Insta-hit, the pooch on £500 a month
MANY boys of James Power’s age supplement their pocket money by taking on a newspaper round.
But the 15-year-old is no ordinary teenager, raking in £500 a month thanks to his photogenic golden labrador Marley.
The pup has become so popular on photo-sharing app Instagram that advertisers have been scrambling to reach his 19,000 followers.
Born in October, Marley has even featured on the pages of top brands such as Pedigree and Top Collar.
James, from Gorebridge, Midlothian, only opened an account on the app because friends complained they were sick of seeing his dog on their Facebook feeds.
The Newbattle High School pupil said he wanted a dog so badly he would lie to his classmates about having a pet before he was given Marley by a family friend. He added: ‘Now he’s my best friend.
‘The first month I hit 4,000 followers and since it began I’ve had 200 followers a day.
‘YouTube and Twitter have played a part in me getting more, and promotions have helped, paying £1 to get your photo seen by thousands of people.
‘I make about £500 a month from what I do, sometimes more.’
James added: ‘I approached some big brands asking if I could do a post of their products free of charge in order to get a shoutout. But the smaller brands offer to pay me, which is really nice.
‘I was approached by a brand who asked to sponsor me to get publicity. So we did it and I got thousands of dog treats for homeless dogs.’ James’s family is supportive of his venture, especially his grandmother Kathleen, 58, with whom he lives.
He said: ‘At first they said there was no point in me doing this. But now my gran loves it and my aunties want to take me to the beach to do photos all the time.’