Boutique Chat #202 | What Does it Take to Work With an Influencer | Jessie Jarvis, The Boutique Hub

Hey, guys, it's time for episode number 202 of Boutique Chat. And if you have ever wondered about working with an influencer, today's your day. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Aldo Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat.

You know, one of the questions that.

We get asked about most often is, what does it take to work with an influencer? How do I find an influencer that's a good fit for me? How do I know if I'm getting a return on my investment? What should I expect? What kind of paperwork do I need? And should I answer all those Instagram dms and emails that fly flood my inbox with people asking for free clothes? So today, you guys, I wanted to dive deep in this question, and I wanted to do it with someone who also had experience in the boutique world and could really understand and speak to both sides of the industry. So today, I welcome Jesse Jarvis, who is our team member here at the Boutique Hub. But also, I know she wouldn't call herself this, but she certainly is an Instagram influencer. Now, she's worked with several brands and several boutiques and several product companies in and out of the Western industry, and she's got a really unique perspective on what it takes to be a successful influencer and what it takes for boutiques to work with influencers. I think you're going to hear that perspective early on, and it really bleeds authenticity, and I think that's one of the reasons so many people are engaged with her, because everything she speaks is real to what's happening in her life, and you can tell she isn't there just sharing a product to get in front of your newsfeed. And really, today, I think when it comes to any type of social media, for boutiques or brands or influencers, whoever's on the platforms, really what people are looking for is authentic relationships. I'm pretty sure you might agree with me that we're all over the beautiful news feeds and the altered reality that so many people live in on social media, and we just want to know that there's other people out there like us, who think like us and who understand the world as we see it and really when it comes down to the core of what social media really is, it's about connection and authentic relationships. So when it comes to working with influencers for your business, I certainly think it's a great investment opportunity for you to expand your reach, meet new markets, move product, all the above. But there certainly is a strategy as to how you go about it. So today I hope many of your questions get answered in our interview with Jesse. If you have more questions and you're a member of the Boutique Hub, you can actually tag Jessie anytime in our membership groups at the Boutique Hub and ask her additional questions. I know she would love to expand on any of this. She's also written a great blog post for the Boutique Hubs blog if you want to search that out. And I also wanted to mention we do have some sample contracts inside of our training library at the Boutique Hub. So if you ever find yourself wanting to work with an influencer but unsure of how to put things into right, we've taken care of that for you. So you can simply download that contract in the library at any time. Guys, I am so excited to welcome my friend Jesse Jarvis to the show. I really hope you enjoy this episode. All right, guys, welcome back to the show. And this week is going to be entertaining and a little more casual and fun than normal because I have one of my best friends in the world joining me on the show this week.

Who also happens to be pretty knowledgeable.

In the area of working with influencers.

And working with boutiques and brand, so. Hey, Jesse Jarvis, welcome to the podcast. Hello.

How's it going?

Pretty good now that you're here.

Oh, golly, we're gonna go down a.

Few rabbit holes today. I have a feeling those poor people.

Who are tuning into this, right?

Oh, man, I can't wait. Well, if you're listening, here's. Here's the game plan for today. So I would love for you guys to get to know Jessie Jarvis a little bit better. Her background, what she does for us at the Hub, how her whole Instagram game got so strong because she's pretty legit on the gram.

But we also want to give you guys some really actionable takeaways today in.

Terms of how you can work with.

Social media influencers for either your retail.

Business or your wholesale business. How do you find influencers? How do you evaluate influencers?

How do you decide that ROI that you're looking for and how you can use the social media game to up your reach? Sound good?

Do it.

All right, well, let's Start here. So we were just reminiscing before we started recording how we met and kind of where you were at in this process back then. So can you give me some background? Tell everyone you know, where you're from, you know about the ranch, about that.

History, and then we can talk about.

How we met and how you came.

To the Hub in the first place.

