February 13, 2026 • 39 mins
On this episode of Cattitude, host Michelle Fern dives into the fascinating world of cat influencers with Ashley, CEO of Pet Influencer Secrets and proud cat mom to Chip — the “world’s most famous Manx cat” — and Biscuit, her adorable calico sidekick. Ever wondered what it really takes to turn your cat into a social media star? From storytelling and brand collaborations to behind-the-scenes realities (including picky cats and litter mishaps!), Ashley shares insider tips on how everyday cat parents can build authentic audiences — and even turn content into a business. They also tackle the rise of AI in pet content, how to avoid brand scams, and why emotional connection — not just cute photos — is the secret to success. If you’ve ever thought, “My cat could be famous,” this episode is your starting point.
EPISODE NOTES: From Meow to Millions: Inside the World of Cat Influencers
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cattitude-the-1-cat-podcast--6666768/support.
EPISODE NOTES: From Meow to Millions: Inside the World of Cat Influencers
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cattitude-the-1-cat-podcast--6666768/support.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Live. This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, cat levers, Welcome to Cataitude. I'm your show host
Michelle Fern. Hey, have you ever wondered what does it
take to be a cat influencer or more importantly, the
pet pairent of a cat influencer. Well, I've wondered this,
and my guest today is going to tell us all
about it. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
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(01:09):
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Speaker 4 (01:30):
Let's Talk pets on petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Ashley. She is
the CEO of Pet Influencer Secrets. Welcome Ashley.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me on here. I
am super excited to share my experiences and some knowledge
with the whole audience here.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So what is your background?
Speaker 5 (02:01):
Do you do just cats? I own just cats, but
I coach everything from Oh my goodness, definitely lots of cats,
dog influencers. I've worked with bird influencers and one really
interesting like Meer Cat. So a little bit of everything.
But I am a little bit biased because I only
(02:23):
have owned cats, and I do have two cats myself.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Okay, what are their names onug type of cats?
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Yeah, so I call one cat the famous one, he's
the one who started all of this. And then my
second cat is the less famous one. She does have
her own channels. So the famous one his name is Chip,
and Chip is the world's most famous Manx cat. So
that's a in X. A lot of people get it
confused with minx like in X, but yeah, so he
(02:52):
is the world's most famous Minx cat. And then I
have Biscuit, and Biscuit is not related to Chip at all.
She is a CaCO cat. And yeah, they are extreme opposites.
They have their own channels on social media, But yeah,
they're so fun and they're my children.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
You know what, before we get into talking about it,
I was wondering and I, you know, we're all about
cats on Cata Cheed, but a lot of cat lovers
also have dogs. Do you think there's more cat influencers
or dog influencers?
Speaker 5 (03:26):
So I actually get asked a similar question to this
often because I obviously only have experience with my cat
influencers myself, and so obviously dog creators or people who
want to explore making their dogs famous, they also ask
They're like, well, which one does better? Dogs or cats?
(03:47):
And I know we can definitely dive into this later,
but it is all about how you approach it. Now,
do people love dogs or cats better? I actually think
that they can provide a little bit different emotional reactions
when it comes to your audience. So I personally think
that the cat videos bring about a different emotional reaction
(04:08):
than a lot of dog videos. Dog videos tend to
be more upbeats, more crazy because I just imagine like
dogs that just run around the backyard chasing balls, and
then cats tend to be different in which a lot
of the videos with cats they're laying on your lap,
they're like, your emotional support is just different. And so
to answer your question, I'm not exactly sure because I
(04:31):
think the audiences are a little bit different.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think you're right. Okay, let's talk about the rise
of the cat influencer or you know how everyday cat
parents can turn their cats into social media stars. So
you wouldn't think this, but you say that cats are
naturals for social media.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Why yeah, So, no matter what, when it comes to
trying to make your cat or dog famous online, it's
all about how you staged them with products or how
you interact with them. And when it comes to cats,
it's easy to storytell about cats because a lot of times,
for example, people with dogs, they'll say, oh, I went
(05:13):
and you know, got this special breed of dog and
I bought the dog, and there just tends to be
a different story compared to cats. It's like, oh, the
cat just showed up on my porch one day and
now we're best friends and they're like my emotional support
cat and the source just tend to be different. So
when people ask me, well, how do I even begin
(05:36):
this idea of being a cat influencer? And I do
want to distinguish the difference between like cat influencing and
cat content creating. So being a content creator would be
more of you have an Instagram or YouTube and you
just share videos and photos of your cat. But then
(05:57):
being an influencer is just a hair different because being
an influencers more of the idea of trying to have
a business around it, because the concept of being an
influencer is you're going to utilize having lots of followers
to actually make money off of having followers. But yeah,
so when people want to even explore this idea of
(06:19):
being a cat content creator or again a cat influencer,
it all starts with just realizing what is the story
between you and your cat. And again, most people do
have sweet or fun special stories with their cats of
how they discovered their cat in a storm drain or
(06:40):
you know, how they found the little kitten on the
side of the road, like those type of deeply emotional
stories and then just trying to figure out how to
incorporate those stories. Because the people who watch our content
as cat influencers, they come to our content usually to
feel something, So the value that we provide is typically
(07:01):
not just like mindless entertainment as I sometimes categorize dog
influencers into but with those cat influencers, it's more about
providing an emotional reaction or emotional experience, so it makes
people feel good. And what's really nice is I have
a lot of followers who for my personal cats, who
(07:23):
say that they're not able to have a cat in
their apartment or my cats remind them of a cat
they used to have, and so the emotional reaction is
truly the biggest thing for us.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Okay, that's really interesting. So what are some when you
talk about, you know, cat influencers. I mean, what comes
to mind first is not a cat that cat has
been super well known. I think what some crazy amount
of followers like ten million or something.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Oh yeah, crazy crazy amount.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I actually met her pet parent at a global pet
exp What are some of the ways that cat parents
can turn their cats into Internet celebrities.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Yeah, so that's a little bit of a loaded question
because it actually is very multifaceted. But I will go
through at least a little bit of what I would
recommend to someone if they were just interested in learning
about the concept of pet influencing and potentially interested in it.
So the biggest problem that happens is most people love
(08:27):
to just all set it, open up their Instagram, create
a new profile, and just try to post some videos
that they have on the phone, or just post some
photos that exist on their phone. Now to actually become
a pet influencer to the point to where your cat
is making some money or that you are able to
(08:48):
raise awareness for shelters or you know, bring in donations
for nonprofits, which I've I've seen it all over the
past six to seven years of doing this. So it
all starts with being very intentional about your purpose. And
I mentioned earlier about storytelling, so people really follow people.
