Influencer Tags - The Chicago Journal

Meet Bennett Shanks: The Young Influencer and Entrepreneur You Should Know About Right Now

The Chicago Journal Staff on December 7, 2022

Bennett Shanks is not your average teenager. While most teens are partying or figuring out what they want to do with their lives, Bennett’s been living it up as a social media entrepreneur and influencer. At 16, he is living the good life, running an online company that generates over $5,000 monthly in revenue from a mix of consulting and marketing services with some social media influencer work. Despite having this kind of success before turning 18, Bennett hasn’t let it go to his head, and he has still managed to maintain good grades at school and stay extremely fit.

The impressive teen attributes his incredible success to his work ethic, innovative mind, and a fierce desire for independence. An entrepreneur from an early age, Bennett always knew he wanted to build an empire someday. What he didn’t know was where he’d start until he discovered the social media marketing space. Gradually, he trained himself on the basics of the social media world and started building his brand. The budding entrepreneur spent his free moments on the internet, learning from industry leaders who accomplished a lot in their respective niches.

At 15, Bennett’s efforts and consistency started bearing fruit. He made his first 5-figure income and steadily grew from there. Over the last 6 months alone, the young influencer has racked in over $50,000, an incredible feat for one so young! Bennett marvels at the accomplishments he’s made in such a short time but is eager to achieve even more in the coming days. He’s also incredibly proud of the networks and business relationships he’s grown in that time.

Impressive achievements rarely come easy, as Bennett confirms. Reflecting on the journey he’s been on these past few years, the young entrepreneur admits there were challenges he didn’t think he could overcome. Even though he’s managed to consistently attract clients and make money, his business didn’t become profitable overnight. Most recently, he had to do everything he could to overcome a dry patch in the middle of the summer. That meant less sleep and fun and more hard work than he’d previously put in. Luckily, it ended up paying off, and he’s now better off for it.

As a young, fairly successful entrepreneur, Bennett also faced doubters who thought he was wasting time. He overcame that by tuning them out and focusing on what he was doing. Bennett says he now gets compliments from the very people who used to hate him, most saying they were wrong about him and what he was attempting to do. He’s also glad he has motivated others to follow their passion and turn that into profitable businesses.

Being a successful business owner has also taught Bennett the need for patience, especially when nothing seems to be working how you want. And even when that fails, he advises looking for something else and focusing your attention and efforts there.

“Find something you can excel at, and don’t stop doing it until it doesn’t work anymore,” Bennett urges aspiring entrepreneurs. Despite his success, he is not stopping. In fact, he hopes to achieve more in the next few years, including becoming a millionaire by 22. He also hopes to scale his business and turn it into one of the biggest social media agencies in the country.

Here’s How You Can Head-Start Your Influencer Career on Social Media | SMG Viral

The Chicago Journal Staff on October 17, 2022

In recent times, influencer marketing has surpassed all the traditional media tactics and has become a mainstream marketing phenomenon. It is no secret that social media has become an integral part of our lives regardless of demographics and psychographics. This provides more room for any influencer to become popular. Even the large conglomerates and renowned brands are opting for influencer marketing to spread the word to their target market instead of going for traditional means. In short, these days, there is great scope for influencers to make it big through social media.

We are all aware of the fact that the online presence of any influencer makes a lot of difference. Every model or influencer who wishes to be successful relies on social media. And rightfully so, because the power of social media is enormous; it allows influencers to connect and engage with their audience. However, many don’t get enough time to do so. Hence, influencers hire the services of social media marketing agencies to do the job for them. One thing is sure that being famous on social media has its pros and cons. Sometimes, there is a lot to handle, such as content creation, SEO, and post-editing, not to forget constant engagement with fans or customers. This is where social media marketing agencies like SMG Viral step in. With their unique set of skills and techniques, they guarantee success.

SMG Viral deals with over 250 million active audiences, which makes them one of the top social media marketing agencies. The company showcases its clients’ profiles internationally and assures a stress-free experience by understanding the nitty-gritty of their social and business life. Their millions of users is where it all starts, resulting from a combination of independently owned websites and long-standing relationships with some of today’s most prominent social media pages. SMG Viral can boost your profile like no other. They are proficient in maximizing their clients’ revenue streams across all platforms by utilizing their potential audience.

The social media marketing agency operates tons of social media pages and is famous for tailoring different content styles for various platforms. The experts create engaging content according to their customer’s tone and personality. Besides that, SMG Viral is known for its unique strategies, including website marketing, affiliate channel marketing, and over a hundred media accounts to promote its potential clients. Each social media channel requires specific content as the audiences differ from one platform to another. The proficient team at SMG Viral matches content with the preferences of its audience to achieve maximum attention across the globe. The company takes pride in getting 80% of social engagement in one go.

