How I Got Scammed in a “Dream” Influencer Partnership

Two nights ago, I was doom-scrolling TikTok at like 1 a.m., the blue light burning my eyes, when my phone buzzed with a fresh notification from my Shopify dashboard.

Another sale. My heart did that little flip it always does—even after ten-plus years of hustling in business, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

I started this whole thing back in uni when everyone was chasing internships at big agencies. Me? I was that annoying friend posting “day in the life” Reels of late-night Canva designs and cold DMs to small brands.

My first side hustle was a digital marketing service—running Instagram ads for local boutiques. I charged ₦50k per campaign, mostly because I had no clue what the market rate was. Spoiler: I undercharged like crazy and burned out in six months.

But I learned fast. The real money wasn’t in one-off gigs; it was in building systems. Recurring clients. Email funnels that ran while I slept. Affiliate marketing links tucked into value-packed Threads posts.

I scaled from that broke student vibe to a six-figure online business by niching down hard: helping Gen Z creators turn their TikTok followings into actual passive income streams through content marketing and simple e-commerce dropshipping setups.

Fast-forward to now. My agency, “VibeVault Digital,” runs SEO-optimized blogs, TikTok ad funnels, and social media marketing packages for creators who want to go from 10k followers to selling digital products like Notion templates and Canva packs.

I tell my clients the same thing I wish someone told 20-year-old me: “Stop chasing virality. Chase search engine optimization and long-tail keywords that people actually Google at 2 a.m. when they’re desperate.”

Last week was peak chaos. I had three client launches dropping at once: a girl’s online course on “How to Start a Side Hustle in 2026 Without Quitting Your 9-5,” a guy’s e-commerce store selling custom phone grips with meme designs, and my own new mini-product—a $27 “Gen Z Entrepreneur Starter Kit” PDF bundle with swipe files, ad templates, and my unfiltered mistakes list.

I was in my element. Laptop on the bed, AirPods blasting lo-fi, DMs pinging like crazy.

My best client, Ada, texted me at midnight:

“Aunty Maamie, the ads are converting at 4.2% but the cart abandonment is killing me What do I do?”

I typed back quick: “Babe, classic. Add urgency. Throw in a countdown timer on the checkout page and a pop-up saying ‘Only 7 left at this price.’ Test it for 24 hours. Also, retarget those abandoners with a video ad of you unboxing the product—user-generated content vibes but you star in it. Trust.”

She replied with fire emojis and “You’re a wizard fr.”

By morning, her revenue jumped 38%. Small wins like that keep me going.

But here’s where the story flips—and it still stings to type it.

I got cocky. Real cocky.

I’d been eyeing this big opportunity: partnering with a huge influencer marketing platform that promised to white-label my services and pay me a fat recurring cut.

They had 2 million users, mostly Gen Z creators looking for digital marketing help. I pitched them hard, customized a deck with all my SEO case studies, conversion rate screenshots, even a ROI calculator I built in Notion.

They loved it. We signed. I told my inner circle, posted cryptic Stories like “Big moves loading… #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth”

First month was fire. $18k in passive-ish revenue. I upgraded my WiFi, bought that standing desk I’d been eyeing, even treated myself to new sneakers.

Then the second month hit.

They ghosted payments. Radio silence on Slack. Turns out their funding round tanked—some investor pulled out over “market volatility.” They laid off half the team overnight and quietly sunset the partner program. No notice. No final payout. Just… gone.

I stared at my bank app like it was lying. Bills were due. I’d already told two clients I was expanding the team and could take on bigger retainers. I had to eat my words and my pride.

I sat on my floor that night—lights off, just the glow from my phone—crying ugly tears. Not just about the money. About how stupid I felt for trusting so hard, for thinking I’d “made it.” After a decade of grinding, dodging scams, and rebuilding after bad clients, I still fell for the shiny “passive income” trap.

I called my mentor, Uncle Tunde, the guy who’s been in digital marketing since Google was just a search bar.

“Maamie,” he said, voice calm like always, “this is the game. You win some, you lose some bigger. But the real loss is if you quit now. Dust yourself. Double down on what you control: your audience, your email list, your own products.”

I wiped my face. “But I look like a clown. I hyped this partnership everywhere.”

“Then own it,” he said. “Turn the L into content. Gen Z loves realness. Post the story. Teach what you learned. You’ll get more respect than if you pretended everything was perfect.”

So I did.

I went live on TikTok the next evening. Messy bun, no filter, just me in my room.

“Guys… I just lost five figures on a partnership that evaporated. Yeah, it hurts. But here’s what I’m doing next: building slower, owning my traffic through SEO and content marketing, and never betting the farm on someone else’s platform again.”

Comments flooded in: “This is why I trust you,” “Real entrepreneur energy,” “Dropping a follow just for this honesty.”

Within 48 hours, my email list grew by 1,200 subscribers. Sales on my Gen Z Entrepreneur kit tripled. Two new clients DM’d saying, “I want to work with someone who’s been through the fire.”

The plot twist wasn’t the loss—it was the comeback.

Now I’m back at square one… but wiser. Smarter. Hungrier. My business is mine again. No more white-label dreams. Just me, my laptop, real marketing strategies that compound, and a story that proves even after a decade, entrepreneurship still hits you with curveballs.

If you’re reading this and thinking about starting your own side hustle, digital marketing agency, or online business—do it. But protect your peace. Build your own audience. Own your keywords. And when the rug gets pulled? Get up, record the raw moment, and turn it into your next viral lesson.

Because in this game, the comeback is always louder than the setback.

What’s your biggest L-turned-W in business or marketing? Drop it below—I read every single one.