The Park Wife is a tribe builder. She is the founder of Arkansas Women Bloggers
(ARWB), an online community designed to gather,grow, and connect bloggers in our state. Stephanie recently launched her company The Women Bloggers
and expanded her state-focused blog communities into Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Through ARWB, she holds the popular, smaller niche blog conference Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged, submerging
bloggers in an environment that fosters relationships, communication and some
pretty fierce dedication and camaraderie. Considered an old-timer in the blog
world, since 2005 she has written what she hopes is a love letter to her children
on her lifestyle blog, The Park Wife. Raised in the debutante world of Mississippi,
she married her hunky park ranger and moved to Arkansas 15 years ago and has
fallen in love with the state. She loves gardening, porch swings, a beautifully
set table, a delicious meal surrounded by great conversations, their cabin in the
woods and monograming everything that is not nailed down. She is a devoted
wife and fun-loving, homeschool mom to two extraordinarily cool little gentlemen
and is fortunate enough to live on one of Arkansas’s premier state parks.
This is the last session of the day. Hope everyone is learning tons. My fingers hurt! I see that a few of my fellow boot campers have visions of tonight’s Mirassou Wine Party dancing in their heads…
This post is a “live blog” of the Authenticity is Magnetic: Developing a Unique Voice and Making a Space for Yourself session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!
Liz spent an entire year spending an ENTIRE YEAR not shopping.
Liz started out trying to fit the stereotype of the “pretty, high-heeled blogger.” An English teacher ex boyfriend told her to write in her own voice, so she did. From there she had a series of “lucky” encounters within social media that launched her blog into popularity.
But, listening to her speak, she is absolutely hilarious. Liz has made her own way in the blog world by being herself and by shrugging off the criticism she has received. She showed a slide that says, “Don’t try to win over the haters. You’re not the Jackass Whisperer.”
She says, “The more honest I was on my blog, the more honest I could be with myself….When I put my personal stories out there I found more and more people with similar stories.”
Liz has had her blog scraped (content stolen) many times. She combats this using Google Alerts and by googling key phrases from her blog. She also does images searches in Google Alerts for her own images.
Liz uses Stat Counter and Site Meter to track analytics and Disqus for comment tracking. These tools allow her to track site visitors and block the really heinous ones.
This session is being blogged to you live by Fawn Rechkemmer, who blogs at Instead of the Dishes. Special thanks to Petit Jean Meats for sponsoring Fawn’s attendance at Bloggy Boot Camp. Check out Petit Jean Meats’ Pinterest boards. Just get a napkin first so you don’t drool on your keyboard.
Hooray! This is the session I was most excited about! (it appears that we are skipping the “Growing Your Traffic” session due to schedule delays)
This post is a “live blog” of the Blogging About Your Town: What to Do with Local Content session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!
Your blog is YOUR personal space. No one should be telling you what to do with it. Own it. Do it your way. One of the things about YOUR story is where you live.
Your Local Influence
Google Analytics – go to Audience => Demographics => Location => Us => Arkansas Look at % of visitors and amount of time spent on site.
Twitter – check twitaholic for local ranking
Roughly estimate % of followers on twitter, FB, LinkedIn, G+, Pinterest, and any other online networks
Look Offline: Email contacts, local organizations – HOA, PTA, kids’ sports, etc.
Create a snapshot of your local influence
Write down and track
# of Blog views per month from Texas
Ranked 3rd for twitters followers in DFW
# of local social media reaches
Local organizations
How to Grow Local #s
– On Your Blog
Change URL of your ABOUT page. http://yourwebsite.com /[your city]momblogger (or other keywords that you want to be found by).
Use your new keyword phrase in your bio on that page
Add the phrase in your sidebar somewhere
Always use local keywords on your photo names
Promote your local content to your local friends
– Guest post where locals will see you
Online version of local newspaper
Local organizations/businesses’ blogs
Link your guest post to your new about page.
– On Twitter – stalk local followers – find them on local accounts like news, museums, organizations that are specific to your town
– On Pinterest – search for geo-centric boards: town names, sports names, local attractions
– Press – make yourself available to local TV, newspapers, local blogs
– Attend local events when asked
– Network with your local bloggers
How to put Local Content on YOUR blog:
If it’s occasional, just do it.
If once/twice per week: Consider setting aside a day or the weekend for this content
Set up a blog category with your town’s name.
