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WORK TITLE: Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 12/21/1985?
WEBSITE: http://brittanyhennessy.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born c. 1985.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Social media expert. Hearst Digital Media, senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships, 2016-18; Carbon, cofounder and chief relationship officer, 2018—. Judge for Shorty Awards and Shorty Social Good Awards.
MEMBER:Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts and Sciences; New York Women in Communications (former vice president of scholarship and awards, former vice president of student affairs).
WRITINGS
Contributor to numerous periodicals, including Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Cosmopolitan, Glossy, and Al Jazeera.
SIDELIGHTS
Brittany Hennessy was Hearst Digital Media’s senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships until 2018 and is a cofounder of Carbon, a technology company building solutions for influencers. Hennessy is an expert in social media and personal brand building, and she has discussed these topics in Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Cosmopolitan, Glossy, and Al Jazeera. In Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media, Hennessy describes what makes a successful personal brand.
Aimed at a young, social media-savvy audience, Hennessy’s Influencer guides readers through the key components that make a brand feel authentic. She explains that authenticity and influence are what young content creators strive to achieve, rather than fame, which is what drives celebrity’s social media voices. She writes about the importance of ethically building a brand and highlights the tools necessary to work with companies without getting worked over by them.
A key focus of Hennessy’s book is the lifestyle of an influencer. Rather than merely writing about the glamorous side of raking in followers and making money, Hennessy describes the hustle it takes to get there. She explains how much work goes into developing a following, consistently providing fresh, engaging content, building a brand, and actually earning a paycheck at the end of the day. She emphasizes that authenticity is crucial for influencers’ success; a person should not promote a product that they would not organically recommend in their own life. Furthermore, she states, if a person jumps at every business opportunity, their brand will appear disjointed and the audience will become uninterested. Hennessy warns readers about the predatory tactics some companies harness to take advantage of influencers. An example of this is when companies ask bloggers to buy and review a product without providing adequate pay, angling the agreement to seem as though the blogger is getting their money’s worth from exposure. Hennessy provides advice to avoid these traps and recognize one’s own worth.
Y.S. Stephen, on the website Y.S. Stephen, noted that Hennessy “did a good job covering basic issues that are not hinged on changing technological fads.” While the book frequently focuses on Instagram, Hennessy acknowledges that the rules of building a fanbase inevitably shift with changes in technology and social media algorithms. As such, her advice is broad and can be adaptable to many forms of social media. Lieze Neven on the Write Way website described it as “a definitive guide of influencer knowledge,” while a contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote, “For the aspiring stars of Instagram and other social media platforms, her upbeat work … will provide encouragement and assistance.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2018, review of Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media, p. 85.
ONLINE
Brittany Hennessy website, https://www.brittanyhennessy.com (November 9, 2008).
Write Way, http://liezeneven.com/ (July 17, 2018), Lieze Neven, review of Influencer.
Y.S. Stephen website, http://www.ysstephen.com/ (June 19, 2018), review of Influencer.*
A woman who pays Instagrammers and YouTubers for brands like Cosmo and Esquire says people who make the most money as influencers all have the same background
Myelle Lansat, Business Insider US
August 21, 2018
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Brittany Hennessy said the most successful influencers she’s worked with had a job before being an influencer. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Brittany Hennessy is the senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships at Hearst Digital Media.
She said top social media influencers have two skills: Business savvy and charisma on camera.
Hennessy also said “the most successful influencers are ones that had jobs before they were influencers. Real jobs.”
Posing for a photo or taking the perfect picture of brunch is harder than it looks, especially if you want to make a living doing it.
The top social media influencers are business oriented and thrive on camera, Brittany Hennessy told Business Insider.
“Those are two things that you really have to perfect if you want to make all of the money,” said Hennessy, who is the senior director of influencer strategy for Hearst Digital Media. Her job is to scout and manage influencers for brands including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Harper’s Bazaar. She’s also the author of “Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media.”
“I found the most successful influencers are ones that had jobs before they were influencers. Real jobs,” Hennessy said. “Because they know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of something that’s not so good, and so they make sure they deliver great products.”
