Bloggy Boot Camp

In April, I got to attend the Sits Girls' Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix. And I am finally, finally getting around to writing down my thoughts from the event!

If you have any intentions of making money from your blog, whether that means a little supplemental income or a living, this is the blog conference to attend. That was the focus of the two day event, as speaker after speaker shared their knowledge with us. Topics covered included: writing sponsored posts, pitching companies, branding, hiring help, legal advice, analytics, and so on. In addition to the speakers, we had time for networking, some fantastic catered meals, and a cocktail party to end both days.

The information shared over the two days was overwhelming, and I came home from both sessions with tons of thoughts to unload on my husband. Now going through my notes I can see the major points that struck a chord with me, and so I will share those with you now.

Speaker: Missy Mahar

• Always respond to PR emails even if the opportunity doesn't apply to you. Tell them that you don't currently have any babies, but hey you do have a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. 
• Or at least tell them to contact again in the future with other opportunities.

Speaker: Kim Byers

• Do what you love. 
• Have a plan. 
• Be great at (at least) one thing. [This statement stressed me out at first, but resulted in an epiphany about the focus of my blog. I wrote about it here.]
• "If you're not nervous with a quote [when pitching a company], you're not asking for enough."
• Identify companies that directly relate to your blog topics, follow them on social media, then pitch to them.
• Stand out in a product campaign- give more than the company has asked for.

Speaker: Gigi Ross

She was my favorite speaker of the conference, because she covered exactly the topic I needed help with (writing killer sponsored posts), and she had lots of great ideas that I could start to implement immediately.

• Entertain your reader while informing them. Sponsored posts do not have to be boring or a departure from your regular content.
• Integrate sponsored content seamlessly with your regular content. [Now I try to see if sponsored opportunities can be paired with an item on my bucket list, so that I can write about the product/company while using the opportunity to complete a goal. See this post as an example.]
• You should be refusing more offers than you accept. [Something that's hard to do when you first start getting paid offers!]
• Be selective. She talked about how she turned down an amazing offer with a fast food company because she had recently been writing about her commitment to eating healthy and knew that the inconsistency wouldn't fly with her readers. Uphold your reputation and credibility.
• Be different and creative with your post. Your stories should shine through. Make it uniquely yours.

Speakers: Meagan Francis and Sarah Powers

• Hiring help is a great option to free up your time so that you can focus on the big picture, moving to the next step, etc.
• You don't have to hire someone full time. In this partnership, Sarah worked for Meagan about 7 hours a week. It earned Sarah some extra income while not taking over her life, and it freed Meagan up from a lot of detail work so she could work on "big picture" stuff.
• Tiffany chimed in with the idea of hiring a mother's helper (instead of hiring someone to help with your blog work, hire someone to watch your kids so you can focus on your blog work). She said that if you figure the work that you will put in can result in you earning $40 an hour, then pay your helper $10 an hour. Having someone come in to watch the kids and/or do a little light housework for a couple of hours a week can be a huge help!

Speaker: Casey Peterson

• Pay attention to your most popular content and use that to guide your future content. Reshare popular older posts.
• Google author rank is going to eventually replace page rank. Make sure you have authorship.
• Keep your labels/tags/keywords to 3-5 per post, and make sure to use your top keyword in your title or first paragraph.

Speaker: Lynette Young

Lynette gave so many great tips on Google Plus that I can't narrow it down to just a few bullet points at the moment. I do, however, plan to do my next "Nitty Gritty" series on Google Plus, so I will cover this in more detail soon!

Speakers: Tiffany Romero and Danielle Smith

This was the last talk of the conference, and it was the one that had me jumping up and shouting "yes!" (in my head).

• "If it's not a 'hell yeah!' it's a 'no.'"
• "I don't owe anybody a 'yes' or an excuse why."
• "I cannot be a stellar mom at the exact same time I'm being stellar at my business." [In other words, we can do both, but we'll go crazy trying to do everything at once.]
• "Luck is the intersection of hard work and opportunity."