Reasons you should NOT start a local blog
Workload – local blogs compete with news organizations who have PAID employees…and a lot of them
Website Traffic – potential traffic capped by your town’s population limiting passive income ptential dramatically
YOU are NOT the PRESS – but people will act like you are and not want to pay you
Local Businesses – don’t have the budget to take a chance on you and may be a little intimidated about social media in general
Find a way to fit local content in with what you are already doing.
Holly Homer hosts a G+ hangout on Wednesdays at 10:30am on social media practices. Feel free to come over and ask questions!
This is a Break Out Session. The other session, Writers Workshop, is being lead by Francesca Banducci @FranBanducci and Kathy Bouska @mamakatslosinit (sorry peeps, I can’t be in two places at once!
First up, Tiffany Romero.
Tiffany says that making a living from blogging is probably not happening with side bar ads. You have to know where you want to go and HOW you want to make your business. “Where you put your attention is where you get results.”
You also cannot compare yourself to other bloggers who have a different circumstance. If you have three kids under the age of 6 and no outside support, you can’t follow the same business model as a mom with older kids and a stay at home husband.
On working with other bloggers – “You need to have met them if you are going to share $ with them.”
Know your goals and throw out anything that doesn’t match. If you can spin it to match, or re-propose something that is a good fit, that’s good, but don’t do extra work to try to make something fit when it won’t. Don’t try to please EVERYONE. Please the people who are important to you, and please them first.
Tiffany says, “My husband is much happier if I have sex with him. It’s ok to schedule this in your mind. When the kids are going to bed, you’re getting on the computer, and your husband is giving you the stink eye, go ahead and have the sex.”
Manage your life with a schedule. Set office hours, and schedule when you check your email. You don’t need to check your email all day long.
“Business Opportunities are like buses. there is always another one coming.” -Richard Branson Be respectful and stay on the radar, but don’t feel like if you miss an opportunity, that you won’t get the next one.
It is more important to keep our integrity than it is to bring in $. Don’t sell out for less than you are worth. If you can avoid desperation, avoid it. Saying yes to everything isn’t going to work.
Laurie says, If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Saying no to money is really hard, but you have to put value on your integrity.
Tiffany – The perceptions of what blogging is will test our integrity. My personal blog doesn’t make any money. It’s the launchpad for SITS girls, which I created to fill a need in the community, not to make $.
Behave like a professional, and people will treat you like one. You have to have business cards. You have to set up a corporation (LLC) to project yourself. This conference is a tax write-off. This is a business expense. You need to run as a business. Learn accounting, or get an accountant. Get a lawyer.
Most likely ways to actually make $$ from blogging:
Brand Ambassadorship
Social Media Consulting
Paid Blog Posts
“A man should never neglect his Family for business” – Walt Disney You have to schedule out time for your business AND schedule family time.
Laurie Turk says that she incorporates her family into the housework so that they are bonding over all working toward the same goals. They schedule things like Family Game Night as a reward for everyone getting their tasks done.
If you’re going to go into a partnership, you need to first have an exit strategy. Keep your partnership to only two! More than that causes problems. Especially if you are partnering with moms, keep in mind you are also partnering with their husbands.
Go into a partnership with a contract that has been reviewed by attorneys on both sides.
If someone is unhappy that you’ve gone into business with someone else, or if they are jealous of the jobs you are getting, that’s a big sign that you don’t need that negativity in your life. Surround yourself with people that are thrilled for you and are happy with your success. You determine how people treat you. You have to take responsibility for that.
@AngEngland shares a quote she heard: “never compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.”
Best investments in gaining opportunties:
Meet other bloggers/agencies/brands in person
Go to blog conferences (to meet people in person)
Create a “tribe” of 3-5 people that are working in blogging/social media and have similar amounts of experience as you have. Find people who are in the same place in life as you are, but it’s great to have different interests. You gotta love the person, but also gather a writer, a photographer, a coder, etc (different interests).
18 Ways to Make Money from Your Blog (from Laurie Turk, @TipJunkie)
EBook
Traffic ~ google adsense/ad network
Brand Campaigns
Sell a Product
Consulting
Endorsements
Licensing designs
Giveaways
Ad network
Tribe collaborations {with other bloggers}
Facebook amplification
Sponsor posts
Affiliate links
Conference sponsorships
Hosting live events
Re-selling product ~ Amazon.com
Newsletter sponsors
Allison @AzTalamantez is going to talk about Media Kits and PR now.
Allison is not a big fan of blogger media kits. Most bloggers are making income by engaging with brands.
How do you stand out from the crowd?
– Know Thy Self
Who are you online & offline? And who is your audience? Offline is VERY important. Combining online and offline is a seamless way is the key to success.
