Speakers: Kelby Carr, David Griner and Deb Ng

Moderator: Heather Solos

Professionalism

Kelby: confusing; varying degree based on backgrounds; finding balance can be challenging

David:not about tone on blog; it's about what it is like to work with each other; mutual respect; process of what it was like working with this person; responsive? timely? knowing how to invoice; etc.

Deb: it's how you conduct yourself; are you a mature, responsible person? do you respond, meet deadlines? do you charge for services - professionals do

Affect on Interaction with brands

Deb: Donlt look to only interact with brands; can't pay mortgage with that; charge for services not products/conference sponsorships

David: Remember that people often work with multiple clients; get to know them; marketers talk amongst themselves, so do marketers and brands; take the long view

Kelby: Don't limit self to just one thing; ebooks, consulting, local social media consulting; reviews and giveaways are dead - stop them; find small stable of bloggers and pay them. Bloggers need to be smarter in what they accept.  Don't work for free or for product. Being paid for reviews - you need to have a pro and con.

Heather: There are other bloggers who will undercut by doing things for free.  (Not just a blogging thing.)

Kelby: Get the idea out, but it's up to the bloggers and companies to change.

Deb: "I'm just starting out" is not a good reason to not charge. Exposure-something you get when kids come home with the flu.  Even entry level workers get paid!

David: It is hard for all writers.  Some companies are scared of bloggers.  Consider getting through as freelance writers for better paying gigs.

Input

Deb: Don't be afraid to set price.  Determine self worth.  Figure in taxes.  Start with number in mind.  You are what you price yourself at.

David: Create case studies with marketers that you have done and show results. "I coordinated this party and it had these results." Know your specialty.Page views and uniques are not everything.

Kelby: Think of what your role is in our community.  We get judged when one blogger attacks another; Keep the mob mentality out. Ignore negative actions and speech.

Blog Conference Speaker Impact

Kelby: Conference organizers are a small community; don't behave like a diva; get over yourself; celebrities - no; don't behave like spoiled brats

Deb: Impacts whether or not you want to work with them again

Questions

Kelby?; Reviews and advertisements are two separate things.

David: Use outreach as an opportunity to create more awareness.  Share where you're at and what you want.

Deb: Do a post warning others.

David: Do what makes you happy on your site.  You can have rules and break them. Respect yourself.

Amy (Resourceful Mommy): Charge what people are willing to pay.

Deb: Will write for self for free. Wrting on someone else's blog is paid. Guest posting is free.

Heather:If blog is a hobby, it's a hobby.

(Audience member) It's okay to say no. It's okay to change rules

Fine line between guidelines and discussions.  It's your business and you determine what you ask for/make exceptions for.

Kelby: Nothing is black and white. Blogger trips - fine, but not if free consulting. Consider other expenses - childcare, travel, etc. Be aware.

(Audience member) Angela England: My prices reflect the level of my training.

Deb: You attract people who want freebies if that's what you're offering.

Kelby: Don't alienate different ypes of bloggers. Shakes itself out.

Question re. going from hobby to career blogging - Deb: advertsing; look at it as a business and take it from there; David - what is my goal here? What do I want to make - how do I want to make it? (For him, no. I would rather get paid for writing.) Build strategy around it.  Don't spread yourself too thin. Deb - think about your area of expertise - so many levels of expertise.; Kelby: experiment and see what works for you

Moderator: Carol Cain

Carol: NY City Mama; be humble; work hard; be professional in order for the practicals to work

Kim Moldofsky: Hormone Colored Days, Mom Impact; started 5 years ago

Jessica Rosenberg: It's My Life; @kikarose; social media for Tiny Prints

Progression

Kim: first client - seo/mom blogging campaign; kept blog going; wanted a pro blogging gig; wrote for babycenter's momformation; led to speaking gig; led to 2 year client; natural flow; *network, network, network; gave tips to Suburu - led to small venture with Suburu; let your blog be you  - intersection of hard work and luck; think what is marketable about you

