Today, we are pleased to announce Tuesday Tech Tips here on Arkansas Women Bloggers. They’re a cross between Wordless Wednesday photos (i.e. short and sweet) and some of the longer posts we often share.
Also, our goal is not to reinvent the wheel – we just want to share with you some of the nifty things we run across on the interwebs and the blogosphere. We’re going to do that uppity thing – curating – which in our minds is just a fancy way of defining the mission of AWB to gather, grow and connect:
Gather you here, grow your voices and your lovely blogs, and connect you with one another and some helpful tips from time to time. We hope you enjoy!
If you run across an interesting item that you think would be worth including here, just forward it to beth@arkansaswomenbloggers.com (and add “Tips” in the subject if you think of it!) – we’d love to include your finds!
For today, we simply wanted to share the news, keep it short and sweet and tell you that you will also be able to keep up with our “Tools & Tips” board on Pinterest if you like. We’ll also tag anything interesting we find or share on Twitter with #AWBTips. Feel free to share your fab finds and let us know what you think!
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.
