Shoes are very important at a blog conference.
Fabulous shoes.
Women blog about their shoes, and post photos, even before they arrive.
And, then they compliment and photograph each others shoes. A lot.
One person admired the awesome boots I was wearing. I got them at a sample sale held by a local man who designs for companies like J.Jill. They cost me $20. Retail was over $200. (Shoe to the left on the foot of the wonderful Amy at Milk Breath and Margaritas.)
Anyway, my shoe admirer was a gigantic retail company exec who I approached with a business idea. He was into it. I think. But looking back, maybe he admired my shoes to change the subject?
But, the point is that at a blog conference it is OK to walk up to a retail company exec and pitch him an idea. Seriously. Because, why not?
And now we get to what I learned at Blissdom, my very first ever blog conference. I admit to telling my friends to slap me if I ever say I am packing bags and flying to a humongo blog conference. I don’t do too well in big rooms full of only women. Women scare me a little, especially when they all know each other and I don’t. So, it took some courage to walk in there. (In my previous life, my reporter’s notebook allowed me both access and distance. I like that.)
But, hurrah, the dread was for not.
The ladies of Blissdom are lovely and there was a good vibe in the place.
I searched for some local bloggers, clung to them for dear life the first day and then made it a point to table hop the second day. Because I didn’t spend the two nights at the hotel, I missed out on the socializing and trips to downtown Nashville to dance on bar tops, so table hopping
between sessions it was.
From listening to the speakers and the attendees, here are my take-aways:
- Why are you blogging? To release demons, keep a memoir for your family, make money or get a book deal? You gotta figure it out and focus on it.
- Ashamed and horrified by lack of readers and comments? Get over it. Go back to the why you’re doing this and stay true to the mission and your own voice — no one else’s.
- Really, really want readers and comments? Write good content, write in your own voice and get to Twittering and Facebookin
g. Reaching out to other bloggers pays off because most of them will gladly share the link love and tweet about you. Yes, even about you.
- Even the most wonderful heartfelt and funny posts go without comments, or just a trickle. (Do you know that reporters often only get letters and calls when the reader is supremely hacked off? Bloggers are spoiled.)
- It takes time to build readership. Don’t get desperate. But, how much time? Can’t really say. Depends.
- Want to make money? Well, no matter how beautifully you can string a sentence together, advertisers no givie no squatie if you have no readers. And, if you do end up with some advertising, don’t necessarily expect to make much. One well-known blogger admitted she makes $50 a month, enough to pay her water bill.
- And, by the by, if you get 100 hits a day, that’s popular not pathetic. So, go figure.
- Consider having set days when you write about certain topics, kind of like “Works for me Wednesday” so your reader knows what to expect. But, then you’d better stick to it. (You’d be irked if Lost got moved to Tuesday and no one told you ahead of time, right?)
- Write with the bookmark in mind. Is your reader going to want to read this again or will the reader think it valuable enough that others should read it? Maybe he or she will bookmark it to Digg or Technorati or StumbleUpon. (My most popular social bookmark is How to Send a Celebrity a Gift Basket. And look, only 1 Digg, but it constantly sends people to the Boonie Blog.)
- Best ways to make dinerito? Ad networks like Real Girls Media and Blogher can do it for you, as can affiliate programs like Amazon’s. But, you can’t just throw the store or ad in your sidebar and expect your readers to go shopping. (Um, I can tell you that from experience. My Amazon store needs some love. Go buy something, OK?)
- How to make money through Amazon? When you write about a product, link to your own store. Stupid me has been linking to the regular store. The women who do gift guides said they make good money during the holidays. Good, good, good money! They also said it is a lot, a lot of work.
- Be transparent. If you’re writing about a product a company or a PR person sent you, be honest about it. Lying is muy bad karma. (If I write about a product/book/or music it is because I’ve bought it and use it. When I have done a review for a company, I tell you. I don’t charge for it.)
- Other ways to make money: coupons.com; mysavings.com; shareasale.com; tinyprints.com affiliate program; Commission Junction at cj.com;
- People ignore banners. It’s called Banner Blindness. So, you need to strategically place your sale within a post. (sneaky fab and I know you know that already.)
- If you want to do reviews, consider putting that information/policy on your blog for public relations folks to find easily. (You know some of these bloggers charge up to $500 for a review? Talk about cojones.)
- If you do reviews, y
ou are going to get asked by companies what your readership and “reach” is. You could have 50 daily readers, but 500 friends on Facebook and 300 friends on Twitter, so be sure to consider that part of your reach. (Cubans call that “palanca” — someone with pull.)
- You are a brand. Don’t forget that.
- Your blog may not bring you riches or 278 comments per post, but it can bring you opportunities. Women have spun businesses off their blogs — everything from Web design to speaking engagements to product endorsements. Over here at the Boonie Blog, my wonderful Parenting.com gig would not have come without the blog, which I started to help promote Los Pollitos and allow me to keep writing regularly. (Next wish via blog: For a book agent to find me and beg me to write a book she/he can sell for a few million. Just throwing that out there to the Universe, OK?)
- And, though you may not have a Dooce-like following, your regular readers trust you. That’s a point to make to potential advertisers, so said the lovely Nancy Martira. Then, don’t violate that trust, mm-k?
- Here’s a fun story: One popular and oh so cute blogger asked her Twitter followers for suggestions about a new car. Ford motor company chimed in. Guess what? She snagged a one-year car deal with Ford. So, throw it all out there. State what you want. Someone who could turn your world around — or at least loan you wheels — may be listening.
