Cathy contacted me a few months ago and wanted to redesign her mommy blog. She is the author and creator of Mommy Q, a WordPress based blog. Mommy Q is all about the adventures in motherhood, great products for baby and more. She also writes for droolicious.
Go over and check out Cathy’s new diggs and show her some love.
**Update: Winner of the Twitter background design is Kris!**
Today I’m kicking off another round of Q & A on this here blog of mine…but with a little twist.
Here’s the skinny: Ask any question related to the mechanics or technical aspects of blogging in the form of a comment. It can be anything from how to add a custom banner, uploading a photo, adding a WordPress plugin, domain names, hosting…whatever. I’ll be back in the following weeks to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
And the best part? Your comment will enter you to win a Twitter background design…like this one or this one, or even this one. If you aren’t on Twitter (say what??), we’ll come up with something (maybe a mommy/business card or blog badge?)
Please submit your entries before Wednesday, March 4th at midnight.
So…ask away.
Kandice is the CEO of Signature Soirees, a full service event planning firm, and writes a blog called Eventfully Yours. Kandice offers a full range of event planning services for weddings, showers, anniversaries, family reunions, product launches and business meetings/conferences. On her blog, she offers some great ideas and tips, as well as resources and vendor links.
Eventfully Yours is a TypePad based blog and Kandice wanted to spruce up the look of her site to showcase her great content. Go check her out and get inspired for your next party! You can also follow Kandice on Twitter at @signaturesoires.
Last week I asked you if you wanted to know anything about my experience at BlissDom ’09. A few of you chirped up…so here goes!
Nicole Feliciano asked:
Did you come away with ideas that will REALISTICALLY and DRAMATICALLY increase readership?
My Answer:
Yes, definitely. But dramatically? That may be hard to measure. Though readership/stats are not an exact science, I know that the right people were on the job when it came to sharing great tips for increasing readership. Some of those tips were:
Use social media, like Twitter and Facebook, to your advantage. Build community, promote your blog and find new opportunities in that way.
Comment, comment, comment. Nothing builds community like commenting on others’ blogs. Being part of carnivals (my own tip) is a great way to increase your exposure and find some great blogs.
Respond to comments. As much as it is possible, especially in the beginning, respond to your commenters. Visit their blogs and make a point to say something about their blog. Find a way to connect, even if its something small.
Label your photos. In a very practical way, you can increase your Google search results by naming the images you use in your post something meaningful. Don’t just leave it as “img_20744″. Name it “BlissDom 09 tips and tricks to increase readership”. Google likes that…and so might you.
And finally, write good content. People will come back, and spread the word, if you offer something they like. This may be the hardest of all, in my opinion. But it makes the most sense, wouldn’t you agree?
Nicole also asked:
Can you compare it to Blogher?
My answer:
Gosh, that’s hard. It was different in so many way. Here’s my personal take (so don’t throw me under the bus!):
BlogHer was in San Fransisco…BlissDom in Nashville.
BlogHer had over 1,000 attendees…BlissDom had 250.
BlogHer appealed to a wider variety of bloggers (political, entertainment, etc.)…BlissDom seemed to appeal more to mommy, craft, tip bloggers.
BlogHer focused a lot on being free to express yourself however you wish because its your blog…BlissDom focused more on finding your niche and writing good, appealing content.
BlogHer didn’t emphasis social media *as much* as BlissDom did (and perhaps that was the difference that 8 months makes).
BlogHer did a good job (as much as I hated it) of making you meet new people with mixers, little games, etc….BlissDom left that up to the person, in a way.
The panels at BlogHer seemed to get off topic with so many questions from the attendees…BlissDom had success in staying on topic with good information while still taking questions from people.
Andrea McMann asked:
Have they released the time and venue for next year’s Blissdom? What’s your best tip (or best tips) for getting the most out of a blog conference experience?
My Answer:
Just this morning I got an email asking for my feedback on the conference. There was “talk” about having it twice a year, in October and February, most likely in Nashville. They also asked our opinion on if they were to increase the attendance, what a good cap would be. This year they kept the attendance at 250 people. That made it such a nice size…big enough that it was worthwhile but small enough that it was still somewhat intimate.
So…they may be opening it up to more people next year, and I’ll be it will go fast. You can sign up for the ’10 conference updates here. That way, you’ll be in the know for next year!
As for getting the most out of the experience, I would have to say to attend every session, ask questions, walk up to people you want to meet (something I need to be better at) and just be involved with what’s going on. Honestly, there were a few things I skipped out on because I was just plain tired and needed some down time. That’s probably one thing I would do differently for next year.
And last but not least, Mrs. Fussypants herself (um, hello????) asked:
What do we need to concentrate on for next year?
My answer:
{Gulp}
I think keeping the venue small, like this year, really lends itself to a better conference experience. As the popularity and “buzz” about BlissDom grows, I hope that the dedication to the intimate setting remains. And if you can come up with some fun, creative, non-dorky mixer games, that would be icing on the cake… (if they even exist).
She also asks:
What *one* thing stood out to make the weekend special for you
My answer:
It was obvious the amount of time and planning that went into the planning of this conference. The logistics, Hotel Preston (minus the possessed elevators…), was just right for the amount of people; the session topics and panelists were right on, the special guests were a definite plus, the sponsors and “swag” was over the top. Everything down to the smallest detail was obviously planned with the attendee in mind, and that made the experience as a whole very positive.
