Time to wrap up my Central Florida Blogger and Social Media Conference recaps with CFLBlogCon: Part III!
CFLBlogCon: Part III
At 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, I made my way to Josh Murdock’s presentation “Widgets, Gadgets and Apps for Bloggers.” Josh’s PowerPoint presentation was easily the flashiest of the day with lots of cool features. The guy clearly knows his stuff! (You can see his entire presentation on his website.)
Josh talked a lot about different websites that could be really useful to bloggers, including:
- Animoto: Allows you to create videos using photos, video clips and music
- Diptic: Awesome app that allows you to create picture collages
- Xtranormal: Make your own animated movies
- Turboscan: An app that allo ws you to scan documents, receipts, etc. to your phone and save them as a JPEG or PDF file
- Evernote: An app that allows you to create notes that sync between devices
Before heading into the next session, I stopped by the popular photo booth set up by Macbeth Photography. Everyone was encouraged to stop by to get a headshot taken for their blog.
Whoa baby. That’s a whole lotta face.
I felt like I was back in high school taking a yearbook photo. The photographer was so friendly and made me feel really comfortable… and then he did something horrific.
He requested a “serious face.”
We’ve been through this. You guys know I can’t do the whole “no smile” thing.
A “no smile” turns into a “closed mouth smile” which then turns into a “closed mouth laugh” which makes me look like the biggest tool in all the land.
Proof:
I told you. It’s awful. I think I shall use this photo as my new headshot picture and paste it all over the blog to freak out new readers. Muhaha!
Back to the sessions…
The next session I attended was moderated by the beautiful Katy Widrick and included a Q&A with Crystal Duncan, Director of Client Strategy and Operations for IZEA, and Amanda Tinney, the blogger behind Disney Everyday.
The two women answered questions from attendees, many of which addressed how brands select bloggers to work with and how to foster a good relationship with brands that can lead to a more lucrative partnership.
Some takeaways:
- Make a “Top 10 Brands I Love” list of brands you adore. Reach out to them and try to start a relationship based on your genuine love of the company/product/service, etc.
- Many brands offer freebies or small payment for sponsored posts because they know bloggers will take it, yet they are typically more than willing to negotiate and offer more. Tell them why you’re worth more.
- Make sure your site looks professional and is easy to navigate. Make your contact information easy to find.
- Brands dislike filling out contact forms. They’re much more likely to reach out to you if you have an email address displayed.
- Brands are happy to work with bloggers who have a smaller audience, too. They love working with passionate, professional people.
The final session I attended was all about utilizing Facebook and was led by Jeanette Scott, also known as J from J’s Everyday Fashion. J is one of my Orlando blogging buddies (you can see her on the blog here and here), so I was especially excited to watch her presentation.
Some of J’s tips:
- Consider posting actual content from your blog on your Facebook page. Many people who are on Facebook may not read blogs and prefer to follow you on Facebook. Bring the content to them.
- Encourage engagement on Facebook. Ask people questions!
- If you’re working with a company and they are not paying you, consider asking them to mention your blog on their Facebook page as a form of “payment.”
- Mari Smith is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Facebook.
To wrap up the day, attendees broke out into groups by niche and I headed upstairs to meet up with a group of fitness bloggers.
(Top: Me, Carissa, Rachel, Kat and Caroline Bottom: Paula, Steph, and Tekeya)
I was also a little too excited to spend time with Paula and Michelle, two of the most entertaining and fun Central Florida bloggers I know.
I miss the Central Florida Lady Blogger group meet ups! If you live in Central Florida and are a blogger definitely check out their Facebook group. They’re a fun bunch and are very welcoming! (There’s also a Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers group for those of you in the Tampa Bay area. I met a bunch of women from that group at the conference and thought they were very friendly, too! Check ‘em out!)
During our break out session, everyone just chatted before some order was restored and we sat in a circle, introduced ourselves and shared a few things we learned from the conference. It was great to meet a lot of new people and find some new blogs to follow!
And that concludes my long-winded recap of CFLBlogCon! Just in case you’re not totally sick of blog-talk, you can find a bunch of blogging-related tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way on my Blogging page.
I’m already looking forward CFLBlogCon 2013!
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Adding my email to my short bio now so it’s easier to find! Can’t wait to check out the Gadget + Plug-ins on Josh’s website!
Such great information! Thanks again for sharing!!
The entire series of recaps were wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!!
J’s Everyday Fashion Blog is one of my favorites ever!!!!
The serious head shot photo is funny!! What did the photographer say about not being able to make a serious face?
he was like, “please just try. c’mon.” and i did and that was the result. i told him i am impossible!
Thanks so much for sharing these tips!!
And I am the same way! I can’t not smile!! It drove my wedding photographer nuts!
Great info, Julie! Sidebar: I love the name Tekeya!
Wish we had somethingas comprehensive in the UK! Guess I might need to creatively time our holiday to the US next year maybe.
