You are here: Home / Archives for blog conferences
post

Investing In Your Blogging Career #blissdom At HOME

April 5, 2012 By 2 Comments

Through the years, I have tried to write posts that help new bloggers reach their goals. This is a hard business to break into and few bloggers truly make a living at it…..well, a living that includes more than Tide coupons and free movies. But I would say for most ‘mom bloggers’ the goal isn’t to make a full time salary- we do it for more personal reasons. One of those being, we find our bliss in it.

Last month I was able to go to the Blissdom Conference in Nashville. The level of talent among the speakers there was amazing. But I couldn’t be everywhere at all times and there were plenty of sessions I missed, most regrettably the Photography Track with Me Ra Koh. Thankfully, as a Blissdom Community Leader I was given the gift of a membership to Blissdom at Home so now I can take my time and work through all of the sessions at my own pace. Blissdom at Home is just like being there. All the sessions were taped and you can watch the videos of the presentations, listen to the audio (I fell asleep last night listening to Shoot Like a Woman session) and have all the handouts and slideshows as if you were sitting there.

This year Blissdom at Home is trickling the information in and I won’t lie, at first I was totally annoyed by this. Mostly because the one session I REALLY want to see is 3 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Grow Your Facebook Fan Page with Melanie Nelson. I have already seen people reporting back some real quantifiable results from tips they picked up here. According to the schedule that one won’t be released for weeks. UGH! I have since realized that this is probably a good thing. My brain would skip right to that session and I would gloss over things that I thought weren’t relevant to me and I would miss such amazing nuggets of knowledge about things I didn’t even know I needed to know.

For those of you that are always asking me “Should I go to a Blog Conference?” this is your answer. Blissdom At Home isn’t “cheap” but for $99 you get access to ALL the sessions until the 2013 Conference. Plus a forum to ask questions and discuss what you learn. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than flying, hotel, the conference pass (which was $199) and owing your hubby for watching the kids for the weekend!

Blissdom At Home.

I don’t recommend a lot of things on this blog but this is truly something I think is valuable to mom bloggers looking to take things to the next level. Full disclosure that my link to it is an affiliate link. If you buy it, I am getting 20%. BUT if you buy it, and like it, you can recommend it to your readers with an affiliate link.Which means if 5 of your readers get it, you basically got it for free. Pretty sweet deal they have going on there.

BlissDom ’12 – Opening Video from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Blog Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,
post

Tips For Making #Blissdom Blissful

February 8, 2012 By 1 Comment

I'm a Blissdom Community Leader!In a few short weeks women from all over the Blogosphere will descend on Nashville, TN for the 4th annual Blissdom Conference. I’ve had a long and storied history with this conference in that every year I have planned to attend, and every year I have had to cancel. Last year, literally the day before. Being a mom always comes ahead of getting your #bliss on, right?

Super excited to have a chance to finally attend, I will be there as a Travel Niche Community Leader.

Which leads me to my post today…

While I will be new to Blissdom I am certainly not new to travel or blog conferences. And when I travel alone, I tend to leave my brain at home. I am super organized when my family travels, but when it is just me, my chaos flag totally fly’s!

SO, here are some tips to avoid some of the situations that have either happened to me, or an unfortunate blogging friend as you get ready for #blissdom!

  • Stop worrying about what you are going to wear. No one is going to care. I promise. They are more worried about if they look OK. Worry instead about your luggage! All the outfit planning in the world isn’t going to help if your bags get lost. My suggestion is to bring a carry on with a foldable travel bag inside, preferably a cheap duffel type. Something like this is perfect. You want all your clothes in a carry on heading there. Ask Carissa Rogers about how she ended up at Blissdom last year with nothing but pj’s she got from my house in Denver. That foldable bag is going to come in handy for bringing home any SWAG you collect. Even if you have to pay a baggage fee for it on the way home, it may be cheaper than shipping the stuff home.
  • Take a picture of your drivers license if you don’t have a passport. If you do have a passport leave it in a safe place at home! One unlucky Snowmama last year (cough, @luxurytravelmom) lost her license on ski lift, leaving her to figure out what the process is to travel home without identification. Hint: it is possible, but it makes it a whole lot easier to have someone at home able to fax a copy of your identification to TSA.
  • Get your travel documents on your phone! In addition to having several essential travel apps I carry all my reservations in the clouds. I take screen shots of all of my travel arrangements and store them in My Docs on the Apple cloud. Emailing them to yourself via gmail would accomplish the same thing. Basically, you want to be able to show that front desk person that indeed you do have a room reservation even though the confirmation number isn’t in their system. If you really aren’t tech savvy, print them out and carry them with you.
  • Get cell phone numbers of people you want to meet up with. I have AT&T, which means my reception can be very spotty at conferences. Texts seem to make it through better. This is also a good time to plug promising your family texts over calls. Often times you get so busy at a conference that you realize you completely missed that after school check in call you were going to make to the kids. When my kids were younger, I would take a picture of some cool things on the Expo floor that I couldn’t wait to share with them when I got home.
  • Make sure you tuck a few of your own business cards behind your badge. You never know who you are going to meet in the elevator! I always bring a mini sharpie and attach it to my badge as well. I am sure you know the tip of writing a quick note on someones card you meet so you can remember who the heck they were a week after Blissdom when you have 200 of them in front of you. Believe it or not some people (me) still print their cards in glossy and a sharpie is the best thing to write on those.

