Finally! A minute to write!! {{More about BlogHer Day}}

I can't believe I have been home for 3 days & this is the first chance I've had to post anything about my TCC weekend!!! As you know, life gets in the way sometimes!!

Let's start off with some of the photos from the first day & a little bit about what I learned about Blogging...

These are my new friends...Christie Daugherty, a Stampin-Up rep trying to find a new creative calling (which I think we found for her!!) & Amy Griffin-Fritcher,  who makes the most adorable jewelry with photos!

Christie, Amy & me

It was so awesome to meet them, hang with them throughout the event & hear their stories. I know we will be great friends for a long, long time!!

This is Jo Packham. She is the Founder of the Where Women Create & Where Women Cook magazines & is the genius behind The Creative Connection Event. She is a beautiful, talented & approachable lady! She gave some very inspiring speeches throughout the weekend & we all were brought to tears at times with her honesty (including her!).

This is Nora with Burda Style. She's just cute as a button!!

Here's Becky Higgins sharing how Project Life came to be. She is such a sweet woman!

Finally, Stacie Jullian shared her journey. She's so funny & full of spunk!

Each of these women shared how they had an "idea" & how that idea grew & grew until they got to where they are today. Some of their stories contained aspects of "needing a break from the chaos" before they could move on with what they were truly passionate about. It was great to hear from these women that so many of us look up to (might even put up on a pedestal in their respective industries) & realize that they are JUST women like you & me. Trying live out their hopes & dreams.

Like I said in that first post,  This first day was ALL about the Blog! It was a day jam-packed with info sponsored by the amazing BlogHer, on how to blog, why to blog & join social networks from women who are out there doing this every day & making a living doing it! Some were discovered from their blogs & their careers just snowballed from there! Very amazing!! I just wanted to share a few of the key things I walked away with during these panels...

Panel 1: Content & Community Building

with Kathy Cano-Murillo, Crafty Chica; Nancy Malay, Vintage Whimsy; Stacie Tamaki, The Flirty Blog & Moderator, Eric Mauter, Swirlspice

(This panel was pretty much about blogging basics & how to find other social networking sites.)

      1. Get your name out there! Join Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter, .ning, LinkedIn, Pintrest.  

     2. The more you visit, write & comment, more people see your name & hopefully they will be intrigued to visit your blog & learn more about you!

     3. Come up with a schedule for your postings on your blog. Meaning, have a feature of something on one day; a contest on another, etc.

     4. Combine your personal blog (if you have one) with your business blog. But, establish how much personal info you want to share with your readers.

     5. Set hours for yourself. Don't let blogging & visiting sites consume your life!

I learned a lot from this first session - this was only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. They talked about all the social media outlets out there, as well as posting videos to your blog (a big trend right now). But basically they said that social networking is the future & some even believe that blogging will take over the company website! That companies would have a landing page that would take you to their blog, their product pages & more! It's just crazy, isn't it?!

Panel 2: Growing your Reach

with Crissy Heron, IndieBizChicks; Becky Jorgensen, Patchwork Posse; Amy Turn Sharp, Little Alouette

(This panel directed us on how to get your blog & name out there in social media)

     1. Know who you are.

     2. Be consistent with your content by setting a schedule for your readers with specific days for crafting, photos, giveaways & interviews.

     3. TWEET! Look at Twitter as your virtual water cooler & share your day!

     4. Create a Newsletter to send to your readers 1x a week or monthly.

     5. Build Links! Link within your own blog to keep readers within your site, but also give credit when necessary!

Panel 3: Monetization & Business Models

with Wendy Piersall, New Media Expert; Traci Bautista, Collage Artist; Gina Luker, Shabby Creek Cottage; Amanda Rettke, I am Baker

(This panel was all about how to make money with your blog.)

     1. Try to "sell" your content so that readers follow you & in turn, check out your shop.

     2. Directly sell your products on your blog.

     3. Advertising on your blog, where you get a certain amount of revenue from how many "clicks" the ad receives on your blog.

     4. Get sponsors. Sponsors can be companies that have products & tools you like to use in your craft. If you tell them you'd like to feature their wares on your blog regularly, they might be willing to give you free merchandise to review/use as long as you blog about it & it pulls in revenue for them.

     5. Teach online classes.

As you can see, there was a lot of info to absorb that first day!

We were all a little overwhelmed by the time dinner rolled around! Besides the key points listed above, I also took away with me that we need to re-work this blog a little & that I need to stop writing my personal blog (mylaughingmagpie) or try to incorporate it into this one. I hate to give up my other blog, but it's a lot of work to write for both. Plus, I seem to post crafty stuff on both. We'll see what transpires over the next 30 days!

If you check back tomorrow, I will have a brief post on the keynote speakers & pix from dinner! {This was the night we got our fabulous SWAG bags from TCC!} And, over the next few days, I will post more about the weekend with TCC, time in St. Paul & more.

Hope to "see" you soon!