Well, of course. So I have grown up on my family's ranch. We live in Southern Idaho, and. And I still work with them today. I went to college and had a career, but then I came back home with my husband, and we've been back for six years now, I think, or at least I have. And I remember when I first downloaded Instagram, I used to just use it to, like, edit my photo, and then I'd go post my photo on Facebook because I thought that Instagram was the silliest thing in the world. Right. I didn't even know how to use it. I mean, I'm not even kidding. Like, I would post a photo, and then I'd go in and delete it so then I could have the edited copy of it. But anyways, so, I mean, that's how my Instagram life started. I didn't even know what I was doing or how to use it properly or didn't even care to. And now, I guess, here we are.

So when you and I first met, you had clearly started using Instagram, because I think back then you maybe had 5,6000 followers, and you were already kind of doing some collaborations and really sharing your lifestyle through the gram. And we were introduced by a mutual friend of ours, Ricky Reese, the owner of the Frosted Cowgirls boutique in Idaho, who is a client of Boutique Bootcamp. And. And just a really great mutual friend who said, oh, my gosh, the Boutique hub is hiring their first employee. You should apply.

Yeah. Isn't that so wild? And now the hub has grown to 13 employees. But anyways, yeah, so I had started influencing somewhat. I mean, back then, influencers weren't really even a thing at the time. And. And I definitely had no intention of. Of doing this. And I still hardly even want to call myself an influencer, but I really just posted a lot of lifestyle stuff. So the clothes that I wore, ranch things, funny things, and my family. And that's still. I mean, three years ago, that's what I started with, and that's still what I base my Instagram off of today. Those are the three things that I really want to feature. And I think that that's why I'VE had success is just because I've never really strayed from what I initially shared, if that makes sense.

Absolutely. And you've been so raw and authentic along the way. Two things that you've really highlighted probably more in the last year than you ever have before. And I think this is a good reason why your fans are so engaged, because they can relate to you on this level. The first is anxiety. So can you talk a little bit about that and how you came to share that struggle with your audience and. And how it's, you know, kind of come full circle for you?

Yeah, absolutely. So I think, I mean, I am by my nature, I'm a very honest person. If you ask me something, I guess it may be a good thing or not, but I'm going to tell you how I feel about it or my. My honest thoughts. I'm not much of a sugarcoater, and I don't do that to be mean. But my thought is if somebody asks me a question, they want a real truthful answer, and I want those if I ask somebody a question as well. So when people, you know, ask me about anxiety, I'm very upfront and honest about it because there's no point to sugarcoat it or lie about it because one that's not truthful and that's not the answer they want. And that's not the kind of answer that I would want if I were looking for answers as well, if that makes sense. I have always been just like a high strung person. High strung is probably not the right word, but just somebody who is like always on the go and I don't know how to relax and I'm just always like a little bit worried about what's going to happen. I'm not a go with the flow kind of person. I'm a type A control freak, I guess. So I've always probably had a little bit of that in my life. But it wasn't until after I had started dating Justin that I like, and I think a lot of it was I really had somebody to love and care about. And so that gave me more reason to worry. And my anxiety has kind of grown over the last four or five years. And I had a really hard time with anxiety during pregnancy just because I didn't know anything about babies. I had never changed a diaper before my own kid. And so I had a lot to worry about, I guess, because I didn't know anything. And reading books about babies almost made it worse because it proved to me all of the things I didn't know versus using it as a learning opportunity. And then after having jet, I had some serious anxiety to the point where, like, I would be washing dishes, not thinking about anything that made me nervous, and all of a sudden my stomach would, like, drop to my toes. And so at that point I figured that I needed to do something about it just because I couldn't live a life where it just came out of nowhere because it's really crippling. And I had gone to counselors, like, over the last four or five years on occasion, but I started going regularly here in my hometown. And then my OB also put me on an anxiety medication, which I have been taking for the last six months. And my life has never been better, but I was always very afraid of taking medication for it. And I know a lot of other people out there are as well, because you don't want to become dependent on something because, hey, that's going to give you more worry or more anxiety if you can't get your prescription filled or whatever it is. But finally I decided, you know, I've got to change something. It's not something I have to be on forever, but so that is how all of that's happened. And then I do get a lot of questions about that just because I think a lot of people are in the same boat that I was. You just. There's a lot of things out there that you don't know and you're worried what the results or the outcomes might be. So I've just been really frank and honest about it because I know that if I was out there searching, those are the kind of answers that I would want are the frank and honest ones.

