Supporting Small Social Media Influencers

When COVID-19 took the world by storm, snuck away with our jobs, and threatened many of us to live on the streets, I did all I could to stay afloat. I was going to graduate in a mere month after COVID-19 went from a suspected virus to a worldwide pandemic. I had no job at hand. Where was money going to come from?

From looking for grants to finding any form of employment, I did what I could to ensure I had money coming in to feed me and my family. I am so privileged to say that I found a stable full-time job and had the blessing to not worry about financial concerns. With my giving attitude though, I still worried about money... for other people.

To curb the loneliness that the pandemic forced upon me, I joined social media platforms like Instagram to find friends. As a plushie mama and the owner of an Instagram account that honors my beautiful plushie, I joined a small but emerging plushie community on that highly lauded social media platform.

Instagram is the home to incredibly famous celebrities like Ariana Grande (213.4 million followers!) and immensely powerful influencers like Charlie D'Amelio (36.1 million followers!). The plushie community reaches nowhere near those heights as the most followed plushie owner on Instagram only has a little over 5,000 followers. It's still a lot, and it definitely doesn't mean us plushie owners should give up the social media platforms! We all have our own reason to be there

Talking to Instagram users is one thing, finding people who are steps away from starting their own brand and small business but are hesitant to do so is another thing. On Instagram, I found plushie owners that had incredible crafts, talents, and skills, but didn't have the following to make any new business flourish. Considering that I love people, I love making new friends, and I love supporting others, one of my very first purchases during this pandemic is cups from another Instagram user. She doesn't have her own business yet but she is working on building her website as I write this. I am so happy that my purchase encouraged her to move forward with her small business idea. I am more than happy to support anyone that has a dream but feel like he/she is lacking the clientele to succeed!

What did I buy? 4 cups (but I broke 1!) representing her brand. She knows how to brew her own alcohol, make her own cups, and be a beautiful mother to many duck plushies! These cups are for alcohol. I cherish these cups because I know exactly who made these cups, how they are such a skilled person, and why they deserve to succeed just like any other flourishing small businesses!

Buying from a small Instagram user (she has about 500 followers) makes the purchase incredibly valuable. The successful transaction stands for so many things:

(1) The seller makes quality goods worth buying.

(2) The seller sells at a fair price.

(3) The seller creates products that are genuinely unique.

(4) The seller may be making their very first sale through this transaction!

(5) This purchase may be the turning point - the seller may find the courage to really put their product and brand out there because he/she has had a successful transaction!

This is exactly why I encourage everyone to look around and see what's out there. On Instagram: is there someone who seems to have custom-made items? Are you interested in it? Why not message and ask! There's no harm in doing so. That message is direct support to a(n) (emerging) small business owner and a purchase that is unique.

That makes the best gift - why not buy a custom-made gift that'd honor something the gift recipient adores while supporting small business owners and brands?

Times are rough. We need to support each other. In times of gift-giving, let's purchase from small social media influencers so that we can encourage each other to follow our dreams!