We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Harris Baker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Harris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
I came up with the actual idea for Catfluence (@catfluence) in September of 2017, but it really in a way started a few years before that. In November 2013 I got a cat named Doober with my ex-girlfriend. After three weeks, a tragic accident led to his untimely passing, and as a result, we got two new cats, Elliot and Olivia.
At the time, I was working at a digital marketing agency and began to learn more about social media, and thought it would be fun to make an Instagram account for my two cats (@elliot.and.olivia). I would mostly just post funny photos and videos of them around the house and did it for myself and family/friends. As I grew in my professional role, I had the opportunity to work with a lot of athletes, influencers, and brands, and I was exposed to the world of influencer and affiliate marketing. I began to see massive cat accounts for Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub, along with their brand partnerships, and started to see potential opportunities. So I began to leverage my network and start working with brands on behalf of Elliot and Olivia.
Then in September 2017, I began to experience burnout from my day job and displeasure with how things were run, as well as my lack of control of the business. I saw a better way to do things, so I started three new Instagram accounts to try to build a business around. One was my own influencer modeling/feature page, one was a sports blog, and the other was Catfluence (a play of cats and influence). For a few months, I posted on each and gained the most traction on Catfluence, so I decided to stick with it, posting funny cat videos, unique photos, and highlighting the brands that I worked with, and today it is a continuation of that, and much, much more.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
At Catfluence, we promote anything related to cat influencers, influencers with cats, and brands. We try to make “crazy cat people” look a little more normal by promoting celebrities and well-known people who have cats.
We have active audiences on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Threads, Pinterest, and Google. We feature content that is submitted to us in the form of funny videos, or pictures of people with their cats, and an occasional meme. We ALWAYS credit the source of our content, unlike many other cat pages. A portion of our content is also generated by me, whether it is funny TikToks I film, videos with Elliot and Olivia, or brands that we partner with.
Our blog is in large part user submitted, with humans or brands sharing their stories to reach the thousands of users who access our site monthly. Our website also features a merch store with Catfluence branded shirts, hats, and other swag.
We have a monthly newsletter that goes out to hundreds of cat fans, and is growing rapidly. We have made several podcast appearances and have dabbled in the AI and NFT/crypto spaces.
Not only are we about having fun and being profitable, but we also give back to cat and community organizations in need by donating our time and resources.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I think the idea of NFTs is amazing, but I think the bubble definitely burst and people (myself included) realized there was not as much utility for the NFTs they spent fortunes on in 2021. They are here to stay and have a purpose in ticketing, gaming, etc, and especially when they are combined with real items or in-person experience, but I don’t think it’s really about digital art, as much as people want to promote it as that. I don’t like how people got sucked in and many creators got involved in “pump and dump” schemes, taking advantage of people who didn’t know any better. I think security is a major issue too, but I do believe in time there will be more utility and safety.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I knew more about project management tools and how important of a resource time is, especially when it comes to pricing myself out. Too many times early in my career I didn’t charge enough for my time or spent too much time on something that I wasn’t getting enough in return for. It’s all about knowing your worth and being transparent, and also not taking on every project or partner if they are not a good fit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://catfluence.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catfluence/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Catfluence/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/catfluence/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Catfluence
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@catfluence