Bloggy Boot Camp
What kind of boot camp? Not the kind my husband went through at Camp Le Jeune. Not what I went through when entering the Air Force. The only yelling was squeals of delight as “bloggy” friends were united in person, and Keurig and Mirassou rolled out new products for us to try! (We did wait til after 5pm to consume wine!)
I’m pretty sure I was registered for BBC in less than 15 seconds after I received the email that it would be held in Charlotte. I was so excited for the opportunity to connect and network, learn strategies for writing, publishing, landing sponsorships and other campaign opportunities, and learning the business elements behind successful blogging.
And boy, was it all I had hoped for and more!
I could write post after post about the information I learned in this one day packed full of information, but I decided to just give you the Top 5 key takeaways of Bloggy Boot Camp for me.
5. You Must Know Your “Endgame”
Quite simply, you have to have a goal. Once you know what that is, make a plan to get there. Make smart decisions for your blog, including which brands you work with, to fit that end goal. Implement your plan! Tweak if necessary.
4. You Must Have a Tribe
Yes. A tribe. If you have any desire to achieve success, you have to have a support system. Whether it be for landing sponsored opportunities with companies or marketing a book, success will sure be easier. I am happy to say that I expanded my Tribe while in Charlotte. I already knew Ilene of The Fierce Diva Guide to Life and The Dose Girls from the Dose of Reality … virtually at any rate, but meeting them in person was something just amazing. I also hit it off immediately with Michelle from A Dish of Daily Life and I was thrilled to meet Rachel from Architecture of a Mom and Natalie from Corporate to Domestic (both of whom I have been following for a long time now!) in person. And of course, there is crazy Kristen from Four Hens and a Rooster as well as Janine and Christine from More than Mommies – two of the sweetest ladies ever! I so enjoyed connecting with other bloggers and making new friends and connections.
3.Engagement – It is Necessary and Important!
Not only is collaboration and engagement (active interaction) important to helping yourself and your bloggy friends, but it is important to building your value to brands. Brands realize that people trust their friends for recommendations. If you have built up trust and are engaged with your readers, you may be able to attract sponsorship with smaller viewer numbers. Some of the ways you can do this is by “getting off your blog!” by sharing (not only your stuff, but other people’s stuff too!), liking, linking, sharing across the social media spectrum. And don’t be afraid to engage with your favorite brands on social media!
2. Understanding SEO Really Makes a Difference!
There are so many ins and outs of SEO, but broken down, it’s not too hard to understand. I learned a couple of very important tricks that I’d like to share.
- In order to make Google see you as an “expert” on a subject (and therefore send traffic your way) you can really help yourself. The example Casey from Collective Bias gave to us was simple. If you are writing a post about an awesome cookie recipe, you need to have that in your title, your url, the body of your post, (several times) the caption of your picture, and if you have other awesome cookie recipes, LINK to them in your post.
- Important note about linking to things. Don’t just say read my awesome post here, linking the word here. No one is searching the word “here.” Make sure you link the topic you want to be searched. For example, I wrote an important post on grief. Now I have linked the word grief and when someone searches grief, my post is more likely to be found.
- Know how to use keywords
- So much other good information on this… maybe I’ll dedicate a post to it!
1. Live First, Blog Second
Surprisingly, a good bit of what I came away from has nothing to do with blogging. Tiffany Romero is one cool chick with a lot of great advice! Sure, I learned a ton about social media, SEO, blog design, (it matters!) how to use “No Follow” in sponsored posts, writing to publish (my newest bloggy crush is most definitely Robin from Robin’s Chicks! Not only is she a published author and terrific blogger, she is hilarious!) great information on working with brands, and SO MUCH MORE! But I didn’t expect the wonderfulness that is Tiffany (and Francesca too!) from the SITS girls to be just chock full of good advice on life in general! Throughout the day, Tiffany reminded us that we have to follow our own journey and there is room for success for all of us.
Sure, you’ve got to be a good blogger who delivers a good product, but you are going to make it farther faster if you are nice, respectful, engaged, supportive, but you’ve got to be present in your life.
After all, as Tiffany says, “We have nothing to blog about if we are not living!”