(09:08):
And when we want people our audience to eventually click
on our links to again donate to a nonprofit or
you know, support a cause, et cetera, they need to
understand us by relating to us and trusting us. So
all that to say, when you consider the idea of
being a pet influencer, you have to keep these things
(09:30):
in mind. How are you going to utilize storytelling and
how are you going to utilize your cat for whatever
mission that you you know, want to go about. I
personally never really recommend people to just want to make
money off their cat because let's be honest, I mean cats,
(09:50):
and they don't live forever, and you know, anything can
happen to our fur babies at any time, and trying
to just build your business off of that that may
not be the smartest long term thing. So what I did,
and I think this is again best for people who
are interested in this content, would be to at least
(10:11):
first go through your phone, because most of us obviously
have phones in which we have many photos of our
cats and or videos. And the first thing to do
is just to look through what content you already have,
so you probably always have some photos and videos of
your cat and to put them in an album, simple
(10:31):
as that. And the next step is probably the most
important thing, and that's simply to research what it takes
to actually become a pet content creator, because any type
of content creator, it does take effort and time and intentionality.
And again, as I mentioned earlier, a mission like a
(10:51):
purpose for whatever you know you are utilizing this channel for.
So that's a very very beginning, but I can go
to any sort of detail that's you're interested in learning about.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You started off a good path. Let's go a little
bit down further, like what's behind the scenes, because what
a lot of people may or may not be aware
of is that that content that you see it might
be two minutes or thirty seconds or or however long,
but that thirty seconds might have taken you know, six hours,
(11:24):
And you see that's more in people videos, you know,
the cool videos. I'm more Instagram than TikTok, but the
cool videos where you see someone in change of clothes
and then they swipe out and there's another thing, and
another outfit, another outfit, another outfit. You see that more
with people than with you know, cats and dogs. But
that what took you thirty seconds to view took hours. Absolutely,
(11:47):
I can't even fathom how intense it must be to
have your cat patient enough to go through all of
those different changes. So what happens behind the scenes.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Yeah, this is a great question because of that fact
that people don't have any idea if you've never done yourself. Now,
I will say with dog influencers, the ones I've worked with,
and we talk a lot about this concept of you know,
how to get them to look at the camera and whatever,
it is a whole different story with cats because if
you think of a dog, dogs obviously usually can learn tricks,
(12:19):
they can learn to sit look up, YadA YadA. However,
with cats, it's a whole different thing. My cats they
don't know tricks, they don't know how to sit still.
So when it comes in behind the scenes, I do
a lot of my cat Chip. He gets to be
in a lot of content for different brands, and so
every week I am filming these videos for brands, and
(12:41):
I always estimate somewhere right around two to three hours
for filming for any sort of product, and from there
the editing takes a very long time too. It really
for every video that usually is thirty to forty five seconds,
which is the usual for content nowadays. For about a
thirty to forty five second video, I absolutely would estimate
(13:04):
from complete start to finish, and especially any editing rounds
if you are working with the brand, is a solid
four to six hours. And it's crazy, I think, But
I gotta tell you, when it comes to the cats,
how on earth do I get my cats to do
exactly what I need them to do. I use lickable
treats a lot, so they definitely know the word treat,
(13:25):
and the treat means that they're getting those little two
lickable treats. And I have a certain two certain areas
in my house where I primarily do all of my filming.
And of my two cats, I've got the famous one,
of course, and then the not so famous one, and
the famous one he actually over the years has taken years,
but he has learned that when we go in that area,
(13:46):
when I have my treat, he will come and sit
right there and he'll just look at me, and so
I'll be able to get some videos or some photos,
put a product right next to him, and then take
some photos and videos. And then what I do is
I have my phone on a tripod and then I
will intentionally move the treats up, make his head look up,
(14:07):
and then you know, move it down, or you know,
have him look directly at the camera, et cetera. Those
likable treats have worked wonders. But I honestly have gotten
kind of jealous sometimes with dog creators because they are
able to just have their dogs just sit on command,
and they don't have the struggle of the cats walking away,
walking away, walking away, over and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Cats are very smart. It's not that they're not smart,
and they can be taught tricks, but I've gone to
more than a few shows where there were you know,
I saw a big one recently that we were invited
to not too far from where I live in Palm Beach,
and it was this big cat show. And even with
cats that are trained for this type of work, they
(14:52):
still will have a tendency to do what they want,
and the people in the show just, you know, you
just have to go with it. So so it's definitely
much harder, I think for cats, but not because they're less.
They're just as smart, if not smarter. It's just they're different.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Yeah, And I think that's a really good statement that
you said. I absolutely know, especially with my Minx cat,
he is so smart. I mean he's smarter than any
other cat I have ever been around or owned before.
But yes, and that's a big thing too in regard
to the cats walking away and just choosing where they
want to sit and whatnot, that is a hard thing
(15:28):
to have to recognize when being a pet, pet influencer,
a cat influencer, is that I just have to roll
with it and do what they want to do, because
I will never just force him, you know, to sit
or stand or do something.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We're going to take a break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
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Speaker 2 (17:12):
Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Ashley. She is the
CEO of Pet Influencer Secrets and we're talking about some
behind the scenes tips and tricks. You know, my cats
are a big fan of the lickable treats too, and
that's pretty much all they demand. You know what. The
other thing that I've heard about working with cats, and
(17:33):
I've talked to a couple of very well known cat photographers,
you have to go low because cats are small and
capture them, so you have to get low to the ground.
This is just for still photographs, so the same if
they're moving, unless they're climbing on something, which some cats
are great climbers, some or not. But it's definitely a challenge.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Do you have.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Any funny behind the scenes stories that you could share?
Speaker 5 (17:58):
Oh? Yes, So to date, I have worked with over
one hundred brands and so I've had my fair share personally,
and then of course getting to hear stories from other people.
But I definitely had my fair share of my cats
doing things that they should not be doing. So for example,
one of my favorite stories, which it's ridiculous, so there
(18:20):
is a litter and it was a certain type of
litter that my cats weren't used to. And I'm sure
you definitely know there are now so many different types
of litter it is crazy. Nevertheless, this litter was very
similar to food, and I put it into I had
my cameras going and I was ready for my cats,
(18:41):
want my cats to walk in and use the litter box,
and the cat, my cat Biscuit, she walks in and
she just starts eating the litter and I was like,
what do I do? And she was just eating. I
was like, is this healthy? It's made out of a
food product, and so that was super strange, And to
this day, I still was never able to give her
(19:03):
to actually use the litter. So I had to be
very intentional about how to film it to make it
look like she had used the box. I even poured
some water into it. It clumped up, it was great,
like the letter totally worked, but she just kept eating it.
So that was one thing. And then another issue that
I have had with my cat chip was the automatic
(19:25):
litter boxes. So I personally love automatic litter boxes because
it saves me time obviously, And the problem was my
cat Chip, he is not such a fan, and so
I've had many many times where he would just not
go in. And of course, like as we said earlier,
(19:46):
you can't just force them to do things, and so
I'd be getting pretty stress. I'm like, oh my goodness,
we are sitting here for two hours. I assembled this
whole thing, got it all set up, You're not using it.
