#BloggerSquad 7/20/16

 ​Bloggers and Cocktails and Giveways oh my!

My goal for 2016 has been to attend and cover more events and continue working toward making Simply Ari a household name in the field of Journalism. Part of my strategy is to put myself in front of other journalists, news makers and bloggers and in part, share my vision with them. 
Last night, I had the esteemed pleasure of attending my first Blogger Scene event hosted by DC area bloggers Natalie Pinto (The Fashionably Broke), Julien Garman (It’s Julien) and Alicia Chew (Alicia Tenise) located on the rooftop of the beautiful Embassy Row Hotel in Washington DC.  There I met and conversed with lifestyle bloggers, fashion bloggers, entrepreneurs and the like.  I listened to a panel of blogging experts: Sara Azani (Style MBA), Diana (MissLustLocal) and Diego Gonzalez-Zuniga (Diego Downtown) who gave great advice to the attendants. Some of the main points that the panel touched on were how to stand out as a blogger and how they as full-time bloggers are adjusting to Instagram's recent algorithm change.

​To be a true stand out in the blogosphere they advised the following:

• ​Get to know the brands that you're writing about/collaborating with on a personal level
• ​Having  interpersonal communication with the brands you work with will be key to your success as a blogger
• ​Meet with your clients face to face
• ​Invest in making a good media kit

As it pertained to Instagram's new algorithm they advised creating a Social Media Support Group- a group of individuals who will be some of the first to like and comment on your posts to aid in pushing up your content on the feed. They also suggested being more strategic about what and when you are posting, engaging with your audience and getting their feedback, varying your content, commenting on others pages and being sure to be kind and courteous to those who comment on your posts.
​Diego brought up an interesting additional point saying to "go through your own feed and figure out what your theme is."
Guests also had the opportunity to hear from a client of a few of the hosts of the event too. She offered a unique perspective and shared what clients are looking for from bloggers: personal/face to face interaction, having clean images across websites and social media platforms, inspiring content, sharing your “youness” with the world in a unique way; “it’s about lifestyle, real life; your internal journey and authenticity.”
 
To me, the greatest take away was being surrounded by and conversing with passionate people who have a clear vision, are working toward making their dreams a reality and building their businesses. As I sipped my PeachE Punch Mocktail and watched the sunset over the District, I snapped pictures with new friends, exchanged information with potential collaborators and processed all that I learned and I’m looking forward to applying them in the near future.
 
Thank you Blogger Scene!