Marketing

It is not a surprise anymore that the current pandemic has changed our lives drastically. From hygiene to lifestyle, it has altered everything. And when the lifestyle of even a definite community changes, it leaves an impression on commerce. 

Source: me.me

According to  R Cancello, “More than a third of people were able to positively reorganize their lives during the forced home confinement. It is worth disseminating information to preserve a healthy lifestyle even when confined at home.” 

Source: PubMed.gov

But here, we are not talking about a group of people, but the whole globe. Since now, we have turned into a global village because the best and safest way to connect with everyone is online. 

Source: Bu.edu

According to the International Labour Organization, “Organizations that were previously familiar with teleworking, as well as organizations that have not experimented with teleworking before, were sending their employees home, creating the conditions for the most extensive mass teleworking experiment in history.”

Source: International Labour Organization’s Practical Guide

There was an impact on the business industry. After consideration in a matter of weeks only, the traffic from brick and mortar shops has shifted to e-shops. Today, we will discover the influence of lockdown on the world of e-commerce.

THE TOILET ROLL DEFICIT 

As stated by Science Daily, “In economics, hoarding is often explored in the context of savings. When consumer confidence is down, spending drops, and households increase their savings if they can, because they expect bad times ahead,” explains Professor Baddeley.

Remember how people were so clueless about how they will be able to buy their necessities and started hoarding? Most people had to search besides their local stores. And this brought them to search for all of it online. They searched at different platforms, all of the ways they had avoided earlier in fear of fraud.

Source: bintime.com

The complication is of the exhortations or regulations to work, one needs to have faith within our fellow citizens and in the government authorities that are equipping them. If people do not trust that the majority of others are going to play by these unorthodox and limited rules, they are unlikely to stick to them themselves.

A well-known example is the “tragedy of the commons,” firstly determined by shepherded animals overgrazing the lands. In certain conditions, those who run after their rational self-interest develop worse consequences for themselves than if they reacted on a basis of reciprocity, expecting the rest of the public to do the same.

Source: me.me

RISE OF ENTREPRENEURS

In a pandemic, everything was closing without prior warning. Hence,  various industries got hit. Thus, it ended in a loss when the companies could no longer manage the equation; downsizing began. 

Pandemic made companies allow many potential and well-deserving employees to resign. And then, one person was presumed to cover for three. They covered for three as were blessed to be at least employed. 

Source: memes.com

Laying off employees is difficult in normal times; but amidst the Covid-19 global health crisis, the task is “emotionally and cognitively overwhelming,” according to Joshua Margolis, a professor at Harvard Business School.

Source: hbr.org 

All this made most of us realize how temporary our jobs are and how unstable only one line of income can be. No job was secure until and unless you are taking up more than your assigned responsibilities, Most of the employees have to work for extended hours and had no margin for breaks. And due to the pandemic, Some had to give up their jobs as they had no such facility at home to work for their employers. For small chunks of money with more targets, Some were demoted and some had to work. 

Source: memes.com

Such uncertainties and job insecurities lend some people towards entrepreneurship. A good number of entrepreneurs emerged during the lockdown. Most of them as expected were employees that were let go by their organization. They looked for the potential market. And worked on their social circle to spread the word and help them to survive the pandemic. 

“Among everyone who is becoming entrepreneurs, most of them are ex-employees, thinking that most of them had learned so much from their ex-companies — taking knowledge and any useful pieces of information for their next business. These ex-employees adored entrepreneurs very much. After becoming slaves for some corporations, getting rid of your bosses and becoming a boss in your own company is like a golden ticket to heaven,” according to Kenny Rivaldi.

Source: medium.com

WALEE

With free time, principal savings, and the help of a platform like Walee, a range of prospective entrepreneurs emerged. Walee plays an active role and supports entrepreneurs. It has introduced numerous and diverse marketing campaigns related to all kinds of enterprises. Walee has made entrepreneurs improve themselves and their living standards. An affiliate program was introduced which made all this was made possible.

From the fame of “Waderay ka beta” to “Karlay jo karna hai” Ali Gul Pir has become one of the most influential entertainers in Pakistan. Pir is an actor, comedian, content creator, influencer, rapper, and writer, or one can say a multi-talented personality who expresses society with creative content.