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Gayle Haddock says
May 30, 2013 at 10:18 amSounds like a fantastic experience! Isn’t it fun connecting with people who share your passion and “get” you? Glad you were able to make the trip and meet your blog friends in person.
katbiggie says
May 30, 2013 at 10:22 amThanks Gayle! Me too!
Janine Huldie says
May 30, 2013 at 10:24 amThank you for sharing the advice you got at Bloggy Boot Camp and seriously wish I could have been there. Looked like fun from the pictures and also wanted to thank you yet again for all you have passed personally along to me from the event, too!! 🙂
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Kerry says
May 30, 2013 at 11:21 amThanks so much for sharing some of your learnings. I definitely would like to attend a BBC in the future. First off, I’m totally glad I’m part of your tribe. I’ve learned so much from you on multiple topics, and I think your mission of sharing your story with others is so admirable. Second, love that you included some SEO tips. I’m just starting to figuring this stuff off. Julie gave me a crash course, but I do hope you’ll write a future post. Finally, it’s so funny you mention Robin of Robin Chicks. I met her at Mom 2.0 and also loved her and the session she did on publishing. So many great tips – now I just need to find the time to write. Thanks again for sharing, and I love how we’re on this blogging journey together. 🙂
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Jenn says
May 30, 2013 at 2:45 pmThank you so much for sharing this. I still consider myself a “newbie” blogger even after a year and a half. Pinning this post!!
Jenn recently posted…That Time I Made 300 Cupcakes
Natalie says
May 30, 2013 at 3:14 pmIt was such a great conference! I am so glad we got to meet and talk 🙂 Hope to see you at the next one whenever that may be!
Natalie recently posted…My Choice
another jennifer says
May 30, 2013 at 3:16 pmWhat great advice! I’ll definitely be looking at the locations for future BBC events. I’ve heard such good things about them. One note on the SEO advice, I find that the WordPress SEO plugin from Yoast is a huge help with the points you make about where to put keywords. Thanks for sharing, Alexa!
another jennifer recently posted…Walking, Raising Money and Adding Tomorrows
Emily says
May 30, 2013 at 7:41 pmThanks so much for sharing what you learned…and of course I realize based on what you said that I still have SO much to learn when it comes to SEO — I’d love for you to dedicate a post to it! I love the last point you learned too — it’s so true!
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Jamie@SouthMainMuse says
May 30, 2013 at 8:19 pmYou nailed it. BBCCharlotte in a nutshell. That “know what you want in the end” question has haunted me. I love blogging. I love the social aspect. But what do I really want? I need to make more time for writing. Ha. It was great to meet you. I wish we could all do it again soon.
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KC @ The Real Thing with the Coake Family says
May 30, 2013 at 9:02 pmGreat recap! It sure was a great conference with so much information!
KC
KC @ The Real Thing with the Coake Family recently posted…Real Family Fun #16
Chris Carter says
May 31, 2013 at 12:00 amOh Alexa… how I WISH I could have been there to hang with you and the girls!!! And I love love LOVE that I am in your tribe!!! Oh my friend, you can count on me for ANYTHING. 🙂
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Michelle says
May 31, 2013 at 6:55 amThese are such great tips!! I love know your end game! Ultimately that is really the important thing…knowing what you hope to accomplish!
I am so glad we were at that first table together! What fun it was to get to know you outside of twitter. It is so much fun getting to meet our blog friends in person, isn’t it?!!
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Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
May 31, 2013 at 10:57 amI just “discovered you through Twitter! Glad I did!
Sounds like such an amazing experience… and you gained a lot of useful information. I would love to go to a blogging conference. Not very many take place here in Western Canada.
Thanks so much for sharing your insights! Super helpful! SEO is mind boggling to me… thanks for making it so much clearer!
Wishing you a lovely day.
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom recently posted…{this moment: wax crayons}
Ilene says
May 31, 2013 at 8:56 pmI loved meeting you and this was a great recap! Thank you for the great reminders about SEO and about living before blogging! Sometimes the lines are kind of blurry for me!
Ilene recently posted…Get Up!
Alison says
June 1, 2013 at 3:19 amGreat tips, Alexa! I’m so glad you took the step to attend a conference, and got to meet such awesome folks (envious!).
Alison recently posted…Spreading Love