Social media can be, ironically, a solitary exploit. Individuals who take on professional blogging as employment don't have access to a company water cooler, staff meetings or the know-it-all in the cubicle next door. While fantasies of "getting paid in your sleep" and "working in your bathrobe" are often the impetus for embarking on a career as a blogger, the reality is that there's no one to check your work, no clear and realistic expectations for income potential and basically, no right or wrong way to go about the business.
Blogging conventions provide bloggers with tools and ideas in the form of workshops and guest speakers who strive to help bloggers evaluate the effectiveness of their layout, create a distinctive brand, monetize their content effectively, meet other bloggers and make the most of their chosen blogging platform using apps, plugins and secret coding tricks.
Blogger Conventions for Women
The Type-A mom Conference started in 2009 and offers up "some of the most influential, admired and insightful mom bloggers talking about topics like power social networking, branding, blogging, finding your voice, and turning your passion for blogging into a real paycheck." It's held in September and hosted by Social Media guru Kelby Carr.
The Blissdom Conference, hosted by Allison Worthington, encourages participants to follow their bliss, so that "over 500 attendees has a meaningful weekend learning, connecting and cultivating inspiration for her blog, her business, her family and her life"
BlogHer is largely recognized as the first blogging conference. Its annual Convention for bloggers takes place in a different city each year and puts business first, with a few days of intensive focus on the monetization aspect of blogging and sponsorship, followed by more social events designed to help bloggers connect with one another. In addition to the annual conference, BlogHer hosts smaller get events throughout the year in various other cities nationwide.
Blogging Conferences for Niche Bloggers
Building a blogging business based upon photos of the kids, pictures of last night's dinner, chronicling weight loss or a series of road trips can be an uphill battle, what with thousands of other bloggers writing on basically the same topic. Niche blogging is one way bloggers attract more traffic by focusing on a smaller topic. Budget decorating blogs, parenting a child with epilepsy blogs and even websites about being married to a firefighter are examples of niche blogs that focus more specifically on one topic, in order to attract search engine traffic and loyal readers who can relate to the blogger's specific perspective.
Niche bloggers should be attending conferences designed for their special area of expertise. So the decorating blogger should be up on the latest in the decorating business by visiting decor conferences while the blogger who writes about life with epileptic children should be attending conferences and conventions that deal specifically with epilepsy and other neurological issues. In this way, a blogger maintains credibility with his or her audience and stays abreast of the latest developments in the niche.
So technically, professional bloggers work in solitude, but effective social media campaigns cannot originate entirely in their head. Attending blogging conferences and conventions within their niche is an important part of the business Finally, US bloggers can defray some of their self-employment tax liabilities for investing in blog conventions and work-related meetings and conferences.
Lisa Russell - Lisa Russell is a freelance writer and mom of six daughters. She blogs about their life at lisarussell.org
