*By Lauren Babbage*
It's a new variation on the strike-it-rich dream of the social media age: Quit your full-time job to get paid for creating viral social media posts ー for your pet.
Dogs, monkeys, and opossums are among the pet influencers taking over Instagram and cashing in big time for their masters.
"Payments are based on the following and the engagement," said Loni Edwards, the founder and managing partner of The Dog Agency. "The ones with millions of followers are commanding the $15,000 per post, and then the smaller influencers are more in the thousands."
It's not as easy as simply posting photos of your napping tabby or your dachshund wearing a diaper. If you want your pet to be insta-famous, Edwards recommends:
1. Decide on a solid brand.
2. Create quality content.
3. Post on social media consistently.
4. Engage your audience and build a following.
5. Write witty captions.
The social-media influencer endorsement deals aren't limited to pet-related brands. Recently, "human-facing brands" have started paying famous pets to help market brands such as Urban Decay, Budweiser, Mercedes Benz and more.
"We work with hotel groups, we work with cleaning products, movie studios, and tons of human-facing brands." Edwards said in an interview with Cheddar.
She added that pets can sometimes be more effective at social marketing than people. "The content tends to be more creative because its a pet doing a human thing," Edwards said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-your-dog-can-make-you-15-000).
If you have some older comic books stashed away in your attic, basement or closet, make sure to check their condition as they could be traded for serious cash. Cheddar News' Michelle Castillo at New Yor Comic Con spoke with Chris D'Lando, event manager with NYCC for Reedpop; Andy Mourat, co-founder and president of MetaZoo; and Julian Montoya, senior vice president of The Noble Collection, to get their thoughts.
Susan Akkad, senior vice president of innovation at Clinique, a finalist in the anti-aging category for the CEW Beauty Awards, joined Cheddar News to demonstrate some products to care for your skin as you age and how that is part of your overall healthcare.
Special prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking to recharge actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 fatal shooting on a Western movie set in New Mexico by presenting evidence to a grand jury.
They are playfully called the “forgotten five”: A handful of toys — the pogo stick, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, My Little Pony, PEZ dispensers, and Transformers — that regularly approach toybox royalty as finalists for the National Toy Hall of Fame, only to be tossed back on the pile.
Taylor Swift's concert tour has dominated the box office in recent days and it's also the top-grossing concert film of all time here in the U.S. But a conversation on social media raised questions about movie etiquette and videos shared show film audiences singing, shining their phone flashlights and dancing in the aisles.
