Last Updated on May 14, 2021
Leah Jackson is a mom and YouTube product reviewer. In fact, Leah’s reviews have been featured on the Emmy Award-Winning TV show The Doctors and BuzzFeed. Leah’s interests include health and beauty and traveling, to name a few. According to Leah, she loves to try new products, but she doesn’t like junk. Visit Leah’s YouTube channel where you can check out her video reviews and more!
When did you decide that influencer marketing was a viable revenue stream that you wanted to get involved in?
I actually did a lot of influencer marketing back in the early 2000’s before all the social media stuff. I was like I did the act stuff. I actually had my own agency and I met with – I did a lot of Fortune 500 companies I was a young college girl then, you know, single.
But then – so a few years ago I was kind of get a stay at home mom and I was reviewing products and I was like this is kind of fun, I kind of miss doing this so I did a video on YouTube and that video went viral and it just kind of went from there. I guess that was 2 years ago, [in] 2016.
Have you had the chance to collaborate with any Intellifluence brands? If so, what have been some of your favorite products?
Oh yes Ghostbed I’ve gotten now my second collaboration with them. I did the sheets and those were amazing. Those sheets were like- I went camping and I was like I’m going to ruin this pillow case but I have to take it it’s so comfortable so I took the pillow case. And then I actually just signed up yesterday for Ghostbed to do a pillow so I’m really excited. They’ve been a great brand to work with.
What is the weirdest request you have received from a brand?
I had an email probably about a year ago. A guy was like what is your rate for videos and so I wrote him back and then I was like well what do you want me to do. He wanted me to just do some videos but he wouldn’t tell me what the product was so I’m not really sure where that was going. But he claimed to be some dude in California, I’m pretty sure it was porn.
In your journey to weed out the junk and provide quality product reviews, you’ve removed a mole and healed an autoimmune disorder naturally… Can you tell us more about those experiences?
So let’s talk about the mole thing because that’s like my high esteem video and I was on the Doctors TV show for that mole review they contacted me out of the blue. I just kept seeing it advertised on Facebook and I was like I have some moles let’s review this thing, what could go wrong. And then I get this product that I’m probably going to scar myself, I just did. I was like okay well maybe I’ll film this live because I usually do a review after I’ve tried the product but I was like I’ll film this live. I didn’t see any other videos on YouTube about so I didn’t know how to use it so I filmed it and that has been my most popular video.
And then with the autoimmune stuff that took me several years to heal all that but with the products people were actually emailing me “do you want to try this product or this supplement” and I’m very thorough. I look look through – I want to know like your testing and how if you have additives or whatever in the thing so that was a lot of research there just looking at the product. And to tell you the truth with the autoimmune stuff and supplements I don’t try a whole lot of stuff because I’m super picky about what I try or review.
Have you ever received a product that was very poor in quality or you didn’t like it at all? If so, what do you do in that situation?
In that situation I mean I do honest reviews so I tell them if I’m not going to like the product I will highlight some of the things I did like about the product but in the end I will tell you honestly, I try to keep things honest on my channel, that I do not – I just do not care for your product, it didn’t work for me, [and[ it just wasn’t my thing. I actually have another video like that they didn’t send me the product but tt was something that I tried that just didn’t really work out for me
As someone who has had their reviews featured on a national show, what advice can you give aspiring product reviewers when it comes to crafting a high quality, informative review?
Sure. What I’ve seen going with some of the marketing is sometimes people are afraid to do honest reviews. I think you need to – well first you need to try your product and know what you’re trying and know the background of the company that you are working for and your product but as far as they – you need to stay of tract and be honest in your reviews and not just say “oh this is great because they’re collaborating with me or they’re sponsoring my video.” And as far as new people I always try to look for up and coming products that are coming out, or I see a lot of ads for it on Instagram or social media or wherever and so sometimes I reach out to them and ask ifg they would like to collaborate. That’s like my big secret is that’s how I get all the views is it’s always a product they do a ton of marketing on social media and I just go do a video. I order it myself or they send it to me and then I do a review on it
Where do you see influencer marketing headed in the next five years or so?
Definitely more video. I just think everybody’s moving away from cable, television, and stuff like that and everybody wants to know how this product works. There’s just a lot of junk out there, honestly. And with a ton of products coming out everywhere people want to see the video of product in action not by the company themselves [but] real people that are really using the product. So I think more video and I kniw this could be totally wrong but somebody told me YouTube wasn’t open yet, I don’t know if that’s the right term, in some of the countries overseas so when they do they expect more expansive of the videos and more viewership.
Do you run Junk Free Momma completely by yourself or do you have a team of people who help you?
Yeah it’s all me, it’s just me. And I try – on my videos I don’t do a lot of editing cause I want them to see me in my element honestly reviewing it. And I always have a lot of quirks, I always spill something, or do something funny but people like that. I keep saying should I make these more professional or like edit them more or whatever but everybody is like no we like it just the way it is.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
