Blogalicious: What I Learned

October 26, 2011

Blogalicious was amazing! I met the most inspiring and encouraging women (and a few men) at Blogalicious. I was welcomed you with open arms.

The conference was held at the uber fab Gaylord Resort on National Harbor!

The conference kicked off Friday with a little eye candy that is Jesse Jones from U-ology! This ~~fine~~ young man is only 30 and now speaks all over the place. Here are some great things that he shared with us.

Uncover your Passion (there is that word again)
Talk about it and be about it!
The most important connection is within!

Next, Corine from Complicated Mama and Tina from Life Without Pink spoke during the Your Social Evolution: Building Your Network!

While networking find a common ground and make a mental note

Twitter lists are great

Email is not dead! Follow up using email!
Pay it Forward
Collaborate with other Bloggers

Tips for attending a conference or event:

Before the event

Find out who is going
Identify people you want to meet
Start a conversation before had via twitter or facebook

During the event

Leave your comfort zone, don’t always sit with the same people
Don’t pitch, listen! Don’t walk up to people and just go in about yourself

After

Follow Up!
Make it personal
Continue the relationship

Great stuff! I wanted to steal the faux fur jacket that Corine was wearing! She ran away from me before I could get a picture : )

The next session was The Truth About Brands, Bloggers and ROI: A Conversation with PR Rockstars

The panel consisted of Don Moore of Burell Digital, Ted Rubin of Collective Bias and Nancy Martira with Ketchum PR, all PR Rockstars! Here are some bullet points from them.

Content is NOT King, Great Content is King!

“Engagement is Queen” Ted Rubin.

PR companies like to see you engaging with your community.

You are selling yourself to a brand, Lear to sell
Bloggers are more influential then Celebrities
Just by learning a few simple things about agencies can catapult you.
Follow the brands you like
Research PR companies

Great stuff from these Rock Stars! Can you believe blogger are more influential then Celebs?

After the PR session we had a cupcake party for the American Cancer Society More Birthday Campaign. We all song Happy Birthday! It was very moving, bring us to tears.
Then it was lunch time I was talking and meeting people that I did not make it to any formal sessions. I did enjoy all the sponsor booths.

Saturday morning after breakfast we welcomed by a gospel choir promoting the move Joyful Noise starring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah coming out in January!

Next session was Setting Your Own Stage: Creating An Outlet for Your Voice. Helana Andrews author of B$tch is the New Black and Damon Young of Verysmartbrothas.com

First, Helena is HILARIOUS! I had to get her book! Her book as actually is becoming a movie working with the creator of Greys Anatomy! Congrats to her!

Here are some of the great points that stood out to me.

People should know your voice
Be confident and stand by your content
You want people to make you a part of their daily routine ex; coffee then Baby Shopaholic : )
When guest writing know your audience
Sometimes for inspiration you just need to put the computer away and just live.

The keynote speaker on Saturday was Rene Syler of Good Enough Mom. She was talking about Reinvention ROCKS! I have to say this was the my favorite part of the conference! Rene is a former anchor on CBS’ The Early Show. She has also sat on Oprah’s couch! She had some awesome points that really resonated with me as a new mom.

Surround yourself with the right people! Don’t have the wrong people sucking up your energy!
Everything happens for a reason. The life you lead is seldom the life you laid out for yourself.
Not everyone will like you. Let that be their problem! WORD UP!
Being nervous is okay. Because you can use it as rocket fuel.
Fear is NOT your friend

I just love the phrase “Good Enough Mom”. As a mom we want to be the Perfect Mom and Wife. Rene reiterated that your best is Good Enough! That is so powerful!

I found this little diva, Alice taking party in the conference wearing a Missoni outfit. She is the daughter of DC mom blogger A Parent in Silver Spring.

Another great session was Working with Brands Workshop. It was ran by The Clever Girls Collective. Here s a summary of working with brands.

Make sure your blog is Pretty!

No typos (I fail at this one)
Photos
Layout

Business side

Get your metrics together and put together a media kit.
Know your value

Follow up with PR or companies you meet
Cold Call

Find out who the company is working with
Learn about them
Follow them on twitter or Facebook

Don’t burn bridges!
Develop relationships

The Lovely Danica from Be Everywhere sporting a I Heart Baby Shopaholic canvas bag! Do you like the bag? I’m still working on the design. Would you purchase one if proceeds went to a charity? I would love your feedback on this. Comment or send me an email: thebabyshopaholic at gmail.

I hope some of these notes will help you on your blogging adventure! I really loved Blogalicious and plan on going next year as well! I also plan on attending Blogher (who was one of the sponsors for Blogalicious) next year. Are you inspired to attend a blog conference in the future?