What do you have to offer a brand? What do you do that is special
Where will your sponsored content live? Your need to be honest and upfront about this.
Why are you worth the investment?
How often are your readers open to sponsored content?
– Watch, Listen & Learn
Who is on your brand wish list and why? Make a list of 25 people you want to work with.
What are they currently doing in social media? If they are already working with bloggers, email them and ask to work with them.
What are they NOT currently doing in social media? Contact them and tell them how you can work with them.
– 5 Successful Pitch Strategies
Brevity is welcome in email. Close with the Q, “If you aren’t the right person to contact, who is?” If you are brief and you are clear, you are much more likely to get a response.
Media kits are useful. Phone calls are better.
Switch it up: Email-Phone-Email (one every three days) If you need an email, google “[company name] press release” and get a contact off the press release. Follow marketing/pr folk online.
Start a pitch calendar. You have to be thinking a full quarter or two ahead. Companies are working on New Year’s campaigns now. In January, you should be pitching for Mother’s Day.
Figure out how to be a brand’s hero. Figure out what brands need and how you can help them attain that.
Never bet against yourself. Know your value. Know you can’t give yourself a raise from $0.
– Plan and Strategize
Know who you want to be when you grow up.
Have idea starters.
Make a pitch calendar.
Ask questions and build relationships.
If a company responds that they don’t have a budget, ask if you can chat with them for 10-15 minutes about how you might work with them in the future.
When you are small, you are much better off working with small, local businesses to start with. Those businesses can make decisions and write a check much faster than a large corporation.
eBooks are a great way to make money as a blogger. Angela is currently earning a five figure income from her eBooks.
Why create an eBook:
Reuse conent that you already have.
Create an additional revenue stream. – will continue to make money while you work on other projects
Reach a broader audience with your message – offer one for free and encourage your readers to share with friends.
Builds personal brand and authority building – 10% of Angela’s customers who buy the ebook turn around and hire her to do what she talks about in her ebooks (social media, public speaking). It’s another form of a resume or portfolio.
What to write about:
Be specific but not too narrow. Example – you can’t just write about knitting. Don’t recreate things that are already out there. You also can’t write about knitting hamster outfits. Not enough people are interested in that. Find something that teaches a specific skill, saves money, or saves time. (or all 3 is even better)
Brainstorm your main topic areas and work your way down from there. Look at your analytics. What are people already looking to you for? What do they know you already do?
What are you already talking about?
What topics are you currently writing or researching? Even if you are not an expert, you can write your process. “100 days to becoming a knitter”
Create a table of contents (outline). This helps create a plan/focus and eliminate distractions.
The table of contents keeps you motivated to finish.
Angela pre-sold her book as motivation. She gave people that bought it on the pre-sale a 20 minute constult as a “reward”. This generated income she could use to hire an editor/designer to help her craft her ebook
Finishing touches:
Use pro images, photos, graphics, and cover art. Don’t go overboard with images because your ebook needs to be short, and you’re sacrificing content with each image.
Editing – catch mistakes – have it professionally edited. You can barter with an editor to save $$.
Format – presentation matters to readers.
If your book is more than 40 pages, add an index.
Consider font and readability. Make it big enough to read.
Marketing your eBook
Sell on your website – add a paypal button
Create an affiliate program and e-store of your own http://bit.ly/ebookplugin. This allows other bloggers to sell your ebook on their site for a % of sales. You are growing your audience this way.
Ads – you can create an ad for you ebook. If you don’t want to pay for ads, swap ads with another writer.
Tap into larger networks by becoming a columnist, doing guest posts, or sending the eBook out for review.
Monetize IN the eBook with your own affiliate links.
Audience Q – What format should it be in?
A-Most eBooks are PDFs.
Audience Q – Why would somebody buy my content when they can get it for free?
A-It’s easier and more convenient to have all the information in one place. If you build it properly, the people who need it will buy it. Many buyers are not blog readers and they don’t realize that they can search through your blog to find all the content.
This post is a “live blog” of the What You Really Need to Know About Blog Design session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!
Theory: “If you look good, you do better.” If your site looks good, people are more likely to come back.
REAL ESTATE – The most important piece of real estate is the items “above the fold”. Headers should not be taller than 250pixels because otherwise you’re wasting that real estate. If it is bigger, then you need to incorporate other features into your header, like social sharing or navigation.
It’s ok to be a personal blogger and make your header reflect that.
NAVIGATION – Keep it simple, and use it. It should be easy to see and use. PioneerWoman.com is a good example.
Your left side bar is where readers start, so put content that makes money there.
