How an Influencer Built His Business, One Dog at a Time

0:09A few weeks ago, I met up with Elias Friedman in a park in Manhattan. I brought my dog, Picasso, along with me. Elias set us up on a bench to take our portrait. Anywhere in the shade. It could even be up on the bench here. Sure. That's easy. All right, Picasso, you want to go back up here? Elias is better known as the Doggest. Oh, yeah, good boy. For over a decade, he's made a career out of taking beautiful pictures of dogs, mostly around New York, and posting them on social media. On Instagram, Elias has 7.5 million followers.

0:49Watching him work is kind of funny. He holds a squeaky ball above the camera lens. He squeals, howls, and grunts to get Picasso's attention. These are some of the techniques Elias has honed over more than a decade of doing this So those are some good moves there You're moving your arm around Yeah, you kind of have to keep their attention One way or another So fast movements You have to entertain them a little bit And you have to pay him Yeah, yeah For his work Elias has Picasso eating out of his hand Literally There's a bag of doggy treats on his waist Which he doles out as a reward for sitting still Picasso is nailing poses I've never seen him do before.

1:31Taking photos of dogs isn't the only thing Elias does in running the Doggist, but it's definitely the best thing. He walks around New York City with a camera in his hand, getting to meet hundreds of the city's furry residents. I feel like I fulfilled a childhood dream. Like, I'm getting to live my inner childhood every day. Like, everyone's like, what if I could walk around every day and meet people's dogs? That's something you would write in kindergarten with crayons. And a lot of people, that's not what they end up doing. And for me, it is what ended up happening.

2:07Elias is an influencer. A job that didn't exist two decades ago. But it is now one of the most desired jobs out there, especially for young people. According to one poll from 2023, more than half of Gen Zers said they want to be a social media influencer. It's a job that sounds appealing. Influencers can seemingly do what they love, post about it online, and make a living. But is it really that easy? How does it actually work? From the journal, this is Work Mode, a special series airing on Sundays, where we take a look at how work is changing. I'm Ryan Knudsen. Let's get to work.

3:01This episode is presented by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

3:40I met up with Elias Friedman, aka The Doggest, in Madison Square Park in downtown Manhattan. It was morning, jazz bands were playing, and people were out walking their dogs. I wanted to talk to Elias because he's one of the OG influencers, and he's been really successful. Also, I love dogs. And my first question is, what do you think of my dog? Picasso? Yeah, Picasso down here. Five out of five, or no, ten out of five. There we go. That's what we're looking for. He's a perfect pup. He's a really good boy. And, well, with a name like that, he's got a lot to live up to. All right, so this is kind of like a job profile interview, So I want to kind of get into the details of how you've built this really successful media business off the back of these dogs.

4:27So can you just tell us the story of how this idea for the Doggist got started? Yes. Well, I think you have to include my origin story when I was a kid, growing up with a darkroom in the house and two Labrador retrievers. My dad was a hobbyist photographer. So I sort of was inspired by my dad to do photography, to do portrait work, and dogs were the first subject. And I was kind of shy, so dogs were easy to get to sit if you had a treat. Dog photography didn't become Elias' full-time job until it got laid off in 2013 from a brand strategy agency. At the time, Instagram was in its infancy. It had only been out for a few years.

5:08And being an influencer was a new kind of job. Elias was inspired by accounts like Humans of New York and The Sartorialist, which featured portraits of New York's human residents. And I just said, no one's doing this for dogs. So you actually set out to do this as a job. That was kind of your intention. I thought it could be. I first saw it as something really fun and would bring the world some joy. And it would be a little bit of a joke, right? It's like, dogs don't want their pictures taken, but I make it seem like they do. What do you mean? Dogs don't want their picture taken? Are they hard to photograph?

5:44Well, some dogs are hard to photograph, especially puppies. But dogs don't have an ego. They don't have a sense of what cameras are or that they could be depicted. They don't have that thing that we have. They're not burdened by an ego. So whenever you take a picture of a dog, you're just seeing a pure expression, whereas when you take a picture of a person, you're seeing some contortion of reality. Right. How did it go in the early days? Walk me through what it was like as you were starting to build this out from zero followers in the beginning. I think from the first day, October 23rd, 2013, I knew it would be something.

6:20Honestly, it got traction very quickly. Turns out people like dogs, and I was taking the best pictures of them. And I think I'm still pretty good at that. And so I launched it, and then within a month it got picked up by various outlets. and people were calling to represent me and getting a book deal. Wow, within a few months? Yeah, like within a year it hit a million followers, which is a lot. Yes, that's quite a few. And I would say it was sort of like a gold rush era of Instagram of being able to scale quickly. But it didn't surprise me that people loved dogs. What did that actually look like?