And you've done such a good job with that. I know you like to post like the question in your Insta stories a lot or allow people to ask you questions. And I think that that's so cool, something that you do. You won't give a recommendation for something until you've lived it or done it yourself. Like blue light glasses, for example. I got some blue light glasses and you and I were talking about them, and then you got some blue light glasses and you wouldn't recommend anything to your audience until you were thoroughly convinced that they worked, which, that carries a lot of weight. And I think that's something you and I are going to talk about more in a bit when it comes to retailers and brands looking for influencers. But really staying true to your values is so important.

Oh, absolutely. And I think that all goes back to the honesty thing, though, is If I'm looking at somebody else because they've recommended a product, I'm putting my trust into them knowing that they've used it and it's something they like. I'm not going to. I don't want to buy something and then realize the person who was recommending this product never actually used it. They were just doing it for a dime. That's not something that I ever want to be associated with because I just want to treat my followers the way that I want to be treated when looking for recommendations or answers or any of that.

The other thing that you talk about a lot is your. Your own health conditions. And I have to ask you this question. So is it pronounced diabetes or diabetes?

Okay, Wilford Brimley. Diabetes.

Diabetes is how you say, so there's diabetes in our family, but my mom has always said diabetes. So I'm so confused.

I think that's just an older person. I think initially it was called diabetes, but now it's become more of, like, a mainstream, more common thing. And so it. It's just known as diabetes now, I guess potato, but you better say potato. Okay.

You are from Idaho, after all. Potato. So a lot of people, I'm assuming, also kind of follow you for that reason. Like, just to see what it's like dealing with that on a daily basis. I mean, having a pump and just how you keep up with that.

Yeah. And, you know, in all honesty, it's not something that I probably talk about nearly enough. I remember a really good friend of mine way back when, when I had first kind of started doing the whole Instagram thing, she said, your biggest platform should be diabetes, because there. I think that a lot of people would look up to you for that, and I have always been against that, because I never want people to think that I'm using this disease that I have as a crutch. Like, I want. I would rather have people, like, be talking with somebody else and say, oh, that's right, Jesse does have diabetes versus Jesse. Diabetes being the first thing that people think of. I don't necessarily know why that is. And I think that there are a lot of people out there who do use diabetes as their biggest platform, and they are very successful at it, and they do a really good job with it. But with all of the other aspects of my life, like ranching and things that I want to highlight, I don't want. I don't want people to think I'm looking for pity or sympathy, if that makes sense. So I do talk about diabetes on occasion. Honestly, it's probably like once a season, so four times a year. Just because I want it to be something that people kind of remember, but not the forefront of their mind.

Absolutely. So tell me about your Instagram now. So you came from not knowing how to use the app to all of a sudden. I mean, really, since you and I've known each other, it's been amazing to watch how it's taken off. Tell me about followers now and we'll get into this as well. But more important than followers, I think what's really cool is how much engagement you have. Like, the. The amount of engagement you have is just, like, off the charts to me.

