July 26, 2009

10 Ways to Improve My Blog - from BlogHer09


View from my room at the Sheraton Chicago for the BlogHer 09 Conference. Thanks to all of the great bloggers and panelists that filled my head with creative energy. Here is a summary of what this newbie blogger is taking away:

1. Google doesn’t care about cute titles.
2. My work is not over when I press PUBLISH. Use social networks.
3. Spread the word with my local audience back home.
4. Fear is silly.
5. I get what I give. If I think it’s all about me, I’ll end up all alone.
6. Know what I want to be when I grow up – develop a plan for the blog!
7. Know what my audience is doing on my site, and where they are coming from.
8. Cultivate my message, don’t blast it.
9. Consider using Wordpress as a blogging platform. Everyone else is.
10. Geek-out with Google Trends, Google Analytics, Addtoany, and Tweetree.

See, I think it’s working already. I was going to call this post, “In a Nutshell”. Um, yeah…given this isn’t a shout-out to cashew connoisseurs, I think I’ll be on a better track now! Thank you everyone!

7 comments:

Jen said...

Great tips! Thanks for sharing! You had me laughing with your "in a nutshell" comment. I do the same thing and have been trying to work at it!

Amy @ The Q Family said...

Thanks for the summary. I would love to hear more about your thought on your trip. Was it worth it? I'm thinking about next year.

BTW, do switch to Wordpress. :) You will love it. I have some info that I went through so you can email me if you have any questions.

Carolina said...

I'm so glad you're sharing your notes, will you be putting out a Cliff Notes edition as well? :)
I'm with Amy, wondering if it's worth going next year. Thoughts (that you want to share aloud)?

Lorraine Akemann said...

Hi All! I do have many more thoughts and notes on the conference that I can compile via an email. Overall, the face-to-face networking is always a charge. As such a newbie, I felt a little out of my league, but at the same time very inspired to continue to make the blog better. I'd really love the idea of hooking up with more family travelers next year!

penandview said...

I'm so glad you went to BlogHer...sounds like you are growing and learning and I love it. Cheering for you!

jeanette said...

As I already commmented at BlogHer:

Thank you for sharing. Good tips to have in mind dealing with the blogosphere =)

Now I will have look at the rest of your blog = )

I used Blogger earlier, even though it is very good,switching over to Wordpress was so much better : )

From Sweden with sunshine
Jeanette

jeanette said...

ooops! Missspelled my blogadress :( and that will take you to a completley wrong blog site. so here I go again the right one is

http://everydaywomen.wordpress.com