7:01Like every time you'd open your phone, there'd be thousands of new followers? Yeah, it was me on the couch in Williamsburg refreshing, watching new followers come in, people liking my pictures. And like, I, this is something like, I'm not surprised that people love dogs, but like, this is going to be a thing. How did that feel? It felt awesome. And it was something I love to do, right? It was adventurous. It still is, obviously, but like, I was walking around wearing knee pads under my pants with my pockets filled with dog treats. And I was walking around the best state in the world, New York, and hanging out with dogs getting their pictures and getting their stories and and everyone started to catch on to it and they were like thrilled to be featured but my parents were still very uh dubious of the path that was on because they're both physicians it's more of a predictable right path a lot more schooling yeah i i just wasn't really cut out for that but i think when i got my first book deal where it was like a chunk of change and like validation that this was more than just a silly Instagram account.

8:06That was like, okay, this is like, this could have bigger opportunity to become a business. As his following grew, Elias started to make some real money. He partnered with dog brands to feature their products in his posts. He also got that book deal, which featured a thousand of his dog photos. So it took you one year to get to a million followers. How long did it take before he was actually paying your rent and the bills? I think around then, you know, I'm still kind of the only person that does what I do. And so I've always had some form of brand partnership going on. And, you know, it's very volatile.

8:46It scales. And so, you know, it's not like I'm, you know, raking it in, so to say. But it was enough to support me and to get by and make it work. How much of your success do you credit to just being early, in the very beginning of when Instagram was really taking off, like you were there? I will say that my timing was good, in that if I tried to start it now, it would be much harder to grow a larger audience. Why do you think that is? I think the algorithms are less... It's harder to scale. The algorithms don't show your work as predictably. Whereas back when I started, every post I made, every person in my audience saw them.

9:29whereas now some people see them. So it's just harder to get views, I guess. Social media has changed a lot since Elias started The Doggest in 2013. As Elias said, the algorithm has a bigger influence now over what you see in your feed. And on top of that, there are so many more influencers competing for your attention, which makes breaking out and making a living through social media harder. Platforms are also much more focused on video these days. and it's more important for influencers to be on camera themselves. For Elias, that meant featuring something that is not a dog in his feed, himself.

10:09And so there was a moment, an inflection point, where I had to come out from behind the curtain, so to say, and it wasn't just me as a photographer, but me as a person. Who am I? Who is Elias? Like I am saying hi to you right now. When was that moment? Do you remember that? And what did that feel like? I think that was about seven or eight years ago. It was a bit scary because change is hard. And I didn't know, that wasn't the plan initially, right? It was like, I want to be a really good photographer. And I grew up as a shy kid. I still am in many ways very shy. And so there was like a question mark like, now you're looking at me, do you like me?

10:47Or is it just my dog pictures? Did you feel like you had to refine the way you presented yourself as you went through that process? Yeah, I think there's something, there's a skill, there's a knack to hosting or being a personality and being entertaining. And so with anything, it just takes some practice and you have your own unique way of doing it. And I don't know, some people think I'm funny, some people like the way I interact with dogs, and that's all that matters. What kind of a challenge is the algorithm presenting now? What is the thing that you're noticing that you're having to pivot toward or change?

11:22Thank you. It can be challenging with all the new tools that come out every week, it seems like. And working with a shorter time frame. Like now, people's attention spans have shrunken to something like a second, two seconds. So now it's all about the hook. Right. People won't just watch your video. You've got to make sure that you keep them in. You've got to get them in. And it's almost like you've got to show them the end before you start. So they like, you know, like I said, people's attention spans have become nothing. And so you have to just retool the way that you show your work. And it can't just be, instead of being frustrated about it, you have to just lean into it and adapt and change it up.

12:10After the break, we talk about the money and whether there are any downsides to being an influencer.

12:24This episode is brought to you by Indeed. The right hire can make or break your company, especially if you're a small business. And relying on luck to find that person isn't really the best strategy. But you know what is? Using Indeed Sponsored Jobs. You can use it to boost your job post to make sure it reaches more people with the right talents, certification, location, and more. Sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results.

12:57When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed-sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support the show by saying you heard about Indeed here. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? then this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs.

13:32Globally, roughly 50 million people make money as social media influencers, according to a report from Goldman Sachs in 2023. The whole influencer economy is now worth more than$250 billion, and the bank says that number is expected to grow. That money can come from brand deals, affiliated marketing commissions, or from fan funding sites like Patreon. But it's often not enough to make a living. 48 % of creator earners made$15 ,000 or less, and only 13 % made more than$100 ,000. That's according to a marketing agency survey from 2023. That means influencers often have to diversify and look for new ways to make money.