Yeah. So I do. I told Ashley this ahead before we started recording this podcast, and I will say it again. Followers. It's. I don't care about followers, and I. And I don't want to say that. And then the people who follow me think that I don't care about them, because that's not the case. But I don't care about the number of followers that I have because that many people aren't going to show up to my funeral. And at the end of the day, I'm more concerned about that number because that is. I mean, the people who show up to your funeral are the people who you've touched their life or made a difference, or maybe you pissed them off enough that they just want to see in the ground. But whatever it is, you've made an impact somehow or some way. And that's what I want to be like. That's what I want to be focused on. But because for that same reason, I've never done a giveaway to where I gain followers from it. Because like I said, that's not a number that I care about. I want to be touching the people who follow me now. Like, I would rather increase my engagement tenfold than gain 10,000 new followers. Because I want to be able to have a relationship not just in social media, but if I see somebody, you know, at Target or in Vegas in a couple of weeks, I want those people to come up to me and say, hey, Jesse, like, I really relate to you, or this inspired me or whatever it is. And I want to be able to have a conversation with those people. I just. About life in general, not about Instagram or social media, but I just want to be able to touch those lives.

So good. So good and so true. Oh, my gosh. The other day, you and I were texting back and forth, and I opened my text messages, and I realized I don't Think I'd responded to the last four text messages that you'd sent me, but I had spent the last half hour of my life watching your Instagram stories where all these people asked you all kinds of questions, and I learned more about my friend. How does that even work?

Oh, you know, I think that that's just because, again, it goes back to the whole being authentic and honest thing. When people ask me questions, I give them the real deal answer. I don't. I mean, I'm very truthful. There are lots of. And there are some questions that I don't necessarily want to answer, to be honest, but I do it anyways, because my thought is if I'm putting myself out there or in an awkward position, chances are there's somebody else out there who feels the same way or deals with the same issues. And if I'm making them feel more normal, then it's worth it to put myself at a place of uncomfortableness.

I love it. All right, well, let's get into the meat, because I think that all of that. I just want people to get to know you for who you are, because I think it speaks a lot of truth into what we're about to discuss. And that is there's such a huge trend today of using influencers in marketing, retail, and wholesale. And there's some different tiers, I would say, at which people, you know, go after this. And there's definitely success strategies, and there's definitely failures. And I want to uncover that to make this process as easy as possible for anyone who's listening. So I want to start kind of with this. Tell me about how you see the role of the influencer. What's a stereotype that might be out there, and what is a true influencer, in your opinion?

So I think there's definitely a stereotype of influencers being very vain, and they just want free clothes and they want to see themselves on the gram, and they want to get insta famous, and they just take selfies all day long or they've got an Instagram husband or whatever it is. And I. There's definitely some of that out there, but that is not the greater amount of influencers, if that makes sense. They're professionals who have worked to curate and build their audiences and engagement. And if you want to tap into that audience, then you need to treat them as professionals and you need to compensate them as professionals. And, I mean, kind of going back to what I initially said, there are people who are out there who aren't as serious about it, and you were doing it for the wrong reasons. And I know that a lot of boutiques and brands have those horror stories of working with influencers, but you can't let those bad apples cloud your overall view. There are boutiques and brands out there who have probably screwed over a customer. And now those customers don't ever want to shop with brands and boutiques. And you would never want those people to have a clouded view of that industry, if that makes sense.

Absolutely. I think that's a really great point. Would you speak to kind of the different levels that are out there? Because there's some influencers that, I mean, it's thousands of dollars to work with and there are others who are just getting started who may work with you for clothes. Can you kind of speak to the different levels you see?

Yeah, and I'm honestly not the greatest at this specific topic. I think it's so important to know somebody's worth. Right. And I see a lot of like the lower end charging a high amount, and that's just not going to work, if that makes sense. Like, you've got. People have to know their worth in terms of influencers, and you also have to know an influencer's worth, if that makes sense. So there are definitely women out there with 100,000 followers and incredible engagement and you are going to have to pay them as well as some kind of a product. And then there's the, the women out there who maybe have 20,000 followers or less and they are more than likely going to do it for just product, if that makes sense. But I definitely think that there's a fine line and the fine line is engagement. If somebody has a hundred thousand followers and they're only getting 500, you know, likes or 25 comments on a photo, they are not. They don't have the same worth, if that makes sense.

