Well, this digital woman survived her very first ShesConnected Conference and it was a day and a half of networking, learning and inspiration.

First off, I want to say thank you to Donna Marie Antoniadis, Co-founder & CEO, ShesConnected for bringing brands and bloggers together in one location to learn from one another. 

I also want to thank the brands that sponsored me and 199 other fabulous ladies to this event.  In a time when corporate social media is still very much in its infancy, these brands stepped out of their traditional marketing comfort zones to tell us that they really want to engage and work with bloggers in social media. 

There were so many takeaways and I know I missed many, but here are some of the ones that stood out for me:

  1. Elisa Camahort Page’s keynote on day 2 was absolutely inspiring. To know that it took her 2 years before she earned any money keeps it real for us.  You need to ask yourself what is the worse that will happen if you fail, do you have a safety net and is it really worth not trying?
  2. Being authentic applies to both bloggers and brands.  As a brand, if you’re going to be on Twitter, then BE on Twitter.  It’s so frustrating to engage with a brand and never hear back from them.  Brands can learn a lot from James Clarke at Maple Leaf Foods. 
  3. As a new blogger who wouldn’t necessarily have many hits or followers, look to create your own proposals and present them to the companies you would like to work with.  But engage with them first before hitting them up with a proposal.  People are much more willing to listen and work with you once they know you. Thanks Wendy Kam Marcy of Hip Urban Girl.
  4. Social media is being used to spread the news of social good.  The Zack’s Dream Room Fund raised over $43,000 thanks to the kindness of both strangers and friends, Tamara’s wig was named after the 10 year old girl who mailed a lock of her hair in hopes that it can help a woman facing cancer (they are still trying to locate Tamara to thank her) and $5.00 can buy a SAFE stove for a woman in Sri Lanka so that she doesn’t have to risk her life by walking over landmines to search for firewood in order to feed her family.    
  5. Align your personal brand to brands that align with you.  In other words, don’t compromise. Many bloggers spoke about working with brands who they were already loyal to.  They were already fans of the product or service and would speak about that brand whether they were paid or not.  Thanks Mark Grindeland, Co-founder & Chairman, ShesConnected.

Clearly, there were lots to think about and to see all these big brands supporting the blogging community was simply incredible.

This is an abbreviated version of my post.  You can read My Top 10 Takeaways from the ShesConnected Conference at my blog, AppHipMom.com.