Last weekend, one of the better known Mom bloggy conferences – Type A – came to Philly for a day conference! I was thrilled when I heard they’d be in my own hometown stomping grounds so I signed up for the day.
Many of my blog friends made a weekend out of it. My schedule has been just too insane to offer up any more time than a day trip into the city so I hopped on the train early morning with Colleen and headed into the city.
But Cole, my youngest, was having a bad day. He was in tears when I left and my oldest was literally texting me photos of Cole crying throughout the morning sessions. He needed his Mom. And since being Mom comes first, I left after lunch. It was a bummer but I still got some great info out of the morning sessions and here’s a few of my takeaways from my few hours there:
- Time to update the ‘ol About Me page. Leanne J from Disney reiterated how key it is to market yourself on this page! Be concise, be interesting and for the love of God, make sure you give a brand a way to get in touch with you if they are interested in you! (You’d think that was an obvious one but it’s apparently not with many bloggers.)
I thought my old one was pretty good but it gave me a kick in the pants to update some info and get a little creative and current. I wrote up a new About page today! What do you guys think? Possibly too long? - Video, video, video. It really is the future for our space. Confession: I hate video! I feel like I’m always looking weird/nodding my head/have a booger or something. But Maria Bailey’s session and comments from great folks like Amy Hodges made me realize that Moms want video because it’s easy and we’re real.We don’t have to be beautiful – you just have to be authentic and real. Because 99% of us aren’t supermodels and we want someone we can relate to.Besides the fact that a quick video view is so much easier to do when multi-tasking – reading a blog post requires more focus. And we all know how much Moms need things they can help them multi-task!
- Disclosure’s are getting serious. Bloggers need to be aware of the new FTC guidelines. The FTC recommends that you disclose if you are being paid for a review at the beginning of a post or in the first paragraph – not at the end of the post.
- Thank God I have a CPA. I went to Kelly Whalen and Catherine Wells session on how to manage your blog finances only because I knew if hubby were there, he would have physically dragged me in and plopped me in the seat. They gave great tips on things like how to get set up as an LLC (which I already am) and how to manage your taxes. Bottom line for me is, it’s a good thing I have a CPA because I will forever be financially challenged.
After lunch, I headed home. I was bummed to miss Amy Clark & Jo-Lynne Shane’s session on generating Pinterest traffic. Luckily Jo-Lynne lives locally so I hope to bribe her with some wine and pick her brain soon.
Working on my video skills is definitely at the top of my to do list!
Sounds like a very productive morning! I love your new About Me page – it’s a fun read, very personable and you definitely get a feel for how awesome you are. And now I’m off to work on mine!
My goal for the week is video too! I also loved listening to Kelly and Catherine’s presentation too and learned so much. I hope Cole was feeling better by the time you got home. Hopefully he just needed some mommy love:)
Thanks so much Lauryn! I think he did! I got home and we cuddled for almost two hours and he was fine after that! Great to see you again – twice in two weeks!
I was following the Tweets from Type A Philly and was wishing I was there. It looked great!
PS – Loving the new site design AND your new About page.
Thank you Jodi!
I’m bummed you had to leave early but you did the right thing! You know that I’m easy to bribe with wine. ANYTIME! 🙂
Oh and I don’t care what anyone says, I hate video. I hate making them, and I hate watching them. I’d much rather read. I do them occasionally, but I will always be a writer first and foremost. That said, some people do a great job with video, and I know brands like it. I guess we all have to pick and choose b/c there are SO many things to “focus” on – you just can’t do it all well, ya know? I guess what I mean to say is, don’t feel pressured if it’s just not your thing. There are other ways to get ahead in this space.
Food for thought for sure. I am a writer first too and video is just an entirely different beast. It’s easy to say “oh just move to video” but not as easy to do it.
I do like watching videos but I like reading too. I suppose it depends on what the video/post is about. Sometimes I just want to hug my coffee mug and settle into a good blog post (no video) so at least I do still seem some merit to it!
Me to! I’d much rather read through/skim an article than watch a video. Plus – how can you watch a video on the sly when we’re supposed to be “working”? 🙂 A post, I can read at my own pace. A video, I’m forced to sit through the whole thing even if I don’t have the time/interest.
I understand things are moving that way, but three cheers for text!
What a fun day! All great tips and glad rather than sitting on them you sprang into action. Love the new design!
Love your new about me page. I laughed at you almost hanging up on Oprah!
Becky and I talked about the video a bit, and the email marketing session which I didn’t attend. I agree with you about video needing to be real and authentic, and I’m with Jo-Lynne on hating to do it. Hate pix of myself, but I’m working on that.
Stephanie Glover has a great About Me page which I may steal one of these days.
I’m glad Cole is feeling better. It’s always hard to know if they simply miss you or they’re coming down with something.
Thanks for the mini recap! I just added contact info to my About Page (*Banging head on wall*) so thanks for that! I wish I could’ve been there 🙁
Great new page design!!! I’m glad Cole is feeling better!!!
I love this wrap up! I attended a session during every single time slot, which I’ve never done at any conference ever. There was just so much great content all day long! I’m sorry you couldn’t stay longer, but it was great to see you.
Love the new About Me page!