Is it possible to gain influence without increasing standing?

[Klassy Kitten]

Just started playing the game a couple of days ago and the difficulty seems to be scaling faster than my gear/loot.

Typical run - Dread or Nightmare
Start with Watchtower base.
Get two outposts & kill nearest plagueheart.
Loot area and gain more followers.
Move to Rosies
Get ganked by Juggernaughts & feral hordes repeatedly.

Looking up the scaling difficulty its possible I'm completing too many missions too fast and moving to Rosies too fast. If difficulty based on standing, is there a way to keep standing low but still gain influence to continue to gear up?

[The Elder Glock]

Trading and looting is probably your choice