Naturalle Drea

It has been a while since I’ve been to a creator conference so when I saw that Philly Influencer Mixer was hosting their first one, I had to go. I was excited from the time I purchased my ticket to when the day finally came to attend the event and it was absolutely amazing from start to finish. So let’s hop into this recap. Also grab a snack as this is a long one but you’ll want to read it for some valuable information.

I had to remember that I was a blogger/creator/influencer and was trying to capture as much footage as I could and take as many pictures and at the same time be in the moment. I just loved watching all the creators capturing footage, networking and so on. So the day started off early and I wanted to make sure I was on time so I didn’t miss a thing. We were greeted by a photo booth by Elevated Photo Booths. We could have taken photos at anytime during the day but it was nice to take them while you were still fresh. I loved this and had something to remember the day by.

We got to walk around, grab some coffee, check out the vendors before checking in for the day. I loved that we were provided notebooks, pens, an itinerary and badge for the day. I did bring my own notebook just in case but glad we were provided one. We also networked for a bit before starting the day. The event was hosted at Helium Comedy Club and it was the perfect venue and enough space for everyone.

We were welcomed by the creator of Philly Influencer Mixer, Davida Janae. She is also the creator of the blog Vida Fashionista. She gave us a warm welcome and surprised everyone with a message from Pennsylvania’s own Governor and then we started with the day.

The first panel was Inside The Brand Mindset with some boss women from different companies such as Hey Day, Philly Mag, Philly PR Girl and Helium. I loved hearing the perspective from the client as to what they look for when working with influencers, the pros and cons and so on. My biggest take away was that companies look for influencers that are professional, reliable, are amazing story tellers and the engagement. The engagement piece rang throughout this panel and it is just super important for brands to see you engaging with your audience and overall being a kind, respectable person. They also let us know that it was okay to slide in the DMs and also email as well.

Next up was our keynote speaker Sabir Peele of Men’s Style Pro. I absolutely loved hearing about how he got started and where hard work and betting on yourself can take you. He dropped a lot of gems while speaking to all of us in the room and we were all just taking it in and also taking notes. The two biggest takeaways for me were when Sabir mentioned ownership and fear. You have to have to have ownership in something that is yours. Yes we all post on social media but we technically don’t own it. Hence having your own website helps because it is yours.

Also there are levels of fear in the creator space which is so true. You can’t have the fear that you can’t reach out to brands that you want to work with and also not having the fear at all. You have to push harder than you think you have to and that really resonated with me. Another takeaway was becoming an expert in your space. You should know the ins and outs of the space you are in.

After the keynote speaker was Keynote Conversations with Sabir and Davida. They got into the story of how they met and built an amazing friendship which was amazing to hear. They also dropped a lot of gems about relationship building and how important it is, niches, and touched on a little financial piece as well. After their conversation was a lunch break that was provided by Shake Shack. I didn’t get pictures of lunch but it was very good. You also got to network and get around to the vendors.

After lunch was Empower Your Pitch with ChatGPT by Gabbi Townsend. She spoke about the benefits of using Chat GPT to create scripts, content and to help you, not replace you. Gabbi also explained the difference between a rate sheet and media kit which all creators should have on hand and ready for when a brand asks for it. She also had a live demo of how ChatGPT works and also using AI as well.I was seriously against AI since it is starting to take over some functions at my current place of employment and may start replacing people in the future. I didn’t realize how helpful it could be with creating content. I think I will open up a bit and look into trying out ChatGPT.

The last panel of the day was the one everyone was basically looking forward to, the Creator Conversations. Many of us wanted to know about how to charge brands, what creators look for when working with brands, tools to use and so much more. I loved how everyone on the panel gave us a lot of valuable information, tips and tricks of the creator world. I had a few big takeaways from this panel. First was investing in the quality of your content. This was a big one because brands do look at how you present your content and how it looks (lighting and all).

When looking to work with a brand, before saying yes you have to make sure the brand aligns with who you are, can connect your story with their brand, staying true to who you are and it stands by the things you believe in. Now when it comes to rates, you should go high and also know your worth. Rates can also be based on engagement, your following and more. You can also ask your peers about what they charge and how they determine that.

It is also important to be real with yourself with what you can realistically keep up with and I needed to hear that. I know that I try to do way too much and get super overwhelmed and just need to be realistic with things. Many of us don’t have the same 24 hours in a day so we have to use them as it fits with yourself. Also you need to be ambitious and hungry in the creator space. If this is something that you truly want for yourself, you have to be ambitious and hungry for it.

After the last panel was the afterparty where you could network some more, enjoy some small bites and drinks. Overall it was an amazing conference and hope there will be one next year. These conferences for creators are so important because we need the valuable information and gems, to connect and network with others and just be in the space with likeminded individuals.

The one word the resonated throughout the whole conference was storytelling. Everyone who was on the stage mentioned storytelling and how important it is as a creator. This is how brands notice you, how you grow and build your community and set yourself apart is with your storytelling.