Yeah, absolutely. So doing your research ahead of time, which we'll talk more about that and exactly how to find influencers, do you feel like there's a misconception of when you send product to an influencer, sometimes retailers or brands will think, well, it's their job to help sell that product. And can you speak to like, reshaping the, the way that you look at using an influencer in your marketing in terms of they're there to help generate traffic versus sales?

Oh, absolutely. So I think that people, they def. There's definitely a misconception out there that influencers are. You're going to send somebody a shirt and they are going to sell you out of that run and all the other runs that the vendor has. And chances are that's not going to happen, sister, because your purpose is to sell clothes. Their purpose is marketing. If their purpose was selling, they'd go out and start their own brand with their. Or boutique with their own audience that they've curated. And, and that would be their, their business. But that's not what they want to do. So they're in the marketing business, if that makes sense. So you are definitely the selling agent as a boutique or brand and an influencer is the marketing arm. So you've got to have realistic expectations on that one. If you get, maybe somebody posts your, you know, an outfit from you and you get 500 followers out of that, that's a big deal because you now have 500 new eyes that you can consistently sell things to. So I think that there's a lot of misconception in terms of like selling product versus getting your name out there. And influencers should first be used to get your name out there.

So that kind of goes right into how do you find an influencer? Because making sure you have someone that's the right fit. Fit has to be most important. Not just let's go find someone with a bunch of followers, but truly making sure that your audience and their audience are one in the same. Can you share where someone should start to find an influencer?

Yeah. So Ashley, you so totally touched on that and like hit the nail on the head with that because you're, you have to find people who have a very similar audience to you. If you, you know, if your big thing is religion or God or anything like that, you can't send your clothes to an atheist. Like, that's not going to work out. Does that make sense? Like the beef boutique, a vegan is not going to be able to wear those clothes. So, and the point of that is, I mean, you've got to really tap into an audience of people that you want to have as your customers. So it's, I liken it to finding a future wife for your son. You want to find somebody who fits into your family who has the same values and morals and things like that as you do and who you can see representing your brand.

Absolutely. And it doesn't have to be just an influencer known for their style, would you say? But also an influencer that maybe, you know, just like you has different topics that they really touch on. It's not someone just posting clothes every day, but it could be someone who's a food blogger or you name it. Correct?

Yeah, absolutely. I saw maybe in the last two months Charlie One Horse did a, some kind of a collaboration ship with collaborationship. That's a new word, collaboration with Tomi Lauren, which obviously she is not in this life to be an influencer. You know, she is a serious journalist. However, they used her as a partnership because they knew that her audience is probably the same kind of audience that wants to buy a fashion hat or a cowboy hat. And I thought that that was a really good use of working with somebody who is not and like a fashion influencer per se, but somebody who still has the trust of their followers and who has built a really good relationship with them and who is like side selling them a product.

Yeah, boy, I can see how those two audiences are one in the same. That's a really good fit. Can you talk about that being a short term or a long term relationship?

I still just can't get over the fact that I used collaboration ship.

You should claim that makes total sense, a collaboration ship.

Oh, goodness gracious. Okay, sorry. The question, short term versus long term collaboration. I think that any successful boutique or brand needs to have both. So a long term partnership is kind of like the face of your boutique. They're the kind of person that maybe that you send things to regularly or you have like a long term, an annual contract that you sign per se and maybe you include them in your seasonal photo shoots or something to where people realize that they are part of your overall brand. And then those shorter partnerships, I think I need more coffee. Those can be more test related. So let's say that you start carrying maybe a new genre of clothing or you're, you know, you, you've always carried western clothes, but now you want to carry pieces that are a little bit more boho. You need to tap in to an audience or to an influencer that has an audience. Who is that more boho side of fashion? Because those are the people who are going to, going to come by those clothes and maybe that partnership doesn't work. So you go find another person with a similar audience as that other person did. But it's all about like what kind, where you want that partnership to head and what purpose or goal you want out of that.

Right? What's the roi? So if you're listening as a retailer and you're wondering, okay, I get it, I need to find someone similar, similar to me. Where do I start looking for those influencers and bloggers? Where would you recommend that they start?

