Tag: Bloggy Boot Camp

Bloggy Boot Camp: The Recap

Hi everyone! I had a great time live blogging from Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas yesterday. Thanks to those of you who tweeted to me and left comments. I was glad that you all were finding the posts to be valuable. Over the next few days I’ll be going back through the posts and adding in a few more resources and some pictures. Tonight I wanted to do a quick recap of the event and also talk about some of the reasons why actually attending a blog conference might be a goal that you should set for yourself as a blogger.

So, first the recap. I have been to a few blog conferences, but this was my first Bloggy Boot Camp. It was relatively small – about 150 attendees. Almost all the bloggers there were from Texas, and a lot of them were attending their first ever blog conference. Several ladies I met hadn’t even started their blog yet. They were attending the conference to “learn how to do things so I don’t screw it up,” as one gal put it.

Different Bloggy Boot Camps address different subjects. This one was primarily centered around generating income from your blog. Obviously this isn’t everyone’s focus, but generally the way you make money from blogging is by making your blog better and keeping up with what is going on in the blogging community. Both of those things are good to do for any blogger, so even if you’re not into the business side of things, there was plenty of value to be had (hopefully you saw that in the live posts I did yesterday).

The ticket price for Bloggy Boot Camp is $99. I would say, based on the amount of things that I learned in the sessions alone, that this is a great deal. Bloggy Boot Camp is definitely learning-centric. It really isn’t about big parties or swag. As you saw in the post, there were some sponsors and some social events, and we did get to take home a goodie bag of fun stuff, but the focus was definitely on tangible take-aways that we could apply to our blogs immediately. The small size of the conference and the limited number of sponsors that were there was nice because there were plenty of opportunities to interact directly with the sponsors and learn about their brands. The conference organizers and “big gun” bloggers were also very friendly and accessible. The speakers didn’t just come in and do their presentation and get out. They were at the social events, mingling and answering questions. The SITSGirls and the team that works for them were super friendly and genuine – it was hard to tell them apart from the attendees when they weren’t on the microphone. I think that’s a good thing.

Now, I know I live blogged the whole she-bang for you, so you got the gist of the conference sessions and what they were about. But, conference going, even at a learning-centric conference, is much more than snagging tips and to-do lists out of sessions. So, here’s a list of what you missed:

Networking. Hands-down my second favorite thing about blog conferences (behind learning) is networking. If you’re not there, you can’t network. I’m not really talking about sponsors and big guns. I’m talking about fellow bloggers. That’s the good stuff. Comparing notes, fostering friendships, commiserating about writers block, and brainstorming ways to partner are just a few examples of why getting into a room full of women (and maybe a few men) that love to blog as much as you do can be fantastic.
Asking Questions. The ability to ask questions of speakers, conference organizers, PR professionals, and brand reps face-to-face is pretty awesome. Sure, you can talk with these folks via email, but it’s just not nearly as cool as having a real live conversation.
Immersion. Nothing can get you more energized about your craft than spending a large block of time thinking and doing nothing BUT that craft. Aside from the jewels that you are hand fed by the speakers and fellow attendees, I guarantee your creative juices will flow faster and deeper at conference, and you’ll likely come home with a list of ideas that you brainstormed all on your own while you were immersed in bloggy goodness.
Confidence. We all have our various social anxieties and worries. It takes some courage to go to an event where you don’t know anyone in a town you’re not familiar with. I always have a little case of nerves just before going to a conference. But, once I get there, it’s refreshing to see that everyone – from the blogger who’s making six figures, to the PR mavens, to the brand reps, and on down to the quietest blogger at the table – everyone is a real person. Every once in a while I am disappointed to find that someone I thought was pretty cool online turns out to be not-so-fantastic in real life, but still, it builds my confidence in knowing that we are all just people. Getting to the conference is 75% of the battle. Once you get one conference under your belt, you’ll likely feel your confidence rise.
The little things. Ok, so yes, I said there wasn’t a ton of swag at Bloggy Boot Camp, but I still came home with two new flash drives with brand information on them, sweet rolls from King’s Hawaiian, snacks for the kids from Happy Family, OPI nail polish from Kroger, a grilling apron for hubby, a fistfull of business cards from bloggers I had never met before (I’m already working out a guest post swap with one of them!), product coupons and samples, and some fun photos.

So, if you’re considering attending a blog conference, I think you absolutely cannot beat the annual Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged conference for a first-time go at it. It’s more of a retreat/camp type atmosphere. I would highly recommend Bloggy Boot Camp as well, though. Especially if you are ready to take your blog toward blogging for business, it’s a great value for the wealth of info you get and the amount of time you have to invest.

Thanks again for letting me take over the “blogwaves” on Arkansas Women Bloggers for these past 72 hours. I’ve had a blast!

~Fawn from Instead of the Dishes

Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Developing Voice and Niche

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!

Presenter: Elizabeth Jane Liu @NoShoppingLiz http://flourishinprogress.com

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.”

(mmmm…@KrogerCo just brought around ice cream!)

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.

