Yesterday was the first of what we hope to be the annual Blog Better Boston conference. Amy of Stylish Year and Alana of Good Girl Gone Blog put on an amazing event - by far the best conference I have ever been to! Want to see some of the reactions and hear other’s opinions? Just check out the Twitter hashtag #BBBos By 9am we were the top trending tag in Boston! How sweet is that?!
The conference was held at Google’s offices in Cambridge. The location was perfect. It allowed for large panel discussions as well as small breakout workshops catered the the needs of various types of bloggers. And there certainly were a wide variety of bloggers there - fashion bloggers, foodies, mommy bloggers, lifestyle writers, Boston bloggers.
The panels and workshops were spaced out really well. Each panel lasted 45 minutes, giving the speakers 35 minutes to speak and then 10 minutes for questions from the audience. Between each session there were about 30 minutes to mix and mingle. To me it was the perfect mix of panels and breaks so that you felt like you were getting a lot out of the conference without being overwhelmed with content. Panels included things like Blogging Basics, Working with Brands, Monetizing Your Blog, Social Media Platforms; and the one I spoke on - Building a Community. Break-out sessions discussed Google Analytics, Food Photography, Photo Editing, Design Hacks and WordPress Tips.
This was my first time speaking at a conference and I have to say it was so enjoyable! I loved having the chance to talk about Building a Community through your blog, since for me this is something that is an intricate part of ModlyChic and my blogging experience. I have loved building Fashion/Beauty Friend Friday and watching it change and evolve over the months. I have loved growing the Boston Bloggers community and working to plan regular networking events so as to bring bloggers together to talk shop. My fellow panelists, Renee of Eat Live Blog and Krista of Skinny Scoop were so fun. Our moderator, Adri from Google Places, was great at steering the conversation and keeping the panel moving along. (For those of you wondering… I got my haircut by the amazing Anthony of Anthony David Salon. I won’t go to anyone else in the Boston area and I HIGHLY recommend him!)
And as if that was not enough. The Boston Bloggers team of myself and AV of Long Distance Loving were lucky enough to host the after party at Think Tank! Drinks on Google, appetizers on Think Tank and all around fun festivities. Thank you to everyone who made it out to the party. We hope to see a number of you at the next Boston Bloggers mixer at Lansdowne on April 4th. (Hopefully I’ll be loading pictures from the after party to the Boston Bloggers Facebook page later today.)
Here are my take-away points from the panels:
- Sometimes tweeting about a brand is more powerful than writing about it. More people should realize that.
- According to Mary Jane from Shoeline: When working with a brand we don’t care about your blog name. We care about your content.
- Katie of Paper Fashion highly recommends working with an agency to handle all contracts, payments, invoices.
- It doesn’t matter how big you are. if you do what you do well it will show. Be true to what you do.
- At the end of the day you know when you sold out. At some point you need to make a decision about who to work with.
- When you are an ambassador for a company you should be able to shout it from the mountain tops.
- Working with a brand should be something that is an equal partnership. It should not be a one-sided deal.
- Working with brands is not about pimping a product it is about working with the feeling the brand captures.
- In blogging there are ups and downs. That’s life. Roll with it.
- My blog should be a complete representation of me.
- To avoid writers block, keep a list in your phone of topics that come to you throughout the week.
- People aren’t just going to find your blog and comment. You need to put time and effort into that.
- To protect your material use Copyscape. It will scan to see who has stolen your content.
- Blogging is an investment. Not just in your time but your money.
- For your blog pay attention to what works to drive traffic and engage readers and focus on that. It’s the 80/20 rule.
- Don’t think of it as monetizing your blog. It should be monetizing your brand.
- As a blogger you aren’t just blogging. You are an entrepreneur. It’s a way to showcase you and what you’re doing.
- Great blogging tool = Crazyegg. It heat maps your blog so you can learn where readers are clicking.
Here are the things that I said that others tweeted during the Building Community panel…
- Important to prioritize your blog community involvement (such as reading blogs).
- Fostering friendships & being genuine are the most important things for building a community.
- Sign off on blog post, like when you sign off on an email. Make it personal.
- Be authentic. Add to the conversation.
- Leave thoughtful blog comments, not just “Hey come follow me” comments.
- Building community is a lot like building friendships.
Check out the notes Katie PhD. took of my panel! Amazing, right?!
Greay recap! I really enjoyed hearing why you had to say, and you are truly inspirational! I was honored to meet you in person at the after party. Thanks for taking the time to answer some of my questions. 😉
Have a great Sunday!