So I think a really good place to start is look at people who currently follow you or currently purchase from you. If there's somebody who has a would consider themselves an influencer, or if you would consider themselves an influencer, I think that that's a great place to start. Just because they obviously already know your brand and your product and it's something that they like. So I definitely think that that's a good place. Another area is to just honestly go insta stock and find like 10 people that you think would be a good fit for your brand. Follow them for like three weeks, you may or may not weed them out, and then just ask one of them if they want to work with you.

I like it. So rather than waiting for someone to DM you and say, I like your stuff, I'm going to wear your clothes for free. You go search them out.

Yes, exactly. Here's my thought. You would never give. If somebody came into your office and said, I'm a marketer, give me $1,000 and I'm going to market your business for you. Chances are you're not going to give them that thousand dollars. Right. Because that's pretty, like sketchy, untrustworthy. Instead, you're going to go find a marketing firm that you really want to work with that has your values, that has the results that you're looking for, and you're going to give them your thousand dollars.

Absolutely.

So I think that it's very. You've got to think of influencers as a marketing firm or business. And I think that that will change a lot of views and your mindset towards them and just how to work with them in general.

So let's go through how you might evaluate them once you find them. Specifically, if I'm. If I've got an influencer pulled up on Instagram and I'm evaluating if I should work with this person or not, what would I really be looking for on their feed.

So quality over quantity. I cannot repeat that enough. Quality over quantity. Right. So a big number of followers does not mean big engagement. We see that time and time again. I was actually stalking some people this morning and I was surprised at how many of them who had like the same amount of followers had completely different engagement. And that's key because if people aren't engaging with them, then people aren't seeing your product. So the higher engagement somebody has, obviously, the more eyes that are on your business. So that's huge. Another thing is, do they reply to comments? I cannot tell you how frustrated I get when I see somebody who has like a hundred comments and they've never. Or questions like, hey, where did you get this? Where did you get this? What size do you wear? And they've never replied to any of them because those followers are going to get frustrated because they don't know the sizing or they don't know where it came from and chances are they're not going to buy it. Another thing is, do they post too frequently? And this actually sounds like something that wouldn't be a problem, but in my eyes it is. Because when you go to somebody's Instagram page and you see all of the photos that they've posted, if they are posting like two or three photos a day, in two weeks time, the photo that they posted for you is going to be very far down in their overall feed and chances are people aren't going to continue to scroll down there to see it. So if people post fewer times, like maybe once a day or once or twice a week, your photo is going to show up higher in their feed for a longer duration of time. Does that make sense?

Yeah, that absolutely makes sense. I think that's really good. What about watching their Insta stories? What would you be looking for there?

Just somebody who interacts. So I think it's. That's the whole reason that people follow each other on Instagram, right? They want to see sneak peeks or behind the scenes of their lives. They want to pretend that they're best friends or, you know, whatever it is. So if said influencer isn't interacting or sharing things on stories, it's. They're not going to have as much of a trustworthy relationship with their audience as you probably want.

Exactly. All right, so let's say that you've got your influencer found and you're going to start working with them. Let's talk about how should you plan to maximize that experience and really get an roi?

So you've got to have a content plan developed and what that means is that influencer is posting content on their social media channel and you need to be using that in some way, shape or form, whether that is resharing the shot or the post that they have used or asking them for a second shot. So what I've done in the last probably month, I've started doing this. I'll have Justin take a couple pictures of me and then I post one of those that on my own feed and then I have a second photo that I send to the boutique or brand and they are the ones that post those. It works better if that shot has a different outfit involved because then it shows the versatility of a piece. But what that is is not only are you getting, like content from that, but you're also still getting that initial engagement from the influencer.

Perfect. So, second shot. What else?

Something that is so simple to do. Let's say that you send me a shirt and I make a post about this shirt. Post the shirt on your own page. I know that sounds so elementary. And it is. Because nobody wants to go to your Instagram or your website and have to search their.