Online BlogCon Wrap Up: What I Learned

 

I just attended my first blog conference!

Guess what? It was 100% online AND really affordable. Those were the biggest two draws for me in making the decision to sign up. I’ve wanted to go to a blog conference for YEARS, but they are usually really expensive and I couldn’t leave my nursing baby this year anyway.  I *might* have sulked and pouted for a few days about not being able to go to Haven and meet Ana White in person. Just saying.

It seems like you can’t get ahead in Blogland without attending a few conferences and making face-to-face connections. I was really thrilled to learn that there was going to be an alternative this year and it only cost $15. Online BlogCon was set up as a private blog and we were emailed a password to access the posts. It ran from Monday-Wednesday. A few posts would appear each day and Facebook and Twitter conversations would happen throughout the day as well. I missed a lot of the live stuff because of my home schooling  responsibilities, house showings, and other activities that were pre-planned, but I still feel like I got a lot out of the experience.

The majority of the participants were food bloggers, who I would not have pegged as “my people,” but everyone was very nice and I liked that my blog was able to stand out a little for being different. I’m really happy with what I learned and I would definitely do it again. If you get a chance next year, I recommend participating. Here are just a few of the things I learned:

• Where to network. I already knew networking was important, but I was excited to learn about places like VoiceBoks where bloggers can go to interact with each other and participate group giveaways and link ups.
• Private Facebook groups are where it’s at. I was already participating in 2 smaller groups, but the private FB group for Online BlogCon has over 200 Bloggers who are all supporting and promoting each other. I saw a big spike in my FB likes. (P.S. Use your personal Facebook profile, not your site’s when you are liking other pages. Only likes from personal pages count towards their number.)
• People are watching us. Christi from Love from the Oven did a great post about working with brands. She shared a story about Kraft contacting her because they had tested a recipe from her blog and liked it so much they wanted to put it on their product packaging. I have noticed that after a project is in Blogland for a while, something very similar tends to appear in catalogs and retail stores. We are the trend setters and brands are starting to pay attention.
• We can make money doing this. There were open and honest posts exploring different ad campaigns and rates, how many views a site has to have to qualify for certain companies, and advice for how to charge for your time and effort.
• Balance. Stephanie from Somewhat Simple did a post about how to keep yourself sane and not lose your love for blogging. She suggested finding contributors to take some weight off your shoulders and setting goals, among other things.

My take aways to work towards growth for my own blog are:

1. Set a schedule. I need to try to be more organized about what I’m posting and when.
2. Do more networking. I’m trying to engage more in FB groups and on VoiceBoks and help other bloggers promote themselves. eventually it comes back around. I also started a Facebook group for local bloggers in my area, I’m hoping we can get some actual face time with each other.
3. Define my voice a little better and be honest with myself about it. This blog started out as a personal family blog, but has grown and I need to decide what exactly my niche is. Much to my surprise, my niche seems to be “conservative mom humor lifestyle blog.” I would have never guessed that a few months ago when I was trying to be a craft or decor blog. The truth is, between homeschooling and building the new house, I just don’t have time to do as much crafting as I would like to, and there are other bloggers who are better at that. My biggest asset is being able to tell a funny story in a way that no one else can. I will still continue to share craft projects and our house building process, but I will try to define my voice while I’m doing it.

 

If you think you might be interested in attending next year you can visit the Online BlogCon Facebook page to stay in touch.

And I’d love to connect with you on the Binkies and Briefcases FB page as well!