A Mostly True Tall Tale About How I Became An Influencer
Ok, ok, first I have something to confess. I’m not for sure sure really certain how much Zuck actually knows about me. I mean, he could be one of my biggest fans. It’s possible.
But on the other hand, he didn’t personally contact me. It was only a regular Meta minion who did. Then again, Mark could’ve personally asked her to? Anything’s possible.
Anyway, I do like to imagine that Mark saw some of my posts or videos and said.. “Hey, this Gregory fellow sure creates some great stuff for my platforms! I must start giving him teeny bits of my billions! I must, I must!”
Then again, you can’t prove that he DIDN’T say something like that. He easily could’ve? Maybe slightly possible he could’ve? Odds? Ten to one. Hundred to one? Ok, ok. Let’s just say I’ll admit it’s highly unlikely. (But my wild imagination claims… Hey it’s NOT impossible!)
Silhouette Spirits
Anyway let’s move on. What I do know for sure is that last year a nice Meta (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) person contacted me and she basically informed me they liked the stuff I was putting on their platforms. My photos, videos, stories, etc. I was told that my posts’ multi Meta metrics, I didn’t know I had, were very favorable. Some unusually so. Like my posts have real high engagement and a bunch of highly positive comments, reactions, etc.
Dumb Diggin Contest
I confess to not really understanding most of the metric mumbo jumbo she was telling me. But I did understand one thing. She said–they wanted to start paying me!
Since I wasn’t born yesterday, I didn’t really believe her. Figured it was maybe an outright scam. Or some high monthly fees were gonna be hoisted upon me in order to be in their monetization program. So I asked– what’s the catch, what’s the hidden fees, what do I actually have to do get this moolah. Hmm…???
She brightly and perkily said: no catch, no fees. Just do what you’ve been doing. Or whatever you want to do.
And I actually believed her!
OMG! Wow! A real live win-win! Artsy-fartsy freedom and free money! I never ever got one of those before! Yippeeee!
So I did start to snag free money, and continue to do so. Every month Zuck bequeaths me bits of his billions and it’s dumped into my bank account. Yep, I just create all the same stuff I always did for free, and enjoyed doing anyway.
And these days I now find myself having an astonishing global people reach of over 5.3 million! All them millions is a number I still can’t really fathom. That’s a helluva lot of eyeballs. Last year, before Zuck discovered me (Hey it’s NOT impossible!) I had but a teeny tiny fraction of that.
According to the multitude of Meta metrics I’m sent, here are a few I’m intrigued by. The fine folks in Nairobi are big fans–in the top 10 of all the cities on the Earth. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Also in the top 10 in viewership are Adelaide, London, Lagos.
Top10 countries: USA ( #1) plus India, Nigeria—and Ghana?? I wasn’t even sure where the heck exactly Ghana was. I looked it up, and at least I guessed the continent correctly. I love you Ghanaians right back! Top10! Woo-hoo for you!
What kind of stuff do I do? Well, since I’m a photographer, I have a lot of photos I post. My most popular images are from my personal Fine Arts project called Silhouette Spirits.
What other kind of stuff do I do? The vast majority of it is in the category of humor. Or heart warming “awww” stuff. And the biggest hairy category is—dogs and their humans. And one peculiar pair in particular—my mighty fine canine Nunzi and me. Nine years ago when I got my eccentric and goofy puppy Nunzi, I started creating a series of fun stories, essays and media called Nutty Nunzi Tall Tail Tales.
Nutty Nunzi Tall Tail Tales
The nutty adventures and thoughts of a very odd & overly friendly dog named Nutty Nunzi & the silly human who hears him
But you know what I like best about this whole wacky affair? Even more than the free money? But there ain’t nothing better than free money—argues my brain. Oh, yep there is—argues my heart.
So at the risk of sounding like a clunky cliché, I have to admit…making people happy is the bestest! Or at least making them less sad than they were before they came across our stuff. It’s all pretty damn nice. Makes me feel quite good to be doing good.
The Kooky Canine & Silly Human Comedy Team
Below is a sampling of comments about my posts:
“Happy, happy, happy! Watching this just makes me smile. So much joy.”
“The tales of Nutty Nunzi continue to our enjoyment!”
“Thank you, did my heart good!!”
“Another great story. Nunzi is so amazing. Please keep the stories coming. Gregory hope you are documenting these stories so you could write a short stories book.”
“I know this feeling exactly, savoring a moment in time.”
“Love these stories! A great way to start my day!”
“This one struck me, I nearly fell off the couch laughing.”
”We’ve all been there. Cute dog and great story. Not only good photographer but story teller too!
Aww, Nutty! Life is good! Love your pawventures!
“I’m crying because this is such a special gift Nunzi has. When I read the part where he snuggled the homeless person and the timid dog. My, my. What a blessing he is.”
A blessing indeed!
And a billion thanks to my dear very close friend Mark! Thanks for the bucks Zuck!
(Hey it’s NOT impossible!)
Me And My Furry Shadow
“He’s your constant shadow.” – “Never see you around without him.” – “You guys glued together?” Those are the type of things that people sometimes say when I walk by with my Nutty Nunzi. My thinking is that when you get blessed with having the friendliest and most outgoing dog in the world–it feels like a super sin to ever leave him behind.
Nunzi basically wants everyone he sees, when he’s out and about, to be his instant friend. And usually leaves a trail of smiles, and ooing and awwing in his wake. Every day he routinely goes up to complete strangers, and sits or lies down next to them and smiles and wags his stubby tail. As if to say, “hey wanna snuggle? – wanna pet me? – wanna be best friends?”
And the love fest invariably commences. And he’s so wonderfully well behaved and fun, how could I not want him as my shadow pal whenever and wherever possible? Now when I noticed the cool shadow images dancing on the ground as we strolled along the pier, I immediately got out my cam and started shooting.
Nunzi didn’t really know what the heck I was trying to do with this shadow play concept thing. But he did his best to interpret my hand gestures and odd movements. And since we were together, outside and having fun—he was happy to try to do his best to oblige his odd human, and attempt to figure out yet another one of my crazy creative notions I was trying to conjure up for us to do together.
This dog’s always game. And will always be my favorite furry shadow.
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