Other Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Growing Your Traffic

Snack break! We noshed on fruit and mimosas sponsored by @KrogerCo

Ok, NOW we’re talking about Growing Your Traffic

This post is a “live blog” of the Growing Your Traffic session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!

Presenters: Tiffany Romero @TiffanyRom, and Francesca Banducci @FranBanducci

1. Be familiar with all the social media platforms. Schedule when/how often to interact with them.

2. Create and editorial calendar.

3. Use Evernote to gather content ideas

4. Guest Post – host guest posts on your site and guest post on other sites

5. Make your posts easy to share. Add social media sharing buttons on your posts. Make sure your social media sharing tools are shortening URLs.

6. Consider your niche. Take the time to categorize your posts into areas that your readers will be interested in.

7. Twitter

make sure you fill in your bio., location, and upload a photo of YOU.
Create two accounts – you, and your blog name
Healthy ratio: 8 conversational tweets, 2 promotional tweets
Utilize Hashtags
Use a management platform: tweetdeck, hootsuite, twitterific
Clear out people that don’t follow you back. You can use friendorfollow.com to see who’s not returning the love.

8. Facebook

Get Visual – post images with a link to your post in the caption
Incentivize – reward facebook readers for liking your page
Find a Group – use it for networking and promotion

9. Pinterest

Watch your links – make sure your images are named appropriately
Make your post images pinterest friendly
Pin the pretty and popular
Move your seasonal boards to the top during the appropriate season
Create a quote pin with a quote from your own writing
Pin on Saturday mornings

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.

Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Local Content

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!

Presenter: Holly Homer @TexasHolly http://sheisdallas.com http://business2blogger.com

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 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. What’s better than Petit Jean Bacon? Chocolate Covered Petit Jean Bacon.

Other Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Business of Blogging

All fueled up from the fabulous lunch atop the Doubletree Campbell Center.

This post is a “live blog” of the Business of Blogging session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!

Presenters: Laurie Turk @TipJunkie, Tiffany Romero @TiffanyRom, and Allison Talamantez @AzTalamantez

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.

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. Did you know you can heat a Petit Jean ham in your dish washer? That’ll free up some oven space at Thanksgiving!

Other Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Success in eBooks

I’m starting to think about the yummy dessert we had last night at the @HawaiianKing party. It must be time for lunch soon…

This post is a “live blog” of the Success in eBooks session at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas. Please excuse all typos and format issues. We’re live!

Presenter: Angela England @AngEngland

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”
Give a unique perspective and hook.
Angela has a free questionaire about your lifestyle and life history that can help you identify your strengths in topics and perspectives.

Getting Started:

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.
Sell your eBook elsewhere
– Amazon – http://amzn.to/ebookFormat
– TypeAParent.com/ebooks
– Ejunkie and other affiliate programs
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 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. eBooks are a great way to make money, and so are Petit Jean’s school fundraisers!

Other Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Blog Design

After a short networking break, we’re moving on!

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!

Presenter: Cynthia Wheeler @NapWarden http://nwdesignsit.com

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.

This session is being blogged to you live by Fawn Rechkemmer, who blogs at Instead of the Dishes. Special thanks to Petit Jean Meats, official ham and bacon for the Dallas Cowboys, for sponsoring Fawn’s attendance at Bloggy Boot Camp.

Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp: Top Ten Tips for Blogging Success

Tiffany Romero Bloggy Boot Camp Organizer — 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.

Laurie recommends Kelby Carr’s eBook, Mom Blog SEO as a great way to drive traffic to your blog.

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.

Ophra.com – One page business plan
Small Business Checklist for Bloggers – SavvyBlogging.com

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.

Other Bloggy Boot Camp Session Posts:

Bloggy Boot Camp Prep: Are You Ready?

bloggy boot camp dallas 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):

10:00am – Top Ten Tips for Blogging Success

11:00am – What You Really Need to Know About Blog Design

11:45am – Success in eBooks

2:30pm – Business of Blogging

3:30pm – Growing Your Traffic

4:15pm – Blogging About Your Town: What to do with Local Content

5:00pm – Authenticity is Magnetic: Developing a Unique Voice and Making a Space for Yourself

Sunday – Bloggy Boot Camp: The Recap

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 attendance at Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas is sponsored by Petit Jean Meats. Please follow them on twitter and like them on Facebook if you haven’t already.

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.

Bloggy Boot Camp – THE Conference | @BloggyBootCamp | O n Facebook

The SITS Girls – Conference Organizers | @SITSGirls | On Facebook

Mirassou Winery – Sponsors | #Mirassou on twitter | On Facebook

Kroger Co – Sponsors | @KrogerCo | On Facebook

King’s Hawaiian – Sponsors | @KingsHawaiian | On Facebook

Happy Family – Sponsors | @HAPPYsuperfoods | On Facebook

Ubokia – Sponsors | @Ubokia | On Facebook

Blurb Books – Sponsors | @BlurbBooks | On Facebook

ZonePerfect Bars – Sponsors | @ZonePerfect | On Facebook

I’m looking forward to tomorrow and sharing all the bloggy goodness with you all!