How Santa Barbara’s Content Creators Make Money and Brand Deals on Social Media 

Parlaying Popularity into Sponsorships, Pop-Ups, and Sales

How Santa Barbara’s Online Creators Make Money and Brand Deals on Social Media

Parlaying Popularity into Sponsorships, Pop-Ups, and Sales

By Caitlin Kelley | September 16, 2021


Lime Soda: Barbara Martinez-Rios in a sponsored post for Olipop Soda. | Credit: Cher Martinez

The average Instagram post is worth a million binary digits. And sometimes that feels like the amount of figures influencers are making. But it’s not just the Addison Raes and Kylie Jenners of the world making a buck on the web. Accounts big and small have found ways to parlay their online reach into real-world success. Yes, there are the fabled sponsorships, where brands pay users to post #ads. But local entrepreneurs are also using social media as a means to bolster their sales through community building. We spoke to four content creators raised in Santa Barbara about how they transform follow counts into dollar signs. 

Vitakari, artist and owner of Vitawood studio

Followers: 49,000+ on TikTok, 17,000 on Instagram

S.B. Connection: Grew up in Santa Barbara, now lives in Los Angeles

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