This past weekend was AWESOME…and that is putting it mildly!
Let’s start with a little background info…
Back in February I received an email to join a Blogger Network called Collective Bias’ Social Fabric. I had seen campaigns before but I wasn’t apart of the community. So I completed the campaign and was accepted. As part of the acceptance process you must complete an online education course. Honestly, at first I was like SERIOUSLY I have to take a class…but BOY was I wrong! I needed this class when I first came up with the idea to start blogging. After completing the course I felt like a new blogger and there was so much that I needed to change up if I was going to continue blogging and taking this idea to the next level. Social Fabric University is where all of the education classes are held! And its set up just like online courses that you would take in school.
Fast Forward to this Weekend…
When I saw that Social Fabric University was hosting an event in OHIO I knew I had to move on it and move quickly! I actually stalked the paged quite often to see what all was planned. I had never been to a Blogger Conference before so I felt like I needed to know EVERYTHING about the 1-Day Conference. As I was getting ready to purchase my ticket I saw the option to apply for a grant to receive a free ticket…so I completed the application! And what do you know I was selected to be the recipient!! WHOOP! WHOOP!!!
The conference started Saturday morning at 8am…and Breakfast was sponsored by Muller! DELISH! Now I know you are looking for a pic but I was so nervous that I totally forgot to take pics of breakfast! HA! But I will say if you havent tried Muller Yogurt, you dont know what you are missing!!! My family and I love their Greek Yogurt!
When you checked-in and grabbed breakfast you were given your name tag, a swag bag filled with Social Fabric goodies, coupons and a sweaty band!!!
Once everyone was checked in and eating/finishing up with breakfast…we got started right away!
We started by getting our “juices” flowing by dancing to a little Bruno Mars…and introductions!
We then broke into groups based on the sign on your table. The tables all had signs on them like Affiliate Links, Photography, Plugins and so on…all blog related. I sat at the table for Monetization, and I met a group of ladies that I LOVED!!! We all had some of the same ideas, and we shared a lot of ideas with each other! It was awesome, not to mention they were SUPER friendly and we actually became my blogger friends during the conference! Nothing like meeting some great ladies right away to ease your anxiety!
There was a Collective Bias Discussion…
There was also a presentation from an Ahalogy representative on Pinterest, and what brands are looking for from our accounts.
We had a mid morning snack which was sponsored by KIND
The morning session was brought to us by Speaker Joe Robb
Smart Syndication: Grow Your Blog Traffic with Less Effort
If you were following my tweets on Saturday the main point that I received from his session is to Work Smarter!!
We learned a lot about Google Analytics and how to maximize the information that you receive from your reports. How to make social media work for you and your blog. Linking networks up so when you see your posts one place they will appear on another network as well {working smarter}…dont link them all up so they are all saying the same things but taking advantage of sites that will help you network on all of them in less time!
I hear bloggers talk about different sights and sometimes I can navigate through them with no problem but some are a little confusing…we received tutorials on how to make them work for you! And the benefits of utilizing some of these sites.
The biggest lesson I learned from Joe Robb was how to read the data and create custom reports; by doing this you are able to see where you traffic is coming from and what they are spending time on and from there you can do more to appeal to that particular audience and grow your audience. And to make social media work for you rather than the other way around!
After this session lunch was provided by Chick-fil-A
Dessert was provided by Graeters Ice-Cream
After lunch there was a Brand Panel, there were reps from Graeters, Sweaty Bands, Chick-fil-A and Ahalogy
They had lots of great info for us…from how to connect with local brands and corporate brands to what brands are looking for when they reach out to bloggers.
Overall I had a GREAT time!!! And I hope the tour comes back next year and if its not in Ohio I hope that it is close enough for me to attend! I felt so rejuvenated and ready to get home and blog. Besides the notes I wrote while there I also sat and wrote out some things I needed to get on my blog. I wrote out weekly calendar! I realized in listening to the speakers and other bloggers that I truly need to plan things out! If I dont plan, I am setting myself up for failure!!!
Also, I cant leave out the many bloggers that I met, and the ones I didnt meat personally but connected with online! Everyone was so friendly and ready to network with bra
I didnt get a chance to go to the second half at the Distillery (I saw pics online check out the IG Hashtag #SOFABUOTR …I hate that I had to miss it) because we had to get back to Cleveland to have Emma home and prepped at home for her surgery, there were things we had to prep for her diet and it made more sense to do it at home so she could be comfortable. Actually, I am trying my hardest to come to the Chicago conference in July…we will see!
Want information on the other cities the SoFabU On The Road will be touring…check here
Interested in checking out more pics or tweets…
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