Highlight different areas of your blog on your main page. Ask yourself an important question: “do I need it on my front page?” Keep your front page simple so it doesn’t affect your load time. If your load time is slow, it may be because of too many links.
The FOOTER is the second most important place to the header. It’s a secondary navigation place. Where do you want readers to go next? Link to other parts of your blog. Make it a treat for the readers that got all the way to the bottom of your post. Also, repeat the main navigation and subscription tools down there. Use widgets to keep content dynamic (featured posts, recent posts, featured images, etc…)
GRAPHICS – no graphics are better than bad graphics. Cyn says buy stock and then change them to make them custom to your site. Play with line and stroke to make things different.
PHOTOS – so much more important now because of Pinterest. Pay attention to how photos are telling your story. Make sure you tag your photos with your blog name/URL. Group photos before you use them. Marketing people are looking more at how you tell your story with photos than they are paying attention to your words. Set your dpi resolution at 72 dpi. Computers can’t display more than that anyway, and it’ll make your image load faster.
FONTS – Use 3 or less fonts per site. If you have a logo font, Cyn says she likes to NOT use it elsewhere on the blog. Make sure your fonts are readable. Free fonts from dafont.com. Fonts set a mood.
COLOR – Color is hard to nail down. Make sure that you have white space on your blog. Use color sparingly. Don’t forget that different computers/resolutions/browsers are going to show colors differently. Use Pops of color to draw interest. Adobe Kuler is a free tool to create color schemes based on the colors of things you love. The trick is mixing your color scheme with your graphics for a total design.
TOTAL DESIGN – be consistent across platforms (FB, twitter, youtube, etc). Your color doesn’t have to be your brand. It could be a shape or an image. Spend the $$ on your logo because that’s what people are going to identify you by. Make sure you match who you are online with who you are in person. You have to carry your brand through when you meet people in person.
SITS Girl Tiffany Romero telling us how much she LOVES to talk in front of a crowd.
Good morning! We’ve just finished up a yummy breakfast from @PetitJeanMeats! SITSGirls Tiffany Romero @TiffanyRom and Francesca Banducci @FranBanducci gave welcoming remarks. This is the 15th Boot Camp – these gals know what they are doing!
This post is a “live blog” of the Top Ten Tips for Blogging Success session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!
Presenter: Laurie Turk @TipJunkie – Introduced as being ahead of the curve in everything social media and technical. Laurie is super outgoing and friendly, and truly believes in paying it forward. http://tipjunkie.com
Top 10 Blogging Tips – (keep your mind open when thinking about how you can apply these to your blog)
1. Know what industry you are in. McDonalds is the largest single owner of real estate in the world. They are not in the business of food, they’re in the business of real estate. YOU are in the business of online real estate. Your content has to be great, but people have to SEE it in order for your blog to be successful. As we learn and grow, our blog will grow too.
2. Treat your blog like a business. Think like a business person. Have one main purpose. If you solve a problem, you will make money! Know your limitations and work toward your strengths. Find a way that you can take something you love and make money at it.
3. Always expect a pay-off for your efforts. Don’t spend time, money, or effort on things that don’t pay a return. Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income. Schedule these with short and clear deadlines. Think about how much your blog costs you a day in time and money. Pay-offs:
Higher Traffic
Recognition
Money
Experience
Cut items out that don’t pay off in one of the categories above. Get rid of email subscriptions, etc that don’t help you. Laurie cut out Twitter because it was taking a lot of time and didn’t have a pay off.
4. Work smarter, not harder! Multiply your strengths and outsource the rest. Never underestimate the person sitting next to you – collaborate with people who are different from you and have different skill sets.
Do your most important task first
Spend your 1st hour intentionally working
Have a 12 month editorial calendar
Have office hours
Maintain no-technology hours
Only read email 2x a day
Use social media management tools like HootSuite to schedule image posts.
Sync Google Calendars with your family
Use alarms on your phone
Have 3 month goals & track them in Google Docks
5. Establish an end game and define yourself. Make a long term plan. Where do you want to be in 3 years?
6. Never second-guess a fun idea. If you have a crazy idea and it is completely bonkers, do it.
7. You’re only as good as the company you keep. Surround yourself with supportive people. If someone is bringing you down, get away! Join a closed facebook group that is negativity free. Barter advertising! Cross-promote! Be active in one another’s community.
The loudest voice is not always right. Listen to the people that are making money. Listen to the people who are already doing what you want to do. Avoid blog envy! When one person succeeds, we all succeed.