Jasmine of AdamAlexMommy
AdamAlexMommy recently posted..LOOKBOOK: Safari Jacket & Chain Strap Bag
Greay—->Great (darn autocorrect)
AdamAlexMommy recently posted..LOOKBOOK: Safari Jacket & Chain Strap Bag
Hi Katy!
I would LOVE to attend the Boston Blogger events, but I am 35 min outside the city and work/have class on weekday nights, huge buzz kill. Hopefully I will be able to get to one this summer, and see you at upcoming events. Love your haircut, you rock it!
It was so nice meeting you
Jamie
I am still buzzed from the fun yesterday! It was so great to finally meet you, and co-panel with you! I think we need a Boston Blogger - Boston Bruncher collab in the future!
Hope to see you soon!
Renee {Eat.Live.Blog & Boston Brunchers}
….see, taking your advice
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Hey Katy - you did a great job on the panel! This was my first event meeting bloggers in person and it really makes the whole experience of building a community better, as you had talked about. I’ve been meaning to attend a Boston Bloggers event, so I’ll be there soon! I mentioned to Alison that it would be good if you can look into bars in the financial district for those (like me) who can’t always make it over to Back Bay/Fenway. Thanks!
Kristen
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Katy - Your support with the conference was so appreciated. Your willingness to sit on the panel and be open with the attendees was fantastic and your help with the after party was just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I am so happy that blogging has brought us together, that and tequila shots
Amy recently posted..WHAT’S NEW AND EXCITING?
Hi Katy…Great recap here! I bet a lot of people enjoyed this and I am sure if I attended this, I also enjoyed with some friends…
ShirlleyFai recently posted..Natural Remedies For Gout
Hello Katy…Thank you for a great recap here…Thank you for sharing this to us here…
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Katy, really enjoyed your panel on Traffic and Community and found myself nodding along to so many of the things you ladies said. Oh, and flats are totally OK in my book. I’m not a fashion blogger, so I wore leopard print flats figuring I’d be more comfortable that way. Good thing, because I first went to the Microsoft Nerd Center by mistake thinking the conference was there and had to sprint over to Google’s offices. #Oops!
It was so amazing to meet you this weekend - your energy and passion were captivating! Loved speaking on the panel with you, let’s keep in touch. You best let me know if you ever make it out to San Francisco and you can be assured that I’ll let you know next time I’m in town. I’ll be reading! xo
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Man, I wish I would have went. I am from RI! I am jealous! When is the next one?
melissa recently posted..My Vue to see the movies easier on the big screen!
Those notes are awesome! Sounds like Blog Better Boston was a great event! Congratulations on your first time speaking at a blogging event.
Felissa (Two Little Cavaliers) recently posted..Spring Time with Two Little Cavaliers
Hi Katy, you did a good job. It was a nice recap.
Shanel recently posted..Ways To Find Love
I am sure a lot of people are interested with this good recap you have…Anyway, The conference was really a nice affair to attend to…
AizzaMarie recently posted..Utopia Systems Hosted CRM
I so enjoyed reading all of the tweets from the event and there are so many great tips your recap here. I have yet to attend a blogger conference, but I definitely want to because it seems like they are so much fun!
Next time you should just make the trip from NYC! It’s not that long of a commute and it would so be worth it.
hello there Katty, its was a nice recap. i wish i can attend that event in the next one,
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You’re the one with the brains here. I’m watcnihg for your posts.
Thank you for doing this recap! As a Boston Lifestyle Blogger I wanted to be there but extenuating circumstances preventing me.
I hope to be at the Meet & Greet to see some of you lovely, talented women in person!
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Looking forward to meeting you next week and hopefully you can make it to the next conference.
I saw this situation on your instagram on my way home and I had to run over and see if you had blogged on it. I am so proud of you Katy! I really think you’re the perfect person to speak on community; I know I’m kind of a terrible member of FBFF buuuuut, the support that is there is second to none and you should be so proud of that.
Every tool you mentioned is completely new to me (please no judgment, we are homies), so I have some googling to do…and yes those notes are totally extra!!! super special…love! Many congrats to you, Katy!
Jamillah recently posted..Smile File-Aimee Mullins
Haha Don’t worry a couple of the tools were new to me too. That’s why it is so great to go to these things and learn about the tools that others take for granted but that are totally new to you.
What a lovely recap, it’s very interesting and I’m so excited to spot some more…
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