Last Saturday saw many bloggers flock to Birmingham for the Tots100 blogging conference BlogCamp. As a bit of a blog geek, these things are right up my street and I was so excited to see lots of bloggers, who have become very close friends.
left to right – top to bottom.
Waiting for the train / with one of my besties Em from Snowing Indoors / another best mate Hannah from Mum’s Days / and another one! Katy from What Katy Said / with the gorgeous Leigh from Headspace Perspective, fabulous Vicki from Honest Mum and Hannah (again) / showing off my wonderful Anna Lou of London jewellery and Windsmoor outfit.
So after all the hugs and hellos, we set off the short distance from the station to The Studio in Birmingham.
The first session I attended was on Pro-Blogging (with Sally from Tots, Becky from Baby Budgeting and Penny from Alexander Residence). Here are the highlights.
Sally opened by telling us (in a rather tongue in cheek way) how being a pro-blogger sucks. Here’s why;
- You have to hustle – become ‘a low rent sales person’
- It takes an incredible amount of time.
- Your audience becomes less invested in you.
- Privacy sometimes becomes an issue, as work lives may change and/or children get older.
- Writing becomes the task you give the least amount of time to. Admin tasks demand the majority of your time.
Penny shared some stats from a Tots100 survey, which found that 7/10 Tots registered bloggers earn some money from their blog and 5% earn £10k + per annum.
You can earn from multi income streams
- Sponsored posts
- Advertising
- Writing for other blogs
- Twitter parties
- Google Hangouts
- Blogger outreach
- Ebooks
- Affiliate Links
- Guest Posts
- Online shops
- Films,
- Writing elsewhere
- Brand ambassadorship
Becky shared her story and explained that she had done really well from writing ebooks and selling them in their entirety. She has also been paid to make films for brands and pointed out that she has also saved a lot of money through blogging, in terms of receiving products to review.
Penny’s story is unusual for UK bloggers. Her blog was bought by Wayfair and they now pay her a monthly fee to write it. She has also made money from lots of different income streams, blogger outreach, films among others.
Ideas for success
- Time Management – This is hugely important for a Pro Blogger. Blocking out chunks of time is a good practice that might work for you
- Blog Clinics – Join with a group of like-minded bloggers to help each other succeed and to set goals and ensure you stay accountable
- Facebook Groups – Useful for support
- Keep 10% of your earnings to put back into your blog
- Develop your skills – Learn basic blog design/Video production skills/Photography/Writing/SEO
- Track your social sharing – helps you realise what works Was that tweet shared? How many clicks did a certain link get?
- Track your stats – This will give you an idea of how you are doing and the rate of growth
- Make sure you are seen
- Increase your social media presence
- Comment on posts, especially ones about brands you wish to work with
- Collaborations
- Produce a great media pack that sells you
- Create a fabulous About Me page
- Regular and clear cross posting, to grow your other networks
- Take part in linkys
How you find work/How brands find you
- Brands will find you
- Be proactive
- Tell the universe (use Social media!)
- Use Response Source
- Suggest ideas to PRs
- Through blogging groups
- Pitch brands you love
- Keep an eye on Tots100, Britmums, Netmums and Mumsnet groups
- Collaborate with bloggers
- Network
- Keep in touch with your contacts
How to help
- It takes time
- Give away something for free; your time, your support, posts (good karma)
- Build a strong portfolio
- Collect testimonials from brands you have worked with and put them on your blog
- Know your worth
- Ask for what you want
- Be polite and professional to everyone. PRs move on and you never know what brands they will end up working with in the future
- Screen grab certain highlights – For example, someone saying they will buy the product on the basis of your review.
- Don’t just do things for money, if it is a fun event go to it!
- Have a flexible payment scale
- Be reliable and deliver
- Have virtual colleagues, so you can help each other
- Celebrate your achievements.
- Don’t get caught up in what others are doing – Focus on your own goals
- Look beyond the obvious opportunities
- Network outside your niche
- Do what makes you happy
- Don’t swear as brands won’t like it
As we started with the negatives of pro-blogging, here are the positives of Pro-Blogging.
- Perfect job if you have kids
- Your time can be flexible
- It is so diverse
- Evolving
- Amazing opportunities
- Work in your PJs
- Take a holiday when you want
- Has the potential to be a good income
I hope this gave you a flavour of this BlogCamp session. I will share the second part to our day soon.
Have you been to BlogCamp before?
Comments 57
This looks like a great event. I really want to go to one. My baby is quite clingy so not sure I could manage one now but think I am going to look for one later in the year. Some great tips here too 🙂
Author
I ama sure you would love it x
some great tips.
