Binkies and Briefcases

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!

This post is sponsored by Graco. I was compensated for attending this event, but all opinions are my own. 

This afternoon I attended the Graco Snugride Click Connect event at our local Babies R Us. I got a chance to meet local bloggers and see the brand new .

I got a chance to meet Wendy from ABCs and Garden Peas. Wendy was the hostess for the event and I was there as her assistant. Here in Central PA it is rare to get a chance to connect with other bloggers so I was thrilled to meet Wendy and Skye from Real Mom Reviews.   Skye is only 23 and is raising 6 kids!  I was so impressed with both of these ladies.

Our attendance was lower than we expected, but it made for a nice intimate group. We had a little less than 20 people come to our event.

We ate the cookies and candy Wendy brought, played celebrity baby name trivia, and spent a lot of time playing with the Snugride car seat.

I have to say, I honestly was very impressed with this car seat. Now that the recommendations have changed and children are supposed to be rear facing until age 2, we are going to need a new car seat for Penny. I am strongly considering the Snugride.

All of the moms loved the 8 different reclining settings, allowing for plenty of leg room as your baby grows. Abby was a big baby and her legs were always bent and squished against the back of the seat once she got to be about 8 months old until the time she could face forward. This would not have been a problem with the Snugride because of the adjustable settings. The seat slides back and up, so that as baby grows she can sit upright, allowing for more legroom. This car seat is approved for 4 pounds all the way up to 40 pounds, so it is good to go up to age 2 (or maybe longer) without a problem.

We also really liked the retractable foot rest. The seats of your car will stay clean because your toddler’s muddy shoes won’t be kicking them while you are driving. Plus it’s really cute with the little footprints. 🙂

I think my favorite feature was the way the straps adjust. No re-threading! They adjust with just a button in the back of the car seat, so there is no need to re-thread. That is a huge pain for me this time of year with our current car seat, which is an older Graco model. Because of the weather fluctuations, Penny is wearing a heavier sweater one day and a lighter outfit the next and I am constantly having to readjust the straps. The Snugride is soooo much easier.

Also, because it is a Click Connect, this car seat would work with the two Graco strollers (a single and a double) that we already own.

We even got to give away two brand new Snugrides to some lucky ladies.

And the winners are….drum roll…

Emily of Momma Days and Naomi!

Congratulations ladies!

The – the first and only newborn to two-year infant car seat that actually grows with your baby from four pounds all the way up to 40 pounds. The car seat is designed for a parent on the go. The infant car seat can be easily removed from the base and used as a carrier when the infant is small, providing portability and convenience so you can easily move your infant in and out of the car without disturbing them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made the recommendation to keep all children in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2. Graco set out to make this product so parents can keep infants rear facing longer while still keeping them comfortable.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. The opinions and text are all mine.