Hi guys! Head’s up: this is not a recipe post. I went to a blogging conference this weekend (BlogHer14) and wanted to record some of the tips I learned and share with my fellow bloggers. So if you have a blog (or are just kind of nosy and want to hear a little back-end of this weird-o new blogging-as-a-career-thing), keep reading. If not, come back Wednesday for an epic Cheesecake Day post, and another no-brainer weeknight meal on Friday.
BlogHer is not the best conference for food bloggers.
I mean, duh, there’s an ENTIRE OTHER BlogHer conference for food bloggers. The general sessions were somewhat helpful, but there was one afternoon that was split up into “mini-cons” like crafts, personal blogging, etc, but nothing for us foodies. Again, I totally get it, but just a heads up for my peeps. I’m glad I went to BlogHer, but I will only bother with BlogHer-Food in the future (and there are a ton of other food blog conferences besides BlogHer as well.) Also, there were only 8-10 sponsors that were food-related. They were probably tired of me hanging around their booths by the end of the weekend!
Stop worrying about scrapers. No really.
It’s happened to all of us. Somebody in China copy and pasted your photo and full recipe, put it on their site, pinned it, and is getting thousands of hits a day from your content. What do you do? NOTHING. Don’t file a DMCA. Don’t email them to remove recipe instructions. I’m sure there are exceptions to this, I’m no expert (read Stephan Spencer’s book if you want an expert), but that’s the general idea. Here’s why: your time is too valuable to go hunting down all the content stealers in the world. And here’s the bottom line: the only thing you are losing is potential. Focus your energy on something that is going to build your business.
I learned about this in a small session hosted by SEO expert Stephan Spencer (recommended by Carolyn over at All Day I Dream About Food.) Probably the single most valuable hour from the entire weekend. I’m going to write a whole post about what I learned eventually, but some other tips include having lots of text above the fold (not just images), put your keywords in the first few sentences, and use google.com/trends > Explore In-Depth to find the best keywords to use.
Start tracking your income and expenses.
If you’re a newbie blogger and are just starting to get in the monetizing game, start itemizing your grocery receipts right away. Either make a separate transaction for blog stuff, or highlight any items you bought for your blog (including props). Trish from Mom on Timeout even uses a separate business card for all blog expenses. When tax season comes around, your life will be SO much easier.
Be friendly.
No one thinks it’s weird if you strike up a conversation with them. I wasn’t snubbed one single time. Not even the fashion bloggers. :) Wear comfy shoes and don’t stress out too much about what to wear. (I mean, I did, but don’t be like me. Most people are so worried about what they are wearing that they could care less what you have on. Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.)
Do your sponsor homework.
Check the sponsors before you go and write down the ones you would be interested in working with. Check in with them every day you are at the conference. The more they see your face the more they will remember you. Start personal conversations with the contact you might potentially work with. Like I said, there were only 8-10 sponsors I was interested in, so we got to know each other reeeeeal well.
It’s business time.
Make your business card textured if you want to win all the “add your business card and win a prize!” contests. Tip from Sarah at Snixy Kitchen. (I’m only kind of joking. She won a pair of Sonos speakers because of it!) On a more serious note, I think it’s worth investing in a great design for your business card. Here’s mine by NiftySwank.
Sleep your way to the top.
No, really. Ariana Huffington said so. If you don’t get enough sleep, how can you coherently run a successful business? You can’t. Start with getting 30 more minutes of sleep than you are getting right now. Maybe just don’t watch House of Cards tonight. “Put your own oxygen mask on first.” This advice hit me pretty hard.
Stay for the closing party.
Seriously, I had so much fun. It was like going to an all-girls dance club. For a married person, it was absolutely ideal. I could totally get down without having to worry about getting groped or hit on. Just remember you’re dancing with bloggers, so be prepared for ALL THE SELFIES. Yes, even when Run-D.M.C. is DJing (or I guess because of that!)
Bloggers are the best kind of people.
