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‘Don’t lie to me to get free stuff’: how small businesses are fighting back against influencers

‘Don’t lie to me to get free stuff’: how small businesses are fighting back against influencers

From diva-like behaviour to freebie requests that never result in a review, ‘entitled’ content creators are a growing blight on small-business owners. Now entrepreneurs are calling them out

Nicole Flanagin remembers exactly the moment an influencer came after her business. It was the early hours of a March morning and the cat cafe owner in Lenoir, North Carolina, got a message. “At 1.37,” she says, “a friend sent me the link to this girl’s TikTok.”

The 41-year-old was already having a bad 24 hours. A mother of four, Flanigan also works at a pet rescue shelter and had spent the previous day unsuccessfully fighting for a dog not to be put down. She got home exhausted and promptly conked out in bed. Then she woke up to the message.

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In brief

From diva-like behaviour to freebie requests that never result in a review, ‘entitled’ content creators are a growing blight on small-business owners. Now entrepreneurs are calling them out Nicole Flanagin remembers exactly the moment an influencer came after her business. It was the early hours of a March morning and the cat cafe owner in Lenoir, North Carolina, got a message.

This is the opening of the story, shared with credit to The Guardian — Life & Style. The rest of the report — with every detail — continues on the publisher’s website.

Continue reading at The Guardian — Life & Style ↗

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