Ali Gul Pir portrays socially highlighted issues by his style of content creation and entertainment. The influencer has prosperously established himself from “Waderay Ka Beta” to “Ghareeban Ja Khwab” as one of the top recognized rappers of Pakistan. He endeavored into many fields correlated with the social media world.

Source: Ali Gul Pir’s Instagram

In 2012, Ali Gul Pir earned the “Innovation Hero” award from Google for his exceptional content and influencing skills. The international presses like Al Jazeera, BBC, Dawn, Masala, and Tribune have published articles about Pir’s work.  

Walee had an exciting interaction with Ali Gul Pir during Walee’s Influencer Training Program. We are honored to work with such an artistic personality. We talked to Pir about his influencer journey and experience with Walee. 

Let’s see how our conversation went.

How did your influencer journey start?

It was decided after A levels, I will not pursue a degree in maths because I was not good at it. My elder brother suggested that I should go to a film degree program. I went to university and registered for the degree and then four years went by. Then, I did theatre for a couple of years, and it felt like an actor emerged in me. I did improv theatre, an assistant job in a production house for a year, and many other gigs. After struggling for one year, came “Waderay ka beta.” And this was my solo first attempt at doing something of my own. 

Source: Ali Gul Pir’s Instagram

How do you plan and create your content?  

I don’t plan anything. I make videos based on how funny I find them. To make video content, I need to find it funny, and eventually, ideas strike for creativity. Wherever I travel, I carry my laptop, lights, and speakers to make my videos anywhere. 

Pir further added, “There are still two to three videos in my vault that I found funny and want to create content later. I have saved them for the dry days like no viral videos, etc.” 

Do you get negative feedback or sentiments on your content?

Speaking of it, when I make political content, for instance, a parody of a political figure, the supporters get furious and dare me to make the content on the opposition leader. So when I do so, his supporters get upset. 

I did this song, “Tera Jism Meri Marzi” 90% of the men who followed my work hated it. And I got a lot of negative feedback from men who thought I was destroying family values. I just simply portrayed that it is her choice as it is her body. But I guess this is triggering for a lot of men. 

After “Waderay Ka Beta,” I would get emails and calls from the Sindh nationalist parties. That was the first time I experienced such calls and death threats. I thought acting will have no such cons.

Furthermore, for me, the key is not to care about what people think and do what makes you happy. If something is affecting you and you have to talk about it or make a song, do it. If it is coming from the heart, the feedback with, good or bad, does not matter.

How was your overall experience with Walee?

My experience was great. First of all, the platform, the setup was very high-tech. The website and the app were outstanding. The whole team was professional. For a content creator, the main thing is getting paid on time and, I did not have to call you for the payment as it was on time. 

While praising Walee, he added, “Around eight years back, after a couple of years in this industry, I hoped that one day, a platform would come up which would represent the digital influencers. When I started in 2012, and at that time being viral and getting a hundred thousand views on Youtube, that was the most viral one could get back then.”

Source: Ali Gul Pir’s Instagram

He also added, “I remembered we worked with a brand, Unilever, for my song Taroo Maroo. We wanted integration and we argued for more than one month and convinced them for five hundred thousand for the video. It was a big deal then as people did not spend much on digital marketing. There are a lot of influencers now and they all do not know how to market themselves though they might know how to make content. In Pakistan, you have to do most of the work. But Walee is doing most of the job by signing people and taking care of the rest while the influencer stays focused on the content without worry.”

As content creators continue to evolve with more engaging content, we continue to provide them a platform where they can be noticed by brands and valued for their content.

Sign up on Walee today to connect your brand or business with the right influencers and make your brand reach the true audience.

Look forward to establishing a business? Are you influenced to start a business? Or are you an entrepreneur? What is entrepreneurship? An influencer? Can you market brands? Could you run business ventures?

All this falls under the label of entrepreneurship. Difficult to understand as it is to pronounce? Entrepreneurship itself is a society. It is full of importance and opportunities in business and e-commerce.

Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is eagerness. It is the capability of an individual to run a new business. Entrepreneurship includes the design, plan, campaign, and execution of the business plan. Openness to risks and challenges for new business ventures is a vital quality.

Now, what does entrepreneurship do to the business? Well, entrepreneurship is about innovation. It is about productivity, taking over old inventions, new businesses, and new marketing campaigns.  It  brings the country economic benefit. Its startup can vary from small businesses to multinational companies.