8. Teach people how to treat you. Remember “your problem is not my problem”. Make people tell you what they want and what their parameters.
9. Reward, don’t bribe. Give people something fun/free and all the sudden your subscribers will shoot up. ebook, printable, how-to guide, etc…
10. Branding, baby! Branding is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room. Ask your readers, ask your friends, “What do you think I am?” Find out how other people describe you.
Bonus Tip: Brand Every Blog post – First 3 sentences: explain what the reader can expect from the beginning, middle, and end of your blog post. Link to other posts within your blog in those first 3 sentences using relevant keywords as the link. Brand Imaging: add text, url or logo to your image. Use PicMonkey.com (it’s free). Footer: Put a footer with your profile picture, your blog button, RSS Feed, ebook, or Facebook Freebie. That way if people steal (scrape) your content, it’s still branded as yours.
Hello from Dallas, Ya’ll! I got here bright and early this morning and am getting pumped for Bloggy Boot Camp. Tomorrow morning we’ll get down to business, and I’ll be blogging it all for you ladies. Here’s the rough schedule for posts (I say rough because there are no end times on the sessions, so I’m not sure exactly when my posts will be finished):
Keep in mind that I will be blogging about and posting these sessions as they happen. There will be typos and grammatical errors, which I will try to go back and clean up after Bloggy Boot Camp is over.
My twitter is @FawnRech if you want to tweet questions to me during the conference. Not sure how quickly I’ll be able to answer! You can also follow along with the conference on twitter with #BBCDAL
Here’s my first conference secret for you: The fee you pay to attend a conference usually doesn’t even come close to paying for the cost of the conference. Conferences don’t happen without sponsors. Please take a moment to show some social love to the conference organizers and sponsors.
Wow! What a weekend we had in the mountains at the Ozark Folk Center for the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2012 conference! We couldn’t possibly capture all of the awesome that occurred. So, would y’all be so kind as to place your AWBU blog posts here? That way, we can all creep on one another’s memories with ease, and it will be that much simpler for us to help convince everybody not to miss AWBU 2013!
Thank you for all that you shared and for all the ways you jumped into AWBU with gusto!
Share your AWBU post below – be sure to link directly to the post rather than your homepage! (You can put your blog name in parentheses after your name)
Ever wondered what goes on at an e-commerce company? It isn’t all internet cafes in India. We promise. CountryOutfitter.com is a boot retailer proudly based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, run by a super-genius former doctor, his carefully selected web developers and some orange robots (not even kidding).
See:
Let me introduce myself to those of you whom I haven’t yet met. I’m Stephanie, and I blog at EvolvedMommy.com. I’m also the director of Social Media for Acumen Brands, which is the parent company of CountryOutfitter.com.
As part of the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged conference we are excited to offer each of the attendees a pair of boots to keep plus a $150 gift card to give away to one of their readers.
Fall is our biggest time of the year at Country Outfitter and to help you gear up for this special boot season I thought I’d give you a behind the scenes peak at Country Outfitter’s operations and a sneak peek into the hottest boots coming up.
Without further delay…
Behind the scenes at Country Outfitter
Hot boots for Fall 2012
Click each boot to go directly to the product page for more details!
For Razorback tailgating every girl needs a good pair of red cowboy boots that will be comfortable all day whether it is hot or cold outside. Pair this with a t-shirt dress or leggings depending on the month and you’ll be the hit of the party.
The peekaboo on the top of the toe of these Ariat cowboy boots means all the detail isn’t lost when you wear these under your favorite jeans this fall. Or tuck your best dark skinny jeans into them with a cable knit chunky sweater and head out to dinner.
Find a concert or a bar and GO! These boots are so hot you just have to have them. Do not let reason stand in the way here. Bikes, Blues and BBQ is coming up in Fayetteville. That’s reason enough.
Lucchese is great at pairing edgy with a little bit of southern class. They make their boots by hand in America and then make them look old. Basically the beat the crap out of them before you even get them. This camel color is the IT color in boots for fall. Wear them with grey leggings and just about anything else to set yourself apart as on trend.
We know Lucchese boots are a little spendy, but they are just so pretty. Look at the detail in these Gardenia boots. They are swoon worthy and ful of southern sass.
Old Gringo is huge right now. They are trendy because of their unique look and Texas style. Like camel, Caramel is a big fashion “do” this fall, which makes this boot one of our favorites.
We hope y’all have a great time Saturday night and if you ever need help with boots I’m just an email or a phone call away.
Hello from Dallas, Ya’ll! I got here bright and early this morning and am getting pumped for 
