Instagram and other social media platforms have become a microcosm, where products, advertisers and consumers meet in a more targeted space, and local entrepreneurs are working to captivate their specific niche.
Audrey Monroe has a specific look that doesn’t appeal to the mass population, and she’s fine with that.
“My body structure is the fit and build of the average woman from the 1940s and 50s,” said Monroe, who has been working for two years to build a vintage brand and look.
MORE: Augusta’s Monroe Embraces Vintage Look
She’d always loved vintage styles when growing up but decided two years ago to go all in from her clothing to her makeup and hair which all pays homage to the era of the 1940s and 1950s.
Monroe is on multiple platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and her own website. She creates a variety of content from photographs to video tutorials on vintage hair and makeup.
It’s a 40-plus hour a week career that doesn’t always translate into a direct paycheck although there have been some.
Sometimes, the perks come from wearing a product. She receives merchandise as a form of payment, but now Monroe has a wardrobe of vintage attire that she didn’t layout cash for. There’s a balance, she said.
She said she has to keep her goals in mind because it’s not always the easiest of careers, but being an entrepreneur never is.
The experience has led her down paths she didn’t always expect.
This week, she’ll be part of a photo shoot for Secrets In Lace, a vintage foundation and lingerie shop. Earlier this year, she modeled items for one of their catalogs and her photos are on the website. Photographs were taken at the Marion Hatcher Center.
Monroe said Augusta’s architecture lends itself well for what she does, and she hopes to represent the city well.
She has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram; many of her followers live in other states and some in other countries
[adrotate banner=”22″]
The only products she endorses fit into her specific niche. She turns down requests if they don’t pertain to her vintage persona, and she won’t promote things she doesn’t like.
Monroe isn’t the only one leveraging social media.
Laura Kaminer is on the other end of the spectrum. She bills herself as a lifestyle blogger and has about 2,000 Instagram followers. She also has a following on Pinterest.
“Most of my companies are clothing and health-related,” said Kaminer, the mom of four who was Mrs. South Carolina 2003.
She’s known as a micro-influencer, and she doesn’t mind that term. She feels more of a personal connection with her followers. In a modern world, she said she feels like she’s doing advertising the old-fashioned way, by word of mouth except via social media.
“I share what I like. I’m never going to share something I haven’t tried or didn’t personally use,” she said.
Laura Kaminer is a micro-influencer on social media with a growing following on Instgram and Pinterest. Photo by Megan Hutchins Photography. Clothes by the Peppy Poppy Boutique. Laura Kaminer is a micro-influencer focusing on fashion and health products. Photo by Megan Hutchins Photography.
She’s also not going to inflate her influences by buying ghost followers, adding numbers of fake accounts. She wants her following to grow organically with people following her because they are interested in what she has to say.
She’s worn fashions for some retailers, tried vitamins and even shown some of her home décor on her posts, but she also likes to pepper them with what she’s passionate about.
“I’ve always felt called to women,” said Kaminer whose Christian faith is behind many of her posts.
She believes women should be supportive of one another. Her messages are designed to uplift and encourage women in their goals whether it’s career, fashion, marriage or parenting. Sometimes there’s an inspirational quote; and at others, she gives a scripture.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
She said she likes to show people who she really is without filters or weird photo editing.
“I run into people. About 25 percent of my followers are local. I ran into someone recently,” she said. “If you’re doing your pictures with crazy filters that take away every bag and give you full lips, that’s not genuine. I really try to be as genuine as possible.”
Rachel Furtick has been on both sides of the social media influencing trend. Before she moved to the Augusta area, she had a boutique and used that form of advertising. Sometimes it worked, but other times, it was a bust, with little to no return on investment.
Rachel Furtick focuses on fashion and home decor in her lifestyle blog. Photo courtesy of Rachel Furtick Rachel Furtick is a fashion and home decor blogger. Photo by Rachel Sidow Photography.
After one bust, she decided she could do it herself, and she did.
When she moved to the area, she left the boutique behind her, but she continues to use social media and has worked with companies in the area of fashion and home décor.
MORE: Food Bloggers Tell About Great Food and Beverage
Like Kaminer and Monroe, Furtick remains true to her values. She won’t promote anything she doesn’t like or think is of good quality.
“I’ve gotten products that I had to return and very kindly say that I didn’t like it,” she said.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”43″]