ADVERTISING
Hennessy said the main thing you need to be a successful influencer is business savvy – a skill Hennessy calls a “rarity.”
“Very few influencers have the business skill set to do this job and that’s basic things, like replying all to an email, knowing what ‘end of day’ means versus ‘close of business’ and going the extra step, making presentations, and that sort of thing,” she said.
Influencers who had jobs prior to becoming an influencer tend to be more successful, Hennessy said.
Krystal Bick, an influencer who works with Hennessy, told Business Insider that her former job at Google as a product marketing manager has given her a leg up. Today she makes four figures per post and earns up to five figures on brand ambassadorships.
Read more:A millennial who left her 6-figure job at Google to be a full-time social media influencer explains why she was willing to take the risk
“When brands realize I speak the same marketing language as them and understand their campaign objectives, I think it helps solidify their faith in influencer marketing, and in me and my business specifically,” Bick said.
Another important skill for influencers is being able to speak on camera and do a studio photo shoot, “not one that your husband is taking pictures of you,” Hennessy said. Being on set is often a rude awakening for influencers who find comfort taking daily photos on the streets or on location, she added.
“A lot of influencers are so comfortable taking their daily photos that if they get booked for any sort of shoot and they have to be on and perform in a room full of people, it’s a struggle and they don’t know how to pose and they’re like, ‘What do you want me to do with my arm?’ and people are like, ‘Isn’t this what you do for a living? Like, just pose.’ I think that’s something,” Hennessy said.
Hennessy said that while business and camera skills are paramount, being an influencer isn’t for everyone.
“Even YouTubers are very comfortable in their own space, so when you put them in a chair and you’re feeding them lines and saying ‘read these back to me,’ they have no idea what to do,” Hennessy said.
“Everybody buys clothes, everybody buys makeup, everybody buys toys for their kids, if it’s so easy, none of us would have jobs,” Hennessy said. “We all would just take pictures all day and get paid for it, but it’s much more than that, and you have to have a certain aesthetic, a certain tolerance.”
Brittany Hennessy is the author of "Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand In The Age Of Social Media," the Senior Director, Influencer Strategy & Talent Partnerships at Hearst Digital Media, and the Co-Founder of Carbon, a technology company building solutions for influencers.
She has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Business of Fashion, Digiday, Business Insider, Cosmopolitan, Glossy, Girlboss, Mobile Marketer, Al Jazeera and other
A member of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts and Sciences, Brittany judges the annual Shorty Awards and the Shorty Social Good Awards. She is also an active member of New York Women In Communications, Inc. and has served on the board of directors as Vice-President of Scholarship & Awards and Vice-President of Student Affairs.
Brittany Hennessy
Guest Writer
Senior Director of Influencer Strategy & Talent Partnerships at Hearst
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Brittany Hennessy is the author of INFLUENCER: Building Your Brand in the Age of Social Media, the first senior director of influencer strategy & talent partnerships for Hearst Magazines Digital Media, and the co-founder of Carbon.
Brittany Hennessy is the author of “Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand In The Age Of Social Media,” the Senior Director, Influencer Strategy & Talent Partnerships at Hearst Digital Media, and the Co-Founder of Carbon, a technology company building solutions for influencers.
A member of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts and Sciences, Brittany judges the annual Shorty Awards and the Shorty Social Good Awards. She is also an active member of New York Women In Communications, Inc. and has served on the board of directors as Vice-President of Scholarship & Awards and Vice-President of Student Affairs.
