My Savvy Blogging Summit Re-Cap . . . And a Few Plans for the Fall

The kids are at Grandma’s for a few days this week.

Which means . . . . I’m planning to spend a chunk of time working on my blog.

I learned a lot at the Savvy Blogging Summit, and came home with a brain that was whirling  from all of the things I could/should/needed-to do.  But I also came home to three precious children who will be grown before I know it, and whose childhood memories I don’t want to be filled with the back of my head and a computer screen.

So . . . I waited.  And I’m continuing to wait until August 22nd, when I can really consider this blogging-thing my priority while they’re in school.

On this creepy-quiet day in my kid-free house, I thought I’d share my plans for the fall that were inspired by things I learned at the Summit.

Vlogging.  Yes, I’ve done one (completely silly) vlog.  But I want to do more.  Some bloggers look miserable at the thought of getting in front of a camera.  I . . . start to giggle. Because I have a (likely unhealthy) love of stuff like that.  Yes, I think my voice sounds weird and I worry that the camera will add ten more pounds to the twenty I need to re-lose, but I still want to do it.

One of the things holding me back before was the thought that I had to come up with things that could only be demonstrated on camera.  That there had to be a reason for my lovely readers (you) to want to click over and watch a vlog.  And as someone who rarely clicks over and watches vlogs, this felt like a lot of pressure.  Our expert vlogging speaker, Maria Bailey, changed my view of this.  Her point was that only 1/3 of women who use the internet read blogs.  Vlogging isn’t necessarily just for enhancing the experience of your blog readers, it is for getting your message out to people who primarily use the internet to watch videos.  Make sense?

Even if it doesn’t make sense, know that things won’t really change much for those who love to read.  If you aren’t a vlog-watcher, you won’t be missing out.  My plan is to make a vlog version of my weekly decluttering project, in addition to writing it as a post, as I always do. You could read it . . . OR watch it.  Or both.

I learned so many other things, but that was the biggest brain-changer for me.  And I’m ready to go, having ordered this video camera that is currently dirt-cheap on Amazon.  (I decided it would work for me after watching vlogged reviews.)

By the way, I didn’t spend a penny because I used the Amazon giftcards I “earned” through Swagbucks.  If you sign up for Swagbucks before this Friday, the 12th, you can start out with an EXTRA 50 swagbucks if you enter the code AUGUSTBONUS during registration.  I met the Swagbucks guys at the Savvy Blogging Summit.  They’re real people.  And fun!  AND not afraid to karaoke!  (Here’s my Swagbucks explanation for those who don’t know what I’m talking about!)

And I can’t possibly talk about Savvy Blogging Summit without thanking my awesome sponsor – Clever Girls Collective. When I applied for the sponsorship, I told them that it would be easy to talk to other bloggers about how awesome they are.  It was easy.  Clever Girls Collective gets how blogging works.  They understand how to make campaigns work for big-name companies and fit with the unique talents of women who are passionate about writing.  I’m not just saying this because they sponsored part of my trip, I’m saying it because it’s true.  If you’re a blogger, I can’t recommend them highly enough.  Go apply.  Right now.