Again, if you have any question feel free to email me.

by Trina

Jill
October 26, 2011 at 12:10 pm
sounds like an amazing conference, thanks for sharing all your tips now I kind of feel like I was there too!!

love your canvas bag:)
Jazmine Jade
October 26, 2011 at 1:24 pm
I really want to attend one! I need to start planning now!
Letillia
October 26, 2011 at 1:33 pm
I love all the info about the conference TFS! Do you know whwn sign-ups start for next year I would LOVE to go!! And yes I would Rock the canvas bag!

divaof5.blogspot.com
Corine (@ComplicatedMama)
October 26, 2011 at 1:35 pm
You are too funny! Next conference, promise you can borrow my faux fur vest 🙂

Thanks for the kind words and awesome wrap up!! Love that you broke out everyone’s bullet points!
Carly
October 26, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Some really useful tips here. I am SO wanting to attend a conference..it is on my bucket list for 2012…I am just TOO crazy busy this fall/winter w work and Connor…I suppose that is a good thing..but it would still be so nice to meet fellow bloggers and get some great advice.
So glad you had an amazing time.
LOVE the bag and yes I would buy ESPECIALLY if it was going to charity.
C
Bud and Leo
October 26, 2011 at 1:42 pm
love the canvas bag 🙂 And thanks for the tips- we would LOVE to go to something like that!
Tina @ Life Without Pink
October 26, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Great recap…what a fun conference! Thanks for including us!
YUMMommy
October 26, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Thanks for sharing these notes and the links. They were very helpful.

http://yummommy.blogspot.com
Cam | Bibs & Baubles
October 26, 2011 at 5:04 pm
wow wow wow! so much great info. I’m taking notes. thanks so much for sharing. it’s amazing how powerful bloggers have become. love the bag by the way. would totally support. i made one for my blog and carried it around at BlogHer. Gotta promote the brand, right? 😉
Kristina
October 26, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Great recap. thanks for sharing this with us. I am new to blogging and sometimes I feel so behind.

Slow Strut, Rouge Lips, More Than a Fashion Blog.
Looms, Lids, and Layers
October 26, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Thanks for sharing the tips! This seems like it was a fun and informative conference!
Mrs. Pancakes
October 26, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Ooh next year I may need to attend! Looks like an awesome weekend!
MotorCityMoxie
October 26, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Your tweet appeared i my feed. This is valuable information for me as a new blogger. Thanks for sharing.

http://motorcitymoxie.com/
New York State of Mom
October 27, 2011 at 12:10 am
I felt like I was right there I’ll make it to a conference one of these days. My fave has to be Good Enough Mom’s the first 2 points were soooo talking to me!
Liz from Confessions of a Doll
October 27, 2011 at 12:44 am
yes i would like to attend because of baby i couldnt go this year to bloggers night out in NYC but I will be there next year. I heard about blogher kind of late this year if you can give me some info on where to go for information about it xoxo
Bravoe Runway
October 27, 2011 at 2:19 am
Thank you so much for sharing. I hope to attend a conference next year and this one certainly had a lot of great topics and speakers too. I had no idea bloggers could be more influential than celebrities, but it would make sense since we’re not getting $1mill+ in endorsements.
LA Lynn's
October 27, 2011 at 4:08 am
WOW… this is some really good stuff!!!! This is BLOG BUSINESS… I need to add this post to my FAVORITES just so I can come back & study your notes!!!! BTW, I would sooo purchase your bag! It’s really cute. Thanks for sharing!
Yakini @ThePrissyMommy
October 27, 2011 at 4:19 am
Those are really great take-aways! My favorite is this:

Content is NOT King, Great Content is King!

Thanks for sharing!!!
Dr. Reginia
October 27, 2011 at 7:17 am
Your recap was awesome, now I feel like I attended as well.
tiffanycr
October 27, 2011 at 10:32 pm
WOW! That sounds like it was a great experience, especially the section when you learned about following up with when it comes to meeting new people and working your PR. I need to do that! Thanks for the recap! Love the bag, I would buy it even if the proceeds did not got to charity! xo
iVeronique
October 29, 2011 at 8:45 am
Now I would NORMALLY be *jelly* of you all out in the Bloggyworld. BUT I’ll just tag along next year. (although my current project does NOT allow me to blog!)
Luv Helena/B!tch…Can’t w8 for the movie either. Gr8 Gal.
And I would buy the bags to support any charity. Giving back and Paying it 4ward is and will always be my thing.
Luv the idea.
Continued Blessings.

(s/n can you hook us up next year and plan an Atl Get Away blog trip to this event?) The experience would be good.
thx

Blogalicious: What I Learned

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iVeronique