And it was just definitely not just one time that
I've experienced that, but yeah, overall, they are all sorts
(20:06):
of all sorts of crazy things that I've even done
for my cats. I mean, having birthday parties. I've had
one of his birthday parties on like YouTube live, so
people just in there and watching my cat eat a
birthday treat. Like just ridiculous things that you don't even
you know, you wouldn't think about doing for your cat.
I've gotten to do over the years, which is so fun.
(20:27):
So yeah, those are just a few small examples.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Okay, thank you. Let's talk about collaborations with brands. What
do companies look for when they're looking for, you know,
brand collaborations.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yeah, so brand collaborations there are two different types, and
I just need to explain these two different types of
people just know how this works, because I assume and
definitely talking to people in my real life, people don't
really understand what brand collaborations are, how this works, so
they're really in our world of cat influence, there really
are two types of brand collaborations. You have your brand
(21:03):
sponsorships and your user generated content. So a brand sponsorship
could be, let's say, in our world of cat influencing,
you have a cat food brand, and the cat food
brand wants my cat to eat their food in a
photo or a video, and that video, let's say it's
a video, could be specifically about that food or it
(21:25):
could be subtly positioned within the video, so it could
be either way. And then there's user generated content. So
I'm sure a lot of you who are listening have
seen brands out there. We're a let's say, famous influencer,
because again definitely couldn't. We're not just talking about pet influencing,
but in general, a famous person could be on their
(21:47):
social media and a lot of times what happens is,
let's say, again in the pet influencing world, the brand says, Hey,
I want you to make a video or photo with
our product and give it to it so that we
can post it. So two different approaches to brand collaborations.
(22:08):
So when it comes to brand collaborations, the biggest thing
that they really do look for is authenticity of content.
So there are a lot of channels out there that
will post the same things over and over over, or
they don't really show the human interaction with the pet.
There was a conversation I had with the marketing manager
(22:29):
of a brand just as a few months ago, and
I asked her this exact same question, and I said, listen,
as the influencer, what do you look for? Because obviously
I'm like, oh, I'd love more brand deals, like how
can I make brands see my content even better as
an option to work with? And she actually said the
same thing, where she said, we care most about seeing
(22:51):
the relationship between the cat and the human. And so
if we think back to what I mentioned earlier in
this episode, already, the storytelling and the emotional impact that
you can portray through your content, through you and through
your cat is really what they're looking for. And so
I get the question often of like I don't own
(23:13):
a camera. I don't own accessory lighting like soft boxes
or anything like that. Like, I just want to post
photos and videos of my pet, But it would be
nice to make some money and work with brands. How
do I make myself a good candidate for working with brands?
And really, you can absolutely just use your phone. You
do not need any fancy equipment. You don't need microphones
(23:35):
for your voiceovers. You don't need cameras or even any
extra lighting, although I usually recommend it, and so brands.
In what I tell people is really really what matters
most is that you just study how to do storytelling
in a thirty to forty five second time frame, which
is hard, and that is that's kind of the hardest
(23:55):
part is just learning how to do that aspect of it.
But yeah, you can seriously become a pet influencer with
zero dollars and just your camera and your cat.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And a couple questions. So you said channels, Are you
talking about YouTube? Ah?
Speaker 5 (24:10):
So yeah, So when I say the channels, I talk
about the big three. So you have Instagram. Instagram is
the main hub of where cat influencers are typically, So
that's where when people say I don't want to make
a channel for my cat. They usually open up Instagram
and then from there TikTok is kind of like the
secondary one where a lot of cat influencers exist, and
(24:32):
then YouTube is like third on the tier. If we
would say, but I always recommend everyone actually have all three.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay, we have one more topic before we wrap up,
But I have one more question under collaborations and brands,
what is some advice for cat parents if they're approached
by a brand for the first time.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Yeah, so this is a big question because I actually
get this question often from some students and it's scary
and it's exciting. So with brand collaborations, a brands will
approach these I know we talked about the difference between
a brand sponsorship and a UGC or user generated content opportunity,
but even from there we separate it into a paid
(25:13):
opportunity and a gifted opportunity. So let's say you or
you know someone listening here, You're like, okay, if I'm approached,
what happened next? So brands will typically approach you in
two different ways. You have direct messaging like on Instagram,
and then you have on email. So no matter what,
I always recommend people have an email for their cat
(25:35):
on their bio on Instagram, so that brands can reach
out to you. So there are unfortunately a lot of
like spammy channels or brands out there that just try
to take advantage of new creators and they'll say, hey,
I want six videos and I'll just give you this
one toy for free. And so I always recommend to
(25:57):
be very very aware that scams are possible, or at
least brands that are trying to get a lot of
really free or inexpensive free content for their own channels.
But I always recommend, if ever money is involved, to
get a contract. And this is something that not only
like talking to my own students but experiencing this myself.
(26:20):
If you do not have a contract, then you really
are not obligated to get paid. It is almost like
you're verbally agreeing to get paid. And I have had
it before where I made a video for a brand
and then they never paid me, they ghosted me. And
I've heard of this before. So if anything, that is
(26:41):
a big piece of advice, and contracts are scary, especially
if you've never done it before, the concept of like
contract does that involve lawyers, Like all you have to
do if you are in the spot where a brand says, hey,
I'll pay you X amount of dollars for a video
or something like that. Having a contract is so so important.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I absolutely agree and wearing my business hat right now.
One even though love it or hated. There's a lot
of AI around. You can probably pop the contract into
AI and ask for red flags. If it sounds too good,
it might be, so make sure you do your homework.
Say you're not doing a lot of running around and
(27:21):
spinning for myself, you know, I have lots and lots
of listeners on Catitude. As far as followers Instagram, I
don't do a lot with that. I have two shows
on Hotlife Radio. I can only do so much. But
I have been approached by some of those spammers you
know that. Try this for anyone listening. If it sounds
(27:43):
too good to be true, probably is. Doesn't mean it is,
but probably do your due diligence. Say you are not
taken and ghosted and you know, let's say it bluntly
screwed out of what you are promised.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
That is so true. It is so true, though, And
I love that you mentioned AI. I actually I love
utilizing AI for idea generation. I am getting pretty bothered
these days from the amount of AI being used to
create like photo and some almost realistic cat content, because
it is taking away from us as the true cat influencers.
(28:22):
But I do use it a lot for like idea
generation and helping with things such as that.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
That's what I think it should be used for. I
do not agree with creating content. I don't like that.
There's you know, probably everybody's heard this by now. There's
some movie star they just generated something, somebody Tilly something,
I don't remember the exact name. But I don't think
it should take away from that. But as far as
assisting people and chat GPT, Copilot, Gemini, they're not substitutes
(28:50):
for an attorney. But if you cannot afford one and
you just need some tips on is this okay or not,
there's great advice. But I do not think that that
should be a substitute for content. I don't like that.
