The influencer model is broken. You know it. I know it. The audience knows it. Paid posts that pretend not to be paid. Products sent for free in exchange for "honest reviews" that are never negative. Follower counts that mean nothing and engagement rates that are bought.
I am not doing that. Not because I am virtuous. Because it does not work anymore, and because I find it genuinely dishonest.
"I wish I had a commercial partnership with some of these brands ten years ago — because I do not know how many people already bought a product because of me, from my friends in Austria to Argentinian friends to Silicon Valley."
That is what authentic reach looks like. Not paid posts. People seeing you use something for real, hearing what you think about it for real, and deciding to get one.