Jessica: discovered knitting blogs while husband was in law school; became pregnant -found group of pregnancy bloggers; started blogging herself; decided to make blogging a freelance career - make a series of blog clips; wrote for Type-A mom; pitched to local parenting newspaper; offered managing editor job at the newspaper- blog was her resume; blog was "voice"; did reviews on review blogs; tinyprints - gratitude blogger; wrote wanting to work for Tiny Prints on last blog post; Tiny Prints asked ideal job - they made it work; been with them for 11 months; *decide what you want your blog to be - source of revenue or platform of revenue for future sources of revenue; use pitches as opening to conversations; put contact information on blog; let people know what you're interested in and capable of! Don't underestimate yourself.  Don't be afraid to reach out to the companies that you're interested in.

Carol: blog is portfolio/resume; paid work comes from off her blog; seize opportunities (initiate conversations; have own idea of what you want); pitch self for unique business experiences; approach it as a freelancer; she has a media kit

Jessica: Has online resume sharing what she wants/is available to do.

Personality

Kim: Connector; if shy, try something new outside of blogging (i.e. taking bold risks); saying and seeing "no" are not the worst things; don't understimate the importance of the fiscal year (not necessarily as flexible at certain times of the year)

Jessica: Shy, but pretended that she wasn't until became more comfortable; don't stop being yourself though; be true to yourself; if opportunity is not a good fit, recommend someone else; don't take rejection personally - you can ask why

Mistakes

Carol: What is your blog about - be focused about your pitch

Jessica: not as focused "elevator pitch" (depends on the blog); not learning to ask what the expectations were (i.e. if you have separate review blog); don't assume

Kim: kind of a blog prostitute - took most products/trips/etc. offered; more selective now; figure out what you want - don't have to take everything offered

Questions/Comments

-Brand conversations - what should you do if your hear nothing back? You can follow up (email/phone)/reach out again; polite persistence pays. 

*Comment: be honest with PR/page views/etc.

*Comments: Jennifer James and Esther Crawford put out a free e-book that is excellent (http://www.fromblogtobusiness.com/).

*Comments: send companies case studies to show relevance

-Be clear on where you're pitching (twitter/facebook/blog/etc.)

-Pricing: Kim - Start no lower than $65 - $300/hour (consulting); $50-$75/hour for writing; remember that 1/3 goes to the government;  Jessica - double the rate that you want to work for per hour (because they are not paying any benefits)

$550/bi-weekly for leaderboard ad- Carol charges for her site with average of 7000 unique visits/months. It seems high if you are thinking CPM, but she is a travel blogger - her content is expensive (babysitters/hours/etc.). 

Moderator: Danielle Smith

Photography

Casey: use to enhance posts; add pictures to review; can charge more when pictures are used; use photos as inspiration

To get better: look at photos that make you feel; take pictures of everyday moments

Chris: Start posts with pictures; at the end of each post, use flickr gallery - so can see all; She sets a thumbnail photo for each post; google "free clip art"; flickr also has great photos that you can use with attribution; don't use photos that don't have "share this"; tag photos in flickr (people can find it when they search by term/you want people to be able to find them); clker.com has free clip art

Video

Why?

Maria: can watch/listen while doing something else; put face in front of camera to gain exposure; where the next horizon is going; age of self broadcasters

Use HD webcam; 3 minutes is perfect

Chris: webcam; video functions on camera; (imove on Mac; moviemaker on Windows); please put steps in text/outline what cover in video

Maria: need to differentiate self; video does that; you are a solution to corporate production problem.

Chris: twins used in actual commercial - taking forever; doing video yourself is faster

Audio/Podcasting

Maria: great way to talk to moms - they can take it anywhere; great way to extend brand; lexycasts - next big thing (twitter on audio); less than 2 minutes - soundbites of thoughts.  Distribution is king.  Think about how to expand your brand. Blogtalkradio - expanded reach when she got past her doubts.

Q&A

How to set picture use settings: Casey: All rights reserved - for hanging quality photos; Open - conferences/want to share broadly; there are various settings (i.e. friends and family)

How to do live webcasting - Maria uses Logitech camera for MomTV (ustream, stickam); Chris: you can even do from phone!