I don't think it should be a substitute for artistry,
you know, for creating things that you know people get
(29:11):
paid for.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Yeah, one hundred per one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Agree as a help and stuff like that, but you know,
write your own papers, come on you gotta think you
do all that you know, but if you need tips,
you know what's good, go ahead. I use I use
it sometimes for even my shows because I don't always
get information that is extensive for a show, and so
(29:35):
I can sometimes get some just great infro that is
good for my audience. But as far as you know
the content and all that, now, I wish there was
a way to worldly spot it so easily.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
I know. Yeah, And on social media you actually technically
have to as a content creator, you have to toggle
or press a button if as you're uploading if it
is AI generated, And I know a lot of people
are not pressing that, but it But yeah, I use
AI primarily as almost like a super version of Google.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yes, that to me flies, but not for falsifying, because
it might, in my mind my opinion, if you're creating
content and you're spending the hours, you're doing the time,
and then you're just oop, AI just do this, you know. No, Okay,
let's talk about aspiring cat influencers. We talked a little
bit about this in the beginning, the best way to
(30:30):
start a social media page for your cat and what
should you anticipate? And you went over a little bit
this in the beginning, but just kind of a recap.
What are some like maybe bullet points on where do
you start? It's not just about I have a cute cat,
I'm gonna take some pictures poof And also what about people?
So I'm camera shy, I'm photogenetic kinda, but to be
(30:53):
in front of a screen is not my thing. Does
it help for the pet parent to be in the
screen as well? I mean there's authenticity there.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Yeah, lots of good questions in that. So I will
answer the last question that you answered first, and that
what had to do with is it best to have
your face on camera? Now, I'm going to explain a
little bit about the again a difference between like dog
influencing and cat influencing here and this will tie in together.
(31:23):
So dogs have their specific breeds. Yes, I know us
cat parrots, our cats do have specific breeds, but it
is a different world when it comes to dog owners.
And a lot of times you can spot certain dog
influencers better than cat influencers because a lot of cats
tend to look the same, to be honest, like they
(31:45):
just do. And so because of that one thing I
talk a lot about to new influencers is you need
to very quickly find a way that your cat can
be memorable and reckoon because of that literal fact that
unless you have a very unique looking cat, which again
(32:07):
most of us don't, but unless you have that, you
need to pinpoint something and so again then people say, well, like,
what what do you mean what's unique about my cat
other than you know, I love them and there are
suites in their sassy or ounre. So when you're starting
out a channel, I mentioned earlier the importance of doing
(32:28):
a lot of research, and really that has to do
more of the technical side of things. Research of how
to edit videos with a basic phone app and you
know how to change the settings on your camera and
just basic technical things like that's really important to spend
research on. But as you're wanting to start up beer channel,
(32:49):
it is important to think about, as I mentioned earlier,
the mission, the purpose of your channel, and the story
that you want to tell about your cat. So if
you are going to be on camera, that actually I
believe is one of the easiest ways for you to
be memorable. Because we are brains recognize faces, you know
(33:13):
one person from the other very very easily, and if
you're going to be starting out every one of your
videos with you on camera. Well, you're going to be
the audience that people watching it is going to recognize
your video faster compared to if it's just your cat
on you know, obviously, on every one of your videos,
(33:33):
it just may take longer time for that video or
your content to be more recognizable. But when you have that,
you have your story, you have the purpose of your channel.
I say. From there, and let's say you've researched a
little bit. Really, the next step, and this sounds basic,
I know, but the next step really is to just
experiment with posting. And I say this, I say it's basic.
(33:55):
I say, oh, I know a lot of people say, okay, okay,
just post. But I have talked to many people over
the years who have gone months of researching and trying
to learn and trying to put together like a brand
book and do all these things, thinking that that's what's
going to, you know, help them. But really what matters
is that you post and you start learning from your posts,
(34:19):
learning what type of audience that Instagram is going to
start pointing your cat towards, and being able to utilize
the analytics from your content you post rather than just
sitting and waiting and hoping one day that you'll do it.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Great information, Okay, real quick. Do you have any tools
or apps to make posting easier? And we don't have
a lot of time, so maybe one or two that
you could share quickly, Like I used to use hoot Sweet,
but that's I think old and gone.
Speaker 5 (34:47):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
So well see that's why I'm not a poster and
I do cash No so out of touch. What are
some good tools to use?
Speaker 7 (34:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (34:57):
Yeah? What do the people use these days? So I
for editing, the two biggest ones are cap cut and Inshot.
I personally use Inshot. I never recommend, ever ever recommend
that you actually edit your content within the app itself.
So if you open up TikTok, it has its own
area where you can film and edit and post. However,
(35:21):
the biggest problem is once it's on that platform, you
cannot get that video and edit it again. Especially with
brand content, you need to always always edit it outside
of the apps. So that's that. Instagram did just come
out with their own app called edits. I haven't really
used it. I just stick to Inshot. I have over
(35:41):
one thousand video drafts in there, so from over the years.
And then you asked about a scheduling app. So a
scheduling app for those of you who are unfamiliar. Let's
say that you make a few videos and photos and
you want to schedule them onto the social platforms. Well,
you have two options here. You can either open up Instagram,
upload your video and post it or schedule it. Same
(36:04):
thing with YouTube, same thing with Facebook, TikTok, or you
can use a scheduling app. I use one called metric Cool,
but it's honestly, it's very similar to hoot Sweet, very
similar to Buffer. All those are just differing samples to
where you can see on one calendar all of the
content that you make, because I usually recommend minimum of
(36:26):
three pieces of content a week to keep the algorithm happy.
And so with that you can schedule out way ahead
all this content making. It really really nice to see
all in one place. Otherwise there's no way to really
see your content calendar in the future on those individual apps.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Great information, Where can our listeners find out more about
what you do and about pet influencer secrets.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Yeah, so my main channel that started everything is called
Chip the Manx and then from there again, it evolved
into Penfluencer Secrets. I primarily am on YouTube where I
share a ton of free information and advice all about
this topic about how to make your dog or your
cat or any pet that you have famous in how
(37:13):
to make money from it, because that's why, honestly a
lot of people do it. And then from there, I
have a lot of resources on petfluencersecrets dot com that
you anyone can just look up, and I'm blog articles, videos,
all sorts of resources because honestly, I started penflucer Secrets
for the pure purpose of just showing people that an
(37:34):
everyday person with no experience, no background can make their
cat or dog famous and it's actually not that hard.
You just have to know how the system and processes work.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Actually, I wanna thank you so much for coming on
Catechude and sharing this wealth of knowledge with us. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:52):
Yeah, this has been great. Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I hope you all enjoyed this show. I found it fascinating.
I've always wondered what actually goes on in the world
of pet influencers because I'm not one. I'm a podcast host.
Please be sure to check out our site ashley site
is petinfluencersecrets dot com. There's all kinds of great information
on how to become a cat influencer. So thank you
(38:18):
so much Ashley for coming on Catitude. Thank you to
my listening audience for your loyalty for listening to Catitude.
