Last weekend I attended my third blogging conference. Turns out, third time really is the charm. Springboard Boston was a new blogging conference, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. It offered a full day of educated and honest speakers in an intimate workshop environment. I took in-depth notes at each of the sessions I attended. Real, actionable ideas and strategies to apply to my blog to make it better for all of my readers. I came home and printed out five pages of highlights and that doesn’t count all the tweets I sent out under #SpringBoston throughout the weekend.
I’m trying to make some changes and develop a stronger business plan for the blog. Yes, it really is becoming a business. This stay at home mom has this new opportunity to harness the strength of social media to do some good, for both my readers and also my family. It feels good to be a part of such an exciting new arena of marketing.
On to the conference recap…here are my top 10 favorite takeaways and quotes from the event.
1. Don’t flake (Cat Lincoln @DearBadKitty… aka the owner of Clever Girls)
2. Create a one page media kit. Be proactive and share it with PR (Laura Tomasetti from 360PR)
3. It’s not all about page views. Harness both your online and offline influence.
4. Klout is less and less accepted as a benchmark of your media presence.
5. Video is becoming more and more important.
6. Consume the content you want to create (@Shareaholic: Janet Aronica and Ginny Soskey)
7. Place a period before a new tweet to someone to ensure it is seen by the most people possible
(i.e. “.@RandomRecycling, what’s for dinner?”)
8. Brand your visuals (check out Pinstamatic for Pinterest worthy list visuals!)
9. Focus on what you can offer a company when you make a pitch (Jodi Grundig)
10. Going to the blogging conferences is an investment and it shows that you are invested in growing your business.
After attending Blogher and Blog Better Boston, this was by far my best conference experience yet. Dinner on the Odyssey Boston and Maggiano’s wasn’t too shabby either. Yes, it helps knowing a large number of people in the room, but I still met new people that I hope to see at the next conference.
Thanks for being part of this community. I look forward to seeing how it can grow.
I love to hear your feedback and comments. Stop by and visit Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter for more conversation! Or get posts delivered via Email or RSS Feed.
Great post! I agree with everything you said above. I got more out of this conference than the other ones I have been to by far. It was great to hang out with you there!
I wish I had been there. Sounds like such a worthwhile conference. Next year!
I agree. I agree. I agree. What an incredible shared experience. The take-away was huge for me. Can't wait to write my post. Thanks for writing such a great recap.
I completely agree with everything you said. This was my first blog conference and now I am so thankful I waited to go to an intimate conference as opposed to the huge ones.
We all seem to feel the same way about this smaller conference. It was nice meeting you and other Boston Parent Bloggers that I have seen on the FB page!
I was sorry to miss it. Oh well, next time! Thanks for the highlights. I feel like I caught a glimpse of it at least!
I agree – it was a wonderful conference! Such helpful content, and a fantastic group of people!
Great summary – thanks for sharing with us! And lovely to meet you at Springboard!
We're on the same path Emily! We both started with BBBOS and this was my third also. Great recap, I talked with another PR and they said the same thing about Klout. It really means nothing to them. 🙂