Jack Morris and Lauren Bullen are not celebrities, but they areInstagram-famous “influencers” ― and they’re raking in the dough just by traveling the world posting photos.
Morris, 26, and Bullen, 24, have a combined 3.4 million followers on their two personal Instagram accounts. They met on a job in Fiji last year after both left their respective careers to focus on Instagramming for a living, according to a January profile in Cosmopolitan UK. The duo, who are based in Bali, share stunning photos of their global adventures on their respective accounts, and get paid by brands and tourist boards for sponsored images.
It’s working: They’re making six-figure salaries, despite reportedly being told their rates are “so low.”
“Exact figures are hard to say because every job is different, but we won’t do a post for less than $3,000,” Morris told Cosmo. “The most I’ve personally got for one post is $9,000 ... I did a job for a phone company where I flew out for three days; there were two days filming and then I had to do five photos on Instagram, and that was $35,000.”
Being paid thousands of dollars to post a single photo may seem shocking to most, but Morris tries to put it into perspective.
“Once [businesses] compare numbers to magazine readership sizes or TV advertisement views [and] take into consideration our personal influence, they understand more,” he told The Huffington Post via email. “I think all influencers charge differently and even though follower size is taken into consideration, it’s not based solely on that. Quotes are also based on engagement, quality of content, demographics, etc.”
While their lives may look like a dream, they say it requires more work than meets the eye and Instagram only captures a small snippet. The two don’t use any apps to digitally alter their photos, using Adobe Lightroom instead.
As for their main tip for other Instagram influencer hopefuls? Keep it real.
“The biggest [advice] we’d give is to be authentic, original and do what you love,” Morris told HuffPost. “If you want to stand out you need to have a point of difference. Don’t do things for the wrong reasons such as a paycheck or fame. Both [Lauren and I] travelled and created content for years with no business plan. It was always just for fun, and even though it’s our full-time job now, it’s still equally as fun. I think that’s the reason our posts and lifestyle resonates with so many people.”