Author
Hope they help x
It was such a fab day, loved meeting up again, did you realise it was our first anniversary?!! 😉 xxx
Author
Ah I didn’t realise! Love you xxx
Sounds like a really great day with a ton of really valuable information. Thanks for sharing some pointers. I hope to go to a blog camp someday! 🙂
Author
It was a great event x
Aww love you! Glad you’ve written all this as I basically made no notes haha!!! x
Author
I am a girlie swot! x
I’m really enjoying everyone’s feedback from BlogCamp. I haven’t been before but definitely plan to in the future. It sounds like there’s some really great sessions for helping you grow your blog at your own pace. Thanks for sharing your day x
Author
Glad you enjoyed it, I hope you get to go in the hungry x
great round-up and advice for those of us who didn’t go 😉
Thank you so much! X
Author
My pleasure huni x
Thanks for sharing your insights – really helpful stuff! Hopefully I will get chance to go one day when the little one’s a bit older x
Author
I am sure you would love it x
Aw I loved reading this Aby, what great tips! Would have loved to have seen you and spent more time with you if I had gone. X
Author
Thank you huni. It would have been fab if you could have come, but I understand why you didn’t 🙂 x
A good flavour of blog camp; I look forward to coming in the future. Really good tips of how to do things better. What’s response support? #aNoviceMumBlogVisit
Author
Response Source is a site that can put you in touch with PRs for content or products x
Fab advice 🙂 I’d live to go sometime, it looks like a great blogging conference, hopefully next year 🙂
Author
You should do, it is a great event x
This is a super post for me as I was able to go – can’t wait to hear more, thank you xx #brilliantblogposts
Author
Glad it is helpful x
Fab round up and great for those that couldn’t go!!
Author
Glad it was helpful x
Lovely seeing you, what a fab day it was, I always love seeing old mates and making new friends and I adore the atmosphere at Blog Camp, so relaxed but stimulating, loved the YouTube session and picking up some stellar tips. Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts
Author
You too hun, what a fab day it was x
What a great post. I wasn’t able to make it blog camp but I’ve learned a lot from this! So many great ideas.. I really need to work on my hustle and time management.. I find it so easy to get distracted on social media!
Author
Oh me too! I get so distracted x
Sounds like it was a great session, I’m gutted I missed BlogCamp xxx #TheList
Author
I was sad you weren’t there xxx
Was so lovely to see you at BlogCamp and this is a very thorough summary of the pro blogging talk – thank you for sharing it 🙂
great round up some fab tips in there aby as we speak i am sat in my dressing gown blogging as i have a cod and feel naff definitely a pro for me 😉 xx
Wish I could have been there!
Thanks for sharing. I really hope to be able to go to a blogging event next year 🙂
#The List
Brilliant round-up Aby, thanks for taking the time to pass on these great points to those who didn’t go. It sounds like a great event. Looking forward to your part 2 post. x
Thanks for sharing, I’m bookmarking this to read again later, so many important things to remember! 🙂 xx
Sounds like it was a great day – I’ve signed up for the Bristol one in June and am looking forward to similar inspiration then 🙂 #thelist
Author
I hope you have a wondeful time! x
This is a brilliant post with some great advice for us non pro bloggers! Thanks so much for sharing what you learnt for those of us who couldn’t be there 🙂 #TheList
Author
My pleasure huni! x
Really useful post, especially for those of us who didn’t attend. I’d love to attend some of these conferences, maybe next year. That’s a great list of tips and I will be taking notes! 🙂 #BrilliantBlogPosts
Author
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it x
I didn’t go to this session, I concentrated on Travel and Writing all day which I am glad I did, but this session sounded great. Thats the problem you want to do them all, and congratulations of the shortlist, very well deserved and good luck lovely x
Author
It is difficult to have to make choices. Thanks lovely, you too x
Author
It was hard to pick what to go to. Thanks lovely lady, you too xx
This looks like a great event and has me all excited for Britmums Live next month! Great advice and I agree that Pro-blogging can be a lot about admin – wouldn’t swap it for the world though 🙂 Massive congrats on your shortlisting again honey x
Author
Me neither! Thanks lovely lady xx
Great post, thanks for sharing your highlights, I really wish I could have gone, I can’t wait to go to one of these fab events so many awesome people to meet and some much to learn =)
What a great event and thanks for all this info! So helpful #thelist
It looks like you had a really lovely day. Thanks so much for sharing your day and tips x
Aby this is fab and so comprehensive, I’ve learnt a lot from reading this so thank you! Great to hear those tips from the pros. I still haven’t made it to a blogging conference but can’t wait and hopefully will be there at Britmums X #sundaystars
Author
I can’t wait to give you a huge hug xx
Fab post, thank you! I’ve never been to a Blogcamp before. Sounds scary! This post has given me an insight and a little more courage to take the plunge! x
Thanks very much for sharing this! I’m yet to attend a blogging conference in person 🙂
Thanks for this brilliant post honey. It is always great to hear how successful bloggers do it. But one thing is for sure, it doesn’t happen overnight and it involves a lot of hard work. Thanks for linking up with #SundaysStars. Hugs Mrs H xxxx