Sara McCorquodale - Influence

For Isabel

My greatest influence

Writing this book has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career and not something that would have happened without the help and generosity of others. Primarily, the influencers I interviewed who were forthcoming about their experiences and understood this was an exploration of the good, bad and future of digital influence, and not simply an opportunity for self-promotion. While the majority spoke on the record, some felt unable to for fear of a backlash. Regardless of the circumstances in which we communicated, every conversation Ive had about the influencer industry is in here somewhere, and everything I have written flows from what I learned from these people.

Also crucial to making this happen was my literary agent, Zoe King of A.M. Heath, who insisted I write the book that I believed the market needed, and that we find a publisher who supported this vision. Her encouragement from our earliest discussions made me certain I had to get this done, despite the fact I was in the middle of a truly awful pregnancy and working every hour to scale my business. It is hard to imagine a better person to have had on my side.

Speaking of publishers, Ian Hallsworth was the person I most wanted to work with, from our very first meeting. The fact he saw the benefit in businesses genuinely understanding the world of digital influence allowed me to approach this book journalistically rather than as a commentator. Writing a book that provides answers as opposed to thoughts on a relatively grey area was entirely down to his commitment to my original pitch. The whole team I worked with at Bloomsbury was endlessly supportive and inspiring and I am so proud that my book has been published by this company.

Given its subject, now seems a good opportunity to acknowledge the people who have influenced my journey which has led me to this point. Believe me, it took a village. My fascination in the intricacies of how people tell stories comes directly from the inspiring teachings of Linda McGlinchey and Adrian Hunter, who showed me how to be a better reader, writer and listener. Meanwhile, my understanding of influence and its power in a business context is one I learned from Kate Reardon during my time at Tatler. I will always be grateful to have worked for her as part of that team it was truly the most enlightening year of my life.

It is unthinkable that I would be where I am without the support of Annabel Rivkin who I met at Cond Nast, and who encouraged me to pursue my own destiny rather than making money for other people. At a time when life was chaotic due to my oldest son being ill, she brought me into the fold of her business and taught me how to do everything better. She is the most generous, wise, clever person I know and, helpfully, always right. Through Annabel I met and worked for the amazing Rita Konig, who told me to start CORQ (and to call it CORQ). Her conviction that all of this would be successful was so persuasive, I went ahead and did it.

Over the past three years, I would have lost my mind had it not been for Emilie McMeekan. When I desperately needed to develop my business, she came onboard and elevated everything we do. Her empathy and intelligence has made my company feel like home for the entire team and her editorial genius is the thing that kept this book on the straight and narrow from day one. The entire CORQ team has contributed to this book and their ideas and insights have helped shape my own. Arabella Johnson, Chloe James, Jennifer Adetoro, Lucinda Diamond, Prue Lewington and Sunita Mahay thank you for being the best, cleverest and coolest team in startup land.

Despite my many jobs (approximately 62) and experiences, the most impactful turning point in my career was Guy Baring becoming my mentor in 2016 and later, the first investor in my company. His guidance has been truly transformative and his understanding storytelling is at the heart of the influencer phenomenon, crucial. It is almost impossible to put in to words how much his support has changed my life.

Lastly, thank you to all the friends and family for sticking with me through writing this book, not to mention my ongoing career obsession. In particular, I would have been homeless/quit journalism numerous times since 2001 had it not been for the next level friendships of Carlene Thomas-Bailey, Sonia Cardoso, Kirsty Gallen, Urmee Khan, Francesca Young, Louise Boyle and Jennifer McVey. In every bad situation, Ive been rescued by at least one of them. My parents-in-law, Diane and Tony, have offered kindness and help at every turn, and my parents my stepfather, George, and my extraordinary mother, Isabel have never lost faith in me or stopped encouraging me to try harder and think bigger.

To the person I share every day with my husband and favourite friend, Simon thank you for believing in the power of possibility, equal parenting and me.

And lastly, to my boy wonders, Dylan and Jonah all of this is for you.

Picture the scene. It is March 2020 and the whole world, it seems, is in lockdown thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. The only way to fight the virus is to stay inside. Shops are shut and socialising is out of the question. So what do people do? They join TikTok and lip-synch, dance and skit their way out of self-isolations boredom. The result? A whole new generation of stars are born in a single 12-week period. Welcome to the influencer industry, where speed and smartphone skills can lead to overnight fame if you play your cards right.

The TikTokker is just the latest archetypal character of the social media landscape and joins an already established cast of YouTubers, Instagrammers, Twitch streamers and bloggers. Regardless of job title, they are all united by the fact that they have shaped the social media landscape, defined consumer expectations of digital entertainment and created the career now known as influencer.

Regardless of their job title, they are a group of entrepreneurs who began with online diaries, make-up tutorials, comedic skits and goofy gaming vlogs. But over the past decade the emergent industry of digital influence has become a billion-dollar phenomenon that has smashed up the arenas of media, marketing and communication, and is forecast to continue growing exponentially. It started with YouTube content and earnest blogging, but these days influencers are being cast in films, transitioning to television and launching their own VC-backed businesses. And their audiences? Theyre buying in evolving from passionate followers to loyal customers.

Brands, advertising agencies and media companies are falling over themselves to cosy up to these individuals and rightly so, because there is one thing that unites everyone currently holding this job title of influencer: they own the internet. They determine its direction, the style of content we watch, the things we buy, the thoughts in our head (to an extent). They are the shopping editors, broadcasters and opinion sharers we care about. Everyone wants a piece of the influence industry.

Rather than being an unexplainable fluke, as it is still dismissed in some more traditional quarters, this phenomenon occurred largely due to human behaviour. First, lets look at Facebook, which took the internet from being a place characterized by infinite information things we didnt know and turned it into a space about us. Our stories. Up until this point, online behaviour had centred around Google our porthole to the wild, unknown, fantastical other. Everything could be learned and understood, quickly and easily. The world was suddenly much easier to grasp and travel, and information did not just belong to the universities, institutions and libraries but to everyone regardless of means, luck and education.