Influencers are earning big money to make one sector young and hip
Redd Brown
New York | Business professor Melissa Newman once shied away from the term “influencer”. It has become more palatable after social media posts sharing her love of travelling on cruise ships earned her $US350,000 ($504,000) last year, quadrupling her regular salary.
Newman, 46, calls herself “Professor Newman” across her YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts, where she has amassed almost half a million subscribers, guiding fellow cruisers on everything from the five worst ports to how to avoid overpacking. The money comes in via affiliate links and advertising across her videos, blog and podcast, as well as services she offers as a travel agent.