About Influencer Backpack
Influencer Backpack is written and run by Paul "PK" Kendall, an independent entrepreneur based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Before building websites, Paul spent a decade in the newspaper business, then moved into screenwriting and TV format development. He has been a professional DJ in Southern Ontario since 1989, records music under the name Derk Swade, and founded Phillistine Records. Today he builds and runs a family of creator-focused sites — SMIRGITT, which rates and ranks creators on Instagram, TikTok and Threads; FreebieVegas, a sourced directory of free things to do in Las Vegas; Hey DJ 4U; and this one.
Why a toolkit directory?
Every creator community runs on the same quiet curriculum: the description boxes under YouTube videos, where working creators list the editors, cameras, microphones and drones they actually use — usually as storefront links with no context. Influencer Backpack unpacks those lists into one directory: what each tool is, what it costs, who it is for (Beginner, Mid or Pro), and an honest line on why it earned its slot. The newspaper habit applies here too: a claim needs a source, prices get labelled approximate because they move, and corrections stay easy.
How the directory is kept
- Levels are honest. Beginner means a phone and free software can start today. Pro means priced for people earning from content. Nothing is padded into a tier to fill a quota.
- Ratings are ours alone. The stars on every card come only from this site's own visitors — one rating per visitor per tool. We never import or average retailer scores.
- Drones carry the rules. Since the FCC Covered List changed US drone buying on December 22, 2025, every drone card shows its buying status, and the drone guide explains the rules with dates.
- Fresh beats big. One Featured Tool of the Week, weekly submission reviews, and dead tools retired — logged on the What's New page.
- Nobody pays to be listed. If the site later carries advertising or affiliate links, they will be labelled and will never decide what appears in the directory.
Getting Started — Read the Book First
Influence at Any Age: The Complete Guide to Becoming a Part-Time or Full-Time Content Creator
By Paul Kendall. The complete guide to becoming a part-time or full-time content creator — how creators start, grow an audience and turn content into income, at 18 or at 80. The toolkit on this site is the shopping list; this book is the map.
Corrections
Found a wrong price, a dead tool, or a drone rule that has moved? Email [email protected] or use the contact page. To suggest a tool, the Submit a Tool form is fastest.