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Bloggy Bootcamp Recap [and How it Changed Me]

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This weekend I was able to go to Bloggy Bootcamp in Dallas.  My first blog conference!  [My first conference period.]  It was all day Saturday and they crammed as much information in that day as possible!  My brain was on overload for two days.  I have just now started to make sense of all information and I am able to form actual thoughts.  So what did I learn?  Here are my top ten lessons learned from Bloggy Bootcamp.

1. My anxiety and fears were unfounded
Yall I was so nervous to go to Bloggy Boot Camp.  I had never been to a conference or driven alone in Dallas.  [Hello nerve wrecking!]  I felt like everyone was going to stare and point at me when I walked in.  [I know.. its dumb!]  My fears were completely unfounded!  Everyone was so nice and I got to meet some amazing people!  I had a few people even recognize me.. talk about rock star moment!

2. Have one main purpose
One of the things that all the speakers seemed to repeat was to have one main purpose for your blog.  My main purpose for blogging is to help others.  That seems like a broad topic to cover in one blog!  Im trying to revamp my blog and its purpose to be able to reach more people.  My main purpose is NOT to make money but I feel like its ok to be compensated for my efforts.

3. Set business hours
I now have official business hours for my blog!  I am not making thousands of dollars off my blog but sometimes I feel like Im spending thousands of dollars worth of time working on it.  [Does that make sense?]  I am first and foremost a stay at home mom and thats not fair to my kids or myself.  So starting today my business hours are:

4. Sometimes people arent who they portray on their blog
Enough said. 
5. Load your blog on different browsers
This was a good piece of advice from Cynthia at the Nap Warden.  I have this on my to-do list.  Which is huge now thanks to Bloggy Boot camp.  Ha! 
6. The footer is almost as important then the header
I didnt realize that the footer was such an important part of your blog.  Its suppose to direct your readers where they should go next.  And not be blank.. like mine.  Im going to be changing mine up in the next few weeks to make it more user friendly.  Doh.  
7.  Change your ‘about me’ page URL
One of my favorite search engine tips came from Holly Homer of She is Dallas.  She suggested that you should change your about me page URL to something more searchable.  There are millions of ‘about me’ page URL’s but how many ‘Corpus Christi mom blogger’ pages are there?  Not many, which increases my changes of being found.  
8.  “Never compare your insides to someone’s outsides”
This was one of my favorite quotes of the whole conference and its kinda my new mantra.  I see all the fluffy, shiny lives of some bloggers and it makes me feel like Im doing something wrong.  I absolutely can not compare my thoughts and feelings to what someone portrays as the perfect life.  I love my perfectly imperfect life and no amount of ‘fluff’ will change that. 
9.  You dont need to be involved in everything
Wait.. I dont?  This is so tough for me to understand because I dont want to miss anything!  I want to be involved with everything but its physically and emotionally draining trying to keep up.  I have to stick with what Im good at and the rest will fall into place.  
10. Be yourself
The more I blog the more comfortable I am being Kelley.  Even if I am a bit goofy and loud mouthed [yall still love me.. right?].  Elizabeth Lui from Flourish in Progress gave some great advice on being yourself and not trying to fit in.  
I also met some amazing people too!  I met my bloggy bff Jennifer from Finding my way in Texas, Taylor from Goings on in Texas, Emily from 52 mantels, Brittany from Naturally Estes, Aimee from Its Overflowing and Cynthia from Oh so Pinteresting.  Plus so many more!  
And did I mention that I met Laurie Turk from Tip junkie?  Oh ya, I totally hung out with her.  And by hung out I mean Taylor and I photo bombed her and jumped into a picture.  It was the icing on the Bloggy Bootcamp cake for me.  
This conference has changed how I look and think about blogging.. in a good way!  I plan on one day making a business venture out of this, but for how Im learning as I got and enjoying this crazy journey with yall!


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Kelley
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Comments

  1. Erin K says

    Thanks for all the tips! Now I just need to tutorials on the how-to part. I'm not that techno savy. Glad you had a great time at the conference! Sounds like it was totally worth it!

    Reply

  3. The Mrs. and The Momma says

    I've been following for a while and am so bummed I didn't get to go to BBC! I love your take-aways. I am excited to hopefully get to know you better….especially since we're fellow Texas bloggers! I think your message of “helping others” is perfect and what we should all strive for. Kuddos to you!
    -Kristen

    Reply

  6. Dawn Braun says

    Great post, well written and thought out. And such a good idea to set hours. I feel like I'm on overload most of the time…dishes, who needs clean dishes when there are paper plates? haha – and thank YOU for being such a real blogger and not being a fake fluffy, (you said it!) girl, it's why we adore YOU so much! 🙂

    Reply

  7. Kim says

    It was great to hear about your experience. I've been thinking about going to Bloggy Bootcamp in Chicago. And I've been thinking about a lot of the tips you shared…especially making office hours. I tend to get sucked in and you are right, that's not fair to anyone in my family. working on creating a better balance. anyhow, thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  8. Brin Hopeman says

    Good to know that other people are nervous! I am looking into a conference and just the thought is giving me mild anxiety. How did you find out about the conference? Is there a good site that lists big and little ones all over the country?

    XOXO BoldButterBaby

    Reply

  9. holli says

    Thank you so much for these tips. See, you're already helping us all out. How do you load your url in other browsers? I need tips on your tips. 🙂
    I really want to catch one of these conferences some day.
    You're a doll!

    Reply

  10. Keri says

    Awesome tips for all of us newbies out here! I cannot wait to attend a bloggy conference or first ever conference for that matter too. Guess you kinda have to start looking to see what is offered when huh? LOL

    That is one of the many things that attracted me to your blog is that you are 100% real, I like that you don't try and “fluff” stuff, you put it out there as is and seems with no regrets. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and I LOVED your outfit by the way!! 🙂

    Reply

  11. Sue says

    Thanks so much for all the great tips! I have never been to one of the conferences, either. I'm in Eastern Canada, and never felt comfortable with spending the money to go.

    You have given some great ideas, some things I haven't thought of before. A big thank you for that!!!

    Reply

  14. Holly says

    Gosh I am so happy to hear that the weekend was a success! Thanks for sharing some of the great advice you picked up at the conference. I've never been to a blog conference either and hope one comes to Denver soon.

    Reply

  17. Jenny Lynn says

    Thanks so much for sharing. I have learned a few things from just reading your post. I am still figuring out my blog purpose, but know that I want to blog about home.

    Reply

  20. Heidi says

    I've had my site for only a few months, and it is definitely time to set some business hours! The hard part will be sticking to them! Once I sit down at the computer, I could easily spend all day doing stuff for my site. It's crazy. Good for you!

    Reply

  22. Nicole says

    It is so important to set a schedule when working from home otherwise it just gets out of control and crazy. Although I've noticed that I tend to switch between sticking to my schedule one week and disregarding it the next in a flurry of just-get-one-more-thing-done. But really, the kiddos are most important.

    It sounds like you learned a lot and had a great time! You looked cute, I love your shoes!

    Reply

  24. Jelli says

    Thanks so much for these great tips! I've been planning to do a serious footer pedicure, but still haven't narrowed down how I want it to look. Loved the tip about the “about” page. That one was definitely new to me.

    Reply

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