We had the honor of attending the FOHR U: The conference last week. For those of you who may not know, Fohr Card is an influencer marketing company based in New York City. They aim to bring creative brands and influencers together.
This was not your run-of-the-mill conference with panels, presentations, or focus on creating content for social media. Fohr Card promised the exact opposite — a full day of honest advice from people who know the influencer market best. Of course, we can’t forget about the 3 p.m. cocktail hour.
These are our 3 Takeaways from the Conference:
1. Don’t Stand Against the Wall
- Anyone remember @OscarPRGirl? Erika Bearman gave a memorable chat about her career while working with Oscar de la Renta. Bearman is responsible for “taking the brand’s reputation for outfitting ladies who lunch, to ladies (and girls) who tweet at lunch.” Of all the things she spoke about, she honed in on one moment in her career when she was at a meeting and Oscar said, “Erika, don’t stand against the wall.” She took this both literal and metaphorical. Ever since that day, she has made sure to her thoughts and presence are known. Without putting yourself out there or taking chances, you’re less likely to get where you want to be.
2. Start Today
- Youtube-blogger-extraordinaire Rach Martino had some special advice for all of those influencers in the crowd that were just starting out. “Start now, start today,” she said. Martino emphasized that you don’t need to go buy a fancy-shmancy camera or learn how to make an award-winning YouTube video, the most importance thing is to just start. So many influencers feel like they need to invest in having the best photos, videos, and content to start out and make a name for themselves. While yes, content is king, the most important you thing you do today is to get out there and start creating.
3. Become a Storyteller
- Last but not least Sydney Fazende, the digital director of LaForce PR, told us the inside scoop on how to build lasting relationships with brands. Her most important piece of advice was to “offer more”. Instagram is over saturated as it is. What more can you offer a brand? Creative brands are looking for more than a pretty photo from an influencer, they’re looking for a story. An emotional hook. Something that will connect their product with your audience. If you want to get in good with a brand, be proactive, learn about them, and their objectives and strategize how you can best tell their story.
Thanks for inviting us to be a part of this special conference, !
xo,
Alexa
Brittany says
This sounds like an awesome conference!!