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What I Learned at My First Blog Conference

Hey, favorite friends! As most of you know, I attended Blog Elevated this year at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. It was two nights and two full days of fun with friends and lots of note taking (23 pages to be exact). This amazing conference had so much to offer. The agenda was full of rock stars talking about taking your blog to the next level, with loads of inspiration to boot. While BE offered a wealth of information about monetizing your blog, the motivational speeches about blogging are what won me over the most. They made me super excited, because motivational speeches are my jam. However, the social media experts also had me furiously scribbling away the best tips, too. Here are my favorite one-liners from the conference in regards to blogging and growing your community. 
From Dayna Steele: 
1. Believe that your blog is worth reading. 
2. Always write/speak to others like you’re speaking to your best friend, and always be yourself. 
3. Those numbers on your blog stats? They are PEOPLE. 
4. Write about something you know and love. (Duh.)
5. When writing, ask yourself this: What’s in it for your reader? 
6. Listen to what people have to say. 
7. Play what your fans want to hear. (DJ metaphor)
8. Never stop learning. 
9. Take the time to do your homework. Google everything!
10. Never start writing about anything before you read the news. 
11. Continue to learn things you know nothing about. 
12. Read a magazine form beginning to end for inspiration. 
13. Be brilliant and people will follow you. 
14. Find the bloggers you like, learn from them, and ask questions. 
15. Don’t be afraid to fail. 
16. Networking isn’t for sissies. 
Did you know you need business cards for blog conferences? Thanks to my friend Meg from Meg O On The Go for making these last minute for me!
17. Networking is doing things for others without ever expecting anything in return. 
18. Write with others in mind: write for them.
19. Appreciation is the offshoot of networking. 
20. Show appreciation to everyone!
21. Give something back to the world. 
From Brands to Bloggers Panel:
22. Keep up with fresh content. 
From Matt Cherry:
23. Be good at one or two social media channels. 
24. Recycle content on social media. 
25. Don’t be afraid to have internal links in your posts. 
26. Don’t be afraid of vlogging.
27. Guest post. 
28. Stop doing things that you are not good at or that you dislike doing. 
29. Contact anyone you mention in a post by email. 
From Bjork Ostrom:
30. TRUST is more valuable currency than cash. 
31. Know your blog’s purpose. 
32. Teach things you know and love. 
33. Be transparent. 
34. Have COURAGE.
From Susan Jackson about your blog’s Pinterest page:
35. Create the best first impression. 
36. Have your five top boards at the top of your Pinterest page.
37. Share amazing content. 
38. Share content from others and from your blog. 
39. Find one or two simple classic fonts and stick with it. 
40. Balance inspirational with achievable. 
41. Upcycle old content by refreshing and recharging your images. 
42. No need for hashtags on Pinterest. 
43. Best times to pin? Late afternoons and evenings and Sundays and Mondays. 
44. Avoid pinning on Friday nights and Saturdays. 
From Holly Homer about your blog’s Facebook page:
45. Share other pages content. 
46. No hashtags on Facebook. 
47. Avoid saying “add,” “giveaway,” “share,” “like,” “click.”
48. Don’t tag other pages. It’s seen as spam and will only be seen by your followers if they like both you and the page tagged. Add tags in the comments. 
49. Post at least three times a day and use this ratio: goal content/page builders/be generous. 
50. Don’t be 100% promotional. 
51. Facebook needs content finders. 
52. Look at your Facebook insights and find out what your followers liked: do that again. 
53. Schedule your posts using Facebook’s scheduler. 
54. Don’t worry about posting too much. 
55. Facebook likes Instagram shares. 
Listening to the amazing Holly Homer from QuirkyMomma.com. 
And the overall message that stuck with me: You are not JUST a blogger. You are a person with a purpose, and you have something to offer the world. Go and share your stories. 

Because I love you, here are four amazing recaps from three other attendees that I just know you’ll love:
If you have any questions about any of the things listed, just leave a comment or shoot me an email at sevengracesblog @ gmail (dot) com. Anything resonate with you?

In other news: If you are a blogger, please stop by tomorrow to link up your best posts for the SHINE Blog Hop. I’m co-hosting with Jennifer from the amazing blog, The Deliberate Mom. 
Be blessed, my friends! Y’all are the best.

***See where I’m linking up here. 

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Comments

  1. WOW! What fabulous take away points.

    So Facebook likes Instagram hey?! I’m going to have to try that one out.

    It sounds like you learned so much. Thank you for sharing these pointers with us! I’m pinning this because it’s full of great advice!

    Wishing you a lovely day. I’m so excited to co-host with you tomorrow!
    xoxo

    • Thank you! I thought it was such a great conference. I really learned a ton. And yes, Facebook loves themselves. Lol. It’s crazy learning about how all the algorithms work. Thanks for the pin, too!

      Can’t wait for tomorrow!