Entrepreneur cum influencer

Rumsha Saad is based in Islamabad and is an influencer cum entrepreneur. She has fully utilized the advantages and concepts of entrepreneurship. Rumsha has gradually launched her business of pret attire and high heels. Her business is on e-commerce. She worked with Walee, the digital marketing platform in Pakistan.

Walee and Businesses

Walee is Pakistan’s first, largest, and fastest-growing marketing platform. It enables businesses to find, collaborate and pay influencers. The influencers market the brands and sell products, at scale. It has given a boost to new business and promoted numerous brands. Walee has made the phase of entrepreneurship easy by emerging various opportunities.

IMPORTANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It is impossible to elaborate on all the features of entrepreneurship in a short blog. Anyhow, some of the significance of entrepreneurship are shared.

1. ENTREPRENEUR AND JOB OPPORTUNITES

Entrepreneurship generates job opportunities for unskilled individuals. A good number of hiring is done at the entry-level. The new business gives a platform to freshers to develop their skills and gain experience.

Opportunities are given to unskilled employees. It helps them, groom. And, after some experience, can get the opportunity from higher industries.

However, at Walee, new businesses get registered. Affiliates market the products and services. The more services and products sell, the more hiring opportunities will emerge.

2. STARTUP AND INNOVATION

Entrepreneurship possesses the potential to grow productivity and innovate. Entrepreneurs put pressure on current businesses, resulting in more productivity and efficiency. They can launch new market trends and knowledge. They will prevail in more and different platforms.

Entrepreneurship creates completely new industries by creating job opportunities, growth, and new customer options. And Walee is playing an active role. Walee supports entrepreneurship. It has introduced various and innovative marketing campaigns for all kinds of enterprises.

3. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

When the employment base is broad and diversified, society will grow. It will bring social changes. And promote opportunities such as higher education costs, improved sanitation conditions, and higher employment rates.

For instance, we can look for small companies that have begun to change society. There are many online learning platforms, such as Digiskills. They have designed applications to help individuals attain skills at home. Such companies have begun to change their learning methods and the learning environment.

Walee is essentially among pioneers in adopting new technologies that will eventually change society. These changes are related to improvements in lifestyle. It is about advanced thinking, better ethics, and bigger financial opportunities.

4. INDUSTRIALISM AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Entrepreneurship supports the improvement of a person’s standard of living. The improved standard of living means more utilization of goods and services by a family. The living standard is a concept. It’s based on the increase in household consumption of goods and services.

Therefore, it depends on the availability of diverse products on the market. Due to its innovation, the company offers a wide range of products. It also increases the income of people who work in startups.

Walee has enabled people to improve themselves and their living standards. Walee made all this possible by introducing an affiliate program. And also the market campaign for products/businesses for the quality of results and sales.

5. CAPITALISM

Entrepreneurs influence the market economies. They play a principal role in the country’s economic growth. When an entrepreneur ventures the business, they take the loan for business infrastructure and setup.

By creating new products and services, they stimulate new jobs. It ultimately leads to an acceleration of economic development. They bring innovations to all areas of the company. It improves their production by using existing resources efficiently.

This allows the government to bring additional national welfare to citizens. Entrepreneurship helps generate wealth and national income. Walee has a positive impact on the country’s economy by supporting and promoting entrepreneurship.

Walee even supports existing businesses and social entrepreneurship. It increases the finding of innovative solutions to social challenges communities facing around the world.

6. BUSINESS SUPPORT AND R&D DEPARTMENT 

Before launching new products and services, they are researched and checked. An entrepreneur also funds research institutions and universities. It promotes research, the general structure, and economic growth.

Entrepreneurship cultivates ideas, brings them into a new form. It transforms them into a successful company. Entrepreneurs are persistently working to uncover new ideas and upgrade existing ones. They exchange ideas and inspiration, and exchange plans to start new industries.

Walee works on innovation. Therefore, innovative ideas are generated for goods and services for SMEs.

The above discussion lists the enormous contributions of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is the pioneering zeal that creates events in our civilization. And with Walee, entrepreneurs and influencers boost their businesses and contribute to the national economy.

Business and Walee

Walee has made it easy for new digital and business ventures. It helps them to reach their target audience for a good result. Walee provides the medium to influencers, entrepreneurs, and brands to connect.

If you are new to the world of entrepreneurship and have the best of the products? Join Walee to let the world know about your services.

