Blogging Lessons I Learned from WITS
This weekend I had the opportunity to not only attend the Women in Travel Summit (WITS), but also to speak on How to Be a Social Media Rockstar! I had a fabulous three days filled with meeting new people, sharing what I’ve learned about social media, and soaking up incredible amounts of helpful information. And now I can’t wait to share a few of the most important blogging lessons I learned while at WITS. (p.s. here’s a look at what I’ve learned from previous conferences I’ve attended)
Lesson #1 – If you want to successfully monetize your blog, you need to treat it as a business. This is one of the blogging lessons I heard during several presentations and in various conversations throughout the weekend. Just like anything else, if you want to be paid as a hobby than you should treat it like a hobby. But if you want to be paid as a business, than you need to treat it as business. This might mean investing in your blog (sometimes you have to spend money to make money!), taking the time to sit down and actually create a business plan, or taking time to reach out to potential blog mentors. Treating your blog is not going to be easy and as keynote speaker Hey Nadine shared, “There’s money to be made but it’s not going to fall from the sky just because you started a travel blog.” Just like any other start-up business, it will take a lot of hard work but it is absolutely possible! I think Erin Bender, of Travel with Bender, articulated this lesson incredibly well in her session…
Lesson #2 – Just say yes! While conference organizers spend a considerable amount of time assembling a great line-up of speakers, one of the blogging lessons I learned is that sometimes you’ll learn the most between conference sessions. The learning and connections happen when you say yes to impromptu dinners, picnics, conversations outside the bathroom or at a charging station. And I think the same applies to between conferences. While you will likely learn a lot whenever you attend a conference you can learn a lot between attending conferences by just saying yes. Say yes to blogging meet-ups, collaboration opportunities, and the chance to connect with other bloggers and your readers.
Lesson #3 – Networking is not just about quantity, it’s about quality. You could easily go into a conference determined to walk away with hundreds of business cards, BUT how valuable will this collection be for you after the conference? If you are challenging yourself to collect as many business cards as possible you’re most likely not going to learn much about the person behind each card and I think it is an incredibly valuable blogging lesson to remember that making connections with people and understanding how you can genuinely help them, is going to help you the most in the long run.
Lesson #4 – Be YOU! I think this is one of the most important blogging lessons I learned. In this big, fabulous world of blogging you are going to meet and come across so many absolutely amazing bloggers, but here’s the thing… you don’t need to be just like them to be successful. You need to the best, most sparkly version of YOU to be successful. Don’t blog about topics you aren’t passionate about, or try to create a social media feed that looks just like the feed of your favorite blogger…do you. And do you well.
What blogging lessons have you learned recently?
34 Comments
Theresa @DearCreatives
How awesome you got to attend WITS! Great tips! Happy Spring btw, the perfect time for traveling.
Susie
All great lessons, well said. I’m really happy we both said yes to the dinner on Wednesday so we could meet each other and the other fabulous ladies!
Robin Rue (@massholemommy)
That is all great advice. I went to Bloggy Bootcamp by the SITS girls about 5 years ago and these are the same things I learned back then 🙂
Jena
Great advice! And yes, it’s a business, not a hobby. Thanks for sharing!
Vicky
I am learning that I need to delegate which means hiring people to help me with tasks that I don’t enjoy so I can work on things that will produce more income for my blog.
Keri Bucci
Great post full of good info!
Skye
I cannot tell you how much I agree with #1 – nobody is going to treat you and your blog like a business unless you do! So true girl!
Beeb Ashcroft
Quality is a HUGE one! A lot of people just want to get a lot of content up FAST. That’s not always the best scenario. Quality will bring in more than quantity any day.
Erin Bender
Thanks for quoting me. Can’t wait to see what big plans the future has for you.
dani cc
I LOVE THIS! So inspirational!
Amber NElson
These are all great lessons. one big lesson is patience!
alexandria
I would love to attend a conference or workshop or something! They are so pricey! Eeeek. I would love to learn as much as possible and actually meet people who are in the same position I’m in.