A few other thoughts about the conference:

1. There were several talks about getting a job in social media, corporate America, speaking at conferences, etc, which had me quoting Mitch Hedberg in my head:

"When you're in Hollywood and you're a comedian, everybody wants you to do things besides comedy. They say, 'OK, you're a stand-up comedian - can you act? Can you write? Write us a script.' It's as though if I were a cook and I worked my ass off to become a good cook, and they said, 'All right you're a cook - can you farm?"

Those talks had me, at first, thinking 'can we please get back to actually blogging, since we are bloggers?' But then I realized that although I'm not looking for a different or full-time job right now, the skills I'm acquiring through writing and managing a blog are viable, relevant skills for such potential future opportunities.

2. At one point near the end of the conference, someone asked us to raise our hands if our spouse "loves what you do" (meaning they like that we spend time blogging and support us in that endeavor). Without hesitation, I raised my hand high and was surprised to see very few other hands. I'm lucky that my husband is such a strong supporter of basically everything that I do. He has more faith in me than I do that I can succeed at whatever I attempt.

3. There were several opportunities for networking with no structure, such as at the cocktail party. I would not call myself a shy person, but I'm not particularly bold either. Basically I love to talk to people, but I'm not usually the one to start up the conversation. But put into this situation where I, for all intents and purposes, did not know anybody, I found that I rose to the occasion! You basically have to act like you belong. It may look like other people know each other, but that's not necessarily the case. After getting a drink and plate of food, I just joined a table that had an open spot. Confidence is key! Later on, I found myself wandering around with a drink in hand (soda, because I'm pregnant, and Mormon), and I saw another girl standing alone, and I approached her, read her nametag, and asked her about her blog. That doesn't sound like such a big deal now, but I was proud of myself anyway. And it turns out that she was Michelle from Fun on a Dime, who lives in my town, went to the church I go to now (before she moved across town), and knows some of the same people!

So that's a lot of information, but hopefully there's something useful in there! I highly recommend Bloggy Boot Camp, so check to see if they are coming to a city near you! Thanks Sits Girls!

The Fairy Hobmother Takes Over

Psst...hey! HEY! Is she gone?

Oh good, she's taking a "pregnancy nap." It's just you and me...The Fairy Hobmother!

That's right, Shaper-Uppers, I'm taking over the blog this evening to continue spreading my light and joy across the blogosphere.

You see, I hop all around this lovely blog land, in search of awesome blogs with which to grace my presence. I bestow the blogger with a special gift in exchange for a quick post and a link to my fairy overlords at appliancesonline.co.uk.

I think I'll leave some fairy footprints on Megan's blog, just for funsies...

 

Well, I can't stay long, but if you want me to magically appear on YOUR blog, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, link to your blog, and you may just be my next stop!

P.S. I slipped a $50 Amazon gift card under Megan's pillow in exchange for this little blog takeover. She'll get it when she wakes up.

Gotta fly! See you around!

Let's Go On A Date

I like to try to be creative for my kids' birthday presents. They just have SO MANY TOYS. Sometimes we've done "virtual gifts" like a session of gymnastics, or maybe one big gift (like a bike) and a few smaller ones. But their birthdays and other holidays come way more often than their older toys wear out, so I have to get creative if I don't want our house to be overloaded.

Carter's birthday is coming up at the end of the summer, so when I was offered the chance to review the coupon books at Datevitation, I thought it would be a perfect gift for him!

Datevitation makes the professional version of those cute little coupon books you used to make your mom for Mother's Day. "I will clean my room..." "I will give you a hug..." Remember those?

The process to put together the book online was super easy. You are guided through several choices such as the occasion, who is giving the book to whom (man to woman, woman to man, etc, so that the pictures have the right age and gender represented), and the dates you want to add into the book.

That is the part that makes these books better than anything you could buy in the store. You only choose the dates that are relevant and sound fun to you! For Carter I chose a bike ride, a bag of candy, game night, fast food, a new toy, spending all day together, and a trip to the water park.

There are over 350 date ideas to choose from for the date coupons, ranging from skydiving to stargazing, to a steamy adult-only category! There is also a good range in terms of how much the date would cost or how much preparation it would take.