I appreciate it so much. Thank you to my cat
crew which are famous through the airwaves of the podcast.
Thank you Dennis, Charlotte Molly, and of course thank you
to my amazing producer Mark. I appreciate you so much.
(38:41):
Thank you Mark Winter for all you do to make
our shows sound amazing. And hey, remember lose the attitude,
have Catitude.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
Let's Talk pets every week on demand only on petlfradio
dot com.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
TIDD
Live. This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello, cat levers, Welcome to Cataitude. I'm your show host
Michelle Fern. Hey, have you ever wondered what does it
take to be a cat influencer or more importantly, the
pet pairent of a cat influencer. Well, I've wondered this,
and my guest today is going to tell us all
about it. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
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Speaker 4 (01:30):
Let's Talk pets on petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Ashley. She is
the CEO of Pet Influencer Secrets. Welcome Ashley.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me on here. I
am super excited to share my experiences and some knowledge
with the whole audience here.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So what is your background?
Speaker 5 (02:01):
Do you do just cats? I own just cats, but
I coach everything from Oh my goodness, definitely lots of cats,
dog influencers. I've worked with bird influencers and one really
interesting like Meer Cat. So a little bit of everything.
But I am a little bit biased because I only
(02:23):
have owned cats, and I do have two cats myself.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Okay, what are their names onug type of cats?
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Yeah, so I call one cat the famous one, he's
the one who started all of this. And then my
second cat is the less famous one. She does have
her own channels. So the famous one his name is Chip,
and Chip is the world's most famous Manx cat. So
that's a in X. A lot of people get it
confused with minx like in X, but yeah, so he
(02:52):
is the world's most famous Minx cat. And then I
have Biscuit, and Biscuit is not related to Chip at all.
She is a CaCO cat. And yeah, they are extreme opposites.
They have their own channels on social media, But yeah,
they're so fun and they're my children.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
You know what, before we get into talking about it,
I was wondering and I, you know, we're all about
cats on Cata Cheed, but a lot of cat lovers
also have dogs. Do you think there's more cat influencers
or dog influencers?
Speaker 5 (03:26):
So I actually get asked a similar question to this
often because I obviously only have experience with my cat
influencers myself, and so obviously dog creators or people who
want to explore making their dogs famous, they also ask
They're like, well, which one does better? Dogs or cats?
(03:47):
And I know we can definitely dive into this later,
but it is all about how you approach it. Now,
do people love dogs or cats better? I actually think
that they can provide a little bit different emotional reactions
when it comes to your audience. So I personally think
that the cat videos bring about a different emotional reaction
(04:08):
than a lot of dog videos. Dog videos tend to
be more upbeats, more crazy because I just imagine like
dogs that just run around the backyard chasing balls, and
then cats tend to be different in which a lot
of the videos with cats they're laying on your lap,
they're like, your emotional support is just different. And so
to answer your question, I'm not exactly sure because I
(04:31):
think the audiences are a little bit different.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think you're right. Okay, let's talk about the rise
of the cat influencer or you know how everyday cat
parents can turn their cats into social media stars. So
you wouldn't think this, but you say that cats are
naturals for social media.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Why yeah, So, no matter what, when it comes to
trying to make your cat or dog famous online, it's
all about how you staged them with products or how
you interact with them. And when it comes to cats,
it's easy to storytell about cats because a lot of times,
for example, people with dogs, they'll say, oh, I went
(05:13):
and you know, got this special breed of dog and
I bought the dog, and there just tends to be
a different story compared to cats. It's like, oh, the
cat just showed up on my porch one day and
now we're best friends and they're like my emotional support
cat and the source just tend to be different. So
when people ask me, well, how do I even begin
(05:36):
this idea of being a cat influencer? And I do
want to distinguish the difference between like cat influencing and
cat content creating. So being a content creator would be
more of you have an Instagram or YouTube and you
just share videos and photos of your cat. But then
(05:57):
being an influencer is just a hair different because being
an influencers more of the idea of trying to have
a business around it, because the concept of being an
influencer is you're going to utilize having lots of followers
to actually make money off of having followers. But yeah,
so when people want to even explore this idea of
(06:19):
being a cat content creator or again a cat influencer,
it all starts with just realizing what is the story
between you and your cat. And again, most people do
have sweet or fun special stories with their cats of
how they discovered their cat in a storm drain or
(06:40):
you know, how they found the little kitten on the
side of the road, like those type of deeply emotional
stories and then just trying to figure out how to
incorporate those stories. Because the people who watch our content
as cat influencers, they come to our content usually to
feel something, So the value that we provide is typically
(07:01):
not just like mindless entertainment as I sometimes categorize dog
influencers into but with those cat influencers, it's more about
providing an emotional reaction or emotional experience, so it makes
people feel good. And what's really nice is I have
a lot of followers who for my personal cats, who
(07:23):
say that they're not able to have a cat in
their apartment or my cats remind them of a cat
they used to have, and so the emotional reaction is
truly the biggest thing for us.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Okay, that's really interesting. So what are some when you
talk about, you know, cat influencers. I mean, what comes
to mind first is not a cat that cat has
been super well known. I think what some crazy amount
of followers like ten million or something.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Oh yeah, crazy crazy amount.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I actually met her pet parent at a global pet
exp What are some of the ways that cat parents
can turn their cats into Internet celebrities.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Yeah, so that's a little bit of a loaded question
because it actually is very multifaceted. But I will go
through at least a little bit of what I would
recommend to someone if they were just interested in learning
about the concept of pet influencing and potentially interested in it.
So the biggest problem that happens is most people love
(08:27):
to just all set it, open up their Instagram, create
a new profile, and just try to post some videos
that they have on the phone, or just post some
photos that exist on their phone. Now to actually become
a pet influencer to the point to where your cat
is making some money or that you are able to
(08:48):
raise awareness for shelters or you know, bring in donations
for nonprofits, which I've I've seen it all over the
past six to seven years of doing this. So it
all starts with being very intentional about your purpose. And
I mentioned earlier about storytelling, so people really follow people.
(09:08):
And when we want people our audience to eventually click
on our links to again donate to a nonprofit or
you know, support a cause, et cetera, they need to
understand us by relating to us and trusting us. So
all that to say, when you consider the idea of
being a pet influencer, you have to keep these things
(09:30):
in mind. How are you going to utilize storytelling and
how are you going to utilize your cat for whatever
mission that you you know, want to go about. I
personally never really recommend people to just want to make
money off their cat because let's be honest, I mean cats,
(09:50):
and they don't live forever, and you know, anything can
happen to our fur babies at any time, and trying
to just build your business off of that that may
not be the smartest long term thing. So what I did,
and I think this is again best for people who
are interested in this content, would be to at least
(10:11):
first go through your phone, because most of us obviously
have phones in which we have many photos of our
cats and or videos. And the first thing to do
is just to look through what content you already have,
so you probably always have some photos and videos of
your cat and to put them in an album, simple
(10:31):
as that. And the next step is probably the most
important thing, and that's simply to research what it takes
to actually become a pet content creator, because any type
of content creator, it does take effort and time and intentionality.