Michele
I cannot agree more with everything in this post! I went to my first conference In November and the connections that I made with other bloggers has been so game changing in my experience! Now I need to work on the spend money to make money part….. I so need to do tailwind or board booster and start using photoshop!
Susannah
These are GREAT tips! Thanks for sharing what you learned with the rest of us! <3
Amanda Love
I’ve been thinking of doing a bit of rebranding and making my site truly me. When I first started it was all about having my family see the daily ins and outs of my daughter growing up. I’ve come to realize that there are more people than just my family reading so it’s time to add a few things. Being yourself is definitely one of the things that you need to put on the top of your list.
Shenali
Wow!Great lessons!Very helpful post for newbies like me!Thanks for sharing1
Leah Herring
The biggest lesson I’ve learned lately is to focus on one thing at a time. With blogging and social media, there is so much to do and focus on. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. I need to simplify to stay productive.
Ana De- Jesus
I have learnt to accept that blogging can sometimes be a hostile environment and I need to know that I need to take comments with a pinch of salt. Behind your keyboard you have the power to put other people down but it does not mean that the person getting mean comments is going to be upset about it because at the end of the day they are staying true to themselves.
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories
After hearing for years you need to spend money to make money in business, I plunked down an investment in a blogging course. I’m loving it so far and hope it helps me achieve my blogging goals. I like that it comes with a guarantee so if it doesn’t achieve increased growth and income after I complete all the assignments, I get my money back.
Kristen
These are wonderful tips! I find the hardest is treating it like your business sometimes. I forget that this is my job to blog and need to stop letting certain things sit and sit on my to do list!
Rachel
I am so very new to the blogging world. I need to hear all the tips I can. Thank you so much for sharing.
Tiana
Agreed. My blog is my full-time job! It’s hard work but worth it
Debra
I agree with all of these! My blog is my full time job and I love it! It took awhile to get to here!
Eileen
What an exciting trip. I would love to attend a blog conference. These are wonderful tips, especially since I have not been blogging for very long
Rose Sahetapy
I’ve been blogging for several month now, still make a lot of think to make my blog as business or keep it as my actual media of expressing my thoughts, until I’m really ready. These are great advice for future reference.
laura londergan
what great tips that you are passing along. I need to plan on making it to some more conferences this year as I really miss meeting new people in person
Lauren
Awesome tips! I think the last one is the best one.. it is so easy to try and switch things up when you compare what others are doing..
Heather
Awesome tips here! I do struggle to treat my blog as a business 100% of the time, sometimes it gets put on the back burner. But, one of my goals this year is to grow the blog, and really put the time and effort it deserves.
Nikka Shae
I treat my blog as a business! I’ve been blogging for 5 years. I’ve worked so hard to be consistent so I treat my blog as a business.
Monica Benavidez
I wholeheartedly agree with #1. When bloggers all realize this, everything will change. Don’t blog for coupons or exposure- they don’t pay the bills.
Mimi
I’d never heard of WITS before. Sounds like a fantastic conference. I’ve been to a couple, and I always tried to be myself. We can’t all do the same or be the same. I haven’t moved to the business part of blogging because my full time job comes before blogging…maybe one day.
dani cc
Starting a blog can def leave you with some un-steady feelings of the unknown. Commonly people ask me questions about starting Once Upon a Dollhouse and maintaining it. I’m just going to respond to them with a link to your post! This is a great source of information for anyone who is thinking about starting to blog!
Siniciliya
Thank you for your wonderful tips, I totally agree with you. Yesterday I was a guest speaker at a bloggers conference in Ukraine and this is exactly what I was saying: you have to be you, you have to deliver high-quality content and be a business.
Taylor Bradford
These are really great tips!!! Agree with every single one! Especially about saying yes to those unorganized minutes!! Meet! Great! Network!