Though they have been a successful marketing company for e-commerce sites for years, a few years back, the team decided to switch to a more compatible market and ventured into influencer marketing. The idea was to stretch their limits to a whole new arena of online marketing, and the results were astonishing. Once they focused on influencers, they started to take over the market with their best research, campaign creation, and data cultivation tactics. The experts at SMG Viral handle the mass loads of messages to make interaction possible between the fans and the influencers. This ensures rapid growth and maximum profitability for fast-paced industries that seek social media for marketing purposes.

When it comes to engagement, their strategies work in two ways. One is posting on new pages, and the other is uploading accurate and authentic content. There is a high fluctuation in the fashion market which frequently changes the trends; however, SMG Viral makes sure to cover all aspects because they realize that engagement is only possible when relevant content is posted. They are updated with the latest trends and tend to merge them with their clients’ social media content, which is timely, accurate, and connects with the masses instantly.

SMG Viral gives the perfect social media engagement experience to struggling influencers and models by showcasing them in a positive light in front of their potential audience. If you are one of the aspiring influencers facing difficulty keeping up with all that interaction on social media and want to stand out from the rest, get in touch with SMG Viral for a stress-free social media marketing experience. They will take care of your content, edits, posts, and interactions without you having to invest more time. According to the agency, posting the right content not only gets engagement, likes, and comments but can also make you a superstar in no time.

zizotravel Creates Viral-Worthy Restaurant Content, Brings Fans a Real Taste of Chicago

The Chicago Journal Staff on March 30, 2021

After five years of working as a flight attendant for one of the leading airlines in the world, Flydubai Airlines, Yazal Al Koudsi, better known for his brand zizotravel, truly knows what wanderlust is all about. zizotravel has explored over 75 countries with his previous career, opening his eyes to just how big the world is for it not to be shared with the rest of society. Today, he is utilizing the digital space as an avenue to share travel tips, unforgettable experiences and disclose some of the best restaurants in Chicago.

zizotravel is a travel influencer with over 160,000 followers on Instagram and over 1,000,000 accumulated video views. On his well-loved content, the influencer shares his day-to-day activities but spices them up with his own unique flair. zizotravel has been creating and sharing tastefully-created content for six years now, and he shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

The influencer also recently launched his brand on TikTok, one of the fastest-growing social media platforms today adored by millions of uses across the globe. Despite only being on TikTok for less than a year, zizotravel has already amassed over 120,000 fans on the app and has gained more than 3,000,000 likes for his engaging, informative, and audience-friendly videos. Additionally, the influencer has also obtained more than 200,000,000 accumulated views for his content, which have gone viral for more than 50 times in a year.

zizotravel is best recognized for his comprehensive features on the latest events and trendiest restaurants around Chicago. His reviews have been valued by local diners and tourists, providing them with exciting updates and tips for their itineraries in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. “My fans love the idea so they can know more about the hidden gem and best places for dining in,” shared the trending influencer.

zizotravel is originally from Syria. He graduated with a degree in business administration and marketing. He uses his knowledge and education today to help other brands featured on his social media platforms reach more customers in their community and across the country. The pandemic has dramatically affected the restaurant industry as there are currently laws that prohibit public dining because of its implicated health risks. With this, zizotravel wants to uplift business owners who have been hit by the circumstances by boosting their restaurants online.

In 2017, zizotravel won the Dubai Award 2017 for the best food coverage for the holy month of Ramadan, where he featured some of the most luxurious places for IFTAR in the area in a span of 30 days.

zizotravel strives to bring his fans fresh ideas and content regularly, which is why he invests in exploring even the most well-kept corners of Chicago. By remaining active on social media, the influencer hopes to provide his followers the best experiences and bring them a real taste of Chicago. In five years, zizotravel aims to become a full-time influencer. He is also currently learning the ropes to become a real estate agent. Without a doubt, with his enjoyable content and consistency, zizotravel is on his way to achieving his dreams.

To learn more about zizotravel, connect with the influencer on Instagram.

Renowned Influencer Chloe Shields Is Shaping the Influencing Industry for the Better

The Chicago Journal Staff on March 3, 2021

Photography by Anthony Yoon (@anthonyyoon)

Makeup by Melissa Villa (@glammakeupbyme_)

These days, the influencer market is saturated with various personalities that don’t really put a creative spin into their endorsements. Consumers are driven to a massive thirst for creativity and originality in the influencing sphere, yet not a lot of people can satisfy the hunger of the masses. Enter Chloe Shields, an influencer and creator from Chicago whose platform is all about fashion, luxury, self-care, and living one’s best life; and she’s single-handedly changing the influencing game for the better.