And again, as I mentioned earlier, a mission like a
(10:51):
purpose for whatever you know you are utilizing this channel for.
So that's a very very beginning, but I can go
to any sort of detail that's you're interested in learning about.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You started off a good path. Let's go a little
bit down further, like what's behind the scenes, because what
a lot of people may or may not be aware
of is that that content that you see it might
be two minutes or thirty seconds or or however long,
but that thirty seconds might have taken you know, six hours,
(11:24):
And you see that's more in people videos, you know,
the cool videos. I'm more Instagram than TikTok, but the
cool videos where you see someone in change of clothes
and then they swipe out and there's another thing, and
another outfit, another outfit, another outfit. You see that more
with people than with you know, cats and dogs. But
that what took you thirty seconds to view took hours. Absolutely,
(11:47):
I can't even fathom how intense it must be to
have your cat patient enough to go through all of
those different changes. So what happens behind the scenes.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Yeah, this is a great question because of that fact
that people don't have any idea if you've never done yourself. Now,
I will say with dog influencers, the ones I've worked with,
and we talk a lot about this concept of you know,
how to get them to look at the camera and whatever,
it is a whole different story with cats because if
you think of a dog, dogs obviously usually can learn tricks,
(12:19):
they can learn to sit look up, YadA YadA. However,
with cats, it's a whole different thing. My cats they
don't know tricks, they don't know how to sit still.
So when it comes in behind the scenes, I do
a lot of my cat Chip. He gets to be
in a lot of content for different brands, and so
every week I am filming these videos for brands, and
(12:41):
I always estimate somewhere right around two to three hours
for filming for any sort of product, and from there
the editing takes a very long time too. It really
for every video that usually is thirty to forty five seconds,
which is the usual for content nowadays. For about a
thirty to forty five second video, I absolutely would estimate
(13:04):
from complete start to finish, and especially any editing rounds
if you are working with the brand, is a solid
four to six hours. And it's crazy, I think, But
I gotta tell you, when it comes to the cats,
how on earth do I get my cats to do
exactly what I need them to do. I use lickable
treats a lot, so they definitely know the word treat,
(13:25):
and the treat means that they're getting those little two
lickable treats. And I have a certain two certain areas
in my house where I primarily do all of my filming.
And of my two cats, I've got the famous one,
of course, and then the not so famous one, and
the famous one he actually over the years has taken years,
but he has learned that when we go in that area,
(13:46):
when I have my treat, he will come and sit
right there and he'll just look at me, and so
I'll be able to get some videos or some photos,
put a product right next to him, and then take
some photos and videos. And then what I do is
I have my phone on a tripod and then I
will intentionally move the treats up, make his head look up,
(14:07):
and then you know, move it down, or you know,
have him look directly at the camera, et cetera. Those
likable treats have worked wonders. But I honestly have gotten
kind of jealous sometimes with dog creators because they are
able to just have their dogs just sit on command,
and they don't have the struggle of the cats walking away,
walking away, walking away, over and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Cats are very smart. It's not that they're not smart,
and they can be taught tricks, but I've gone to
more than a few shows where there were you know,
I saw a big one recently that we were invited
to not too far from where I live in Palm Beach,
and it was this big cat show. And even with
cats that are trained for this type of work, they
(14:52):
still will have a tendency to do what they want,
and the people in the show just, you know, you
just have to go with it. So so it's definitely
much harder, I think for cats, but not because they're less.
They're just as smart, if not smarter. It's just they're different.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
Yeah, And I think that's a really good statement that
you said. I absolutely know, especially with my Minx cat,
he is so smart. I mean he's smarter than any
other cat I have ever been around or owned before.
But yes, and that's a big thing too in regard
to the cats walking away and just choosing where they
want to sit and whatnot, that is a hard thing
(15:28):
to have to recognize when being a pet, pet influencer,
a cat influencer, is that I just have to roll
with it and do what they want to do, because
I will never just force him, you know, to sit
or stand or do something.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We're going to take a break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Real people, real stories.
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Speaker 7 (16:55):
Let's talk past, Let's done, Petaldo headline Radio Life Radio
dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Ashley. She is the
CEO of Pet Influencer Secrets and we're talking about some
behind the scenes tips and tricks. You know, my cats
are a big fan of the lickable treats too, and
that's pretty much all they demand. You know what. The
other thing that I've heard about working with cats, and
(17:33):
I've talked to a couple of very well known cat photographers,
you have to go low because cats are small and
capture them, so you have to get low to the ground.
This is just for still photographs, so the same if
they're moving, unless they're climbing on something, which some cats
are great climbers, some or not. But it's definitely a challenge.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
Do you have.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Any funny behind the scenes stories that you could share?
Speaker 5 (17:58):
Oh? Yes, So to date, I have worked with over
one hundred brands and so I've had my fair share personally,
and then of course getting to hear stories from other people.
But I definitely had my fair share of my cats
doing things that they should not be doing. So for example,
one of my favorite stories, which it's ridiculous, so there
(18:20):
is a litter and it was a certain type of
litter that my cats weren't used to. And I'm sure
you definitely know there are now so many different types
of litter it is crazy. Nevertheless, this litter was very
similar to food, and I put it into I had
my cameras going and I was ready for my cats,
(18:41):
want my cats to walk in and use the litter box,
and the cat, my cat Biscuit, she walks in and
she just starts eating the litter and I was like,
what do I do? And she was just eating. I
was like, is this healthy? It's made out of a
food product, and so that was super strange, And to
this day, I still was never able to give her
(19:03):
to actually use the litter. So I had to be
very intentional about how to film it to make it
look like she had used the box. I even poured
some water into it. It clumped up, it was great,
like the letter totally worked, but she just kept eating it.
So that was one thing. And then another issue that
I have had with my cat chip was the automatic
(19:25):
litter boxes. So I personally love automatic litter boxes because
it saves me time obviously, And the problem was my
cat Chip, he is not such a fan, and so
I've had many many times where he would just not
go in. And of course, like as we said earlier,
(19:46):
you can't just force them to do things, and so
I'd be getting pretty stress. I'm like, oh my goodness,
we are sitting here for two hours. I assembled this
whole thing, got it all set up, You're not using it.
And it was just definitely not just one time that
I've experienced that, but yeah, overall, they are all sorts
(20:06):
of all sorts of crazy things that I've even done
for my cats. I mean, having birthday parties. I've had
one of his birthday parties on like YouTube live, so
people just in there and watching my cat eat a
birthday treat. Like just ridiculous things that you don't even
you know, you wouldn't think about doing for your cat.
I've gotten to do over the years, which is so fun.
