What It Means to Be a Design Influencer with Adam Japko

The Wingnut Social Podcast has already definitively answered the question “Is Blogging Dead?” with a resounding no. And on today’s episode, Darla and Natalie talk with Adam Japko about how to be a design influencer through your blogging or your social media.

Adam Japko is the founder of Esteem Media, home to leading national and local media brands in the luxury home design, gardening, and fine wine communities. Some of those brands include Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles and New England Home. But he’s on the show today because he is the founder of the Design Influencers Conference, formerly known as the Design Bloggers Conference.

What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social

• [3:23] Adam’s love of wine may make him Natalie’s bestie
• [5:00] Why Adam changed the name of his conference
• [7:08] Why the conference started to begin with
• [11:05] How to foster community rather than competition
• [20:48] What to expect at the conference
• [28:38] How much should you blog to become an influencer?
• [31:59] Blogging at High Point
• [34:44] Whut up, Wingnut?
• [38:17] A change of plans!

Connect with Adam Japko

• Esteem Media
• Design Influencers Conference

Resources & People Mentioned

• Come to LuAnn Live!
• High Point Market
• Good to Great
• Is Blogging Dead?
• The Importance of Networking
• Bolster Your Presence by Creating Community
• Get your Audible Free Trial!

What is a design influencer?

For years, Adam Japko ran the Design Bloggers Conference. But what he realized was that many great people whom he would love to have at the conference didn’t attend because they didn’t technically consider themselves a blogger. So he’s changed the name to the Design Influencers Conference, to encompass all of the ways designers and design enthusiasts express themselves these days.

One of the fascinating things that Adam said about become a design influencer is that you don’t have to have thousands upon thousands of followers in order to be an influencer. An influencer could just be someone with a small following who is respected by other influencers, or is in a particular niche. So just because you haven’t hit the “k” mark on Instagram doesn’t mean you can’t be an influencer.

It’s not a pulpit, it’s a platform

When you share your authentic self and your authentic work and opinions online, people are attracted to that. And as Adam Japko says on this week’s episode, blogging and social media can no longer be thought of as a “pulpit,” but rather a platform. So the goal is to share your authentic self, but to do so in a way that is shareable and can be engaged around.

Of course you’re going to be competitive when you start blogging or start growing your social. But as Adam says, when you go to a conference like his Design Influencers Conference, it’s less about competition and more about community. Suddenly you’re meeting people whom you look up to, and you’re not seeing them as competition, you’re seeing them as peers.

Connect With Darla & Wingnut Social

• www.WingnutSocial.com
• On Facebook
• On Twitter: @WingnutSocial
• On Instagram: @WingnutSocial
• Darla’s Interior Design Website

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