On episode 2 of The Influencer Economy, we were happy to welcome Shira Lazar to the show. Shira is the founder and host of the Emmy nominated show What’s Trending and an inspiration in the media and YouTube world. In order to launch her career, she defined her own ‘beat’ as a producer/broadcaster, essentially creating the news category that “bridged the gap between Silicon Valley and celebrity.”
She interviews people for a living, and her start-up business is inspired by her passion and curiosity around meeting new people. Achieving her success did not come easy, and as an early vlogger helped transform the medium into what it is today. Vlogging was barely a word when she started creating videos. She was an early voice in covering online ‘viral video stars’ for CBS back in 2008, when no one else was speaking to them. She created and identified an emerging market, where people on the internet were become personalities in the news world. Shira pioneered the ‘human interest stories’ beat around interviewing web personalties like ‘The Double Rainbow Guy” or “Antoine Dotson.” These stories are now common place on national news like the Today Show or CBS This Morning, influenced by Shira’s work.
We also dig into the format of What’s Trending, and how she runs the show, books guests, promote the episodes, and interviews her guests. What’s Trending is a modern day media brand, and this podcast is a great listen for anyone passionate about media, or someone who wants to understand what it’s like running a social media start-up enterprise in 2014. Shira is a true pioneer in the influencer economy.
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