Hopefully the above tips will help make your trip a bit more Blissful. If you need more, Traveling Mom will keep you busy for hours. See you in Nashville!

 

Filed Under: Blog Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,
post

How To Ask For Blog Conference Sponsorship

April 18, 2010 By 4 Comments

Last week Tamara talked about why a newbie blogger should attend a conference. This week, I want to look at the nuts and bolts of how to attend a blog conference on someone else’s dime(s).Let’s face it. Conferences are EXPENSIVE and if you are a mom making just enough to pay for your monthly coffee habit from your blog it may seem like a crazy way to spend your money. If you are serious about your blogging goals, the money you spend on conferences can be well worth it. If you are just trying to update your family on little Susie’s latest word, it probably isn’t. Either way, looking for conference sponsorship is a great way to make it do-able (doable?? hmm…..)If you have been to at least one conference, you know it seems like everyone there is sponsored by someone. Sponsorship to a conference basically just means that a brand has helped you to defray the costs of attending the conference. I have seen all sorts of sponsorships, from a full sponsor who would pay for everything including your ticket, airfare, hotel and misc. expenses to those that partially cover your expenses or give you a product you may need for the trip.The first thing you should do in looking for a blog conference sponsorship is put together a summary of the conference you are hoping to attend. Not sure which conferences are for you? Jyl has a great list here! What is the conference about? What do you hope to gain from the conference? What types of brands would benefit from having a presence at this conference? What are the benefits to a brand?Last year I attended a conference and was shocked to find that one of the brands I work with was not represented there. They had given me a very small sponsorship to attend that conference without any strings attached (meaning I did not agree to promote them or report back). But when I came home I wrote them a detailed report of the conference and why I think their presence would be invaluable in the future. They agreed to fully sponsor me the following year (I did not ask) as well as expanding their reach year round into the mom blogging market. Win-win for us both!Now that you know what your goals are with the conference and what brands may work well with that, it is time to reach out to those PR contacts that you have been building since we started this series. Start by sending them information on the conference. Point them to the conference website and past years the conference has been running. Don’t assume that they already know about the conference. Hopefully they will have a few competitors who are already involved :) Let them know that you would like to attend the conference. Remind them of successful campaigns you have worked on in the past with them. Your email should explain why you think they should be involved and what you are willing to do in exchange for a sponsorship. Let them know about your readership and stats. What is your reach?Have a detailed breakdown of the costs you expect to incur at this conference. Let them know upfront if you are hoping to get a full sponsorship from them or if you are expecting to reach out to several brands for a partial sponsorship. Tell them why you are a much better choice than sending a rep from their company! This is an easy one….the answer is because you already live in this space and are a more natural fit to really learn what the most exciting trends are. You know the people attending already (if only by being their readers) and you are better equipped to understand the industry.What do bloggers do in exchange for sponsorship?Really, a variety of things. One of the most clever sponsorships I have seen was Jenn Fowler teaming up with Coldwater Creek for her wardrobe last year at BlogHer. Genius in my opinion how she handled that. Some of the more common things:

  • hand out business cards
  • hand out swag bags with brand merchandise
  • run a live giveaway
  • live tweet at the event
  • live blog the event
  • host a private party in your suite
  • gather contacts for the sponsor
  • give a detailed report on the conference to the sponsor
  • exchange advertising space on your site
  • list sponsors on a special sponsor page on your site

Make sure that you check the conference guidelines to see what you are able to do for the sponsor before offering. I know BlogHer this year is not allowing attendees to pass things out in the conference space or host private parties within the conference hotel. This is a big change from last year and will force people to get a little more creative!Last but not least, don’t give up! You are bound to get a few no’s as you work through your contact list. That is OK. If it is a no because of the budget or so forth, DO follow up with them after the conference and let them know what they missed out on so they can plan for next year!Oh, and one more thing, if any wonderful brands out there reading this would like to sponsor me for any of the following: EVO, Savvy Blogging Summit, BlogHer or IZEAFest this year, please feel free to read more about how we can work together! *shameless plug*What are some successful blog conference sponsorships you have seen or had? What are some of the ways it doesn’t work??

