Diana Adams

3 Reasons I Love Working with TechMode (an Influencer’s Perspective)

I’m a Twitter addict. Sometimes I feel like I need to join a support group to talk about my addiction. “Hi, my name is Diana Adams and I’m a tech influencer.”

I never set out to become an influencer (I suppose some people set a goal to do that). Truth is, I don’t even really like the word “influencer.” I like tech. More accurately, I like tech A LOT. I’ve worked in emerging technologies for over 20 years.

When I got on Twitter over a decade ago, I didn’t know what to tweet, so I tweeted what I love, which is tech. Back then, the word “influencer” wasn’t in the dictionary. Now, 182,000 tweets later, I’m a tech influencer.

I remember the first time I got an email from a brand asking me to do some influencer work. It was 2013. That large tech company invited me to join their brand new influencer program. I jumped at the chance to see some of the new technologies they were developing.

Fast forward 6 more years, and I’ve done influencer work for about a dozen large tech companies, along with a handful of tech startups. Oh, and there was that time when I was hired to be a Star Wars influencer (I’m the biggest Star Wars fan ever, but I’ll save that story for another blog post).

I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the influencer world. Sometimes when I see tweets that question specific brands and their influencer situations (not mentioning any names here), I think, “Oh, I know exactly what happened. I was there.”

Because of my influencer status, I’ve been blessed to travel the world and meet the most interesting people. I’ve mingled in cultures that I’d not be able to experience otherwise.

I’ve also been asked to do things that have questioned my ethics. I’m older and wiser now than when I started this influencer thing. These days, I’m very particular about who I’ll work with, and for good reason. 

In this post, I’d like to share 3 reasons why I love working with TechMode.

3 Reasons I Love Working with TechMode

Who is TechMode? According to their website, TechMode is a marketing agency with a twist. Their focus is on creating strategies that reach, educate, and engage with the app developers, product managers, software engineers, and other technology professionals.

The company was founded by Beverley Eve and Chelsea Larson-Andrews. 

1. I love working with TechMode because they respect their influencers

When I received that first email from Beverley asking if I’d be interested in doing some influencer work for one of their tech clients, Ericsson, I was hesitant. You know the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

She was very respectful from the beginning. She explained that TechMode was interested in forming a partnership with me. She was gracious and kind. It’s been almost 2 years since then, and Beverley is just as wonderful today as she was back then.

Ask any influencer, and they’ll tell you that many brands want to approve every piece of content before you post it — or even worse, they want to write the content. They don’t understand that by micromanaging the process, they are hurting their own campaign. TechMode understands this.

By giving their influencers 100% creative control over their content, the campaigns are much more successful.

Beverley and Chelsea are successful women, and they love to support other women to reach their own success. They do this through the kindness they show and the trust they have in their influencers. They don’t micromanage their team or have unrealistic expectations. It’s rare to find that kind of respect in the influencer world.

2. I love working with TechMode because they make it fun for their influencers

TechMode’s Beverley and Chelsea are hilarious. They go out of their way to make it fun for their influencers. Whether it’s at a live event or in the WhatsApp group, we are all constantly joking and laughing. 

It’s such a breath of fresh air to work with people who don’t take themselves so seriously. None of their requests are urgent or stressful. It’s a fun, relaxing, enjoyable work environment. I always miss our team between campaigns.

The pic below is from #MWC19 in Barcelona. When I realized we were all sitting there tweeting to each other but not talking, I started laughing and snapped this pic. This is Beverley and Chelsea from TechMode along with Treasa and Janina from Ericsson.

3. I love working with TechMode because they pay their influencers well, and on time

I know, I know… as an influencer, I’m not supposed to talk about money. For some reason, many brands think we are supposed to work for free otherwise it’s not authentic. I never really understood that logic.

If I don’t like a brand, it doesn’t matter if they want to pay me, I won’t promote them. Every brand I work with is a reflection of my personal brand, and I take that seriously. If it’s a brand I like, and they approach me about working on a campaign, then obviously I feel as though I should be paid.

I’ve had brands ask me to work for a t-shirt, food, a phone, a phone charger, a decal and other silly things. It’s always a buzzkill to inform them that I don’t barter for goods. I value my work, my time and myself. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are many aspiring influencers who will work for free. Just the exposure alone is payment enough. When a brand takes that route though, they sacrifice influence and experience. My guess is that we all started out working for free though. I know I did. But after a few years, it gets old (and expensive).

As Chelsea from TechMode so brilliantly pointed out to me, “With the work-for-free model, it’s impossible to set expectations and deliverables.” I couldn’t agree more.

I love Beverley and Chelsea dearly, and the fact that they pay their influencers well is the icing on the cake. I want to go above and beyond for them on every campaign.

Their attitude about everyone being paid fairly for their contribution (and providing a written agreement with the specific deliverables and payment schedule) is something I appreciate very much. They operate on an elite level of professionalism.

Final Thoughts

Last week, Beverley asked me if I’d consider writing a testimonial for the new TechMode website. She asked for “only a few sentences, and only when I have time.” The result of that request is this blog post. Sorry ladies, I know this is longer than a few sentences!

You may not have heard of TechMode before today, but in a couple years from now, they’ll be well-known in the influencer community. I have no doubt about that.

In 2019, it’s no longer a question of whether or not a tech brand will use influencers. Instead, it’s a question of how much money they’ll set aside in their budgets for an influencer marketing campaign.

TechMode works with the most influential influencers in the tech space because of the reasons I listed above (and more). They create win-win campaigns for their influencers and their clients.

Thank you for all the good memories TechMode. I look forward to many more! ❤️