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?
