Life in Beta

What to say about  Blissdom? I don’t even know where to start.

For those of you not in-the-know, Blissdom is a blogging/social media conference for women, held here in Nashville, Tennessee. This past weekend marked the conference’s third year, and happened to be my first year attending.

Though the conference spanned three days, I was only able to attend the Saturday sessions, and unfortunately, I don’t think I got as much out of it as I could have due to the stress and craziness going on right now. However, I wasn’t going to let all the negativity I’m dealing with keep me from going in general. I just wasn’t able to be my chipper-perky self quite as much, and as a result failed miserably at networking as much as I had hoped. Just the same, I got to meet some fabulous ladies, all of whom were so welcoming and friendly!

I did get a lot out of the sessions I attended. I focused on the business track for Saturday:

(1) Leveraging Social Media to Build Your Business

Panel, left to right: Amy Turn Sharp (Little Alouette), Caitlin Madden (Mabel’s Labels), Kimba (A Soft Place To Land), Kim Christopherson (You Can Make This), Kris Thurgood (Jesse Kate Designs), and Lisa Leonard (Lisa Leonard Designs).

A few highlights:

• The 5 B’s: (1) Build the buzz whenever you launch a new product, blog, feature, etc., (2) Be yourself–be real and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself, (3) Be specific about the action you want your readers to take–join your Facebook fan page, follow you on Twitter, etc., (4) Bring on the bookmarks!–Social bookmarking is vital, and (5) Be appreciative–people don’t have to sign up for your newsletter or give you their information, so if they do, always thank them and if possible offer something in return (e.g. an e-book you’ve written on an area of expertise).
• Know your audience–survey them to find out which social networking tools they use, and focus on those first.
• Do your OWN social networking on Twitter and Facebook because it is vital to be authentic and personal.

(2) Evolving into a Professional Blogger – Paths to Success

Panel, left to right: Barbara Jones (One2One Network), Audrey McClelland (Mom Generations), Kim Moldofsky (Hormone-Colored Days), Allison Worthington (Allison Worthington Media), and Nancy Smith (@NancyDSmith).

A few highlights:

• Earned media– completely your words, your review; always be genuine, don’t lie about a product just to get paid; use constructive criticism
• Paid media– somewhat restrictive because you must use the words supplied by the advertiser
• Pitching to get paid media/sponsorship opportunities– be prepared to show the company what their ROI will be, use case studies, maintain relationships because often companies will refer bloggers for other opportunities

(3) Niche Blogging – Experts Talk About Blogging Your Passions and Expertise

Panel, left to right: Audrey McClelland (Mom Generations), Rachel Matthews (A Southern Fairytale), Sommer Poquette (Green and Clean Mom), Jennifer Schmidt (Balancing Beauty and Bedlam), Nester Smith (The Nesting Place), Heather Solos (Home Ec 101).

A few highlights:

• 7 questions to ask yourself in order to find your niche (via Nester).
• Bloggers take different paths to find their niche — some are able to define it from the outset (great!) but other times it is something that evolves over time.
• Use your blog’s subtitle/tagline to clearly define what your blog is about.
• Become an authority in your niche — but understand the responsibility that comes along with that.

One of the best things about the conference is the underlying hum of energy and inspiration that you’re able to tap into.  It is an amazing feeling to be surrounded by hundreds of brilliant, tech-savvy, talented women. Everyone I encountered was so friendly and more than willing to answer questions and give advice.

For instance, during the morning sessions, I sat at a table with the lovely Beth from In Good Cents. She was more than willing to share with those of us at the table some of her strategies for affiliate marketing on her blog.

Bloggers helping bloggers; women entrepreneurs helping women entrepreneurs: I love it.

I’ll certainly be attending next year, hopefully for the entire conference, and hopefully in a better frame of mind to really experience everything to its fullest. Thanks to everyone who put on this conference and participated in the panels — ya’ll did a fabulous job.