- Look here for a free template from Mom Bloggers Club for sharing information about yourself with advertisers.
- Can I just add this here because I can? Here is one of my creedos: “Money does not come to the greedy hand.” Some review blogs that friends in business have dealt with need lessons in ethics and non-greed. Just sayin. Not that I met anyone like that at Blissdom, but the stories I have heard are sad and appalling.
- Burnout: One panelist called it “blogstipated.” Love it. Have had it. Often.
- Privacy and personal stories: Panelists ranged from those who don’t use their children’s real names and use caution in writing about friends and relatives to others who let it all hang out. Just depends on your comfort level. Me, I’m cautious. I haven’t spoken my husband’s name here. (And, if I told you all my stories, oh boy. I’m saving those for that “fiction” I’m going to finish one day…Hello, agent?)
- Syndicate your best posts at Divine Caroline. The site is owned by Real Girls Media, which works with Future 500 companies who could end up advertising on your humble blog. The company rep who attended the conference called bloggers “publishers.” I liked that.
- Talk to your readers. Encourage conversation. Poll them using the free http://www.polldaddy.com/
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- Get a tag line for your blog so folks who stumble by know what your focus is. I need a good one for the blog, but I love our Pollitos tag: “Vibrant Threads for Colorful Babes.”
My own take on blogging and writing:
- Don’t fall in love with yourself too much. Someone always is better, someone always is less fabulous.
- Blogging is a bit of a lonely and dangerous thing. Having no editor means there is no one to tell you you’ve written lightweight crap. So, careful before you hit “publish.” Me, guilty of hitting publish too soon. Many times. Makes me miss my editor.
- Don’t allow a lack of comments to make you think you suck or think that everyone else sucks. The first is playing victim, the second is delusion.
- Want to be a better writer? Read good writing. Go back to literature and popular fiction you love and study why you love it. Read bloggers you admire. Why do you like them? What about them makes you think, laugh, cry? What makes you go back?
- Read everyone, but write as yourself. Always.
- Have fun.
- And remember, “lo que esta pa’ ti, nadie te lo quita” or “what’s meant for you is meant for you and no one can take it away.”
And next year, damn it, more people better admire my shoes.
OK, more if you want it
Here is a great resource post with links to many Blissdom round-ups by other bloggers.
Following is a list of women I met, or heard, at Blissdom who I really enjoyed.
Names are hyperlinked to their blogs and I’m giving you their Twitter IDs too because from the main Twitter.com page all you have to do is add their ID like this (www.twitter.com/Carrie_in_TN). From the Twitter page, you’ll see links to their personal sites too.
The locals or close enough:
For more round-up posts of Blissdom, go here.
See wonderful adopted hometown here as shot by Secret Agent Mama.
Come to Nashville next year for Blissdom!
If this were a panel, and it was time for questions, this would be my question:
“Is this the single finest Blissdom wrap-up post ever written?”
This is a fabulous post, and I’m bookmarking it.
p.s. And I am not just saying this because you linked to me.
This rawks Carrie! Wanna publish some excerpts on the Blissdom website?
Love it!
xo, alli
Great recap!
Amy (Milkbreath & Margaritas)'s twitter ID is @Amy2boys.
Was nice to meet you briefly – I was at your table for a short while.
“lo que esta pa’ ti, nadie te lo quita” Girl, I am putting that on my fridge, or embroidering it on a pillow, or something! ;)
Great re-cap–I so enjoyed meeting you, Carrie, and just wish we could’ve visited longer. You’re such a good writer!
Love your recap! And I loved meeting you in person. :) Thanks for mentioning me even though I acted at least as uncomfortable as you felt.
thank you for posting this…i’ve been contemplating starting a blog, and this is helping me sort it all out.
you are delight!
Love this post! So much great info! I’m following new ladies on Twitter, bookmarking this post, stumbling this post, should I go on…
Thanks for the recap!
You write so well….can I hire you as an editor! I loved this piece – looking for phone number now so i can call ya. I love all this information too!
Great wrap-up. Makes me wish I’d gone. And inspires me.
But where’s the photo of your boots?!!
This is great Carrie!! Mahalo nui!
Sarah
Leaves me out on two counts. 1. No blog yet and 2. No one in their right mind would take a pic of my shoes. ;) Good post, Carrie! Sounds like you had fun AND learned something.
I’m happy to see that I made the recap even though my shoes didn’t ;)
Great post, Carrie!
Great recap – I guess the purpose of my Hispanic Nashville Notebook is to “keep a memoir for your family” in the broadest sense of the word “family.”
As for a tag line – I am always thinking of candidates. Using the “memoir” theme, I guess today’s would be, “The Hispanic Chapter of Nashville’s Memoirs”
This is SO good!
I’m twittering it!
(I’m @amy2boys, btw. But I think we are following each other already.)
No one took a picture of my red patent leather ballet flats. Sniff sniff.
Hey everybody, thank you for stopping buy — and the Stumbles — and the kudos…I look forward to connecting and reading more of your blogs.
Carrie – I may need to revisit my old stomping grounds sometime soon – this conference sounds like a great time! Thanks for the great post!
By the way, there was a band in Nashville at one time called “These Are My Shoes” he-he…
xoxo Cher :)
This is great, Carrie! Thanks for sharing.