  3. Thanks for sharing this, Kristy! I LOVE number 17. It’s so true– so many people network with hopes of immediate return… but we know that doesn’t always happen. Love your blog:) Happy to be following along!
    <3 Daisy

    • You are so welcome, Daisy! I always love sharing other people’s blogs because I love them. I don’t see it as networking; I see it as sharing the love. :) And thank you so much for following along! Means so much!

    • Thanks, Sarita! I thought the conference was so wonderful. It was hard to narrow down my favorite parts, but I think 55 things was enough. ;)

    • Thanks, Chelsea! :) There was so much new information to digest, it was a bit overwhelming at first. But the more I let it sink in, the more I loved everything I heard.

      Yay for pinning! Thanks for that! ;) Hope all is well, girlfriend!

  6. WOW! What fabulous take away points.

    So Facebook likes Instagram hey?! I'm going to have to try that one out.

    It sounds like you learned so much. Thank you for sharing these pointers with us! I'm pinning this because it's full of great advice!

    Wishing you a lovely day. I'm so excited to co-host with you tomorrow!
    xoxo

  10. Thank you! I thought it was such a great conference. I really learned a ton. And yes, Facebook loves themselves. Lol. It's crazy learning about how all the algorithms work. Thanks for the pin, too!

    Can't wait for tomorrow!

  12. Thanks for sharing this, Kristy! I LOVE number 17. It's so true– so many people network with hopes of immediate return… but we know that doesn't always happen. Love your blog:) Happy to be following along!
    <3 Daisy

  13. Woohoo! So jealous that you got to attend a blog conference. I recently listened to Holly Homer’s podcast on FB organic reach. So I’m really working on the FB thing. I did get information from another blogger to ‘notify’ others when you share by tagging pages. Wrong! Thanks for that tip! I was tagging others and people were clearly not getting the message. So thanks for sharing that you need to tag in the comments. And totally pumped that you are doing a link up. Very exciting. Have a great day!

    Lauren

    • Holly was so great! She also has a YouTube channel with all of the information that shared. It’s so fascinating to learn how all of these things work. I still find that if I tag a person, rather than a page, its reach is extended. I guess a little experimenting is what I’m doing right now. Hope you have a great one, Lauren!

  16. You are so welcome, Daisy! I always love sharing other people's blog because I love them. I don't see it as networking; I see it as sharing the love. :) And thank you so much for following along! Means so much!

  17. Thanks, Sarita! I thought the conference was so wonderful. It was hard to narrow down my favorite parts, but I think 55 things was enough. ;)

  18. Thanks, Chelsea! :) There was so much new information to digest, it was a bit overwhelming at first. But the more I let it sink in, the more I loved everything I heard.

    Yay for pinning! Thanks for that! ;) Hope all is well, girlfriend!

  23. Woohoo! So jealous that you got to attend a blog conference. I recently listened to Holly Homer's podcast on FB organic reach. So I'm really working on the FB thing. I did get information from another blogger to 'notify' others when you share by tagging pages. Wrong! Thanks for that tip! I was tagging others and people were clearly not getting the message. So thanks for sharing that you need to tag in the comments. And totally pumped that you are doing a link up. Very exciting. Have a great day!

    Lauren

  25. Now those are a lot of great tips! I going to have to read back through it again — especially the Pinterest ones. I’ve been blogging a month, but one of my goals is to go to a blogging conference within a year. Glad you got a lot out of it!
    Popping by from the SHINE Blog Hop — thanks so much for hosting! I was already a follower! :)
    Erin
    http://www.itallmattersmom.com

    • That was one of my goals! This is month 7 for me, so I’m thrilled I was able to go. You’ll be surprised at how far you will go in a short period of time. Keep having fun. Because really, that is all that matters. :)

  26. Thanks for sharing what you learned :) I’m so excited for my first blog conference! Allume in 2 weeks :) Stopping by from the Shine Blog Hop.

    • You are so welcome! I’m sure you will love your conference. They are so informative. Thanks so much for stopping by, Misty! :)

  27. Thanks for sharing this! I am going to my first blog conference (BlogHer Pro) in December.

  28. PINNED! TWEETED! And G+’ed! Thank you for sharing, I’m attending my first conference this week– I was happy to see your link at The Bloggers Digest. It seems as though you learned TONS, I’m excited I cannot wait to takeaway as much as you have. Actually, you just shared some great knowledge, thank you very much!
    XXOXO

    • Thanks so much for that! :) I’m sure you’ll love your conference. You’ll have to be sure to tell us all about it. And it was fun to go back through my notes and share with y’all. ;)

  29. Thanks for linking to my series! And I LOVE how you put the lists in here. I missed a lot of things because of a certain baby that kept pooping all over during ever.single.session so I appreciate any notes I can get!

    • You are so welcome, Kirsten! I meant to email you to let you know I linked your series. Glad I could help! Your precious baby must have been having too much fun at the conference. ;)

      Have a great day!

