So on Monday I shared my initial thoughts on returning from #BritMumsLive. It was my first time at the event and it was both inspiring and emotional. I thought I would share a little round up of the main points; my take home messages. There was so much information, this is just a tiny fraction. If you are not a blogger, do not fear, some of these points are useful in everyday life too!
How I did it – Tips from high profile bloggers
Jane – Northern Mum – Interaction and linky’s are the key for growing your blog.
Annie – Mammasaurus – Crossing the line to real-life is important (meet other bloggers!). Write about what you love. Blogs can progress naturally into a different style/niche. Do not compare your blog to others, everything takes time to develop.
Emily – Fashion Foie Gras – Your Blog, Your Style, Be true to yourself. Social media is the key – ‘Make Twitter Your Bitch’! Only look at numbers once a month!
Ana – Mrs O Around The World – Honesty is the most important thing, especially when doing reviews. She will not stay anywhere, that she would not be able to afford to go by her own means.
Pinterest – Lizzie Sibley (UK Marketing Manager)
- Hashtags do not work on Pinterest.
- Pinterest wants authentic behaviour
- Use descriptive captions – Not just ‘jumper’ which will show in searches for jumper, but ‘Blue Ombre Jumper’ Which will show in searches for all those things.
- Install a Pin Widget
- Investigate Rich pins – ideal for food and craft posts
- Optimise your blog as 75% of Pinterest activity is carried out on mobile devices.
- Pinterest is a planning tool, so think ahead and start Christmas boards in September etc.
- A business account will ensure you get a newsletter of tips and information.
- Curate good content from around the world.
- The half life of a Pin is much longer than of a Tweet or Status.
Collaborate – Working together for bigger traffic
Maggy – Red Ted Art
Annabel – Country Wives
Tanya Barrow – Mummy Barrow
- Don’t procrastinate too much, just start the project and you will achieve.
- Set boundaries and deadlines.
- Be open to the strengths and weakness of others and play to them.
- Don’t be afraid to talk about difficult issues.
- The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask.
- Be confident and brave. Ask people to collaborate with you.
New Ways to Monetize
Penny – A Residence
Helen – KiddyCharts
Sophie – Propellernet
- Penny has recently sold her blog to Wayfair, a US company. This is a relatively new way of working for bloggers.
- Have strong ‘About Me’ and ‘Hire Me’ pages. Make sure they are up to date, showing new achievements.
- Work closely with the main agencies BritMums, Mumsnet, Tots, NetMums.
- Vlogging can add an extra dimension to your blog.
- Don’t knock competitions, you never know what they could lead to.
- Blogger outreach for an agency.
- Paid Ambassador.
- Share your successes and exploit your niche.
- Never ignore any email, always respond.
Inspiration
At the end of the conference were the key note speeches and I definitely think there were more tears than dry eyes. A selection of bloggers read out one of their posts. What a talented bunch and with each speaker my lip wobbled more. I had some control until Grenglish’s post and then All at Sea’s beautiful dedication to her husband pushed me over the edge.
Some mantras that we can all take into our lives;
- Always tell your own truth.
- To know where you’re going, you need to share where you have been.
- Value your voice.
My personal favourite (Kirsty’s words);
If you enjoy my posts, why not
Comments 66
Thank you for sharing the tips you learnt, really nice to read from someone who didn’t get to go! #MMWBH
Author
Glad they were useful for you x
some great tips there! sounds like you came away with lots of inspiration x
Author
It was good hun, great to just be with other bloggers really x
You are AMAZEBALLS – thanks for the great notes and round up, because I’m so lame at making notes >_< speaking of collaboration, I've got an idea in my head, that I'd love to talk to you about when we're next free! xx
Author
Oh thanks hun! That sounds interesting, do you want to email me? or I can message you my number? xx
Some great tips there thanks for sharing, it was my first time at BritMums this year and I didn’t get to attend all of the talks that I wanted to so this post has really helped me 🙂 #MMWBH
Author
I am so glad it helped you x
Great round up, and useful too as I missed some of these sessions. I had a great weekend, but kept missing stuff as was having too much fun chatting!
