Influencer Session with Jonny Comparelli

Socially Powerful interviewed Jonny Comparelli (@jcomparel) who is an entrepreneur and the founder of Qriket LIVE, a mobile game show that provides users with a chance to win cash prizes. His app has grown to over 2 million users, and his live show attracts 450K monthly viewers. Jonny’s social media journey started as a way to connect with fans by sharing behind the scenes content and the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. He engages with his online community regularly on his favourite social media platform, Instagram. Jonny believes in building a following by staying authentic, focusing on the fans, and sharing the entrepreneurial journey.

Jonny Comparelli @jcomparel

We caught up with Jonny Comparelli for the next Influencer feature on the Socially Powerful Blog! Jonny is a 26 year old entrepreneur and has an awesome story! Check it out below and be sure to follow him on his social channels, linked at the bottom of this article.

Tell us about you, your background and how you came to start on social media?

What’s groovy! My name is Jonny Comparelli, I’m 26 years old and am the founder of “Qriket LIVE” the first live game show anyone can be a contestant of using their smartphone or tablet to win cash prizes every day!

As our app and live show became more popular, I felt strongly about being a founder intimately connected to my fan base and began to interact with my viewers beyond the show on Social Media and that’s how it all started!

What does Social Media mean for you?

Social Media has always been about engaging with the fans of my live show beyond the shows themselves. Truly connecting with my viewer base and building an inclusive community has always been a big part of what I do – especially because this is rare in the technology industry.

It was my goal from the beginning to not to be another “brand behind a logo”, but rather intimately share the work our team does behind the scenes, entertain our viewers with the fun projects we do – and ultimately share a genuine look into my life using social.  I share the authentic experience of being an entrepreneur, laugh off the bad days, and soak in the good ones and my fans have come on the journey with me the whole way!

What social channel have you grown your following on?

My app Qriket now has over 2M users so far and our live show has over 450K live viewers per month.

The social channel I like to use most is, Instagram (http://instagram.com/jcomparel)

But I also use Snapchat (@Jcomparel) and twitter on a daily basis as well! (http://twitter.com/jcomparel)

When did you first start seeing you were building a following?

I think many people are under the impression that followers and social status arise overnight. But truthfully, while I beginning to build my following one by one and as I continue to do so, I try to be present and engage directly with my fan base constantly – it is about being social after all J No success I’ve ever found has come from making it about me.

It’s always been about the fans and giving them a place where they can come to brighten their day, be entertained and be a part of the journey of building our passion – which just so happens to be something they love to interact with as well!

How would you say you’re different to other influencers in your space? What do you look for that others don’t?

I would say what makes me different is that I’m an influencer as a result of doing something influential.

On a daily basis I’m managing a team of 25 people, running a company and also documenting and sharing the experience of being a young entrepreneur – which more often than not is more stressful than it seems. In fact, interacting with my fan base on social media has been therapeutic at times.

Social has pulled me into a positive place on the hard and stressful days and has also helped me be truly grateful when times are good.  It’s always been about our fans, our family – and regardless of what kind of day it is, pulling out a smile and being a source of inspiration for everyone participating.

Can you give any advice to people looking to start their own Instagram, YouTube etc? How can they stand out from the crowd?

I’m still learning and growing every day so this is always a tough question! So far, I’ve learned that simply beginning and taking the first steps in the direction in which you’d hope to see you idea evolve is all it takes to bring a new one to life. That being said, being realistic with those ideas is also important. A brilliant idea isn’t always a “Eureka!” moment, but rather comes from building and improving your simple ideas too!

Where can people follow you?

You can find me here:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/jcomparel

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jcomparel

Snapchat: @jcomparel