On Saturday September 21st I had the amazing opportunity to attend BlogPodium for the 3rd time (you can read about the previous years here and here). This time the conference was an expanded all-day affair with 250 marvelous bloggers from across Canada and even a few from the US.
It’s been a few weeks since I attended the conference, and even though there are quite a number of really good recaps already done by attendees (you can read them here) I still wanted to do a post to share some of what I learned for those of you who didn’t go, and so I always know where my notes are ;)
- A business grows out of passion
- When I was a kid, and I got sent to my room, I would just rearrange the furniture
- The best thing you can do is get out there and do it – that’s how you learn and grow.
- If you believe it, if you can dream it, I’m here to tell you it can happen – you can do it
- When online (as with in life) think about what you’re saying, and how it will make the world a better place. Never forget the written word is a powerful thing.
- Whether it’s your blog or your designs, you should have a signature style – it should reflect you
- You need to have a point of view and a unique perspective in order to move ahead.
- Never create something you wouldn’t be happy to have in your own home.
- Design is about experimenting – about trying new things . . .I encourage you to push the boundaries
- If you’re not comfortable in your home, nobody else will be comfortable in your home
- Don’t over think it – Make a decision and move on
- Trust your gut – if it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right
- It’s never worth rushing
- Always ask – will I be proud of this in 5 years?
- On work/life balance – There needs to be a balance – you need to have a life
- Set Goals
- Make short-term goals throughout the year
- Review them periodically
- Little goals should lead to big goals
- Remember – don’t compare yourself to others – they have different goals
- Prioritize
- Accept that not everything will get done right away
- Spend your time in useful ways, and spend it working towards your goals
- Ask yourself what you need to get done that day and do it
- Do what makes you feel productive that day
- Using Organizational tools
- Use what works for you – personalize your workflow
- Make a to-do list
- Use feedly, Bloglovin, Instapaper, Pinterest
- Use a paper agenda
- Use Evernote
- Use an editorial calendar
- Make notes of your ideas
- Make the Tough decisions
- Learn to say no – it might be hard, but in the long run it will make your life easier
- Time is your greatest asset – invest it wisely
- Do what works for you
- Time Management
- Use and editorial calendar
- Work backwards from holidays if you’re planning a specific post
- Brainstorm, prep, and plan ahead
- Set up a blogging time slot everyday – write posts, plan, set goals
- Figure out what time you work best – mornings, evenings, are you a night owl?
- Do the task that have to be done today – stop procrastinating
- Make your blog a priority
- Manage emails
- Reduce incoming emails – unsubscribe to anything to don’t read – you can always re-subscribe later
- Aim for a zero inbox – use folders, file, delete, archive
- Use templates for responses to frequently received emails
- Social Media engagement
- Rule of thirds – stick to three social media networks –chose the ones you like
- Be active, be engaged, have a conversation
- Use Hootsuite or similar for organization and automation of planned posts
- Use a mix of social media for communication – don’t use all for the same post
- Networking
- Embrace positive networking opportunities
- Attend blogger conferences, media previews
- Meet new people and collaborate
- Engage with your community
- Learn and teach – share what you learn with others
- Personal time
- It’s important – take the time for yourself as needed to relax and recharge
- Step away from the computer!
- Learn something new
- Celebrate your achievements
- Find inspiration offline
- SLEEP!!!!
- There is no better place to spend your marketing $
- Social media engages your customers
- Allows you to get to know your audience, and for them to know you
- Social media is a relationship first, selling second
- From Neil Gazmen at Westelm – Instagram is our largest source of engagement – new products posted often sell out
- From Meredith Heron – streamline your social media posting – use Instagram to process photos, auto post those to Facebook and Twitter. Then use those photos in your blog posts. Pin pictured from your blog to Pinterest
- Use Hashtags for Projects
- Meredith Heron Social Media stats:
- Joined twitter March 2010
- As of Sept 14,2013 – had 122,900 tweets and 9930 followers
- Residential projects to date secured via social media (Pinterest, Instagram, etc) $1.4 million
- Commercial projects: $500K.
- Try the Echofon app.
- Promote your own website
- Submit it to other websites – curbly, Lifehacker, dwellinggawker, craftgawker
- Comment on blogs, and try to be the first, second or third comment
- Reply to comments on your own blog
- Devote a certain amount of time each week to promoting your blog
- Advertise on bigger websites
- Check your Google page rank – the higher your rank the more you’re paid per click with Google Adsense
- Links from large established blogs help build your page rank
- CTR – Click Through Rate
- CPC – Cost per click
- CPM – Cost per thousand impressions
- Vertical ad networks – they put ads on the sidebar of your blog. Some networks are:
- Glam Media
- Blogher
- SheBlogs Canada
- Haven Home
- Federated Media
- If signing up with a vertical ad network ask what their CPM, and fill rates are
- Sell ads on your own site – Etsy sellers will be looking to advertise for Christmas
- Generally 125px x 125px ads
- Write an ebook
- Sell stuff via your blog – use shopify
- When working with magazines
- If one of your images is good enough to for a magazine it’s good enough for you to be paid for it
- Writing for an online magazine = $0.50/word, print magazines = $1/word
- Photo in an online magazine – credit and link, and possibly a small fee ($25-50)
- Photo in a print magazine: Canadian mag: $75-200, American mag: $100-400, Cover $1,500+
- Look at your blog as a business and treat it as such
- Call and email people and ask to work with them
I hope to be able to implement some of the points I outlined above (especially the ones on balancing blogging and working) in the next little while. This blog, like everything, is a work in progress. I learn new things, and try new things, and hopefully it becomes better for it.
Did you go to BlogPodium? Are you already looking forward to the next one like I am? What did you learn? Have you already implemented some of those things?
*The Photo of Sarah Richardson is from her website. The last three photos used in the title images are by Anna with Love
