The Other 5 Things That I Learned at Blogalicious:Day 2

“Most of the time, the only thing between us and the next level is ourselves.” Lamar Tyler…Blogalcious11

Saturday at Blogalicous started off inspirational with Charles butler and Trinity serenading us with inspirational music.  Total Praise ALWYAS starts my morning off right!

I made a conscious decision on day 2 to MEET NEW PEOPLE. It’s so easy for me to stay in my lane and talk to the few people that  I know, but that’s not what this conference was about. After all, the theme was “Making Powerful Connections.” This is how I ended up sitting next to @coachmupboni and Jackie Holness from Afterthealtercall.com.  And @theyoungmommy. And you know what I learned all day? Everyone is friendly! Everyone is willing to meet new people.

So, on to what you really want to know! The five OTHER things I learned about at Blogalicious!

1. The first session was Setting your Own Stage:Creating An Outlet For Your Voice led by Helena Andrews author of Bitch is the New Black, Liz Burr and Damon Young from verysmartbrothers.com.  The main point that I want to share from this session is:Hone your voice.  If someone is reading something you wrote, they should be able to tell within the first paragraph that it’s you.  Figure out what your goal is in blogging(sound familiar?) Set up a schedule, it sets expectations for your audience.  For instance: blog Monday Wednesday and Friday, blog one day or blog every day.  But make sure that it’s the SAME.  Be consistent! And be your own PR machine! Spam yourself! LOL.
2. The next workshop that I was eager to attend was: Step Up Your Facebook and Twitter Game. Because lets face it: I have no game when it comes to Facebook, and I really wanted to learn how to be more effective on Twitter.  How on earth do folks get over a thousand followers? I wanted to know and luckily Ronnie Tyler (@RonnieTyler) from Blackandmarriedwithkids.com and Carol Cain @nycitymama were eager to share. These two had lots of knowledge.  For instance 1.Did you know that most fans will only go to your Facebook page once? They see your posts in their news feed. Why go back?  Facebook determines who sees your posts.  You have to keep up interactions and conversations.  2.Fan pages are VERY important! Your name is your real estate on the web.  Do you have a name that will go viral?  3. Advertise via Facebook.  Use  Facebook ads to target your niche.  4. Content is King! Link, pictures, videos, posts from your blog: mix it up, ask questions, provide links from other sights! And remember, a picture generates more than 120% more engagement!  5. And speaking of engagement, while “Content IS King, Engagement is QUEEN!”  You have to have conversations with your fans. Comment on comments. Be consistent, post regularly.  Ask questions, hold conversations.  Learn your audience!
3. I had to give @nycitymama her own little section here for Twitter.  Her twitter must haves: 1. A photo that is recent, clear and true.  2. Bio: be concise, to the point, and focused.  3. Have a link to your website or blog.  That is, if you want folks to be interested.  4. Remember to balance self promotion with the promotion of others.  Don’t be afraid to promote others.  5. Be genuine.  Be yourself.  Be comfortable with who you are and tweet you!  But remember: you can tweet but you can’t delete.
4. The last session that I attended was Getting down to Business, Working with Brands 101.  Led by Leticia Barr@techsavvymama, Renee J Ross @reneejross  and Cat Lincoln from Clever Girls Collective Inc.  ( really check out them out!)I think in the back of every bloggers mind, you want to work with brands.  I had been putting off focusing much of my time on brands, but I decided that I needed to at least get to ONE session about working with brands.  After all, you NEVER know.  It’s not my primary focus right now, but hey you’ve got to be ready when preparation and opportunity meet!  It was an interesting talk with these ladies who have worked with brands for a long time and are obviously professional.  A few points from them: 1. Keep your house( your blog) clean.  Typos are not your friend.  Spell check is! Photos:aspect ratio is not a joke! Layout: less is more! REALLY! 2.  Know your reach and power BEFORE you present yourself to a brand.  Know who you are talking to. 3. Your “About Me” page is REALLY important.  It really lets brands know who you are and what you blog about.
5. And last but DEFINITELY not least, I have to talk about @reneesyler over at Goodenoughmother.com.  She spoke on reinvention.  She was sooo inspirational. Who wouldn’t be after having a mastectomy and loosing their job all in the same week?  A few key points to take away from her “Surround yourself with the right people.  Good enough is perfect!” And my favorites:”Not everyone will like you, let that be their problem.” And the one that should be posted up everywhere,”What do I tell people who hate on me?Spell my name right and include a link to my site.” Hilarious!!!

Going to this conference was an eye opener for sure.  People kept asking me, what is your blog? What’s it about?  My response was My Life and My Life.  And I laughed at myself because I realized that I am my brand(well, me and Pookah anyway!) And I’m OK with that.  I love blogging for blogging.  Sure, it would be wonderful to work with brands and make a little cash on the side.  Or a lot of cash(who am I kidding?).  But for now, I just love what I do.  Yes, I wish I could do it full time, and maybe one day with a lot of hard work, I will get there.  But that was the beauty of Blogalicious.  You met those who blog full time, those who don’t and everything in between.  And it was OK!  I’m just going to keep on keeping on! And I hope you guys come along for the ride!