Okay, so maybe I’m biased. Here are some awesome people I met that you should probably check out:
Amy, Ashley, Sarah, Andi, Dorothy, Trish, Hayley, Valerie, Maryanne, Nancy, Kelly, Carla and Alyssa, and Jessica.
There’s an affiliate link up there. If you’ve gotten this far, probably you’re a blogger, so you get it, right?
This is such a great recap. I really enjoyed hanging out with you, and I’m so glad you’re in the area. Hopefully a few of us can get together again soon. I’d love that :)
Hey girl! Thanks so much for the shout-out and for sharing your BlogHer tips! I can’t wait to read about your SEO session. I’ve added you to my reader so I won’t miss a post! Keep in touch and let me know when you’re in San Francisco!
Karen,
Thank you so VERY much for this blog post! As a ‘newbie’ food blogger I found it very informative. When I read your tip about keeping and highlighting your receipts, it made me wish I was flexible enough to kick myself in the head. Thanks to you, I now know better and I have already created a file to hold all of them (OCD organization crazy lady here). Love your blog! Keep up the scrumptious work and thanks for the 411! :)
All the best,
Cheyanne @ http://www.nospoonnecessary.com
(I’ll use any excuse to self promote lol)
Hey Karen, I’m glad to hear you had a great time (despite all the angst over your outfits ;) Yeah, I’d recommend going to food blogger conferences – everyone there is a foodie and the sessions and brands are all food specific. The sheer scope of BlogHer (non-food) sounds overwhelming! I’d also recommend going to the smaller conferences if you’re new to them – they’re more personal, intimate, you get to talk to and connect with more people. Anyways, you looked fabulous, I LOVE your business card, thanks for the tips, and I’m looking forward to reading the SEO post you have planned.
All of this info is so great! You’re a wealth of knowledge, and I just drank it all up. I’d love to read any other posts you have about things you learned!
Glad you had a great time! If BlogHer Food isn’t somewhere crazy expensive, I am SO there! Your manicure looked great, and so did all of your outfits : )
Such great tips! I can’t wait for the SEO post!
Great post Karen! A lot of useful info. I love your sense of humor and your 4th mani :) AND also your business cards . Great job!
Thanks for sharing these Karen! I’m hoping to do Haven next July and am weirdly already freaking out about it. I was glad to see that you didn’t get snubbed, probably my biggest fear :)
LOVE all these tips!! And yes, I totally noticed your manicure. I almost didn’t recognize you because you didn’t have a red stripe of nail polish on your thumb. ;) So fun walking around the Expo and just plain hanging out with you. I’m really, really glad we finally got to meet, and I’m really hoping this is just the start of lots of hanging out!
Bahahaha – I love every word of this post. And the photos. I am SO glad we got to hang out – I loved the little gang of fabulous women we ended up with by the conference! Can’t wait for our e-mail exchange of lessons-learned in sessions:) xo.
I love this! I cannot wait for your SEO post. I totally should have gone to that session. The one I went to suuuuuucked and gave me no info. So yeah, share please!! It was so great to meet you!
I totally agree on all points–especially about the manicure. I lost the paint on one fingernail on my right hand one day into BlogHer. I don’t think anyone noticed or cared! I met you over French fries and wine–did you notice?!?!
Sounds like a fun and informative time! Would you recommend a blogging conference such as BlogHer to bloggers like myself who aren’t into making an income/business from blogging? I’m interested in the creative and tech aspects of blogging (I could stand to learn SO much about the tech side, haha) but I would hate to go to a conference and find out that it was all about sponsors/building a big audience/marketing/etc. Well, maybe not hate, because I’d still have a blast hanging out with other fun bloggers, I am sure! :)
Great re-cap! Even though there was a craft mini-con, I still felt like the whole conference was too broad. I definitely enjoyed meeting with people and visiting all the booths (and the closing party — woooo!) but I think it’s smaller niche conferences for me from now on. :)
Such great tips Karen! I had such a great weekend with you and learned a lot from your insight! So lovely to meet and had so much fun dancing the night away with you! ;)