Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld, alias @FollowDorian, shares his daily life as an entrepreneur on social networks
” For me it is a way to spread to as many people as possible what I learn every day. “. Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld is a content creator in social networks. Every day, he shares his passion for entrepreneurship with his community through practical advice. Launched in 2020 in full containment, his FollowDorian account is now followed by nearly a million subscribers (800,000 on TikTok, 128,000 on Instagram). Within months, Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld built an audience and turned this passion into a profitable business.” Content creation is reverse entrepreneurship. By sharing your passion, it will interest people and create a community. From the moment your content is seen and heard, brands will come to you to form partnerships“, assures the entrepreneur.
From entrepreneur to content creator in social networks
From an early age, Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld already had the soul of an entrepreneur. ” At the age of five, I gathered everyone on the land where my parents’ house was being built to discuss things that I then sold to them.“, he remembers. A few years later, while he was a student in England, he and a friend who loved sports created a questionnaire for athletes to design a tailored food supplement. “It was very artisanal, it only lasted six months, but it allowed me to realize that by working hard on something that drives you, you are overflowing with energy.“said the entrepreneur, who admitted that it’s natural to get bored easily.
Dorian then started a master’s degree at HEC where he distinguished himself by developing an entrepreneurial project that replaced the internship initially requested by the establishment. “All my friends went into finance or consulting with large groups. I want to prove that other options are possible to succeed“. Then he relaunched his career as an entrepreneur by working on a concept of booking sports lessons at low prices in rooms that did not fill all their spaces at the last minute. “In a week we already have 1,000 registered. It happened very quickly, we have about twenty partner brands. This is the first time we’ve made money with an idea“.
Three weeks after launching his business, the dream of a successful business project turned into a nightmare. “On March 15, 2020, the President of the Republic announced the confinement and closure of sports halls.“recalls the content creator. Together with his partner, they tried to pivot to a digital offer. “We pulled our hair out to keep up the activity, but eventually we had to stop everything. It was very difficult“. Locked in his home, he decided to share his experience on social networks. “I started posting videos on TikTok to show what I learned from that failure. I also shared what I learned at HEC, on entrepreneurship“. Very quickly, his “facing the camera” content and his practical advice attracted the most people and marked his debut as a creator in social networks.
“A content creator is a freelancer who thrives”
Four months later, a brand contacted “FollowDorian” to establish a partnership and asked for its prices. “I had no idea, I tried to bluffhe joked. The first contact with a company shows him that it is possible to monetize his content on social networks. He then opened a self-employed status. “A content creator is a freelancer who thrives. A freelancer devotes his time to working with a minority of clients. By creating content on the internet, it is possible to reach more people. That is why they are more and more to be launched on social networks“.
Due to his activity, Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld quickly meets his needs every month, even though he forgot to ask for Acre (help for business creators and buyers) when he created his status. “This administration cost me about 15,000 euros“, he confesses. A sum that represents, for the businessman, the equivalent of one month’s turnover.
The price of partnership with an Internet creator varies according to its audience, its statistical performance at that time and other criteria. For example, Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld estimates an Instagram story at around 1,000 euros, while a wider partnership through sponsored videos goes for around 10,000 euros. “But that is done on a case by case basis. If I’m working at a startup that’s just launched, I can work for free because I love the product“.
By placing its content and partnering with brands, “FollowDorian” also puts its reputation at stake.It requires a lot of responsibility. Some companies whose ethics are questionable sometimes come by offering hallucinating amounts.“. If Dorian Dufour-Vorfeld had never succumbed to siren songs, he would have been exposed to nasty comments.”I happened to say something stupid in the video and received immediate backlash. It’s so violent, you have to be strong not to explode. We were never ready for it“.
Today, through its various social networks, the content creator accumulates between 3 and 15 million impressions per month. His business continues to grow. In recent months, he has gone from autoentrepreneur status to a simplified one-person joint-stock company (Sasu). “I no longer work alone. I started to delegate part of the work, especially for publishing content and partnering with brands“. The entrepreneur, who sees content creation as a new model of entrepreneurship, now wants to offer training, based on his experience to allow anyone to get 1 million views in 30 days and why not, be an entrepreneur in their turn.”The idea is not to push people to leave everything overnight. By devoting an hour a day to creating content around a passion, it is possible to bring a community together and perhaps eventually generate income.“.
