State of Influence Conference

Last week in Boulder, Colorado I was privileged to be able to attend the very first State of Influence conference held at TapInfluence headquarters. It was a day of meeting new people, listening to experts, and enjoying the atmosphere. The weather was incredible for February and all the visitors were giddy with excitement on being able to explore this beautiful area.

First, I want to say how honored I feel to be an Influencer in today’s fast paced society and it’s all because of YOU my readers. I started Crunchy Beach Mama exactly 5.5 years ago as a way to share my journey on becoming a crunchy family. Just this past month I have started to go back through all my old posts to clean them up a bit and I have been realizing just how many people, products and companies I have spread the word about. I am proud of this and I often tell people when I first meet them in an email that I am good at showing things off. It is what I do!

The State of Influence Conference

The State of Influence conference was a way to teach companies WHY they should use bloggers to market themselves. The first presentation was a real study of WhiteWave Foods {a local food company with brands you’ve heard of like Silk and Horizon Organic} and how they’ve used social influencers like myself for years and how it really works well! As I was sitting there listening, I couldn’t help but wish that ALL companies could hear these awesome results.

Representatives from all different types of offices were visiting for the State of Influence conference and it was so interesting listening to them be intrigued about how bloggers work and the questions they had! Think about this – most advertising you see is a 30 second commercial on tv or the radio. Or maybe it’s a quick ad you barely pay attention to online. BIG bucks are spent on this type of placement as you know. A blogger? Our stories are on our blogs FOREVER. Not only will search engines always find them, but social media platforms like Pinterest will always be there. This means YEARS of an ad circulating and people sharing.

Plus we love what we do! As you know Tom’s of Maine is my biggest partner and I am going on my third year working with them. Flying to Maine to visit their factory is an experience I will never forget and will be telling everyone to buy Tom’s of Maine for the rest of my life because they are a part of me and I have come to love them.

Next year I encourage all brands (and influencers!) to attend the State of Influence User Conference. It will now be an annual event and I know that I can’t wait to hear what will go on again. Plus why would you not want to visit Boulder, CO? 🙂

Are you an influencer or a person looking to help grow your product?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of TapInfluence. The opinions and text are all mine.