And after all this read, you either want to be the affiliate or the influencer. At Walee, you can be both. Walee yet doesn’t limit one’s talent.

If you aspire to become a successful influencer on Instagram/TikTok or are already on the path of creating content but struggling, then this post is surely for you which will motivate you to keep going on.

Since we all know that influencer marketing is growing at an exponential rate, thanks to the influencers. Today, many people who want to become an influencer enter this field to collaborate with brands. But, collaboration with brands should not be the primary purpose of becoming an influencer.

 Many influencers you see with millions of followers today started with the purpose of sharing. Be it entertainment, expertise or any talent, they started with sharing that asset with people to relate with them and build trust. Brand collaborations come later.

Walee brings you an inspiring story of the Transformation King of TikTok, Hassan Abid. Hassan is one of the most promising young influencers with a lot of fan pages. Initially, he started with TikTok and then moved towards other social media platforms like Instagram and Snack Video. Walee is proud to provide the first-ever paid campaign opportunity to Hassan. With his remarkable efforts, he recently hit the mark of 200k on Instagram. He believes in making decent yet fun content for his die-hard followers.

 Let’s find out how did he took off his journey:

Q: How did you discover TikTok?

I made some transition videos at the start to post on TikTok and got good feedback. My family was not that supportive at that time. However, I wanted to make positive and decent content that one can see while sitting with family. So, I kept doing it and now Alhumdulilah my family also supports me.

Q: When did you start your TikTok journey?

I started making basic-level videos back in March 2019. At that time I didn’t even have a phone for myself, I used to make these videos on my brother’s phone. Later on, I bought a phone for myself and made so many videos and received a lot of love from my followers. 

Q: Is your family happy with your work now?

Yes, Alhumdulilah. At first, they were a bit hesitant and concerned about it but now they are happy and support me because I made such content that would not bring any shame to my family. Whenever I make a new video I show it to my mother first and ask her for approval if the video is okay before uploading it. 

Q: What would you advise the young influencers/users? How should they make content for social media without compromising on their studies?

I would advise them to strike a good balance between the two because in the end, every parent wants their child to be good at the academic side and studies rather than the social media. No parent would want their child to be a model or an influencer, everyone wants to have a doctor or an engineer child, it’s how our culture is. 

So, I would suggest the young influencers prioritize their studies of course. And then in their free time, as a side hobby, they should make content for social media. I am a student of Computer Science, currently in my sophomore year in university. I take both things side by side, as both are very important to me.

Q: How much time does it take to make these transition videos that we all love?

Well, it’s not easy because whenever anyone does something for the first time, it takes him a lot of time to understand the whole process. Once we keep on doing it with consistency, we keep getting better at it, we find the easy way out for it. So at the start, it took me a lot of time and effort to make these videos. Now, it takes less time but the effort is the same or even more than it used to be at the start.

Q: How can one be approached by different brands for their campaigns?

One should have a good understanding of what the brand wants. Usually, the brands look for good dressing sense, good video quality and aesthetic sense, decent content and a good voice (so it could be used in voiceovers if needed). And the market is quite saturated as there are already a lot of people in the industry, and now the influx of influencers is quite high. So, one should always bring in new ideas and new unique trends that can attract the brands. 

Q: If you had to choose between Instagram and TikTok, which one would you choose?

I would pick Instagram because I think the audience and users of Instagram are more educated and decent. They know what’s appropriate and what’s not, TikTok is accessible by everyone and has all sorts of audiences. Other than that, Instagram is the most used social media platform and almost all of the brands approach influencers for marketing campaigns on Instagram rather than Tiktok. 

Q: Tell us about your first-ever marketing campaign?

So, my first ever marketing campaign was in fact with Walee. I was very excited and I didn’t even have a bank account at that time. So, I gave my father’s bank account instead. I took my family and friends out for a treat. My parents were very happy that I am earning and making an income of my own, so they started supporting me even more after my first paid campaign.

Final Word

Lastly, if you want to become an influencer and are looking for ways to start from, we suggest trusting your gut and be authentic. Identify a niche you think you’re best at and start creating valuable content.

You can also join Walee as an influencer to attend our Influencer Training Sessions so that you can receive learning and insights from the senior influencers of different niches.  

LinkedIn – as we all know, is a platform for professional activities. Whether you connect or follow a LinkedIn influencer, like, share or discuss anything, they all are backed by a professional purpose.