14:14Elias has also had to diversify. For instance, last year, he launched a YouTube show where he finds dogs to photograph with the help of celebrity guests. The Doggist has grown into just obviously more than an Instagram account. You've got books, apparel, a podcast, a YouTube show. Which is the most lucrative of these different channels? I would say partnering with a brand who are a big company and they want to invest in their marketing, like that generally is, I've found to be the most, you know, lucrative. How much money have you made doing this as a profession? I don't know. It's hard to say.

14:52I've been doing it for 14 years. So, I don't know, you have to ask my accountant. Yeah, listen, I'll say this. I live comfortably in a very expensive city, Manhattan, in Chelsea, in one bedroom with one dog and my wife. and I get to have a nice lifestyle and a nice Japanese car, a Subaru. But not enough to retire now if you wanted to. No. Not enough, you've got to keep working. No, I mean, in a way I feel like I've been retired in some way, like I really thoroughly enjoy what I do. My goal, when I set out as an entrepreneur, I wasn't like, I'm going to make so much money. I was like, I found the thing that will make the world a better place.

15:33And I know that I will be able to support myself because brands who do make millions of dollars, billions of dollars, whatever, they will want to support me in that mission. How many employees do you have? What does your business sort of look like in terms of scale? So I have basically a team of people that support me. No one who's full-time, but I have a management team, I have literary agents, I have assistants, I have social media managers. And so it fluctuates a little bit, but that's the current setup. and I couldn't do it without them because it is a lot of work. Even though it's amazing work, it's a lot of work.

16:14How many hours a week are you working? I mean, I work seven days a week all day. That's the jewel. I wouldn't say it's a trade-off. It's a privilege to get to do what I get to do, but it requires constant maintenance. And just to say, being an influencer can be a real grind. You have to be posting constantly. And for some, the pressure of putting their lives in front of tens of thousands of people and the judgment that can come with that can really take a toll on their mental health. There was a Harvard study from late last year that found higher rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among digital creators compared to the general population.

16:51In terms of the job itself, is there a lot of pressure to be a content creator, essentially? Yes, it can be a lot of pressure, but that pressure is a privilege. and you learn to have fun with it and get better at it and enjoy it. And it's worth it because you sort of discover new parts of yourself and new ways to, like I said, make the world a better place. How often do people say no when you ask to photograph their dog? I would say people say no one out of ten times. But you don't get to see that because they said no. Did you have to learn how to deal with rejection better because of that? Yes.

17:32It doesn't feel good. to be rejected, but it also is humbling in a good way because, like I said, it keeps me humble. I would say that I get recognized all the time now. People say, oh, I love your work. And you know what people say, which is not to sound narcissistic, but people say, I love you. And I know that they don't mean that they love me. I know they mean that I love what you're doing. But it's got to feel pretty good. It's, of course. It's a, what a great, what a lovely thing to say. Uh-huh. And that's inspiration for me to keep doing what I do and that I'm making a difference in the world.

18:09What percentage of your time are you spending doing the actual creative work versus everything else that goes on behind the scenes? That's a good question. I would say a third of the time I'm doing creative work. Sometimes half the time, but that's my favorite part of it. you know, as you would imagine, is walking around like we are today. This is literally a walk in the park. And creating my artwork and then going back and uploading it and editing pictures and creating little narratives. Like, that's pretty fun. And then a lot of it is figuring out the business side of things, like how to support continuing to do that.

18:51So you said that when you were a kid, you know, 9, 10 or whatever, taking photos of dogs, and you're like, oh, no, this is not a job. Yeah. What do you think that your childhood self would think of what you've done with your career? I think my childhood self would be really happy and impressed and grateful that you did something that took some chutzpah, like some leap of faith. Because a lot of people will, you know, I was sort of lucky to have been let go from my job. Because if I hadn't, then I probably would have stayed in that path. you know you always take the path of least resistance and so I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to try something back in 2013 and I had a good feeling about it I figured it out luckily like pretty quickly that I this would be a thing and I could support myself great anything else you want to add thank you for loving your dogs my goal is to deepen people's appreciation for their dogs because dogs make our lives better.

19:55And so we should make their lives better. When you're around a dog, everything else goes away. They bring you into this present moment. And we need more of that nowadays.

20:12Work Mode is a series from The Journal, a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal. This episode was produced by Enrique Perez de la Rosa and edited by Catherine Brewer and Laura Morris. I'm Ryan Knudsen. Special thanks to Picasso for being a good boy during this interview. If you want to see a picture of him, you can check out my Instagram, at Ryan Knudsen, where you'll also find a fun video of me and Elias playing the World Cup of Dogs. We'll be back next Sunday with our next episode in the series. Until then, have an amazing week. I hope it's not too rough on you.

21:13We'll see you next time.

21:22Learn more at Farmers.com Underwritten by Farmers Truck or Fire Insurance Exchanges or Affiliate Products not available in every state