Hi there, pretties!

Last week, I asked if you would be interested in hearing more about the rewardStyle conference: what it is, what we do, who it’s for and what my biggest takeaways were! So, today, I thought I’d give y’all a little bit of insight into those questions because, I totally understand how it can seem a little obscure.

What is the rewardStyle conference?

The rewardStyle conference is an invite-only conference for bloggers all over the world that allows them to learn more about the industry they work in, network with other influencers and potential brand partners and attend educational classes to help spark creative ways to take their blogs to the next level.

Some of this years brand sponsors were Kopari, Banana Republic, Modcloth, L’occitane, EXPRESS, Bloomingdales, Kendra Scott, mytheresa.com, Supergoop! and more! It’s always really fun to choose the few partners that you know you love and a few that you want to know more about and meet their marketing teams in person. It’s always fun to discover new products and brands that you’ve never tried before to then share with your audience! With so many brands out there, it’s always hard to know which ones are going to resonate with you so I love that you can try so many at one time at the conference!

The conference always makes me feel so proud of the industry that I’m in and what I get to do for a living. On a daily basis, I get to hear how helpful and useful my content is for you guys, my readers, and the conference gives us insight into how we are making a mark for the retailers we love around the world. We don’t do this for the commission we make … or, at least I don’t … but it is really cool to see that what was once a hobby for so many is now an industry that supports and fuels another. It’s so incredible and always leaves me excited and energized about the rest of the year!

Who gets invited to the rewardStyle conference?

The rewardStyle conference is invite-only and is typically reserved for influencers from around the glove that sit in one of the top 200 tier within the platform. With tens of thousands of influencers on the platform, it’s an incredible honor to be chosen to attend. I honestly wish more people could attend because the information is useful for so many more people who utilize the platform than just the top tier but, maybe rS has something up their sleeve to get this information to more people! At least I hope they do 🙂

I am a blogger but have never been invited to the rewardStyle conference. Any advice on how to change that in the future?

Yes! Keep working hard at sharing your passion, creating unique content that speaks to your audience and consistently posting on your blog and Instagram. I would also encourage you to actively seek out strategy meetings with your rewardStyle representative so you can talk through your weak areas and strategize ways to improve them. Analyzing data is so important so taking the time to read through what your audience is engaging in and not engaging in on your site is really important. I do this at the beginning of every month to see what my readers really love and what they want to see more of. Pay attention when a post does really well on Instagram. Why did it do well? If you are able to find out why you are unique to your audience, you can easily find your niche and plan your content around that. For example, if they love when you post style items under $100 and fitness posts, keep posts like that coming to them!

There’s no guarantee that this will get you an invitation to the conference but, I think it’s good advice in general for anyone who is starting out and looking for advice. Keep going! I understand it’s hard right now. It is for everyone but it doesn’t mean there’s no room for you and your voice. You never know what could change!

What were the takeaways you had from the conference this year?

• Kendra Scott spoke this year during one part of the conference and I really loved some of the points she made. She really strived to be unique and not do what everyone else was doing. She said ‘if you’re doing something that someone else has already done, you’ve already failed’. It sounds harsh but, in an industry where there’s a lot of similar content, it’s kind of true. You really need to do what you can to diversify yourself and make your unique value very clear. I think this is a question I will be asking myself quite a bit over this next year when I’m planning out and creating content.

• Instagram is a beast right now but it’s just the nature of the progression of a social media platform. Amber Venz Box, the co-founder and President of rewardStyle, shared a really interesting infographic about what the life of a social media platform looks like. My detailed notes are on my iPad at home but essentially, once it grows to a certain point, it has to go public and an algorithm is likely put into place. Unfortunately for us, that’s where Instagram is, and it might be hard to utilize it like we used to to share the content that we’re excitedly creating for ourselves and for our audience, there are other ways out there that we can do that whether it’s through focusing on growth on another social media platform, the use of newsletters, etc. It kind of gave me a peace about the struggles I’ve been feeling regarding Instagram [honestly, it’s easy to feel like people don’t like the content you are sharing right now … at least for some people]. It reassured me that it isn’t indicative of the quality of it and there are other alternatives that I can focus on to aid in getting my content out there and seen by people who want to see it. It just might look different than it has in the past, and that’s okay.

Those were my two big takeaways this year! There were more but those were the two big ones 🙂

I hope that helps give you a little insight and context into the conference, why I think it’s important to go if you can and what it’s all about! I wore the dress in today’s post on the first day as I was meeting with all of the brand representatives. It’s important to stay true to your style but put a little more effort into looking nice, if that makes sense! I didn’t want to go over the top with it and think this was a good and happy medium. This lavender floral dress might not work for the summer months but it would surely work for work in the Spring and the Fall, especially with the cooler tones. Usually in the Spring, everyone gears up for the warmer tone colors but I was just so drawn to this one because it was a little different. I also think these new Kendra Scott earrings would compliment it really well if you’re really into lilac and lavender like I am right now:

Thanks so much for stopping by today!