Some of the IZEA Team is heading West next week for ad:tech San Francisco (a show we typically exhibit at every year). If you plan on being at the conference and are interested in finding out more about social media marketing, feel free to stop by for a chat. Of course, if you’re a current Advertiser or Publisher we’d love to see you, too. Don’t forget, though, any stop by our booth is a potential photo opp!

Ours is Booth #2534 and the Exhibit Hall is on the following days:

• Tuesday, 4/12: 10:00am – 6:00pm
• Wednesday, 4/13: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Conference and Exhibit Hall location details:

Moscone Center West
800 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
http://www.ad-tech.com

So will we see you there? Follow us on Twitter to keep up with the Team while in San Francisco.

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Earlier this week saw two fun Tweetups at Pier 1 stores here in the Central Florida area. Thanks to all who came out and supported these events in-store, and to those who helped spread the word via Twitter. And an extra-special thank you to the friendly staff at each of the locations.

Millenia

Local Orlando blogger Jennifer Leet (blog: TheDirtyTShirt.com) took time out of her incredibly hectic schedule to join us at this location. Jennifer actually did some shopping, and set-up an outdoor party table to show shoppers the versatility Pier 1′s Spring merchandise offers.

We also gave away several Pier 1 gift cards to lucky Tweeters & Pier 1 shoppers:

Congrats to these winners! Happy shopping….

Kissimmee (Hunter’s Creek)

After the Tweetup at the Millenia location we headed all the way across town to a community called Hunter’s Creek. We randomly gave away another set of gift cards. Man, were these people thrilled!

Haven’t been to a Pier 1 store recently? You’re really missing out – they’ve got some great merchandise in stock:

Click here to see times and locations for upcoming Pier 1 Tweetups in Dallas, Atlanta, and New York City. If you missed it, you can also check-out the recap of our Utah Tweetup a few months ago.

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Blissdom is a yearly blogging conference. This year it took place at the beautiful Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, the last week of January. Imagine 500 brilliant, entrepreneurial women all in one room. The power of our word of mouth could have lit up all of Nashville. We are moms, wives, business women, bakers, crafters, reviewers, socialites, readers, writers, fashionistas, DIYers, and we make up a huge blogging force on the internet today.

The sessions included Pitching to Companies, Monetizing our Blogs, Building Community, Leveraging our Social Media, Establishing our Brand among others. The best part of a conference like that often lies in the conversations outside of the sessions. There is nothing like meeting one of your readers who tell you they love your blog, or talking with other bloggers in your niche about balancing work and family.

The women who attend a conference like this are trying to establish their voice and turn their blogging conversation into a business or simply trying to gain influence in their niche. So naturally, talking about IZEA was simple. Many bloggers don’t know opportunities exist for them to connect with companies or the way to figure out how to make that happen. In my conversations about IZEA, bloggers are dying for a company who will find opportunities for them to give their opinion or pay them for their expertise.

Here is a picture of some of the leading home bloggers showing off their IZEA loot.

Thanks to Beckie for being an advocate of IZEA, and helping spread the word!

You can keep up with Beckie here:

• Blog: Infarrantly Creative
• Twitter: @Infarrantly
• Facebook: Facebook.com/infarrantlycreative

And information on future Blissdom Conference events visit BlissdomConference.com.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

In thinking about all this last night, I was reminded of this post which is very relevant.

Post originally published November 2010:

Brand yourself.

Market your brand.

Take your brand offline by networking.

We’ve talked about these things many times here on the IZEA blog. You frequently read articles about the topic in industry publications and trusted leaders in the space. If you’re a serious blogger, then you hopefully already do all of these. If you don’t, then ask yourself why not?

Week-before-last I noticed a mention on the IZEA Twitter page that caught my attention. Our friend and recent Grand Prize winner of our BlogWorld Getaway, Nicole Rosen, stated she is getting a job as a result of some networking she did while at that very event.

A closer look:

This happened to Nicole because she understands the importance of the three elements mentioned above:

• Branding. Nicole’s brand is “Finance Diva” (her blog can be found at http://financediva.com/). This is how she’s known to her audience, and how they identify with her. The name says it all: she’s a self-proclaimed Finance expert, and you know what you’re gonna get when you visit her site.
• Marketing. Aside from blogging and being very active on Twitter, Nicole marketed herself in a brilliant way by entering our BlogWorld contest. She went above-and-beyond by creating a unique video that stood out and caused us to remember her. Attending BlogWorld, too, afforded Nicole the opportunity to market herself in-person…to those who also attended the event.
• Networking. Nicole took full advantage of the opportunity an event like BlogWorld provides, and networked. It obviously benefited her as she made some very important contacts as a result. A little nervous about “putting yourself out there”? Start small and either go to a local Tweetup…or host one of your own!

Awesome job, Nicole! You go, girl! (I can’t pull that off, can I?)

So what are you doing to help develop and grow your own brand?

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…or this

The trade show will take place Monday, March 14th through Thursday the 17th, from 11:00am – 6:00pm. You can find out more information about the full conference at SXSW.com.

See you there!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

As you know we here at IZEA adhere to the philosophy of “word hard, play hard.” And we certainly did lots of hard work this past year (growing SponsoredTweets.com and launching a mobile advertising platform, WeReward). So we thought it’d be fun to take a look back at some of the lighter moments of 2010, aka, the “playing hard” part. Won’t you join us as we reflect?

Holiday Party

A complete photo gallery can be viewed on Flickr.

Halloween

A complete photo gallery can be viewed on Flickr.

BlogWorld Expo

A complete photo gallery can be viewed on Flickr.

IZEA Locos

A complete photo gallery can be viewed on Flickr.

Company Retreat

A complete photo gallery can be viewed on Flickr.

Thanks for the memories, IZEA Team! Let’s make 2011 even better!

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Feel free to stop by Booth #1959 and say hello when you have a few minutes! You can also keep-up with us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and goings-on.

ad:tech NY 2010 Floorplan:

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Dinner with Friends

We kicked off our BlogWorld Expo & New Media trip with a Tweetup dinner with IZEA Friends and Family at Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas. If you’ve been to Las Vegas but have never been to this Bavarian restaurant, you should get on that. It’s quite a dining experience.

Techset Party

After dinner at Hofbräuhaus we headed over to the Techset party at Aria’s Liquid for a little networking. In case you can’t tell, we had a good time.

Trade Show

We had an opportunity to meet several of the folks who won Full Access Passes to BlogWorld when they stopped by our booth.

Meet Some of Our Bloggers

(Shani Phillips and Sarah Kajani)

(Jennifer Hutcheson and Mike Stenger)

Human Cereal Bowl (Bathing for Charity)

Yup, we really went through with it. And good thing we did because in less than an hour we raised a little over $300! Thanks to all who contributed.

*If you’re not familiar with Pillow Tie then you gotta check-out their website. So cool…and they helped sponsore Joanie’s trip!

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UPDATE, 10/11: We will be auctioning off the first gallon of milk! Be the first to pour milk all over Ted; money goes to charity.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Take a look at this video–made with love from us–to find out who the winners are! We even have a little help from a surprise guest!

If you are one of the folks who has been selected, please drop us an e-mail so we can finalize details with you. Congrats! Huge shout-out to our friends at @SouthwestAir for providing the airfare.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing