My Take Aways from the NC Bloggers InflueNCe Meetup
Sometimes you just need to go and be with like-minded people. You know people that understand who you are and what kind of work you do for a living. Being a blogger can be a solitary life because most of your connections are made through the internet. As a blogger, I crave is personal connections, and I often look for opportunities to not only connect with other bloggers but to also learn more about my profession. So when I saw Jen, my Frugal cook-off partner, post about the NC InflueNCe meetup that was being held in Durham, I knew I had to go.
Remember this year is all about creating add link to the word of the Year post. I will admit I was a little nervous about attending the conference. I wasn’t looking forward to driving to Durham by myself – but now it’s something that I do more often. But I knew if I didn’t go, I would be missing out on a wealth of knowledge from other bloggers. I was also excited because I knew I would see some of my fabulous blogging friends there as well.
I arrived a little early – which I usually am and walked into the building, Provident 1898. It is a co-working space located in the heart of downtown Durham. The building has a legacy as being the Black Wall Street, which I thought was pretty cool.
I sat at the table with Marissa from Shabby Chic Cheap, and Sofia from The Fashionale Life. It was so funny, but all of us ended up talking about immigration with each other – because we have had first-hand knowledge of it.
The conference day was split up into sections or panels. The first panel was about digital content. I was excited to see my friends Tiffany, from The Mrs. Tee, and Linda from Girl Meets World on this panel. You may remember them from the wine tour.
The panel talked about a lot in a short amount of time. So here are the highlights
- Be intentional about what you put on the internet, in other words,
- Be nice
- Be authentic
- Don’t post more than one time a day on Instagram and post when you can see the most engagements
- Comment back when people comment on a post. It is essential to respond to people you never know when that follower can turn into a potential client
- Most importantly, avoid clickbait – you know, creating a title has nothing to do with the actual post.
They cover so much more about social media and their panel. That was just the highlights.
We broke for lunch, which by the way, was catered by Jason’s Deli, a favorite of mine, and we were treated to some yummy mocktails made by Toast It Up.
Then it was on to the second panel, which was called “Pitches Get Riches.” Once again, there were a few familiar faces on the board, CeCe from Food Diary of a City Girl, and Molly from Still Being Molly, and of course Jen from Jen Oni.
This panel was also very informative. They shared how they calculate rates for their work. They also shared with us the many ways you can monetize – some of which I had never thought of, like selling your photographs.
The main thing they stated was to focus on your why and your mission statement and to make sure that whoever you pitch is on-brand with your brand. But above all, the most important thing was knowing your own worth and know-how to upsell yourself – I will admit I struggle with that a lot.
After the second panel wrapped up – we left a meeting place. We headed to Unscripted in Durham for drinks. There was able to catch up with many more amazing blogging friends I have met along my journey.
It was such a pleasure to spend time with you!
You too my friend. You so need to host a photography class for bloggers. You could make some money off of it.