Brittany shares some great tips on how to achieve your modern "15 minutes of fame". Some of the content is what you can pick up from bloggers and various social media accounts so I'm not sure you would need to buy a book to help you out. It's also regionally specific so depending on where you are when you read this, some of the information will be irrelevant. Readers should also be aware that this is for people who want to commit 100% to succeeding as an influencer. If you just want to increase your followers, you're probably not going to find better answers here than on the blogs I already mentioned.

RATING: 3 STARS
2018; Kensington Books/Citadel

Influencer was not a bad book, but I don't think it was what I was looking for. I was looking for something that would help translate my passion to social media, instead this is more about how to sell yourself. I wanted encouragement to motivate myself to showcase who I am. This book is more about how to change or what to be to gain more followers and have a brand.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

A great book for beginners or experts, this breaks down everything you need to know and explains everything so well, I'll be referring back to this again and again!

Whether you have 1 follower or 1 million followers, you have influence. And if you desire to grow your social media influence, this book is for you! Brittany began as a night life blogger, then a social media strategist and is now the Senior Director of Influencer Strategy and Talent Partnerships at Hearst Magazines Digital Media. In this book she helps you to build an audience, package your brand and monetize your influence, and SO much more! 

In todays world of Instagram sponsorships, Facebook promotions and twitter wars, this book is an amazing tool for anyone who is hoping to grow their online presence into more than just a hobby. Why not make your love for social media make you money?

If the teen in your life (or even you) dreams of being the next big YouTube or Instagram sensation, then you need this book. It takes readers through the nitty-gritty of what it takes to be an influencer, and the basics of how to run your own influencer business.

And influencing is a business.

Influencing isn't just taking a pretty photo and posting it on Instagram. It's also learning skills like design, photography, writing, social media, websites, modelling, and public speaking (because many of the successful influencers. The bigger influencers are mostly posting pictures of themselves, so it's also hiring the photographer to take those shots, and perhaps even the makeup artist and hairdresser so you look like Wow! not woah.

The focus of Influencer was on fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencers—the glamour end of the game. But many of the principles still hold true for smaller-scale book bloggers. For example:
- Blog on WordPress.
- Be on social media, if only so people can tag or mention you.
- Secure your username on every platform so no one can steal it.
- Be honest.
- Have a balance between organic content and advertisements.
- Ask a question to build engagement (yes, I'm still working on this one).
- Plan and prepare your content in advance.

(If you've followed me for any length of time, you'll know I've been recommending all these things to writers since forever.) Hennessy also says:

If you are in this business for the right reasons, creating create content, and engaging with your audience, the followers will come. This isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Never forget that.

(Also remember that sprinters spend just as many hours a day training as marathon runners!).

The one weakness of Influencer was the chapter on building an audience—how to get people to follow you and engage. She makes some good points (don't buy followers. Or Likes. Ever. Use hashtags. Follow hashtags.) But the chapter is light on detail.

Key learning points:
- It takes time. The interviewed influencers worked on their blogs and Instagram profiles for two to six years before starting to make money.
- It takes a lot of time. Even when you've "made it", this is a full-time job because you're a business owner.
- It takes skill. You need to be able to write great content and sell products. And you need to be able to take direction.

The chapters on contracts and agents hit home the fact that being an influencer is a lot more than living an Instagram-ready life. It takes business savvy, hard work, and a determination to succeed. It takes knowing your "why"—why do you want to do this?

All in all, becoming a successful influencer sounds a lot like becoming a successful author.
A lot of hard work with no guarantees, so you need to learn to find joy and success in the process.

Recommended for anyone who wants to get into influencing on a small or larger scale, or anyone who is curious as to how and why anyone can justify paying some blogger thousands of dollars for posting a few photos on Instagram.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

I think every self-taught freelancer and internet entrepreneur should either have this book at their breakfast table or riding shotgun with them on a trip to the store. Hennessy has an excellent eye for what it takes to make a living in our modern age of online shopping and internet magnates. With fresh and original ideas squeezed into every page as well as great examples, I would definitely refer to this if I ever start my own online venture.

Brittany Hennessy does a great job on writing a book about that targets Instagram as the platform to promote your work. Appropriately titled, Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media this book makes you understand the strategies behind the Insta-popularity/lifestyle.

As a blogger myself, I started Instagram very late. I do not think it is important to be on every platform personally if you are one man army but I do think Instagram is a great core source of Digital Marketing in the modern day world. After using it for seven months now, I find there are two kinds of people on it, the one with many followers and the one lesser followers. I am not taking spammers and shameless promoting agencies into account.

I find Instagram works differently from social media platforms such as Twitter which in my opinion is more diverse and flexible. On Instagram, people are there to spread the word out of their book, blog, product, service, etc. by using hashtags and lots of them. It is easy to engage the audience but to build one is, of course, a game of patience, some smart decisions and working hard to promote your content. Once you have gained enough audience or number of followers as what they call on it, you can start monetizing. There is no hard and fast rule monetization. I have seen people with a lesser number of followers (that means, only in few thousands) monetizing greatly. Thus, this is what the book is about.