Chloe Shields is influencing the influencers with her dynamic digital strategies that are guaranteed to drive revenues for her brand endorsements and anyone that decides to network with her. Chloe has carved her niche within the influencing industry by providing marketing strategies that most influencers couldn’t even dream of.

She specializes in Augmented Reality experiences, which piques her followers’ interests as she develops various tactics and strategies to convert their interests into revenues for her brands. Chloe Shields is a high-energy leader in digital transformation, influencer marketing, and digital marketing as she shapes the digital landscape with her tried and tested marketing strategies and her creative content.

Chloe Shields is also a passionate photographer, which is where much of her visual acuity and creativity stems from. Her skills and experiences continuously allow her to create compelling brand experiences that most influencers tend to brush off, but Chloe firmly knows the needs and demands of audiences today, captivating them with her creativity and unabashed authenticity.

Passion, above all things, is what truly separates Chloe Shields from the rest of the competition. She truly cares about her audience as she champions content that is geared toward vertical engagement. Furthermore, Chloe also creates the best beauty filters through her expertise in Augmented Reality, allowing her to redefine her content in a variety of captivating ways.

Beauty brands, artists, influencers, and advertising agencies will greatly benefit from collaborating with Chloe Shields. She is a fantastic influencer that is extremely passionate about what she does and continues to learn more and more as the years go by. Chloe is a continuous learner, and she constantly applies new tactics and strategies that she learns in order to drive more engagement for her brands.

Chloe Shields is a natural storyteller when it comes to the brands she features. As she weaves together her content with creative storylines and eye-popping visuals, there is no one quite like Chloe in the influencing scene today. As she continues to diversify her skills and talents, she will only become more and more successful as time goes on, and she has no plans of stopping any time soon.

She is a rarity in the current digital landscape, as most influencers these days have become complacent and unreliable. Chloe Shields, however, continues to provide a breadth of her skills and talents to the many brands that collaborate with her creating a huge positive impact on the brand and her audiences alike.

To know more about the amazing Chloe Shields, make sure to follow her on Instagram.

Trace Bartruff: Driven Actor and Influencer Quickly Rises to Fame

The Chicago Journal Staff on February 20, 2021

Having a clear-cut goal is often essential to drive people towards the summits. Without this powerful vision in mind, success will remain as an imaginary and unattainable concept. For passionate and driven souls like Trace Bartruff, it helps that an image of the desired future keeps playing in their minds. To them, these visions are what ignites the fire hidden beneath their bodies that immensely fuel them to climb the pinnacles of greatness. For this reason, Trace never shied away from his goals and continued to set his eyes on rising to fame in order to make a name for himself.

Needless to say, people aim to get ahead for different reasons. While others seek fame to generate wealth, Trace Bartruff desires prominence in order to leave a positive impact across the globe. He wants to be put in a position to use his stature to make a difference worldwide. Packed with a goal of creating a better world, this rising actor and social media model seeks to dominate the digital and entertainment space with grace and finesse.

Hailing from the soil where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame presently stands, Ohio is home to a go-getting individual who has seamlessly demonstrated the extent of his prowess at an early age. At the age of fourteen, he took risks and launched his career despite the threats faced by the global health crisis. He was able to establish a strong social media presence across multiple platforms and successfully made a mark by gathering over 7,000 followers on Instagram in a short period of time.

Trace Bartruff’s eminence across the digital was not caused by some happy accident. If anything, this stellar influencer proves worthy of his distinction due to the quality of content he provides. From his work experiences down to his personal life, Trace offers a peek into his daily activities dedicated to connecting and relating to his fans across the online realm.

Without a doubt, this eager soul has truly set things in motion throughout the digital space with his compelling content and reassuring presence. Although fame was quick to catch Trace Bartruff’s trailblazing spirit, he never allowed his popularity to overpower his purpose. Thus, he continues to talk with his followers, build connections, and create lasting relationships with them. Trace believes that by doing this, he becomes one step closer to his goal of becoming a positive influence to young, driven, and passionate individuals worldwide.

Indeed, this star is aiming to capture the hearts of many by staying true to himself and maintaining an open, genuine, and lively disposition. Having established his sterling reputation across the digital space, Trace Bartruff has no plans of slowing down any time soon.

As Trace Bartruff continues to bloom as an actor and social media model, he is set to build a brand for himself that positively impacts people around the globe. By sticking to his clear-cut goal of changing the world, it will be no surprise if Trace propels his career to greater heights in the years to come.

To know more about Trace Bartruff, you may visit his website.