(20:27):
So yeah, those are just a few small examples.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Okay, thank you. Let's talk about collaborations with brands. What
do companies look for when they're looking for, you know,
brand collaborations.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yeah, so brand collaborations there are two different types, and
I just need to explain these two different types of
people just know how this works, because I assume and
definitely talking to people in my real life, people don't
really understand what brand collaborations are, how this works, so
they're really in our world of cat influence, there really
are two types of brand collaborations. You have your brand
(21:03):
sponsorships and your user generated content. So a brand sponsorship
could be, let's say, in our world of cat influencing,
you have a cat food brand, and the cat food
brand wants my cat to eat their food in a
photo or a video, and that video, let's say it's
a video, could be specifically about that food or it
(21:25):
could be subtly positioned within the video, so it could
be either way. And then there's user generated content. So
I'm sure a lot of you who are listening have
seen brands out there. We're a let's say, famous influencer,
because again definitely couldn't. We're not just talking about pet influencing,
but in general, a famous person could be on their
(21:47):
social media and a lot of times what happens is,
let's say, again in the pet influencing world, the brand says, Hey,
I want you to make a video or photo with
our product and give it to it so that we
can post it. So two different approaches to brand collaborations.
(22:08):
So when it comes to brand collaborations, the biggest thing
that they really do look for is authenticity of content.
So there are a lot of channels out there that
will post the same things over and over over, or
they don't really show the human interaction with the pet.
There was a conversation I had with the marketing manager
(22:29):
of a brand just as a few months ago, and
I asked her this exact same question, and I said, listen,
as the influencer, what do you look for? Because obviously
I'm like, oh, I'd love more brand deals, like how
can I make brands see my content even better as
an option to work with? And she actually said the
same thing, where she said, we care most about seeing
(22:51):
the relationship between the cat and the human. And so
if we think back to what I mentioned earlier in
this episode, already, the storytelling and the emotional impact that
you can portray through your content, through you and through
your cat is really what they're looking for. And so
I get the question often of like I don't own
(23:13):
a camera. I don't own accessory lighting like soft boxes
or anything like that. Like, I just want to post
photos and videos of my pet, But it would be
nice to make some money and work with brands. How
do I make myself a good candidate for working with brands?
And really, you can absolutely just use your phone. You
do not need any fancy equipment. You don't need microphones
(23:35):
for your voiceovers. You don't need cameras or even any
extra lighting, although I usually recommend it, and so brands.
In what I tell people is really really what matters
most is that you just study how to do storytelling
in a thirty to forty five second time frame, which
is hard, and that is that's kind of the hardest
(23:55):
part is just learning how to do that aspect of it.
But yeah, you can seriously become a pet influencer with
zero dollars and just your camera and your cat.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And a couple questions. So you said channels, Are you
talking about YouTube? Ah?
Speaker 5 (24:10):
So yeah, So when I say the channels, I talk
about the big three. So you have Instagram. Instagram is
the main hub of where cat influencers are typically, So
that's where when people say I don't want to make
a channel for my cat. They usually open up Instagram
and then from there TikTok is kind of like the
secondary one where a lot of cat influencers exist, and
(24:32):
then YouTube is like third on the tier. If we
would say, but I always recommend everyone actually have all three.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay, we have one more topic before we wrap up,
But I have one more question under collaborations and brands,
what is some advice for cat parents if they're approached
by a brand for the first time.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Yeah, so this is a big question because I actually
get this question often from some students and it's scary
and it's exciting. So with brand collaborations, a brands will
approach these I know we talked about the difference between
a brand sponsorship and a UGC or user generated content opportunity,
but even from there we separate it into a paid
(25:13):
opportunity and a gifted opportunity. So let's say you or
you know someone listening here, You're like, okay, if I'm approached,
what happened next? So brands will typically approach you in
two different ways. You have direct messaging like on Instagram,
and then you have on email. So no matter what,
I always recommend people have an email for their cat
(25:35):
on their bio on Instagram, so that brands can reach
out to you. So there are unfortunately a lot of
like spammy channels or brands out there that just try
to take advantage of new creators and they'll say, hey,
I want six videos and I'll just give you this
one toy for free. And so I always recommend to
(25:57):
be very very aware that scams are possible, or at
least brands that are trying to get a lot of
really free or inexpensive free content for their own channels.
But I always recommend, if ever money is involved, to
get a contract. And this is something that not only
like talking to my own students but experiencing this myself.
(26:20):
If you do not have a contract, then you really
are not obligated to get paid. It is almost like
you're verbally agreeing to get paid. And I have had
it before where I made a video for a brand
and then they never paid me, they ghosted me. And
I've heard of this before. So if anything, that is
(26:41):
a big piece of advice, and contracts are scary, especially
if you've never done it before, the concept of like
contract does that involve lawyers, Like all you have to
do if you are in the spot where a brand says, hey,
I'll pay you X amount of dollars for a video
or something like that. Having a contract is so so important.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I absolutely agree and wearing my business hat right now.
One even though love it or hated. There's a lot
of AI around. You can probably pop the contract into
AI and ask for red flags. If it sounds too good,
it might be, so make sure you do your homework.
Say you're not doing a lot of running around and
(27:21):
spinning for myself, you know, I have lots and lots
of listeners on Catitude. As far as followers Instagram, I
don't do a lot with that. I have two shows
on Hotlife Radio. I can only do so much. But
I have been approached by some of those spammers you
know that. Try this for anyone listening. If it sounds
(27:43):
too good to be true, probably is. Doesn't mean it is,
but probably do your due diligence. Say you are not
taken and ghosted and you know, let's say it bluntly
screwed out of what you are promised.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
That is so true. It is so true, though, And
I love that you mentioned AI. I actually I love
utilizing AI for idea generation. I am getting pretty bothered
these days from the amount of AI being used to
create like photo and some almost realistic cat content, because
it is taking away from us as the true cat influencers.
(28:22):
But I do use it a lot for like idea
generation and helping with things such as that.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
That's what I think it should be used for. I
do not agree with creating content. I don't like that.
There's you know, probably everybody's heard this by now. There's
some movie star they just generated something, somebody Tilly something,
I don't remember the exact name. But I don't think
it should take away from that. But as far as
assisting people and chat GPT, Copilot, Gemini, they're not substitutes
(28:50):
for an attorney. But if you cannot afford one and
you just need some tips on is this okay or not,
there's great advice. But I do not think that that
should be a substitute for content. I don't like that.
I don't think it should be a substitute for artistry,
you know, for creating things that you know people get
(29:11):
paid for.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Yeah, one hundred per one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Agree as a help and stuff like that, but you know,
write your own papers, come on you gotta think you
do all that you know, but if you need tips,
you know what's good, go ahead. I use I use
it sometimes for even my shows because I don't always
get information that is extensive for a show, and so
(29:35):
I can sometimes get some just great infro that is
good for my audience. But as far as you know
the content and all that, now, I wish there was
a way to worldly spot it so easily.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
I know. Yeah, And on social media you actually technically
have to as a content creator, you have to toggle
or press a button if as you're uploading if it
is AI generated, And I know a lot of people
are not pressing that, but it But yeah, I use
AI primarily as almost like a super version of Google.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yes, that to me flies, but not for falsifying, because
it might, in my mind my opinion, if you're creating
content and you're spending the hours, you're doing the time,
and then you're just oop, AI just do this, you know. No, Okay,
let's talk about aspiring cat influencers. We talked a little
bit about this in the beginning, the best way to
(30:30):
start a social media page for your cat and what
should you anticipate? And you went over a little bit
this in the beginning, but just kind of a recap.
