5 Things I Learned from the 2014 ASJA Conference in NYC
I am exhausted and energized at the same time. I returned last night from the annual ASJA conference in New York City and have so much to share. I will be posting a lot of specific information that I learned over the next few weeks, but today I wanted to share my top five overall takeaways.
- A lot of writers are overthinking the switch to content marketing writing. A number of writers told me that they find the idea of content marketing overwhelming and don’t know where to start. My advice is to stop overthinking it. It really isn’t that hard or a big of a decision as it appears. The similarities between both getting the gigs and writing the projects are more similar than they are different. And almost every writer I talked to was surprised when they discovered that they had actually already written content, but not realized it. My advice is to do one task every day to educate yourself about content marketing writing and one task to market yourself to brands and agencies.
- Social media must focus on building their social media following. Almost every editor that I heard talk mentioned that they really like their writers to bring a social media following to the project. Most editors say that they will check out a writer’s numbers and activity before giving them a gig. But a few went as far to say it was mandatory. All agreed that having a great social media presence and following was definitely a plus and put you ahead of the competition. Watch for several posts in the coming months to help you increase your knowledge and use of social media.
- Writers really need to think about their own brand and consciously build it. Land du Pont from Federated Media was the first person to actually say it this way at the conference, but it was a theme throughout the week. It used to be that writers could simply write articles and be successful. But now writers really need to focus on defining their own brand, building it, and promoting it. Branding means defining who you are and making sure that all of your marketing components (LinkedIn, Website, email sig, etc) work together to create this image. I plan on writing much more about this topic as well.
- Networking with other writers is invaluable. When I went to the conference for the first time last year, my goal was to meet with as many editors as possible since I wanted to get more work from the conference. But I quickly learned that networking with writers is almost, if not more, valuable. Other writers know which editors need writers, which editors are um, challenging to work with and are more often than not willing to share contacts with you. But since working in your house all day alone can be isolating, by networking with other writers you walk away with friends that you can reach out to when you need to bounce an idea off of or simply vent. Without my writer buddy friends, I would be nowhere near as happy as a freelancer and nowhere near as successful.
- I have the nicest blog readers in the universe. It was so much fun to meet so many of my loyal readers at the conference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping in the halls or coming up to me after a presentation. It really inspired me to hear that you are finding my words helpful and to hear some of your questions in person. I am really energized to continue to help provide information that will help each of you find new clients and earn more money. If you ever have a topic you want me to cover, please drop me an email or post it in the comments.
If you aren’t unpacking your bags today from the event, I highly recommend that each of you put the conference on your calendar for next year and make plans to attend. My head is overflowing with ideas for my business and I feel an excitement again that had been missing from my days for the past few months. And I can’t wait to get to work tomorrow and get started.
What did you learn from the conference? What was your favorite part?
It was great to meet you! I agree that networking with other writers is the best. Looking forward to following up with you, hopefully next week.
Caitlin, It was great to meet you!! I look forward to following up with you when your workload slows down. I am happy to help you in any way that I can.
For me, these conferences are almost more about networking than the continuing education. The contacts you make with other writers can be invaluable. (and you get to know people like Jennifer better!)
It was great to meet you!! Your session was great and I learned a lot from chatting with you as well.
So great to meet you at ASJA. You’re such a delight and your mind works at the speed of light – but we already knew that from this blog! Hope to meet again at the next conference, wherever that may be.
You are so sweet! Thank you! It was great to meet you as well! I hope to see you again. I will be at ConCon in Chicago in November.
Great insights, as always Jennifer! You’re always so generous with your time and knowledge–much appreciated! Sounds like this is a must for 2015….
Yes! I have to say I have gotten more work from other writers from conferences than the editors themselves.
I meant to post that above. But YES, you have to come!!! Where are you located? There is a content marketing event in both Chicago and San Fran this fall.
I’m in Southern New Hampshire, but originally from Central Illinois–the Chicago conference would be a great excuse to travel back to my old stomping grounds! 🙂
I hope you can go! It would be great to meet you!
Great post, Jennifer! I’m so glad I got to hear both of your panels at ASJA (and say hello for two seconds!). They were so informative. I’d love to get to ConCon this year, too.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the panels. Thank you so much for introducing yourself! I hope to see you at ConCon as well!
I have wanted to attend the ASJA conference for several years, but haven’t. I’m interested in finding out more about the content conference in Chicago this fall.
Thank you for all the great information you provide via your blog.
The dates for Chicago are November 14 and 15. Watch the ASJA website for more details as they are finalized. I am helping plan the conference and it is definitely going to be worth coming to.
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You ROCK, Jennifer!
Laura
Thanks for posting. I was bummed to miss the conference this year, so this helps!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for posting. Hopefully you can make one of the Content Connections events this either in Chicago and San Fran.