Hi. I’m Tonya and I’m Blogopolis Newbie.

I’ve been blogging for about 3 years now but I had never been to a blog conference. I figured it was a long way to go and really expensive. I couldn’t justify it to myself. (Maybe underneath it all I was just a little shy and scared too – shhhh…)

 

Tip 1: Just do it!

 

But this year I decided I was ready to put on my Big Girl Shoes and put myself out there. I was ready to stand up and say “This is my blog and I love being a blogger”. I was ready to attend Nuffnang Blogopolis in Sydney.

So I bravely booked my ticket and my hotel room (at the glorious Sofitel Wentworth who gave 5 star service when my booking was accidentally cancelled – Thanks Rodney!) even though my Blogging Buddy B was saying she couldn’t come with me. Luckily by the time I thought of booking flights, B was coming too and we could plan our travel together.

 

Tip 2: Stay at the venue then you don’t get lost

 

The whole conference was an experience. We met big bloggers we had been reading for years like Nikki from Styling You and Sarah from A Beach Cottage, and bloggers like us who were learning and growing slowly but surely. We shared a gorgeous Twinings High Tea with Corrie from RetroMummy, Jennie from Posie Patchwork, Heidi, Louise from Louise Fletcher Photography and Kim-Marie from Kimba Likes.

 

Tip 3: Meet people – introduce yourself

 

 

I gave out loads of my pretty new business cards which arrived just in time thanks to LogoGarden and ICPrint, and finally met Anorina from Samelia’s Mum who blogs with me over at And Sew We Craft.

 

Tip 4: Have cards to give out and

collect cards to remember people

 

I was on the look out for Crafty in the midst of Blogging so I had to take a picture of Heidi’s beaded collar – very cute!

Tip 5: Look for the Crafty in the Blogging

 

 

Apart from the socialising I learnt a lot – and as a teacher, I can say the teaching was great. Here’s something I learnt from each speaker I heard:

• Imogen from InsideOutStyle shared some ideas for creating content. My favourite was to look at not just the holidays and events happening in your country but look at what’s going on around the world, especially if you have international readers.
• Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids spoke about branding, and I was pleased to hear that my new makeover is ticking a lot of those boxes. I think I need to share more links to posts in my footer, so watch out for some shuffling in the coming weeks.
• Jeff Tan spoke about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and gave us an overwhelming amount of information. One of the jobs I need to work on from his talk is highlighting my BEST content rather than my most recent.

In the afternoon there were panels of speakers – real bloggers who really new their stuff. It was fascinating to hear about their journeys and where they felt that blogging was headed in Australia. I came away with a head full of inspiration and ideas.

One panel talked about Pinterest, YouTube and Podcasting, and how bloggers are using those to add content to and promote their blogs. So much to think about!

 

Tip 6: Listen and take notes for later

 

If you’ve thought about attending a blog conference and not been sure whether it would be worth the expense and effort it takes to plan for the family you’re leaving at home, then I have to say for me it was soooo worth it! I can’t wait to go to another one now.

A couple more tips

• Take more photos – you will want them later
• Be brave  – talk to people you are a little scared to
• Take a buddy to keep you company
• Have fun!

Have you been to a blog conference? Are you planning to?