And SNAP the blog’s a game!
I’ve been at Snap all weekend. I didn’t take a single picture to commemorate, so here is one with a few of my real life blogging friends to prove I was there! I LOVED the conference! I love learning great ideas for growing my blog. (I would be perpetually in school if I could, I just LOVE to learn new things) Mostly I love talking. I don’t think I stopped the whole time…. okay maybe during class, but not always! And if I didn’t get to talk to you it is probably only because I didn’t have enough time (but I hope for the most part I got to talk to everyone, I am an equal opportunity talker, I promise!)
One of my roomies Ruthie, I also got to room with Traci, but I need to find a picture of all three of us! Anyway. we had no cups and were dying of thirst at the market on Friday night, so I had just bought some straws… and well, we drank out of the pitcher cuz we were thirsty, but of course that meant we had to pose.
Then we had to pose again when I saw this hoopa like thing:
Oh and I cut my hair. There is nothing like a spray tan(the first one I have ever had, I got a Groupon deal) and a cute hair cut to help me forget about the size of my jeans and just be myself. (why do we worry about things like that anyway? But alas, I have been targeted by every media portal in the world to make me feel awful about myself if I am not a size 2, and my bare bones wouldn’t fit inside a size 2, just sayin’!)
I think it would be fun to round up 10 of the business blogging ideas that I personally learned, and am going to incorporate. That way if you couldn’t come to Snap, you still can learn something too! (see I love to learn stuff! GEEK, and proud!) But the point is, maybe they will be helpful to you TOO! by the way these are in no particular order, the photography class in an affiliate link.
10 Blogging Mom Tips
| 1.Google + | Maybe I should use it… Ha!, no I guess I am serious! But in particular, I need to update my header image to the new huge size. And try to remember to incorporate keywords into the descriptions on my posting (this is just my idea mostly) but it is Google after all, we want it to search well! And Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts to your blog pages (not personal pages, just fyi) Which I must do if I every want to spend time with my kiddos! |
| 2.WP_Editorial_Calendar | I desperately need some organization in my life. I have always wanted to be a just a stay at home mom. Ya know, one of the cool ones that makes homemade playdough and dinner on the same day. (I know who am I kidding, homemade playdough can be a dinner too, but that is not what I mean) I am a blogger because I enjoy it, but the full time job thing just sort of fell in my lap at the same time the kiddos came. So I have felt out of control for the last, well, three years. I need more control over my time, so I can be a mom most of that time and a blogger only a VERY small percentage of that time. I think the calendar will help me plan and stick to it. In a way that I can see clearly. (if you are not on WP, try google calendars or the presenter liked Cozi) |
| 3. Pinterest | A. Always use Portrait pictures as pin it buttons! Think about the real estate on Pinterest! This is you best option! B. Use your secret boards people! I have been begging Pinterest for more secret boards to organize my life, but for now we only have three! Use them wisely they are great business planning tools. C. Verify your site, so that you can see analytics!!! D. Update the names and descriptions of your boards with keywords to make them Google searchable (use keywords) |
| 4. Hello Insights | A pin scheduler and analytic site! I would like to be offline as often as possible and scheduling services have now become my new best friend. I might just try this out! |
| 5. Broken Links! | I know I am not alone, in transferring to WordPress, but when I did a BUNCH of my content had slight URL changes, which means I now have thousands of broken links, literally! But now I can remove those broken links with a plugin. And save my own life am make sure that Google continues to love my site! Apparently I can just have them removed, which sounds amazing… I might need to clarify this one a bit as I figure it out, for now it is on my to do list. But I think plugin s that help me clean up old content might just get me working on old content. |
| 6. Better Photography | My DSLR camera is almost a dinosaur, we’ve had it for 5 years. It is a dear to me dinosaur, however I know I need to update soon. In the mean time, one thing that I think will help me immensely is refreshing myself on my Shoot Fly Classes. I took them about a year or so ago and it changed my life. Finally, I understood how to use the manual mode on my camera, and it was so easy to follow along with. But I am due for a refresher course, to make sure I am doing it all, I keep forgetting to tweak my F-stops (look at me throwing in those big photography terms…). And I think they finally have their 102 class, so once I refresh I think I will take that too!