Hennessy guides you from how to start at the lowest level that is having zero influencers. From creating content worth double tapping and using hashtags to get discovered, not getting banned and delivering is what makes an impact on your audience. With things live Instagram TV, I have seen people who used live streaming services like Twitch or YouTube are now using it. Why? The answer is simple. It works on mobile which is easy to use in terms of setup (all you need is the app) both for the influencer and audience member.

The book is well organized and offers man practical methods that if put in practice, Hennessy assures that it will bring results. I cannot say that if I agree or not with her, because not everything is for everyone but I do think some of the methods she has described are not long term. The book offers insights from a few beauty, fashion, lifestyle and photographers who are digital influencers. This is the most valuable part of this book I find since many of the stuff they say did not sound biased towards using one social media platform such as Instagram.

The writing style is good but since it is more of a how-to book, there is no proper paradigm to value it thoroughly. Even though this book is 250 pages long, I think it could have been shorter. Some of the content I find is irrelevant to the core idea of the book.

3 out of 5! For two reasons. One it concentrates on only one Social Media Platform, which is great, but I am not interested in it more than I am using it right now. Secondly, some of the content does sound like dragging elements just to fill in the pages, as I have mentioned this book could have been shorter. If you are getting started on Instagram or want to to know how it works, this book is for you.

This book is full of practical insights and tips in how to a successful influencer. The sample influencers in this book are women in their respective field but the advices are applicable to men influencers as well.

The book is engaging to read and will really resonate to those who are in the content marketing business already. If you are new blogger, vlogger etc., this book can help you know the things you need as you become successful.

4.5 stars - This is a great guide for what to and not to do in order to get your blog or vlog well-positioned for brand partnerships. It's not about how to build an audience, but how to orchestrate things so that you are attractive to companies who wish to create a mutually beneficial relationship with you based on the audience you've already attracted.

I especially appreciated the insider's prospective and interview insights Influencer offers. If you're an experienced v/blogger who has a significant audience and wants to attract brand partners, these tips help you understand things like the importance of naming consistency across platforms, having contact information that is easily accessible, negotiating and not compromising your ethics. If you're interested in getting into v/blogging, I believe Influencer can help you as well. It serves as an exceptional guide for how to structure things right at the starting line so you're not scrambling to streamline and clean up things months or years later when you realize you have something marketable. Whichever camp you find yourself in, I think Influencer is worthwhile food for thought.

4.5 Easy to read, easy directions and written in understandable terms. Woot Woot ! becoming an influencer is a dream that I and many others have, getting there is not a natural thing. This is a new world and Ms. Hennessy walks us through it gently explaining each step with clear detailing. The relationships building, the contacts, the followers, all of it. I think any vlogger, blogger, online seller, online reviewer, social networker, would find great help between these covers. The book is well organized for quick reference too. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy to review.

If you are interested in using Social Media platforms as a career or you are just curious about how things work this is the book for you. It is filled with great information to get you started.

I love love love this book. If you ever want to know about what an influencer is and how to become one, this is the book for you,

You want to be the queen of social media. Millions of followers, getting paid to post. How do you get there? Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media has the blueprint to building your empire.

There are a lot of people who’d love the job of social media influencer. Adoring fans, free products, trips, and getting paid in return for posting. But what’s required to get to that point? Brittany Hennessy attempts to lay it out for you in Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media.

The book is broken down into four parts; Building Your Community, Packaging Your Brand, Monetizing Your Influence, and Planning Your Future. Chapters cover more specific areas; The Feed, The Audience, The Edge, The Press, The Money, The Contract, The Agent, and The Goal.

It’s laid out in the same progression you’ll experience when becoming an influencer. Where you start, what steps you need to take, and what’s next from there. It’s a nice make-sense way of structuring things.

At the end of each chapter there are answers to questions from popular influencers, providing insight from someone who’s experience in creating and growing their personal brand. While they’re interesting, they do seem a bit distracting from the focus of the chapter. A section devoted to Q & A from these folks may have worked a bit better.

Though it’s written for females (and mainly those in the area of fashion, lifestyle, and travel), most of it would also be applicable to men looking to become social influencers.

While the information provided in Influencer is great, it seems a bit thin. Topics are covered in a fairly high-level view and it seems the steps are taken too quickly.It’d be great to see more in-depth examination of each of the areas covered. A big focus on creating content people want to see is needed. Though that need may be met with other books, it’d still be great to share insight within a single guide to making it big in the age of social media.

As someone who has run influencer programs for Fortune 500 brands and is an influencer himself (millions of followers across multiple social networks), it’s not as simple as portrayed. This book gives a bit of a false sense of the ease with which one will progress. Not everyone can be an influencer and becoming one won’t happen overnight (or even within a year in most cases). Though I suppose it’s no different than business books leading people to believe anyone can build a million dollar business.