I hope this was helpful. If you want more, you can now download the transcripts from the sessions and the key note speech from Jen Lancaster! Check it out…
If you’ve had a blog for very long, you’ve undoubtedly come across the need to add custom content to your sidebar. What kind of custom content, you may ask? Well let me give you a few examples of things you might want to add:
Pretty important stuff, huh?
Well, like I said, its easy peasy. The following is a simple tutorial on how to add a text widget in WordPress. Although WordPress has a lot of pre-formatted widgets (like blogroll, categories, archives, etc.) it doesn’t do everything for you. You need to know a few things about HTML code. Don’t worry…I’ll hold your hand through it.
So here’s what you do…
Questions? Pipe up and let me know!
BlissDom was (at the risk of being a wee bit repetitive) blissful.
I enjoyed the break from the daily mother routine, the mesmerizing company, the great information I picked up and of course, the awesome swag. The only snaffu was being stuck in the largest airport on the face of the earth (O’hare) without free internet and boarding a plan that was worked on for 4 1/2 hours and feeling oh, so confident that I would live to see my children again, and having my bag take an extra day of vacation (but at least I got it back, right?).
But…
I could go on and on about how the BlissDom gals (Ms. Fussypants and Barbara Jones) did an amazing job creating a smaller-size venue so you could actually, say, hold a conversation with someone?
I could tell you all about the Yani Voices preview and the private concert by two of its members, amidst a roomful of screaming women.
Then there was the Mama Mia showing, the Chris Man performance and all the clever blog names I heard throughout the weekend. Like:
Will Run for Cake
Mommy Always Wins
Playgroups Are no Place for Children
Attack of the Redneck Mommy
And being able to chat with gals like Rocks in My Dryer, We Are That Family, Musings of a Housewife, Chilihead, I Should be Folding Laundry…to name a few.
And I can’t forget the awesome sponsors who sent two brave men (John Andrews from WalMart & David Griner from Little Debbie) to face the onslaught of estrogen head on. They deserved an award.
But I’ll keep all that to myself. Far be it from me to ramble.
So I thought it would be fun to do a Q & A on BlissDom like I did when I went to BlogHer last Summer. Do you want to know anything? About any of the above or some tips I picked up from the very useful and informative sessions?
I’ll do my best to answer any of your BlissDom related questions. (And may I just add that it was all around fabulous and you should make every effort to attend next year?). And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll make something up. Just kidding.
I’ll come back to answer your questions next Thursday, so between now and then, ask away!
At BlissDom, there was a lot of talk about the current trend of social media. To be honest, the whole things still overwhelms me a bit, but I can see its value now much more than I could before.
There are a lot of popular social media tools out there; Twitter, Facebook, LinkDin, YouTube and StumbleUpon to name a few. With one simple Google search on “social media”, you could probably come up with more information on the subject than you could read in your lifetime. Rather than highlight the features of each of these, I want to give you some basic ideas on how the use of social media can benefit you. You’d be surprised at all the different ways they can. At least I was.
1. Reconnect – Over the last few weeks, I reconnected with two friends I went to kindergarten and grade school with. Kin-der-garten. Do you realize that was 30ish years ago for me? Because of this, Facebook is one of my favorite pastimes addictions tools. I was leery at first because I thought it was mainly for cool college kids. But quickly realized its the MySpace for 30-somethings.
If you’re into keeping up with your high school and college friends and acquaintances, join Facebook. You’ll be shocked at who you’ll find and how fun it is. Don’t worry…its safe and as private as you want it to be and very well designed.
2. Build community – I think one of the hardest things about being a stay at home mom is the feeling of isolation that can creep in. You’re surrounded by little people all day, doing a thankless (though extremely important) job and don’t always get to have the freedom to spend time connecting with other moms in the same boat. That’s why I love blogging and now, Twitter. There’s a sense of community built when you can pop on and ask a question, tell a funny thing that happened to you, or give your antidote for the day…all in 140 characters or less.
To be honest, I didn’t “get it” for about 6 months. I created an account, tried it, and stopped. But a few months ago, I gave it another shot, but this time I used an application called TweetDeck. And now, I’m hooked.
I’d highly recommend an application like TweetDeck if you’re interested in twittering. It gives you up to date views on your friends and you can create groups for people you follow. So, you could have “mommies” in one group, “family” in another and “people I’m stalking” in yet another (totally kidding).
3. Stay in Touch – When we went to our college reunion last year, I uncovered yet another layer of Facebook. You see, I had been following a bunch of college friends and several of them where at this reunion. It was so great to walk up to them and not have to say, “Where do you live, what do you do, how many kids do you have…” because I already knew! We could skip the small talkie stuff and remember the good ol’ times. Social media is like a Christmas letter all year long.
4. Promote - If you have a blog or website that you want to get noticed, Twitter and Facebook are an ideal space for doing just that. Personally, I don’t quite know the perfectly balance between hiding bashfully in the corner and being completely obnoxious, but I know its there somewhere. Some people feel that sort of thing is a little tacky, while other people love it. There really is no prescription or rules for using social media. Use common sense, be courteous of others, and you’ll be peachy.
5. Opportunities – One thing I learned at Blissdom was that a lot of people find job opportunities on Twitter. They scour the updates looking for marking and networking opportunities that constantly come up. Its like Craigslist meets IM. You can search for terms people are using to find a new opportunity to make a business connection. Certainly traditional communication and media aren’t going anywhere, but social media is definitely something that will only grow in the future.
If you’re like me and feel like you’re on the tail end of the generation that “gets” social media, don’t be afraid to try it. You may just find you love it.
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