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media
Publishers Weekly. 265.22 (May 28, 2018): p85.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media
Brittany Hennessy. Citadel, $15.95 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-8065-3885-3
Online fame-seekers will find a useful resource in this guide to social media success from Hennessy, Hearst Magazines Digital Media's senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships. She has paid five figures to the owner of a famous dog and six to a makeup vlogger, and here intends to help eager amateurs become new talent, utilizing the art and science of influence. According to Hennessy, her book is the only one on the subject, geared, naturally enough, toward young readers already well-versed in social media. Her audience is content creators, whose product is "authenticity," rather than celebrities, whose product is fame. She aims her advice at would-be influencers at every stage, whether they are building their communities, creating brands, or monetizing those brands. Readers will learn the nitty-gritty of choosing a name ("You can make your name as simple or as complicated as you like as long as it's easy to promote"), approaching an agent, building an audience, and drawing media attention. For the aspiring stars of Instagram and other social media platforms, her upbeat work--"Why not you?" she asks brightly--will provide encouragement and assistance. Agent: Steve Ross, Abrams Artists Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 85. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638839/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=491de7b4. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638839
Review: Influencer by Brittany Hennessy
July 17, 2018By Lieze Neven
As a marketer, I hear a lot of my colleagues talk badly about influencers. In fact – influencer-bashing is one of their favourite pastimes. I just don’t get why. Yes indeed: I know and have worked with some absolutely awful people that have 200K followers on Instagram. But it would be wrong to think everyone who calls him of herself an influencer is a stuck up bag of blubber brains.
I have read a lot of books on influencers and influencer marketing that seem to agree with these nagging colleagues of mine. They like to talk about how you should work with influencers – even though they grab every opportunity to minimise the impact on your campaigns or to bash “stuck up trollops” with Instagram accounts.
Sigh
You know. I was so happy when I read influencer. Not only does this book give amazing information for people wanting to learn more about becoming an influencer, it is also surprisingly open about the lifestyle. Where a lot of authors, marketers, agents and influencers only want to show you how amazing the life of an influencer is – Brittany is very honest about how hard influencers and bloggers have to work to grow their audience, to promote brands and to earn their first few dollars.
There are a lot of companies out there that are “helping” bloggers and influencers – read: they rip off bloggers. I am not looking at any company in particular, but asking people to buy the product they will be reviewing – and then not even paying them after they have bought the product and promoted it, is just simply criminal.
READ Review - A suitable affair by Erica Taylor
Anyway – what I wanted to say was that this book will help you to stay out of traps and stay on the right track. It also shows that in fact: there are no shortcuts in becoming an influencer. I am very happy about this as I have read too many books promoting bogus tools that can only harm your account and your personal brand.
I absolutely loved this book for the many tips, tricks and honest information. The information is toped up with influencer insights: real influencers talking about their experiences. Damn! Such amazing knowledge being shared. It is literally as if you bought a $200 ticket to a massive influencer convention and got to hear 50 key note speakers – but then in a $15 book.
Is this worth a buy? Yes. Bloggers should definitely add this book to their collection. It is such a definitive guide of influencer knowledge that it positively deserves a spot on your book shelve! And the cover would fit lovely in a flatlay
4.5/5
Review: Influencer - Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy
June 19, 2018 - 0 Comments
Influencer examines the volatile environment of social media content creation, how to master it, and make a living out of it.
WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?
Anyone looking to become an ethical "influencer" or grow their social media account. Because this book focuses on Instagram a lot, it is particularly useful for those who want to focus on growing their followers on that platform.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT
Due to rapid changes in technology and social media algorithms, there aren't many authors brave enough to write a book on how to build a followership on social media platforms. However, the author did a good job covering basic issues that are not hinged on changing technological fads like "How do you find your voice...?, "How do you stand out from the crowd?", "How do you get sites and brands to notice you?", etc
I also love the sections where people with a large social media following give tips on what they think they did right to become successful. The book explicitly gives tips on what you must never do on social media, some of which many are guilty of.
MEMORABLE PASSAGE
Authenticity is the backbone of the content these women create, and their audiences look to them for expert advice. Celebs are paid to promote alcohol companies even though they don’t drink, or cars even though they don’t know how to drive. A good influencer, the type you will be after reading this book, would never promote something she wouldn’t organically share even if she’s being paid by a brand. I’ve seen creators turn down $25,000 because something wasn’t “on brand” for them. If that’s not putting your audience above yourself, I don’t know what is.
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy is published by Citadel Press. Many thanks to them for review copy.