Session: Discoverability, the Differentiator that Matters FIRST in a Crowded Marketplace Presented by Lucrecer Braxton, Davida Arnold and Brandi J Riley

Time: Saturday, July 16th at 11:00am

You might be the most knowledgeable person in your niche, but if no one can find you when searching for relevant information online, you may as well not exist. In a crowded marketplace, being found is the first important requirement for your business’s success. Once found, of course you better bring the goods, but first: Make sure you aren’t the proverbial tree falling in a forest.

Here are three tactics that will cost you time and effort, but not dollars:

Brandi Jeter Riley, Social Media Manager, BlogHer and SheKnows Media
Lightning Lesson: “Exposure: Extracting the Viable Opportunities, like Wheat from Chaff"
Exposure is one of the terms that bloggers and entrepreneurs dread most. It might be a blog post with the promise of page views that never come. Perhaps you've sent a product to an influencer who promised sales that you never saw. It's easy to understand why exposure has a bad name. But almost every business engages in activities that deliver mutual value, if not dollars, and those kind of strategic partnerships or channels can and should be quantified. Take control and decide which opportunities increase your discoverability. expand your brand, extend your reach into new communities, and/or enhance your credibility as an expert. Plenty of people use publishing on such platforms as The Huffington Post, LinkedIn, Medium, and SheKnows to achieve specific, measurable goals. Hear success stories about using exposure to drive your business’s growth.

Davida Arnold, Content Marketing Manager, SheKnows Media
Lightning Lesson: “Hashtaggery is Not Tomfoolery"
Hashtags can be used to claim ownership and build a following for a brand, or they can be used to integrate into an existing community to be discovered by that community. For example: Davida is the founder and Creative Director of #GirlGameChanger, a social network of #WomenWhoDare since 2013. The first hashtag brands her company for discoverability on social channels. The second hashtag is used to curate content from a larger existing community, aligning her brand with that ethos and allowing her brand to be discovered by others who share that ethos. Hashtag use and best practices are actually different per channel, so this Lightning Lesson will share insights on the dos and don’ts of hashtag execution across social channels.

Lucrecer Braxton, Conference Programming Manager, BlogHer Conferences
Lightning Lesson: “Taking the Stage"
Speaking at local events, seminars (online and off) and ultimately national conferences is a super-charged way to improve your discoverability for future opportunities. Not only can you build followers from those who see your work live and in person, you can build your resume with the kind of accomplishments and credits that are third-party validated. You can get video clips to enhance your media kit. You can make connections with other high-powered folks in your field who share the stage. And you can make sure your Google search page isn’t filled only with great things you say about yourself…but great things other people say about you, or have entrusted you with! Get concrete tips on finding events, and making submissions that will stand out from the rest of the field.