The last time we had an internet sensation, it was
David Garland Jones. Now, we may need to brace ourselves for a second.
Reading dailypost.co.uk on Thursday and who should pop up at the bottom right of my laptop screen other than one Rachel Ryland. The headline across the video was key to why she sold her
Awel Care business and
closed her town centre eco shop.
'Ruthin Shopkeeper Rachel Ryland Transforms to Tiktok Influencer'.
Elsewhere on the Daily Post site, Ms Ryland points to the significant sums an influencer can make.
I don't know much about influencers. I do know that some are just average Janes like Rachel. Real people. They don't need the looks or charisma of a Kardashian. We certainly think that it's good news to see equitable opportunities for pre-millennials and Gen X in a 'social' world dominated basically by Gen Z. Anyone can potentially succeed. But if it were that easy, we'd all be doing it. Whatever happened to the adage, 'If it sounds too good to be true then it probably *is* too good to be true'. But, who knows, we may yet be adding a Tiktok superstar to the list of famous Rhuthun/Ruthin people.
Rachel's former well-stocked shop, Clwyd Street
Ms Ryland is basically trying to be an influencer marketer. These are people who sell things. They push products. Is there such a huge market for the things she's currently promoting? These are organic mushroom powder, organic bee pollen and organic sea salt. (By the way, isn't all salt organic, by its nature? It's a chemical compound. Can it be certified as organic when it isn't a food product subject to organic farming methods?).
I suppose Tiktok's approach is an updated method of shopping on your out-of-date TV. Some influencers can make claims about a product that cannot be verified. Tiktok cannot do this. Influencers are unregulated.
We suspect that Ms Ryland has read the Tiktok play-book of hints and tricks on how to be noticed. On the videos there seems to be a lot of hand waving and pointing. Text flashes up on screen simultaneously as she speaks.
There. With this post, I've now helped Rachel increase here influence!
It takes unwavering courage to do what Rachel Ryland is doing. Not just that. The world has left me behind. Blogs may be passé but I think I'll stick with them.