    • Thanks, Katie! It was so much information, and I’m glad I sat back down to digest it all and re-read all of my notes. I’m still learning, but this conference definitely helped. :)

  32. Now those are a lot of great tips! I going to have to read back through it again — especially the Pinterest ones. I've been blogging a month, but one of my goals is to go to a blogging conference within a year. Glad you got a lot out of it!
    Popping by from the SHINE Blog Hop — thanks so much for hosting! I was already a follower! :)
    Erin
    http://www.itallmattersmom.com

  33. Thanks for sharing what you learned :) I'm so excited for my first blog conference! Allume in 2 weeks :) Stopping by from the Shine Blog Hop.

  34. Thanks for sharing this! I am going to my first blog conference (BlogHer Pro) in December.

  35. PINNED! TWEETED! And G+'ed! Thank you for sharing, I'm attending my first conference this week– I was happy to see your link at The Bloggers Digest. It seems as though you learned TONS, I'm excited I cannot wait to takeaway as much as you have. Actually, you just shared some great knowledge, thank you very much!
    XXOXO

  36. Thanks for linking to my series! And I LOVE how you put the lists in here. I missed a lot of things because of a certain baby that kept pooping all over during ever.single.session so I appreciate any notes I can get!

  37. This is a fabulous post! I haven’t been to a blog conference yet, but this sounds like a good one.
    Thanks so much for sharing. Great points!

  38. You are so welcome, Kirsten! I meant to email you to let you know I linked your series. Glad I could help! Your precious baby must have been having too much fun at the conference. ;)

    Have a great day!

  39. Thank you so much for the sweet shout out! :) I think this was an awesome recap post – you covered all the high points of BE so well!

    • How exciting! I’m sure you will love it! I think blogging is a constant growing experience, so I’m so happy to help spread the info. :)

  42. Holly was so great! She also has a YouTube channel with all of the information that shared. It's so fascinating to learn how all of these things work. I still find that if I tag a person, rather than a page, its reach is extended. I guess a little experimenting is what I'm doing right now. Hope you have a great one, Lauren!

  44. That was one of my goals! This is month 7 for me, so I'm thrilled I was able to go. You'll be surprised at how far you will go in a short period of time. Keep having fun. Because really, that is all that matters. :)

  45. You are so welcome! I'm sure you will love your conference. They are so informative. Thanks so much for stopping by, Misty! :)

  47. Thanks so much for that! :) I'm sure you'll love your conference. You'll have to be sure to tell us all about it. And it was fun to go back through my notes and share with y'all. ;)

  48. Thanks, Katie! It was so much information, and I'm glad I sat back down to digest it all and re-read all of my notes. I'm still learning, but this conference definitely helped. :)

  49. This is a fabulous post! I haven't been to a blog conference yet, but this sounds like a good one.
    Thanks so much for sharing. Great points!

  50. Thank you so much for the sweet shout out! :) I think this was an awesome recap post – you covered all the high points of BE so well!

  58. What a wonderful summary of great information. A quick browse already pointed out some mistakes I have made! Pinned and following you now. Glad I found this at Motivational Monday!

    • Thanks, Susan! It was such an informative conference. And I wouldn’t call your actions mistakes though. I’d say they’re learning experiences. ;)

  59. What a wonderful summary of great information. A quick browse already pointed out some mistakes I have made! Pinned and following you now. Glad I found this at Motivational Monday!

  62. How exciting! I'm sure you will love it! I think blogging is a constant growing experience, so I'm so happy to help spread the info. :)

  66. Thanks, Susan! It was such an informative conference. And I wouldn't call your actions mistakes though. I'd say they're learning experiences. ;)

  67. Thanks so much for posting this. I heard Holly speak at a conference and she was amazing! (Found you through the series you posted with Meg O. – thanks for all of the tips.)

    • Awesome! Thanks so much for stopping by. :) Sorry for the late reply! I just saw your comment for some reason.

  68. Thanks so much for posting this. I heard Holly speak at a conference and she was amazing! (Found you through the series you posted with Meg O. – thanks for all of the tips.)

  69. Thank you so much!! These were things I needed to hear today- so glad I stumbled across this post on Pinterest! :) I was debating going to the bloggy conference this year (it falls on my birthday) in Cedar Point and this post made me decide I absolutely HAVE to go if I want to make something of myself in the blogging world.

    Thank you again!

    • Yay! Thanks for stopping on by, Michelle! This blog conference was the game changer for me. It’s been about 7 months since then, and I have seen HUGE growth because of implementing all that I learned. So exciting! Good luck with everything!

  70. Thank you so much!! These were things I needed to hear today- so glad I stumbled across this post on Pinterest! :) I was debating going to the bloggy conference this year (it falls on my birthday) in Cedar Point and this post made me decide I absolutely HAVE to go if I want to make something of myself in the blogging world.

    Thank you again!

  71. Awesome! Thanks so much for stopping by. :) Sorry for the late reply! I just saw your comment for some reason.

  72. Yay! Thanks for stopping on by, Michelle! This blog conference was the game changer for me. It's been about 7 months since then, and I have seen HUGE growth because of implementing all that I learned. So exciting! Good luck with everything!

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