opportunities to do live video and audio episodes at local businesses. As things grew, Rachael Rennebeck joined John as a partner in YaJagoff Media. The business grew into more than just a typical influencer platform. They now do PR, marketing and event consulting. And work with companies beyond the geographic confines of Western Pennsylvania.

I asked John and Rachael to come on the show and tell us how they built YaJagoff Media, what types of content and channels work for local content, how the local media intertwines with their efforts and a lot more. John has a great insight about listening to your audience in the middle of this discussion that alone is worth paying attention. They gave me, and now you, an interesting perspective on how else to become a successful influencer. Or influence platform.

For those that don’t know Pittsburgh well, YaJagoff is a regional term there that can be an insult, “You cut me off YaJagoff!” but it can also be a term of endearment. “How ya been, YaJagoff!” Pittsburgh has its own language to a degree. We get into that a bit in the conversation today as well.

Today's episode is sponsored by Tagger. It is a complete influencer marketing solution. You can find out more for yourself at jason.online/tagger.

We’ve been talking recently to Meredith Jacobson, an independent influencer marketing consultant who was on a past episode of the show, to tell you about how she uses Tagger with We are Boosters.

Hear more about how she uses Tagger on today's episode.

To start building your own experiences with my influencer marketing software of choice, go to jason.online/tagger today.

NOTE: Cover Photo by Elan Mizrahi

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