So there’s a “watch company” called Pierre Arden out there and there’s also this group on Instagram called Pierre Arden Ambassador Scout that says “now recruiting influencers.” Anyway, low and behold this recruiter contacted me as a potential influencer to help them hock watches after I posted a brilliant photo of myself and my shoes before a run.
This one!
So, apparently, this photo inspired Pierre Arden that I was the right fit for promoting their watches. Not only did I take a bad photo of myself using a terrible angle, but this is actually pre-run before I’ve showered and shaved.
Curious about the company I started to read about them and I realized, no, this guy in the photo is almost exactly the kind of guy they’d want selling their watches. I say almost because I assume the perfect fit would be a guy in a trench coat hanging out in an alley telling people he had some watches that “fell off a truck.”
From what I’ve read, they recruit people like myself, with barely any following, to help sell their watches, by having the people buy one of their watches for a discount and then posting about it. It’s the American business owner’s dream — having the worker actually pay to work.
Anyway, I responded by saying “Hilarious!” and noting that I had covered fraud as a reporter in my younger days.
Undeterred, Pierre’s recruitment page decided to start following me.
So I guess, thanks for that. Anyway, this came about because I’m trying to do better at marketing my books. It’s why I started the Instagram account. Why I’m posting more stuff that I hope will actually be meaningful to people in some way. I’m really not very good at marketing. I just want to write and publish my books and write some essays and shorts for the web and have people read them. Maybe discuss them. I hope to produce things that are meaningful to folks, so I’m trying to not just throw up stuff, but am trying to write some things I think people will identify with and also, peak their interest in my work.
I started Chalk Creek for this reason. I love writing. I love running so I figured I’d share that stuff here. You gotta market your writing to sell it, just like you gotta market watches to sell them.
I just don’t think these guys are going about it the right way with their watches by trying to tap into people’s desire and even desperation to be “influencers” and break free of the 9-to-5 wage living. While it’s not fraud, it is, I think wrong.
Anyway, I want you all to know going forward, I will not be selling watches (at least not, yet) but I am still selling books.
You can buy ’em on Amazon.
Chalk Creek Writing Outfit 