Welcome to our IZEA interview series with influencers and marketers of all niches to highlight their journeys, share their insights, and inspire! Today we are talking all about influencing with Alex.
Meet Alex, creator of the popular international blog EatPlayPixels. Alex is an influencer, voice-over artist, foodie, animal lover, photographer, and travel enthusiast. He currently serves as the Head of Community at Tastebase, a brand created by passionate food lovers. He sells T-shirts featuring humorous, food-related quotes and puns on his website.
Can you start by telling us who you are and what you do?
“I am Alex Shebar. I run Alex Shebar on Instagram, @AlexShebar on TikTok, and the website EatPlayPixels.com, where we do the best things to eat, see and do in New York and all around the world.”
“I’m a lifestyle influencer. I like showing off things that you can actually get involved with. Many influencer or content creator accounts are about creating FOMO where it’s like, “Oh, look at this trip that you can’t go on. Or look at this behind the scenes you can’t do.” That is not me. Mine is all about really cool street art you can check out or exhibits that are open, or food you can eat. I want you to, like, want to do things when you check out my account.”
When did you start your blog?
“I started my blog when I lived in London because I was invited to London’s first naked restaurant. Yep. That was a thing. You were put into these individual pods separated by bamboo, and then all the food was vegetarian, and it was done in this kinda sauna-like atmosphere. So they gave you a robe, but if you wanted, you could eat in the buff in this thing. And I was like, that’s funny. And it didn’t make a lot of sense to cover it visually or through Twitter. So I’m like, all right, I’m going to start a blog. And I did. And then it’s just kind of grown from there.”
How long did you live in London?
“I lived in London for five years. I met my wife there and everything.”
Wow. Were you there for work?
“I was a former community director for Yelp, but I’ve lived all over. I lived in London, Chicago, Austin, Cincinnati, and now New York. I have been kind of a traveler.”
So would you say you focus mostly on food content?
“It’s lifestyle. It’s a little bit of everything. It’s really cool street art, it’s delicious foods, it’s new exhibits. It’s stuff I see in my daily life.”
“I love checking out new restaurants. We have a company called NYC Social Club. So when new restaurants open, we actually run events with local content creators to encourage people to check them out. So that’s been really fun to do, too.”
Can you tell me what TasteBase is?
“Sure. So this is another project I’m working on. Tastebase is a startup we’re launching. There is a gap in the market for snacks.
“So, I love snacks. Many people love snacks. Do you love snacks?”
I love snacks.
“Here’s the issue with snacks. It’s really hard to find new snacks. Now you can walk in the groceries and you’ll find your classics. You’ll find your Nabiscos, your Oreos, your Doritos, et cetera, but if you actually wanna get into interesting snacks, there’s not a great place to find them. Maybe you’ll find them in the grocery. Maybe, maybe you’ll find them on Instagram. But there are 22,000 snacks that launch every single year. And many of them are owned by minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses and they just don’t get attention.
“So we have launched Tastebase, where on one side you have snack creators who are putting their products up on Tastebase. And the other side, you have snack lovers like yourself who actually wanna check these things out. So it’s this beautiful gap in the market that connects these two people who actually wanna be connected.”
Nice. Are you incorporating more video into your content lately?
“Sure. You have to. Video is the next wave. That’s why TikTok is growing so fast. Everybody wants video. I love my blog, but blogs are not the thing anymore. Long-form content is really hard to both get people interested in and to get brands excited about.
“And I’m not saying, like, blogs are dead. They just don’t have the attention that other things do. So you have to pivot into what is interesting right now. And what’s interesting is video.”
What would you say is your favorite social media platform right now?
“That’s a great question. So I love Instagram and I will always love Instagram just because I love seeing a visual diary of people’s lives.”
“The most interesting platform is TikTok. One, the content that’s coming out of TikTok is the most creative. It’s more creative than YouTube. It’s more creative than Instagram. People are trying really clever things with really short-form videos. And that’s really cool. Two, it’s where the brands are going. So it’s much easier to get attention on TikTok. It’s much easier to go viral on TikTok and it’s much easier to connect with brands on TikTok. So while I still love Instagram and Instagram is my home, I’m spending progressively more time on TikTok just because that’s where it seems like things are going.”
Do you have any tips for aspiring lifestyle influencers or influencers in general?
“Yeah. You know, find your niche. So the issue with any sort of aspiring content creator is they’ve seen a lot of inspiration of things they really like. ‘Alright, I’m gonna do that.’ And then they do that and they copy it almost exactly.… And then they’re like, ‘Well I’m not growing.’
“And you’re like, ‘Well, yeah, because you are doing exactly the same thing.’I’m not saying don’t cut your teeth in it, especially stuff that works or you can do easily or you can replicate, but then build off that to find your own niche.”
“So that’s my biggest tip: build your niche based off your interests and then find something really specific that you think you can do well. And then put it out there.”
“What I will also say is put out a lot of content. You know, the death of content creation is perfection. If you are waiting for something that’s great and it takes you forever to edit it, and it’s so frustrating to get it out there, and the next day you wake up and you’re like, ‘My God, this took me eight hours yesterday. I can’t do it again.’ Don’t do that.”
“It is so much better to have a lot of really good things instead of waiting for one great thing. Eventually, you’ll build it and it’ll become easier. And then things will just become great. But don’t wait in the beginning for things to be absolutely perfect. Just, like, try stuff, please.”
I like that. What about tips for working with brands? Anything you’ve learned?
“Anything that feels like a scam probably is. Just know this right off the bat: trust your gut. There are a lot of people trying to take advantage. Don’t trust anything that feels bad. Don’t work with any brand that makes you pay for something.”
“You are doing work, value yourself. Make sure that you are valued at what you’re worth. There are brands out there that would definitely work with you.”
“You just have to email them, find the marketing manager, find the influencer manager, the content creation manager, send them a message and give them a reason to wanna work with you.”
“So make that introduction as easy as possible for them actually to wanna work with you and they will work with you. That’s really what it comes down to.”
Do you have anything else you want to share?
“I didn’t start out (influencing) meaning this to be a thing. Like I started out just taking photos and posting them because I thought these are cool, and then it grew authentically. So I guess the one big tip I have is, if you’re gonna do this, if you’re gonna kinda get into this world, don’t do it for fame or for money. If that happens authentically, great. So find your niche, find what brings you joy, and then do that. And then everything else will come.”
Marette Flora is IZEA’s Content Manager. She writes and edits content about influencer marketing and all the latest #TeamIZEA happenings. When she is not at work, she can be found writing her personal blog, crafting personalized gifts or exploring Chicago where she lives with her husband, two daughters, dog and plants.
