Take away food:
Finding the right growth rate – Ryan Peters very quickly collected millions of views on TikTok. However, he developed his @peterspasta channel more slowly than some would suggest due to the idea of using sustainable pacing and branding rather than chasing viral moments.
Turn content creation into a business – Ryan Peters had 300,000 TikTok followers and a full-time job. While helping take care of his newborn at home, and now 1 million followers, he continued to create popular social media content. Then he got an idea. He could have time with his family and generate income at the same time by becoming a full-time content creator.
It is important to understand the platforms for creators – The creator economy has bridged the gap between brands and community. However, for Ryan Peters, it’s incredibly important that the brands approaching him understand his platform and creativity.
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It’s not easy to go viral on social media. It’s definitely hard to do this within your first few posts. But for Chef Ryan Petersthe founder of Peter’s pastawhich provides pasta service and social media advice, that was indeed the case.
Now, with over 3 million TikTok followers in tow, Ryan Peters has transitioned from chef to full-time content creator.
“By the end of October (2020) I went from 300,000 followers to one million.” Ryan Peters tells Restaurant influencers podcast host Shawn P. Walchef of CaliBBQ Media. “My son was born in November 2020. I decided to take a month off from the restaurant where I was the chef…I could still create content at home.”
It was at that time that the star of @PetersPasta came to an important realization. “I can be home with my family,[and]still make a living.”
That realization prompted Ryan Peters to quit his day job and focus on building Peters Pasta. With no real blueprint, Peters relied on classic work ethic and cold calls to generate interest. That meant doing guerrilla research, including searching LinkedIn profiles to find companies to partner with.
Despite his admirable outreach efforts, the return on that time investment was minimal.
“A lot of times they said, no. Or it wasn’t going anywhere… But for every 1 in 100 I did, there was usually a real conversation to be had, and most of the time it turned into something.” Peters explains.
As he continued to build the brand online, Ryan Peters consistently released content. While success – in terms of views and impressions on TikTok – came early and often, he didn’t succumb to the fleeting excitement of chasing viral moments.
“I’m grateful for that phase of my brand because that built me up very, very quickly. But I’ve sort of developed it since then,” he said of his social media strategy. “There is still so much I can do with my account because I have been slow with its evolution.
“In the short term that might have been a setback because I didn’t capitalize in the beginning, but I think in the long run it now gives me the opportunity to keep growing.”
Speed and strategic partnerships have been crucial to the meteoric rise of his brand. He has created a unique space within the creator economy that allows him to collaborate with partners, including teams from all major sports leagues in the United States.
At this rate, Peters Pasta is on its way to becoming a household name. Ryan Peters sets the digital pace Restaurant influencers follow.
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