The idea of starting a business is to get some money out of it. But, how can that happen if people start requesting products for free? Unfortunately, this seems to be the never-ending problem many business owners have to cope with every single day. And here’s what we mean. Over the past few years, Instagram has grown to the point of becoming the number one platform for influencers to grow.
Evidently, this has created an opportunity to generate money online. Thus, influencer marketing. Influencers live off of different kind of things. For example, they sell merchandise, get into affiliate marketing, and of course, do brand deals.
But, the fact of the matter is that when brands want to collaborate with influencers, they reach out. Not the other way around. You see, there are some influencers who have taken the bad habit of asking for free things in exchange for exposure. And one ice cream truck owner just couldn’t take it anymore.
Influencers Pay Double
So, here’s what happened. A Los Angeles ice cream truck owner Joe Nicchi had been getting requests from influencers asking him for free ice cream in exchange for exposure. Naturally, having to read all of these requests all the time was getting annoying. So, he came up with a solution and set up a rule for his business that would, later on, go viral.
You see, Nichi was not willing to put up with influencers asking for free ice cream anymore. Therefore, he decided to tell the world about his struggles and posted the story on his brand’s Instagram account. But, what caught the attention of people in general was the rule he set up for his business.
“We will never give you a free ice cream in exchange for a post on your social media page. It’s literally a $4 item … Well, now it’s $8 for you.” He wrote. In a nutshell, Nicchi made it official that influencers would have to pay double if they ever wanted to try any of his products. And oh boy, you wouldn’t imagine what happened next.
Going Viral
So, the post itself was already intriguing. But, the CVT ( Chocolate Vanilla Twirl) Instagram account didn’t have enough followers to make the story go viral. However, all it took was for a guy named Rick to come across the post and then share it on Reddit. Next thing you know, Nicchi was getting a call from someone in Croatia at 3 am in the morning.
Apparently, his post had gone viral, and news sites got interested in making a big deal about the whole thing. Then, sooner rather than later, Nicchi’s post was getting featured in different news platforms all across the internet. As a matter of fact, the proud ice cream truck owner went on to share different pieces of articles that were written about his post.
Finally, he also explained that so far, no one has actually paid $8 for an ice cream. But, he has indeed been getting bad looks for some hipsters.
Worldwide Support
CVT’s owner Joe Nicchi is not the only person who has had to cope with DMs from influencers asking him for free stuff. As a matter of fact, there are lots of brands all over the world that get the same type of requests. So, Nicchi’s story going viral ended up catching the attention of exactly those brands.
Moreover, the ice-cream trucker started getting lots of support messages from people all over the world who also get asked for free stuff. France, China, Switzerland, Morocco, Canada, and more.
Fun Fact
Ironically, the ice cream truck owner won more exposure than any other influencer could have actually given him. In fact, the post got people from all over the world interested in visiting his truck and trying one of his ice creams. Moreover, his business’ Instagram account gained a whole bunch of new followers. Hopefully, he will continue to grow even more.
