What does it take to build an audience of millions on social media? Photographer and ocean lover Jordy Wilson knows. By Frank Leggett
Jordy Wilson spent 18 months living in a van travelling the coast of Australia, enjoying the beaches and indulging his love of photography. He started posting his photos and
On TikTok, he has 8.1 million followers with more than 107 million likes. His Instagram page has 200,000 followers and he’s represented by a talent agency to help manage his success.
“Honestly, my following and engagement blows me away every day,” says Wilson. “I just stumbled across this perfect idea; get out in the water and capture the beauty of the ocean that’s rarely seen. It’s wild that I’m doing my own thing and so many people love it. It’s really amazing.”
Wilson uses his skills as a photographer and videographer to capture the natural places he loves—and one of the places he loves best is the ocean. There’s a quiet beauty to his work that immediately makes you want to merge into the image. He films ocean waves in slow motion, turning them into sinuous and powerful experiences that engulf the viewer. Seals, dolphins and other marine life often make an appearance in his work. There’s no point in denying it, Jordy Wilson is an artist.
“All I’m attempting to do is capture the beauty of the world and turn it into slow motion art,” says Wilson. “I love it when people react positively.”
Despite all his success, Wilson doesn’t consider himself an influencer. “The only thing I want to influence is for people to get outside and see the wonders of nature,” he says.
Wilson is very different from other dedicated influencers who will go to any lengths to increase their popularity. Many join all the platforms, analyse their audience and engagement, and actively work towards increasing numbers across the board.
“I’m just doing my own thing and feel very grateful when people share and comment on my work,” says Wilson. “A lot of people go about these things because they think they want to do it, not that they actually want to do it. Someone once said, ‘Do what you love and the money will follow’. I think that’s very true.”
Being in the ocean every day, Wilson is passionate about a few particular causes. He’s an advocate of Take 3 For The Sea, a global movement that asks you to take three pieces of rubbish and put them in a bin every time you leave the beach. The other cause close to Jordy's heart is 4ocean, a group that sells bracelets to raise money to remove rubbish from the oceans. Wilson also partners with businesses on his lnstagram and TikTok pages. "I'm very picky about who I work with," he says. "I don't accept every partnership that's offered. I want to promote companies that are making a change and who give back to the earth and the community." A recent partnership helped promote Glad To Be Green 50% Ocean Bound Plastic R2cycled Bags. "Glad brought out this product that's made from 50 per cent ocean-bound plastic," says Jordy. "I'm always happy to promote more sustainable products, especially if it helps our oceans."
All businesses can benefit from an engaged and growing community on social media. Many would love to have the reach of Jordy Wilson. "From my experience, it's hard to
about relationships. The engagement with individuals or small businesses is better because they actively reach out and want people to connect with them.
They're approachable and responsive. But it's often difficult to feel like you're part of the community of a big company. I'm all about open arms. I actively want to engage with my community." Wilson's popularity has led to him being represented
by talent agency, Neural le. It handles all his business opportunities, partnership enquiries, interview requests, and a large part of his email correspondence. The relationship has been very successful, freeing up Wilson to do the things he loves. "I don't like being solely reliant on technology and always having to worry about little things like emails," he says. "Being able to funnel the business side of what I do through one person at Neuralle takes the weight off my shoulders. It allows me to enjoy what I do instead of looking at it as work."
After years of living like a nomad in some of the most glorious parts of Australia, Wilson has put down temporary roots in Queensland with his partner. They plan to spend the next few years travelling to the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and then head overseas to Europe and South America. Wilson's goal at @outdoorkindaguy is to showcase an abundance of remarkable outdoor experiences. A question that's often asked of Wilson is how well off is he? There's plenty of online stories about influencers pulling in millions of dollars each month. "People see the numbers, the engagement, and what I'm doing, and they think I'm living in a mansion on a beach," says Wilson, laughing. "Right now, I'm working three days a week in a cafe down the road. It's really fun and I love it. It's a great way to be part of the community. Despite all my followers
and all this engagement, I feel like it would be almost impossible to completely drop everything."
Gaining more than eight million followers in two years is a huge achievement. Who knows what the next five years hold for Jordy Wilson? "I'm so overwhelmed and happy with what I've achieved so far, I really don't need to increase the numbers any further," he says. "But people keep liking the videos and choosing to follow me. I have a lot of travel planned but I also want to knuckle down and find a base camp in Australia. Then we would always have somewhere to come home."