Key Takeaway: Blogapalooza 2016, the country’s biggest blog-to-business networking platform, had just one key takeaway this year, and it’s the most important life lesson not just for bloggers, but for all of us: To know yourself.

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Know thyself, says Plato. And the modern-day Platos of marketing and business in general.

Last Saturday, 21 May 2016, The Daily You had the honor of attending the 2016 installment of Blogapalooza, the country’s largest blog-to-business networker, with the theme “Horizons: Charting the Uncharted”. Co-presented by beverage stars Arla and Cocio, and attended by several other up-and-coming sponsor brands such as Tag77, HappyFresh, and Victoria Court, the event, over the course of an entire day, attracted hundreds of bloggers established and establishing, from across all fields of passions.

We were also fortunate enough to be graced by the presence of several prominent blogging and marketing gurus, such as Ginger Arboleda of Manila Workshops (who spoke about how to successfully turn a blog into a business), Matec Villanueva of Publicis Manila (who joined a panel discussion regarding how brands and bloggers can work best), and Miguel Olfindo of New Media Factory (who taught how to use videos effectively in marketing).

We were even treated to several performances by the Mindplay Mentalists, who certainly intrigued with their mind-boggling tricks and techniques; as well as the appearance of Blue Water Day Spa’s celebrity endorsers, such as Christian Bautista, who hosted several games and, in his famous tenor, jokingly sang some lyrics for said games.

Those who lined up at the booth of Cocio (a brand of chocolate milk drink from Denmark that puts a premium on flavor) were even invited to exercise their creativity by directing themselves at their photo booth, arranging the set as they wished (and even choosing to be in or not in it) so long as there was at least one bottle of Cocio visible.

Now, Blogapalooza is all about empowering us bloggers, wherever we come from and wherever we will go, and the annual program serves as both a networking event and a seminar-conference for us. You’d think, therefore, that this highly-anticipated event would hold some earth-shaking trade secrets that the nonpareil, in a moment of wise ol’ man mentorship, would partake to their disciples.

But it would be surprising to learn that the one piece of advice, the one big key takeaway, that the blogging, social networking, advertising, and marketing elite have for us is what we have been taught – and perhaps ignored – for so long. And what The Daily You advocates.

Know yourself.

The speakers I mentioned above, plus their peers, were unified in this. For them, to be the best blogger or influencer you can be is to know yourself in and out – to craft your own personal brand that is translated into your blogging efforts, which would, in turn, hook you up with the right businesses or organizations to grow both their and your impact.

It calls for a life of integrity as well. What you preach, you practice. And know what you preach in the first place, if it is in line with your own values, your own passions, your own advocacies, as a person. Sounds familiar? Oh, yeah, it does: Your identity as a blogger, as a person, even, stems from your Life Kit – your circumstances, the unique set of gifts, talents, abilities, skills, and desires given you.

One of the panelists, whom I had the fortune to briefly socialize and have a photo with after the activity, is Erika Padilla, an actress, sportscaster, and yogi dubbed the Pambansang Best Friend (“National Best Friend”). And of the four panelists, hers were the insights that made its mark on me the most. It wasn’t just the charismatic yet light-hearted way she captured our attention, but she was passionate about passion: She could not have emphasized more clearly the need to know yourself and to be yourself.

“I’d like to think I am the best actress. I’d like to think I am the best sportscaster. I’d like to think I am the best yogi.” -Erika Padilla, Blogapalooza 2016

To be truly yourself is to not compromise the daily you even in the midst of anything, with as much fervor and zeal as people like Saints Paul and Lorenzo Ruiz. (This doesn’t necessarily mean in the face of much trials.) To be truly yourself is to, as both Erika and Dylan Wilk of Human Nature say, not quit, whatever happens. It is to stick to your purpose, to your individuality, to your you. And it is to live and communicate it clearly (but not gloatingly) and integrally.

So, at the end of the day, I’d say that the mark of a good and influential blogger – and one who can work well with business – is to live a truly purposeful life, a purpose innately and uniquely theirs, a purpose that can never be lived by anybody else. It is to live The Daily You.

Have a purposeful weekend!