{"id":89239,"date":"2018-08-06T14:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T18:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//?p=89239"},"modified":"2018-08-13T15:30:17","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T19:30:17","slug":"matchmaking-brands-bloggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//matchmaking-brands-bloggers/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239//","title":{"rendered":"Matchmaking for Brands and Bloggers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kristen Wiley /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201914 never imagined that just a few years after graduation she would be choosing between a dream job offer and starting her own business./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

Had she accepted the offer, Wiley/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s salary would have been almost unheard of for recent graduates in the marketing field. Instead, she chose the title of CEO for her own company /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2014 Statusphere./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

As a result, the startup, which matches companies with social media influencers, has proven itself to be a leading innovative platform among Orlando/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s emerging tech startups in just two years. Wiley credits the region/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s growing entrepreneurial community and coworking spaces for much of her success and is looking forward to the possibilities in Orlando/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s upcoming innovation district./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

Finding a Niche/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

As an advertising and public relations major, Wiley was paid small amounts to advertise products for companies such as Hershey/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s chocolates on her personal blog /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2014 a now-common practice in the marketing world known as influencer marketing. The experience landed her an internship at an advertising agency where she later accepted a full-time position upon graduation./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cThey thought of me as this social media savvy graduate, so they allowed me to build influencer marketing relationships with brands,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d Wiley says./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cBloggers need a lot of content and products to post about, but they get expensive,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d says Kristen Wiley /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201914./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

She was soon tasked with leading the endeavor for the agency when she noticed there was something missing from the relationship between brands and bloggers./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cBloggers need a lot of content and products to post about, but they get expensive,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d says Wiley, who was a Burnett Honors Scholar. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cAnd sometimes brands don/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019t send you products that match your interests./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

Wiley/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019s idea to use a curated subscription box for influencers in exchange for blog postings seemed like it could fill the gap. It was a fresh idea, but she wasn/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u2019t sure if it would work. Wiley bought joinstatus.com and continued working full time at the agency./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

About a year later, Wiley was attending networking events around town when she was inspired by entrepreneur Suneera Madhani, CEO of the successful Orlando-based payment-processing company Fattmerchant./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cShe was one of the first people who made me feel like I could do it,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d says Wiley. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201cShe had this confidence and strength in her business presentation, and something about that moment was a big turning point for me./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

Wiley then made a promise to herself: If she applied to a local business incubator program called StarterStudio and was accepted, she would pursue the venture full time./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n

Soon after, Statusphere was born in downtown Orlando./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/89239/n