The only thing I would change is this: I could only choose that the book was from me, "a woman," to Carter, "a boy." It wasn't an option to have the book be from me and my husband, which was too bad because one of the options I chose (go to a fast food restaurant) is something that Carter and Daniel do together sometimes as a special treat, so if I had the option, I would have had that coupon be a Daddy and a Son in the graphic.

My Datevitation book shipped quickly and looks fantastic! It came in a classy brown envelope, all ready for giving, no need to wrap! I know that Carter will love it, and we'll have lots of fun completing the dates over the next few months. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

As you know, Father's Day is fast approaching. I know that my husband wishes he could spend as much time with our kids as I do, so he loves to have opportunities to do special things with them. What better than to give Dad the gift of quality time with his kids?

The Datevitation love coupon books start at $20, but if you order one during the months of May or June, you can use the coupon code "SHAPINGUP" to get $10 off your order! That means you can get your loved one a one-of-a-kind gift starting at just $10! The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Father's Day is June 6th, so make sure to get your order in before then!

Oh yeah, one more thing. One lucky Shaping Up reader is going to win a custom date coupon book of their own! Just use the Rafflecopter form below to enter, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is what "I Love You" looks like

Here is my super belated Mother's Day post. Actually I had planned on doing something a little different and featuring some of my favorite "Mommy bloggers" but the time just got away from me. Instead I'm going to show you what Daniel and the kids made for me this year.

First I just want to say that as "politically correct" as we have to be about the winter holidays now, I think Mother's Day has gotten even worse! I know it's nice to be thoughtful and remember those who want to be mothers and aren't, or those who have lost children, or those who have lost mothers, or those fathers who have to be father and mother, and the list could really go on forever. Of course there is nothing wrong with recognizing those categories of individuals, but I also think it's okay to just say Happy Mother's Day to the moms and not feel like you are being insensitive! I mean, when your birthday comes around, do you feel the need to recognize all the people who just didn't happen to be born on that day?

I have a friend who has struggled with infertility, and I was so impressed by what she wrote as her Facebook status on Mother's Day. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it here:

Happy Mother's Day to all my infertile sisters out there. I know this day is not a fun one especially as each year passes. But we are just as important to our Father in Heaven as the women who have birthed babies. Let us never forget that we have important work to do also and that is why we are here. Our time will come when we become mothers either in this life or the next. But until that day let's remember to enjoy some things one being able to sleep, two no foreign stains on our clothes, three being able to pretty much do whatever the heck we want. Love you all enjoy today by doing whatever you want. Happy Mother's Day to my sisters with kids you ladies rock.

How much more thoughtful can you get than by acknowledging your struggle, then talking about the positive side of that struggle, and then wishing a happy day to those who do have children? I just thought it was really well said.

Okay, now here is what Daniel surprised me with on that morning, when we were in California:

When he gave it to me he said, "This is what it looks like when we say we love you."

A few days before he had banished me to the car while he got the kids to record themselves saying, "I love you." He explained to them that it was for a present for me, and he demonstrated what they were supposed to do by leaning close to his computer and saying, "I love you!"

He said that Vanessa then leaned forward right away and said, "I love you...Mommy!" So then Carter said the same thing: "I love you, Mommy!" And that's what you see in the frame.

He took screen caps of the audio waves and then prettied them up in Illustrator. Daniel's is first, Vanessa's is in the middle, and Carter's is on the bottom. He said it was supposed to be three different frames, but he ended up doing it as a collage in one frame. I love it, and it's currently hanging up next to my bed where I can see it before I fall asleep and first thing in the morning.

What a unique, special Mother's Day present! Daniel then told me to expect flowers and breakfast in bed from now on! Haha! He knows how I feel about birthdays and holidays; I just care that they are acknowledged in some form. Sometimes it's a big present, sometimes it's a small present, sometimes it's been a secret trip or a song he's written for me, and sometimes it's just the acknowledgment, and that's really all I need!

But my birthday is on Thursday so... ;)