A – maz – ing.  What an awesome experience and an inspirational conference.  Not to get too philosophical, but it kinda restored my faith in humanity.  I know that sounds so big picture, but I don’t think I have ever been around that many sharing, caring and supportive women ever.  Not to mention talented and business savvy too.  And each one making the world a better and more beautiful place, one blog at a time.  I’m still basking in the love…

A huge shout out to the team at Alt Summit coordinating such a powerful event.  Awesome panelists.  Nail on the Head sessions.  Great Venue.   So, in the spirit of sharing, I wanted to pass along my notes from the sessions I attended (such tough choices to make!).

Successful Collaborations

Panelists: Bri Emory, Danielle Krysa, Joslyn Taylor, Victoria Smith

• Reach out to the bloggers you admire the most to collaborate with.
• Give direction to your guest blogger on what to write about and provide a few photo examples to steer them in the right direction (like they say, a picture is worth 1000 words).
• Start a new feature to get your readers engaged. Create columns your readership can expect on a regular basis ie. Monday – Style, Tuesday – Food, …etc.
• How to get more followers?  Populate blog with original content.
• Put your own spin on curated content. Don’t be a internet DJ.
• Find someone to collaborate with who has a similar aesthetic, but has fresh ideas and perspective.
• Contributors need to align with brand direction – you don’t want to have to ask them to edit or change their post.  Be honest and upfront regarding expectations.
• Collaboration needs to be reciprocal – what are you providing or skill set are you offering in return?
• “We owe it to each other to take care of each other” – Joslyn Taylor (love this!)
• “We want to share. Pay it forward with your skills and what you can contribute to others” – Victoria Smith
• Collaborate with local retailers ie. Pop-Up shops, Gallery Exhibits, etc.
• Enhance your creative life.
• Engage online media and brands looking to collaborate/ for contributors: UPPERCASE, Anthology, Rue, Matchbook.
• Engage big brands who are looking at alternate ways to collaborate in non-traditional ways.  Put together a proposal and present it to them.
• Be careful with giveaways – they can help drive traffic, but too many and your blog feels like a game show.
• Try to meet potential collaborators in person to position your skills and needs for a collaboration.

What Small Sites can Learn from Big Online Communities

Panelists: Heather Armstrong, Nora Abousteit, Lilli Zarghami, Sarah Bryden-Brown

• Let your site tell you what it wants to do
• Think ahead
• Build a personality
• Use your voice honestly
• Create interaction with audience
• Your personality and voice don’t change depending on size of audience
• Create a 5 year financial projection
• Content in context with commerce is the future
• You can start with a Facebook Page and build backward to a blog

Kick-starting Your Next Project

Panelists: Anne Sage, Lisa Congdon, Liz Stanley, Rena Tom

• Challenge yourself creatively
• A project is something that you do that is separate from your day-to-day
• When something is challenging for you it is interesting for others
• Introduce others to another aspect of your creative identity
• Goals of project can be –

1. Increase your visibility/ influence/ credibility
2. Make Money
3. Learn or use a new skill
4. Give back
5. Have Fun!

• Dream Big!
• Put together a project plan
• Don’t underestimate the value of your blog
• Approach brands with and idea for advertising their product or service in conjunction with your site
• Embrace Creativity.  Stay Focused.
• Make sure you have an “About Me” page on your blog
• Stick to business hours

Your Blog as a Marketing Tool

Kathleen of JeremyandKathleen is such a sweetheart!  And the perfect moderator for this discussion.  I just wanted to pack her up and take her home in my suitcase (and co-opt those savvy marketing skills).

• Blur personal and professional life
• If you are liked through your blog, people will embrace you
• Share behind the scenes and the creative process
• Be consistent with look of blog and content
• Your blog is your brand.  A brand is a promise so readers will know what to expect
• Tell your audience what to do if you have an actionable item
• Your blog is proof of your work
• Position yourself as an expert
• Look for authentic sponsors where content drives traffic to their site
• “If you don’t feel like throwing up, you are not doing it right” – Kathleen
• Support your local community
• e-commerce needs to be supported by a blog to make it more personal
• Look at alternate forms of blogging – video, twitter, pictures, etc.
• Think of your voice on your blog as a dining room table conversation; on twitter it is a cocktail party – message is slightly different for each type of social media
• Tweet at different times during the day about things you are doing personally throughout the day.  Re-tweet relevant posts
• Use twitter to contact big retailers to let them know you are blogging about their product.  Twitter gets the attention of brands or people difficult to contact via traditional means
• Survey your blog readers and purchasers to see if your blog is reaching your target audience
• Let people know there is a person behind the product

Hope you find my notes helpful – Let me know your thoughts!

Cheat list of sites to check out:

UPPERCASE Magazine (Go CANADA!)

Gimmebar (I could watch the video tutorial over and over – that dude rocks!)

Rad and Hungry

OHours

Refinery 29

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