This is a slightly modified slide deck from my Outdoor Retailer presentation in 2011 (video of presentation is online at: http://vimeo.com/19445321), in which I shared a little bit about my experience as an "influencer" in the outdoor industry, and also spoke to the industry about research I performed about what other "influencers" are inspired by and engaged with.

1. How to influence ME.
By Sara Lingafelter
Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2011
#influenceme

2. Dry clean only Sara, circa 2005

3. After years of blogging
& ultimately
transitioning into the
OIBIZ, life looks very
different, now.

4. +
Passion + Passion = :)

5. 1,578 Facebook
friends / fans
3,000+ visitors
a month
4,591 followers

6. 10,000
My audience? 10,000 people per month
give or take.

7. “Really?? Rock Climber Girl? She is sort
of famous in a narrow way.”
- an #OIBIZ leader who shall remain anonymous

8. 150
Dunbar’s Number
(theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people
with whom one can maintain stable social
relationships.)

9. The goal of influencer
outreach:
Develop and maintain a small number of really, really
big relationships.

10. What is influence?
Who are influencers?

13. From Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point

14. One size doesn’t fit all.

15. I’m weird.
I don’t assume I know everything -- I’m just one
“influencer.” Even among influencers, I’m just one data
point.

16. So, I did a survey.
•Nov 11, 2012: Signed up for Survey Monkey. Sent
the survey to a few friends and colleagues for their
input, and posted it on Facebook and Twitter.
•Two months later:
•325 people started the survey;
•240 finished it (it was long)
•43 people who exhibited “influential” behavior
completed a follow up
•I received a total of about 86,000 words. And those
words were AWESOME.

17. “You’d be amazed what consumers will tell you, if
you ask them, and how long they’ll spend
responding to surveys.”
- a fancy pants company social media specialist

26. 72 percent publish blog posts at least monthly
70 percent comment on blogs
61 percent write at least one product review monthly
61 percent comment on news sites
Daily Twitter users are 6 times more likely to publish articles
Five times more likely to post blogs
Seven times more likely to post to Wikis
Three times more likely to post product reviews at least
monthly compared to non-Twitter users
- ExactTarget research on Twitter Users

27. “One thing is abundantly clear:
consumers are looking for deeper insight
into the personality of your brand, and
they believe Twitter is the perfect place
to get to know you.”
- ExactTarget research on Twitter Users

31. “The feeling of clean air in my lungs,
and of being immersed in the whole of
complex, lovely, interdependent
creation.”
Shelby

32. “Every morning my dog looks at me and I look at him
and we make a silent agreement that we're going on
a run.”
Emily @undersolen

33. “I couldn’t care less about what pro athletes are
doing.”
Jared @utahoutside

34. “I’m not as inspired by sponsored athletes as I
think I "should" be... I can't relate to most of
them.”
Amy @expandoutdoors

35. “inspiration from ‘professionals’ is different from seeing my friends do epic
stuff... it's much closer and attainable when a friend is doing something epic
like a 1 day marathon hike or climbing something crazy...
makes me think sure i could try/do that.
plus they're more accessible for advice
should i end up trying whatever it is myself.
plus there's also the direct support too.”

36. “I had a chance to go
climbing with a good
friend who's been
mentoring me and is a
sponsored climber.”
Louise - Ramblin Rose Productions

37. & Dirtbag Diaries
A few examples of the content
generators who got multiple
mentions as inspirational

39. Outdoor Done Right

40. “I think we tend to believe that our audiences are just like us and assume
that messages that resonate personally will resonate with them as well. This
isn't always true and, in order to drive growth in the industry, we need to
make it easy for first-time, or casual users to connect with our brands.
Rather than relying on supporting the enthusiast,
we need to spend more time figuring
out how to get new people outdoors.”

41. “Get to know me. I know you well
enough already.”
“I felt noticed, which meant a lot.”
Aleya @blueskeyes207

42. “Don't TRY to be my buddy.
BE my buddy.”
Peter @pwcarey

43. “Bringing me art about the
outdoors is HUGE.”
Brendan

44. “Pemba Serves is a company full of
people who care about things I care
about.”
“It doesn't seem as if they're just using
social media to get business; they're
using it to be part of a community.”
Katie - @k8tlevy

47. Where do we go
from here?

48. “How can we both -
the blogger and the brand -
make this arrangement better and
more mutually beneficial?
Or is sending me a free jacket in exchange for a review going to be about
as mutually beneficial as it gets?”
Jill @geargals

49. We're not paid, we're not employed,
we're not sponsored,
We don't make money (or at least not
very much money)
Jill @geargals

50. “I have heard some bloggers say ‘oh, you have to be careful what you say in
this industry!’ and I've always thought, ‘huh? I just say what I think.’
Isn't that the point of being a
blogger?”

51. Connect. Play. Expand.
And embrace the fact that we cut through the crap and say what we think.
It’s good for your business.

52. Sara@saralingafelter.com / about.me/saralingafelter