With the recent updates and features, the platform has been able to bring engagement and more users to interact. According to LinkedIn, the number of globally registered users has now reached 756M+ (and still growing). 

As more professionals become available on the platform, LinkedIn Influencers (also known as the opinion leaders) arise from the community. But, what does it take to be an influencer on a professionally populated platform? 

This is what this blog will answer. If you are thinking that only a good number of connections will do the job, check out our blog: Followers VS Engagement, which one you should be concerned about.

Let’s uncover the tips for becoming a LinkedIn influencer.

Regardless of the platform, content is the single most vital thing for anyone becoming an influencer. However, the content can be categorized and created as per the platform’s protocols. For example, Facebook and Instagram can be used to share casual content whereas, on LinkedIn, you will find content related to the professional life of people, career growth, management of work, etc.

Talking of content delivery, video is the number one choice of audience. It is the best way to share long-form content, stories, How To’s, and discussions. (Source: Animoto) 

LinkedIn’s algorithms also regard the video format. The platform has made some upgrades for video format such as it plays automatically while you scroll with it. Another innovation is the introduction of LinkedIn stories which helps people share instant news, countdowns, raw or behind the scenes moments of their efforts. 

So how can this format help you being a LinkedIn influencer?

Like mentioned earlier, people engage more with videos featuring a human element. You may share an interesting story or start a discussion or podcast with your peers or other industry experts. 

As you take leverage of video, don’t miss out on the ‘value’ part of your content strategy. Your content (either static, video, or any other format) must provide value to your followers.

You may come up with a professional series of videos discussing how manageable business can be while working from home? In which you share online meetings/interviews with other industry peers.

Breaking-the-ice question: Is it only us or have you seen that most of the LinkedIn ads you see in your feed are in video format?

You might have passed through many situations in your career from which you learned something. Whether it is rejection or promotion, or how you helped out someone in the workplace, leadership or people-handling skills of yours, such experiences help others relate and connect with you.

So try to share the stories through your LinkedIn profile and people who have or haven’t passed through such experiences, people who may or may not know you will notice you. Some of them will relate, some will discuss or ask, and some will share their guidance with you.

Nevertheless, all of this will be happening around your story. That’s what an influencer does, right? Share, engage, inspire, influence.

A number of people possess the desire to be an influencer, however, they don’t get on the ground with their own content. They stay quiet and keep checking (and interacting with) their feed. Remember, if you want to be an influencer, showing up with your own made content is important. 

Yes, it is possible that people on LinkedIn might disagree with your opinions, but that will end up as a healthy discussion. However, if you keep producing honest and authentic content, you will periodically grow as an opinion leader on LinkedIn.

Any content is worthy enough if it is valuable for its readers. Posting randomly will fill your profile with haphazard content. Plan out your content and the purpose it should serve. A well directional content strategy is vital especially if you are becoming an influencer.

Create and post what you think will bring value to your audience. Whether it is a poll, a factoid, info-graphic, statistics, or even a simple status update, it has to be valuable enough for your followers.

Video consumption on LinkedIn (Image source: MWP Digital Media)

A good LinkedIn influencer profile is one that invites its followers to participate and share what they feel. This has become easier with the introduction of LinkedIn polls. But other than this feature, how can you bring people to participate in your content?

There are different ways through which you can produce such content. See the examples below:

Offering help is good and common too, however, asking for help as an influencer might sound odd but it is actually not. Rather, it is a great way to increase engagement. For example, you might ask your audience to join you at a specific place to help you with shooting your next vlog or interview. 

That way, you will not only help your audience by sharing valuable content, tips, and consultation but also making them feel helpful by including them in your social media activities too.

Challenges and giveaways are great ways to get people to land on your posts and even bring others. One might think that giveaways are part and parcel of Instagram or Facebook, but that’s not true. 

There are challenges and similar activities people do on LinkedIn while maintaining the platform protocols. 

So as long as you can keep it relevant and interesting, people will take part in those giveaways.

Now you know what it takes to be a LinkedIn influencer, the stage is set! Move on and start creating content you are best at. Use these tips and learn more along the way.

If you are already on the way to becoming an influencer, how about signing up on Walee today and start collaborating with brands. 

Are you a business looking to push your brand through influencer marketing? Contact us now!