What are some like maybe bullet points on where do
you start? It's not just about I have a cute cat,
I'm gonna take some pictures poof And also what about people?
So I'm camera shy, I'm photogenetic kinda, but to be
(30:53):
in front of a screen is not my thing. Does
it help for the pet parent to be in the
screen as well? I mean there's authenticity there.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Yeah, lots of good questions in that. So I will
answer the last question that you answered first, and that
what had to do with is it best to have
your face on camera? Now, I'm going to explain a
little bit about the again a difference between like dog
influencing and cat influencing here and this will tie in together.
(31:23):
So dogs have their specific breeds. Yes, I know us
cat parrots, our cats do have specific breeds, but it
is a different world when it comes to dog owners.
And a lot of times you can spot certain dog
influencers better than cat influencers because a lot of cats
tend to look the same, to be honest, like they
(31:45):
just do. And so because of that one thing I
talk a lot about to new influencers is you need
to very quickly find a way that your cat can
be memorable and reckoon because of that literal fact that
unless you have a very unique looking cat, which again
(32:07):
most of us don't, but unless you have that, you
need to pinpoint something and so again then people say, well, like,
what what do you mean what's unique about my cat
other than you know, I love them and there are
suites in their sassy or ounre. So when you're starting
out a channel, I mentioned earlier the importance of doing
(32:28):
a lot of research, and really that has to do
more of the technical side of things. Research of how
to edit videos with a basic phone app and you
know how to change the settings on your camera and
just basic technical things like that's really important to spend
research on. But as you're wanting to start up beer channel,
(32:49):
it is important to think about, as I mentioned earlier,
the mission, the purpose of your channel, and the story
that you want to tell about your cat. So if
you are going to be on camera, that actually I
believe is one of the easiest ways for you to
be memorable. Because we are brains recognize faces, you know
(33:13):
one person from the other very very easily, and if
you're going to be starting out every one of your
videos with you on camera. Well, you're going to be
the audience that people watching it is going to recognize
your video faster compared to if it's just your cat
on you know, obviously, on every one of your videos,
(33:33):
it just may take longer time for that video or
your content to be more recognizable. But when you have that,
you have your story, you have the purpose of your channel.
I say. From there, and let's say you've researched a
little bit. Really, the next step, and this sounds basic,
I know, but the next step really is to just
experiment with posting. And I say this, I say it's basic.
(33:55):
I say, oh, I know a lot of people say, okay, okay,
just post. But I have talked to many people over
the years who have gone months of researching and trying
to learn and trying to put together like a brand
book and do all these things, thinking that that's what's
going to, you know, help them. But really what matters
is that you post and you start learning from your posts,
(34:19):
learning what type of audience that Instagram is going to
start pointing your cat towards, and being able to utilize
the analytics from your content you post rather than just
sitting and waiting and hoping one day that you'll do it.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Great information, Okay, real quick. Do you have any tools
or apps to make posting easier? And we don't have
a lot of time, so maybe one or two that
you could share quickly, Like I used to use hoot Sweet,
but that's I think old and gone.
Speaker 5 (34:47):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
So well see that's why I'm not a poster and
I do cash No so out of touch. What are
some good tools to use?
Speaker 7 (34:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (34:57):
Yeah? What do the people use these days? So I
for editing, the two biggest ones are cap cut and Inshot.
I personally use Inshot. I never recommend, ever ever recommend
that you actually edit your content within the app itself.
So if you open up TikTok, it has its own
area where you can film and edit and post. However,
(35:21):
the biggest problem is once it's on that platform, you
cannot get that video and edit it again. Especially with
brand content, you need to always always edit it outside
of the apps. So that's that. Instagram did just come
out with their own app called edits. I haven't really
used it. I just stick to Inshot. I have over
(35:41):
one thousand video drafts in there, so from over the years.
And then you asked about a scheduling app. So a
scheduling app for those of you who are unfamiliar. Let's
say that you make a few videos and photos and
you want to schedule them onto the social platforms. Well,
you have two options here. You can either open up Instagram,
upload your video and post it or schedule it. Same
(36:04):
thing with YouTube, same thing with Facebook, TikTok, or you
can use a scheduling app. I use one called metric Cool,
but it's honestly, it's very similar to hoot Sweet, very
similar to Buffer. All those are just differing samples to
where you can see on one calendar all of the
content that you make, because I usually recommend minimum of
(36:26):
three pieces of content a week to keep the algorithm happy.
And so with that you can schedule out way ahead
all this content making. It really really nice to see
all in one place. Otherwise there's no way to really
see your content calendar in the future on those individual apps.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Great information, Where can our listeners find out more about
what you do and about pet influencer secrets.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Yeah, so my main channel that started everything is called
Chip the Manx and then from there again, it evolved
into Penfluencer Secrets. I primarily am on YouTube where I
share a ton of free information and advice all about
this topic about how to make your dog or your
cat or any pet that you have famous in how
(37:13):
to make money from it, because that's why, honestly a
lot of people do it. And then from there, I
have a lot of resources on petfluencersecrets dot com that
you anyone can just look up, and I'm blog articles, videos,
all sorts of resources because honestly, I started penflucer Secrets
for the pure purpose of just showing people that an
(37:34):
everyday person with no experience, no background can make their
cat or dog famous and it's actually not that hard.
You just have to know how the system and processes work.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Actually, I wanna thank you so much for coming on
Catechude and sharing this wealth of knowledge with us. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 5 (37:52):
Yeah, this has been great. Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I hope you all enjoyed this show. I found it fascinating.
I've always wondered what actually goes on in the world
of pet influencers because I'm not one. I'm a podcast host.
Please be sure to check out our site ashley site
is petinfluencersecrets dot com. There's all kinds of great information
on how to become a cat influencer. So thank you
(38:18):
so much Ashley for coming on Catitude. Thank you to
my listening audience for your loyalty for listening to Catitude.
I appreciate it so much. Thank you to my cat
crew which are famous through the airwaves of the podcast.
Thank you Dennis, Charlotte Molly, and of course thank you
to my amazing producer Mark. I appreciate you so much.
(38:41):
Thank you Mark Winter for all you do to make
our shows sound amazing. And hey, remember lose the attitude,
have Catitude.
Speaker 4 (38:50):
Let's Talk pets every week on demand only on petlfradio
dot com.
Speaker 5 (39:01):
TIDD
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