Author
It was hard to balance that side of things wasn’t it? I felt like I needed more time to speak to people, but didn’t want to miss too much! x
So many things to learn there. I wish I can go next year. #MMWBH
Author
I am pleased it is useful for you x
Thanks for sharing these tweets. Some useful tips for bloggers on any topic. I never knew hashtags didn’t work in pinterest either, so won’t bother with them in the future! x
JustJulie | Beauty Blog
Author
Glad you have found the information useful x
Some great ideas – your Blog is really taking off and looking more and more professional.
Author
Oh thank you, that is so kind of you to say x
Many great tips here! Thank you for sharing them. I love all these BritMums Live posts. Very inspiring!
Author
Thanks, no problem. I need to find some time to read the others x
Sounds like you had the best time! Lots of fab tips here, thank you 🙂 #MMWBH
Author
I did thank you, it was difficult being away from home, but worth it x
A great round up and thank you for sharing as I missed some of the sessions.
Author
Not a problem, hope you find something useful x
Thank you so much for posting the tips. I couldn’t go so have avidly been reading the round-ups. Most of them are about the people they met (which I know are important) rather than what was learnt so thanks again! #MMWBH
Author
I did a people one, but now time for facts 🙂 x
A grrrreat round-up, Aby!! And it was so jolly bloody lovely to meet you!!!
GW xxx
Author
Oh lovely to meet you too hun xxx
thankyou for sharing i know alot of people have said it was a fabulous experience to be there x
Author
No worries, it was great x
I am glad you enjoyed it. As a more seasoned blogger or should that be OAP there was nothing new for me.
Author
Oh that is a shame. I think I got most out of taking to other bloggers, shame you feel you couldn’t take something away x
Thanks for sharing this..some useful information here. Glad you found Britmumslive useful
Author
No problem, hope it is useful for you x
Thank you for sharing! Some really great tips there! Especially love the tip about being yourself and writing about what you love I think it really shows when people write just to try and get page views etc compared to something they wrote about that they really have a genuine interest or love for.
Jess
http://owlcrazymummy.blogspot.co.uk
Author
My pleasure, I am pleased you liked it and it is useful x
What a great summary – made it all so simple and clear, thank you!
Author
Glad it was useful x
A great round up and it looks like you managed to get a lot from Britmums
Author
It was fab and there was lots to learn even just from the others attending x
Thanks for sharing your tips, I missed the pinterest session and since reading your tips I have changed my pinterest account to a business one.
Author
My pleasure, hope it helps x
Really, really great post – Thanks so much!! I missed half of the decent sessions so this really helps x
Author
Thanks so much hun. Glad it was helpful x
Thanks so much for sharing this. Britmums sounds amazing! These tips are so helpful
Author
I am glad it is helpful x
Some great tips – thank you for sharing, its so helpful and interesting to those of us who couldn’t make it!
Author
I am glad it was useful x
Thanks for sharing what you learnt. I am getting more and more into Pinterest and find it drives a lot of traffic of you get your pins right. x
Author
Yes I hear people saying their traffic increased 4 fold since starting Pinterest x
So lovely to meet you – glad you got lots out of the sessions, think taking Seb really didn’t help me
Author
And you hun (and Sebby of course!) It must have been really difficult for you to concentrate x
Lovely post.
I missed the event so I am very greatful for your round-up of these tips. Thank you
Author
Thank you. I pleased these tips are useful x
I could not be there this year. Thank you for sharing these lovely tips.
Author
I am glad they helped you x
Thanks for sharing your notes – there’s lots of inspiring info here x x
Author
My pleasure xx
What a great round up – there was so many people that I only got to meet up with a few and I missed a couple of the seminars too. This is a great reminder – thank you!
Author
Thank you, Glad it helped x
What a fabulous insight in to the day, looks like you got some great tips, I feel like I’ve really missed out by not going. Thanks for sharing your knowledge pet x
Author
Thank you hun, I am glad you have found it useful x
Great round up. I still need to write up my sessions post. So handy when people do as there’s always sessions you miss!
Author
Thanks. Yes I did miss a couple that I wanted to visit x
Fabulous tips and thank you for sharing those as you seem to have made the classes I missed! So thank you! Shame we didn;t get to bump into eachother, but hopefully next year! 😉 Thanks so much for linking up to #MMWBH xx
Author
No problems hun, glad you found it useful. Yes next year, it’s a date xx
Great round-up – the tips are really useful, especially the ones from the sessions I missed!
Author
Glad it was helpful x