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| 7. Get an Assistant | I started reading the 4 hour work week a few years ago but, he was so crude I stopped. But the initial idea, of only doing what I am best at and hiring out the rest has stuck. I just didn’t know how to make it happen. I took the best class by Rags to Stitches and her assistant Sky McLain I will definitely be getting some help, just as soon as I can make a list of the needs that I have. I know this isn’t an option financially for everyone, but there are ways to get creative and still make it work! Trade can work, but will be tricky. So make sure it is worth your time. |
| 8. Use Keywords in my posts and titles | I just need to remember to use keywords but be catchy! Name your images by those keywords. Easier said than remembered to do! |
| 9. TALK | Keep in touch with other similar bloggers and be open about what you’ve learned. Share what you know and learn from other bloggers great advice. Ask for help! I can tell you that I may not be able to help every person, but I will definitely try to help if you come to me one on one to talk about your blog. You may wish I shut up after a minute or two, I am REALLY passionate about it. The best part of conferences is the networking and getting help from other like-minded, intelligent bloggers! |
| 10. Be yourself | So cliche, I know. But the truth is, I need to not be afraid of judgement and show you my unfinished mess of a house more often. Because that is the truth of living in a home remodel. It means a LOT of changes and work, and a Lot of, well, ugly! But it is part of the process, so be true to the process… ( I guess I am trying to psych myself up for what I am saying!) I so rarely show you the mess, although I have done it once or twice. |
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
Can I just say that you had me at the Mary Poppins reference!
Such a good show!
Cassity, Thanks for sharing, these are all really great tips for us all to strive for! It was great to finally meet you and please tell Justin, we said hello! (And Shoot Fly Shoot P-102 is out and it is really worthwhile! Take care!
Matt, my wife told me that she saw you and your wife at the conference. Sorry I missed meeting up with you guys. We will defiantly have to meet up if you come next year. I am excited to watch the Shoot Fly Shoot classes as well. Good luck with everything!
Fabulous advice. Thank you so much for sharing. I was so jealous of everyone at SNAP and will MOST DEFINITELY be attending next year. But in the mean time, I’ll soak up your knowledge that you are sharing and be thankful to have it! You’re awesome!
Kirsten! I know how hard it is to not get to make it to a conference and then see everyone posting about it! My first 3 years of blogging, I was either pregnant or nursing, so I didn’t get to go, and I was totally bummed! But if you can make it, I would give it a try! And I know a lot of people have been posting tip posts, I am sure you will basically learn all the important stuff!
It was so fun chatting at the photo class 🙂 I’m happy you posted these tips… I missed the hello insights tip and the broken links plug in, yes please! Thanks again!
It was fun chatting! I feel like I need a whole fourth day just for talking, next year we should try to convince everyone to come one night before so we can all sit around and talk!!!
I am going to check out Hello Insights. I must have missed that class! I was glad to catch up for a minute at dinner! Your haircut is totally sassy BTW.
Thank Michelle! I am sorry I left early I was SO ready to see my kiddos I was about to go insane! (if you don’t end up liking Hello insights, Pingraphy is back, only you have to pay. But to me, it is SO worth it! It saves my life! It was down for a month and I was about ready to die!)
Loved this post. Thanks for teaching me . . . 🙂
I hope it was helpful! Everyone picks up so many different things, but either way I was so glad to have gotten the chance to go!
I wish I could have hung out with you at Snap! I only saw you at the VA class and I saw Ruthie for about 30 seconds in the parking lot! Until next year!
McKenzie are you local or do you live out of the state? It is such a bummer to only get together so often! We will have to meet up next year, if you are local though we should all totally go out to lunch in a month or two!
Love the tips! We try to do a lot of these but I’m excited to try the Hello Insights. Sounds really cool! I live to schedule things too!
There is no way around scheduling if you ever want to sleep! Hope it helps!
Bloggers getting together is such a great idea! The online world can seem like a lonely place sometimes when you don’t get the physical human interaction from time to time. Thanks for sharing
LOVED getting to chat with you!! So glad we got to connect and I will be in touch soon about VA stuff!!! I want to help you find the right folks girlie 🙂 Thanks so much for the shout out too!
xo
Skye
Love these tips, and definetely pinned them. I needed them. Just fell across your site from Pinterest and am loving it. I’ve been on here at least a half an hour. Would love to collaborate on something with you in the future. Great website, I will be back!
We are glad that you found us, Traci. Feel free to come and visit anytime.
Thanks for the tips Cassity! I use all of my hidden Pinterest boards and wish I had more! I’m switching over to WordPress soon and will have to remember to check out the WP plugins you mentioned.
Oh and p.s. about the hidden boards, my husband has a basically unused Pinterest account, so I got in there and shared his private boards with my account! It was like a gold mine, I doubled my private boards! YAY! And good luck with the move to WordPress, you will love the plugin features that you can add just like that!!