Filed Under: PR Talk Tagged With: , ,
post

Why Newbie Bloggers Should Attend Blog Conferences

April 11, 2010 By 16 Comments

Please welcome Tamara as our fabulous PR Mondays guest poster today! She has some wonderful insight on conferences for you. This summer I am planning to be at the following conferences: EVO, Savvy Blogging Summit and BlogHer. I wrote a beginners guide to BlogHer last year.Let me know if you are going to any of those and please leave some wonderful comments below with your own advice to newbies or questions/thanks to Tamara!

Tamara is the voice behind The (Un)Experienced Mom and Blog Conference Newbie. In addition, she is the co-creator of Our Mommyhood…where motherhood meets bloghood! If she’s not online chatting or connecting others, she’s probably working out, sleeping, or changing a poopy diaper.—————————————————————Why Newbie Bloggers Should Attend Blog ConferencesWhen people first get into blogging, it usually starts off as a casual hobby. Some people post when they can while others start off posting daily. But no matter how often you write, the realization that blogging is a bit addicting and can require a lot of time eventually hits us all.In the short time I’ve been blogging, I’ve learned a lot about the craft. There are blogs for every hobby, topic, or stage in life. There are personal and professional bloggers. There are even blog conferences. I was actually very surprised to learn just how many blog conferences there were. Before I created Blog Conference Newbie, I figured there were a handful of conferences at most. But I have since realized that in addition to the bigger conferences such as BlogHer and Blissdom, there are newer conferences emerging each year, many of which are specific to a blogging niche.What I’ve also realized since networking with newer bloggers is that many assume that these blog conferences are only for experienced bloggers or ones who are making money from blogging. My own experience and those that other bloggers have shared with me proves this point: blog conferences are beneficial for newer bloggers.Still unsure if you should spend the time and money to attend one? Let me explain why I believe you should.

  • Connections: Blogging is not just about writing; it’s also about connections. So many of us enjoy reading others’ blogs and get excited when others comment on ours. While it’s easy to make connections with bloggers online, you’d be amazed at just how much stronger those connections become when you meet those people face-to-face at a conference. Even if none of your online blog friends are attending, I can assure you that you will still walk away with those real-life connections. At Blissdom this year, I roomed with someone I had never met before. I felt comfortable enough to be her roommate without having met her and am so glad I did. Not only are we great friends now, but the two of us met three other gals that we are now close with as well. When a large group of blogging women are put together under one roof, you’re guaranteed a good time and new friendships.
  • Knowledge: Of course, one of the main reasons to attend a conference is to learn, and blogging conferences are no different. The couple of days you’ll spend at the conference will be jam-packed with useful tidbits, helpful hints, and downright important information. Many conferences educate bloggers on topics such as finding your passion, utilizing social networking platforms, monetizing, increasing readership and traffic, and how to write creatively. Don’t want to earn money off your blog? Only blogging for fun? You can still learn a lot from a conference. For instance, the Casual Blogger Conference is geared towards those who blog as a hobby. In addition, many of the conferences offer various tracks, focusing on the topics you find helpful; you can pick and choose which sessions are a fit. Writing, business, photography, and creating communities are common tracks. There is something for everyone at these conferences.
  • Confidence: Attending Blissdom this year renewed my confidence. My confidence in my writing, my purpose for blogging, and my passions in general. The mix of having a weekend away to focus on myself and spending time with those who understood my hobby are what impacted me the most. I think most new bloggers feel very anxious leading up to the conference they are attending and start to question why they are even going. But once there, they realize that this was actually one of the best decisions they made. There really aren’t words to describe the blog conference experience other than fulfilling, fun, and fabulously rewarding.

There are obviously other reasons to attend a blog conference and I honestly could write another couple of pages worth. However, the purpose of this post was to provide you with some food for thought and encourage you to at least consider attending a blog conference this year even if you are a newer blogger.The next obvious thought after deciding to attend a conference is “How do I pay for it?” followed closely by “How should I prep for the conference?” I invite you to head over to Blog Conference Newbie to read tips on these topics, as well as how to save money on your blog conference trip and what to expect while you are there. In addition, the site offers a list of blog conferences, need-to-know dates, and interviews with conference coordinators themselves. Blog Conference Newbie is your go-to-guide for all things blog conferences, whether you are a new attendee or not!And please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter also. I enjoy helping newer bloggers with general insights or blog conference-related topics. You can connect with me on Twitter (@unxperiencedmom) or by adding the #ConferenceNewbie hashtag to your tweet.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: PR Talk Tagged With: , , ,
Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version