While it would benefit from a more thorough look at each of the topics covered, Influencer does a great job of giving the reader a basic understanding of the key pieces they’ll need to know in order to become successful social media influencers. It covers areas from getting started to super success, providing insight for those building their own brand.

Full of fun tips, tricks, and loaded with amazing real-world advice and anecdotes this was an absolute blast to read. Short and to the point, I can see #Influencer becoming the go to manual for aspiring media mavens. All this coming from someone who (at present) has no desire of going viral or booking campaigns. Hennessy's advice is universal whether you're looking to land six figures for some pics of your dog or whether you're trying to streamline and maximize your personal media platforms or even those used for business and academia. Granted, you'll have to look past the obvious focus on fashion, makeup, lifestyle, and travel but the messaging is absolutely spot on.

Easy to follow, spattered with humour, and laced with practical changes I can definitely see myself reading this one again and again. The conversational nature was incredibly engaging, and from the tone of the book it was easy to see how Hennessy became a boss-lady in the industry. I particularly enjoyed the 'Don't Be That Girl' sections, as I caught myself saying 'oops, I should change that' more often than I care to admit.

Read it my friends, and get ready to launch yourself firmly into the adoring public's eyes.

I wanted to read and analyze this book from the perspective of bloggers and vloggers who are enhancing their businesses through social media rather than trying to become "influencers" by the book's definition. I have to say that it did very well in the structure and how the information was organized. Any writer, blogger, freelancer, or businesswoman can pick up this book, read about 50% of it, and get the information she needs to grow her audience and perform better on social media. If that person chooses to attempt to get contracts as an influencer later, the rest of this book is there to guide them through the process.
I would recommend this book, not only to those wanting to be influencers, but to any and everyone who has to utilize social media to reach an audience and grow it to garner new readers, clients, and customers.
I would only deduct a small percentage for the fact that it focuses so heavily on those wannabe YouTube beauty queens and Instagram models that it fails to speak to the larger group of influencers: Those that don't do it for the likes or the contracts, but because it brings new business and followers for their own products while they may be making a little on the side as affiliates.

Influencers are Made on Instagram
"Since the majority of social branded content occurs on Instagram, this is where we are going to focus most of our energy. Of course, you can take some of these concepts and apply them to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat, but Instagram is the Coca-Cola of influencer marketing, and it isn't going anywhere."

Ms. Hennessy shares her expertise on influencer strategy and marketing in this book. She emphasizes that being unique is the only way to get ahead in the market today.
She believes that creating compelling content will create a bond between you and your audience. This allows you to create a community...which is different, and more important, than a following.

The author provides detailed instructions on how to create and post social media content. She also shares case studies and interviews that highlight Instagram superstars.

My Thoughts
This book offers inspiration, motivation and instruction to people who are seeking to up their game in the world of social media marketing. The author deals with influencers who make a full-time living partnering with businesses on social media. Many of theses influencers (mostly women) have thousands or even millions of followers on Instagram and have built loyal communities of potential customers for merchandise and services.

I was a late-comer to Instagram and only have a few hundred followers (Click here if you would like to help me out!) I am amazed at the tremendous success that ordinary women (not celebrities) have achieved on Instagram. This book provides insider information for growing your social media marketing presence.
Ms. Hennessy emphasizes that the influencers that attract the attention of large businesses work very hard and make producing content for Instagram ( and other social media sites) their full-time job.

Influencer marketing is a fairly new concept and I recommend this book to all who are interested in learning more.

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

I would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't scrolled through your Instagram feed, come across an "influencer" and thought "I could do that." Author Brittany Hennessy was writing a book that shows readers that they can....but there is a science to it. Being the director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships at Hearst Magazine, gives Hennessy the credentials to being an expert in what it takes to be a successful influencer., considering her role in bringing brands and influencers together. Now matter how savvy you are at social media and what stage you're at in your business/brand, there are useful tips that can be used.This book highlights aspects of the industry and common mistakes that influencers who are just starting out can make. It also showed that there is more to being an influencer than just taking a pretty picture. This is an extremely helpful guide on a topic that is not normally covered extensively in books from a clearly well-informed and respected social media expert.

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 socia media algorithms, there aren't many authors brave enough to write a book on how to build a followership on socia media platforms. However, the author did a good job of covering the 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.

LOVED this book. If you're in the business realm or want to become an influencer, Brittany has incredible tips for doing so--and many are ones you don't think about. I found myself changing things on Instagram as I was reading and feeling better about the engagement happening...I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to grow a profile in a professional, potentially money-making way. It was an entertaining read and filled with insider tips and information.

For everyone who wants to become an online influencer or a leader this is the book you must get your hands on first.The author explains everything in a easy to understand and smarkr way.Would recommend this book!