WITH fast cars, exotic holidays and amazingly well-paid sponsorship deals, the life of a social media influencer is – at least on the surface – the absolute dream.
But imagine having all of this, and being so young you haven’t even left school yet…
It might sound unobtainable, but some UK social media stars gained their dedicated online followings and rose to fame and fortune before they even hit their teens.
So surely with big followings, comes big responsibility… and dare we say it, potentially big money?
Adrian Falk, founder of Believe Advertising & PR, explains: “Usually the rule of thumb is 100,000 followers is approximately 500 pounds per post, depending on who it is and their engagement rate.”
Here we take a closer look at some of the UK’s top teen and child influencers, their earning potential, and how they’ve really made their mark at such a young age…
Omari McQueen
13
13
Omari McQueen’s Instagram following is a ‘modest’ 28k – but he is only 13.
He’s the youngest award winning vegan chef in the UK after he started to cook age seven and set up his own business at the age of eight.
He even runs his own range of vegan dips, Dipalicious – earning a staggering six figure salary already.
Omari’s Youtube channel, Omari Goes Wild, specialises in vegan recipes and the benefits of cooking with healthy ingredients.
Laerta Dedukaj
13
13
Laerta has a staggering 1.5m Instagram followers, which is made even more impressive by the fact that she is literally 10 and rose to Insta fame at the age of four, when she already had 40k followers.
Her bio says she is based in London, and reads: “As seen in Bazaar, Vogue, Elle etc..” and her whole profile is littered with fashion-forward outfit posts and sponsorship deals with toy and clothing brands.
Hardly surprising then that PR expert Adrian estimates she could potentially make around £9k a post.
Amelie Charlize
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13
15-year-old Ami Charlize has amassed 366k followers on Instagram, and her feed is full of glam outfit posts, fast cars (despite being too young to drive) and luxurious trips away.
However, TikTok is where the teen really comes into her own with a whopping 2.1m followers and 124.3m Likes – which could see her net around £12k per post.
She also does meet and greet events and is represented by a blogger management company.
EthanGamer
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13
Brit video game vlogger Ethan earns a million playing and reviewing PlayStation and mobile phone games.
The 16-year-old from Cheshire makes so much from his YouTube channel, which has over 3m followers and 3 BILLION views, that he can seemingly afford to fly via private jet.
His brand is so popular he even sells his own ‘Ethan Gamer’ merchandise, from hoodies, T-shirts to beanies and backpacks.
Adrian estimates he could earn a whopping £18k per post on YouTube.
Nya Temple
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13
Schoolgirl Nya Temple, 15, has attracted more than 309k followers on TikTok, with her makeup tutorials proving to be a particular hit.
Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel, she said: “Makeup companies started to get in touch and paid work started coming in.
“I was speechless, I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
She also said working with Netflix and Kylie Jenner’s brand Kylie Cosmetics were two of her highlights, and eventually she’d love to have her own makeup brand.
Nikki Lilly
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13
Digital creator Nikki Lilly has 430k followers on Instagram and a whopping 8.5m TikTok followers.
She’s just turned 18 now so not technically a ‘child star’, but she first became known for her YouTube videos at the age of eight, which were created to share her experiences of living with a ‘visible difference’.
She was diagnosed with a condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM) when she was six years old, and by sharing her story and experience Nikki gained 1.2m followers on YouTube.
Now, Nikki is a campaigner, author and TV presenter, and is known on social media for her perfectly edited videos showing highlights from her life, including most recently attending London Fashion Week, and red carpet events.
As an estimate, Adrian puts Nikki’s potential earnings at £2.5k per post on Instagram, but this would be considerably more on TikTok and YouTube.