Looks like you had a great time.
I love the first picture! You look beautiful!
Thank you for sharing! It seems like everyone is reviewing a blogging conference or attending one soon (fitbloggin’). They sound like such a great time. I’d love to attend one some day 🙂
Great info – thanks!
Love the pictures 🙂
That’s so cool–I love info like this. Thank you for sharing it all with us 🙂
thank you for sharing everything you learned at the conference, it is all really helpful and much appreciated! I hope I can make it to some more conferences this year!
That “serious” head shot is too funny! I don’t know anyone who can pose without smiling…something about it just feels so wrong
Apparently there was plenty of room in that picture for me to just STAND next to you. Awkward!
Maybe I’ll just make that my signature pose from now on.
yes, please do. i enjoyed gingerly touching your back.
I really like the idea about making a 10 brands I love list and thinking about how and why I want to work with them.
Also, not to snark – at all – but I’ve noticed with the conference posts that you use the word “entitled” when discussing the name of a session. Entitled refers to deserving something not the title. It seems so small but just a couple letters make a big difference. (Of course, this coming from a girl who wrote “city asses” in a headline instead of “city assesses” at her first job.)
no, no, i appreciate it!!! editing right now!
Actually, the use of “entitled” in naming something is correct. It can be used in both ways:
1.Give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something.
2.Give (something, esp. a text or work of art) a particular title.
Not trying to snark either haha
This conference sounds amazing, with so many great sessions! I love reading all the tips about blogging!
Thanks so much for sharing this. I scribbling notes furiously!
Such great info! Thanks for passing it along, Julie!
Being a new blogger, I’m totally taking away a LOT of these tips! I’m super thankful that you blogged about the past few days. I’m glad you had such a great time while learning in the process. Maybe I can look into attending one of these conferences in Southern California.
Photography man made me do the “serious” look too and I just could not do it. It looks like I’m eating my teeth.
I WAS in that session that Katy moderated – but I snuck in half way through the talk for some reason (how rude of me). How did I not see you? Our slow-mo run and hug could have happened so much sooner.
Oh – and I think that first picture is pretty!
Love the recaps!! I appreciate the detailed info. 🙂 This definitely makes me want to scope out local blog conferences in my area. Looks like so much fun & an overload of great information.
Great information! When you say you joined the niche of fitness bloggers it got me thinking, how is everything going with your PT certification? You haven’t mentioned it lately and I was wondering if you find the information and getting certified will help/has helped your blog?
You are so pretty friend!! What a fun experience!
Oh my goodness “the biggest tool in all the land” had me in tears! You are hilarious. And gorgeous, even if you can’t take a picture with your mouth closed! HAHA!
LOVE your ‘serious face’! Mine would be just as goofy 🙂 You can’t just spring that on people!
Thanks for posting these recaps. So nice to see this type of information. You’re smiling picture is really, really pretty
What an awesome conference! I really need to make a top ten list. Thanks so much for sharing! And the headshot of you smiling normally is gorgeous! 🙂
I’m not a blogger, nor do I intend to be, but I really enjoyed these recap posts, and found all the information so interesting! 🙂
All of these recaps were so informative and helpful! Thank you so so much for taking the time to write them all out– and don’t worry, they really weren’t that long!
What an amazing experience you must’ve had at this conference! I’ve learned a lot from the tips you’ve shared. I didn’t realize that there were so many retreats/conferences/summits for bloggers! Which has been your favorite?
That looks super fun! Love your recap (and J’s orange dress!). 🙂
I’m happy you found lots of great takeaways and new things to try. That was my goals. I hope a lot of people found it usefully.
Haha love the serious face 😛 Ps. Thanks again for these recaps- I am definitely going to start a new email address for the blog 🙂 Do you know if there is anyway to link it straight to the wordpress account?
Aw we’re all so cute! Love the headshots too! I can’t wait for CFLBlogcon 2013, but also for a Central FL lady bloggers and Tampa lady bloggers smash up! 😉
Oh Julie you look so adorable in both those head shots, particularly the closed mouth one. It’s just so silly looking. Thanks so much for these recaps–they were very informative!
Oh man, I love J! She seems so sweet too! I loved her video where she helped that lady work within her own closet. She is so great. I definitely check her FB everyday 🙂
It was so great seeing you at the conference Julie, and thanks for attending my session! It was great to catch up. Hope to see you at a CFLady Bloggers meetup soon! 🙂
Hi Julie!
I’m a fellow Julie who loves fitness and food, just like you! I recently got married, and my husband Ted and I love trying your recipes. I stumbled upon your blog after I found your 2-ingredient Pumpkin Spice cookies on Pinterest. 🙂 Love your posts! Thank you for your motivation, fellow foodie/workout buddy!
Thank you for your work!
Julie G, -Bloomingdale, IL
Thanks for the tips! My goal is to be at this conference next year!