Editing software suggestions: Chris: Pinnacle software; Danielle (imovie/finalcut express)

Photo comments: Wordpress plugin: Photodropper plugin - inserts correct attribution; Casey: 72dpi - good size of photos; Chris: mihov image sizer - shrink bulk photos; Watermark photos - Chris: lightroom has a feature; so does picnik.com and picasa.com; Casey doesn't watermark them;

Video comments: AVI is standard format if you are uploading directly to your site; Danielle: tubemogul.com syndicates; youtube, vimeo, blip ,etc. are other ways to post video; Casey: keeps video for self not just for readers - remember who you and your kids are.

Livestreaming: Maria: moms thrive on connection; video opens a door to another aspect of connection/diminishing isolation; focus on connection

How to make coherent/incorporate all of it? Maria: checklist; there's a Wordpress plugin - post here on each post; Chris: keep everything in one place and link from one place; keep username, watermark, etc. the same

Speakers: Debbie Bookstaber and Angela England

Moderator: Kim Moldofsky

Goal: Help to use blogs for freelance writing assignments; ebooks; and increase affiliate sales

Angela - Untrained Houswives; mom of four; editor-in-chief at Blissfully Domestic; Type-A Mom editior

Angela: "Yes, it's possible to do something for money on the Internet without taking your clothes off".

Debbie: Mamanista, Bloganthropy

Advice for freelance writing assignments:

-Angela Englund: 5 years of experience; started out online.

When contributing to other sites: find out rights; make sure that you are well compensated if giving away all rights; web/print rights differ; sometimes you can pitch to other outlets; they can see body of work and quality of work (i.e. she sent out 6 queries; sold 4 articles and received 1 additional offer)

-Debbie: online marketer before blogger; freelance writer/search engine copywriter - content syndicated out

Guest posts usually code word for free!

Search engine copywriting - paid; come in with clips; use blogging skills; 10 - 50/word for online writing; $50 = $150 per online article; don't start with mom blogs; problogger.com; copyblogger.com; idealaunch.com; lifetips.com; and local seo companies are great assignment resources; reach out to them; consider that in addition to parent-oriented writing

For parenting writing - get in touch with people in charge of hiring; LinkedIn - list freelance writer in your profile; use networks/agencies/firms/etc.  Let people know rate - be clear (share range); if you make "free" an option, they will take it! perhaps one free post.

-Angie: byline and link back to site; bases her range on needed amount of research/charges less if she gets a byline; more if ghostwritten; minimum - $50/post

It is easier to break into niche or trade market magazines; use popular posts; share ways that you can enhance; note that parenting segment is over-saturated

Debbie: You can increase rate if including photos with posts; different companies have different budgets; $250/piece; additional $50 - $100 for photos

 for major companies; seed.com is a good starting point - pay $50/post

Angie: Use prior mom life experience as area of expertise; life experience; career; etc. - use for angles

Affiliate Marketing

Debbie: CPM (cost per thousand) type of advertising; CPC (cost per click); CPA (cost per acquisition)  is affiliate marketing- great way to break into advertising work for company; You can use banners but text links within posts are actually best performers.  When a purchase is made, you get a percentage of the sale. Genuinely mention products.  It leads to evergreen content - constantly paid whenever its' used.

Keep in mind re. FTC: Not giving consideration in advance, so don't need to identify as affiliate links.  (I.e. retail me not/shop at home; Shefinds; etc. use them)

Amazon Associates - Colorado residents can't join; AA also pays a lot less than other programs

When considering affiliate companies to partner with think: strength of brand; is it something that you want anyway? cj.com, linkshare.com, shareasale.com; and google has an affiliate network)

Conversion rate - number of sales divided by number of clicks. 100 hits/2 sales = 2% conversion sale

oldnavy and gap work well for mamanista; dvds and books/things that people actually buy on the web are good sellers (i.e. itune mixes-links)

Angie: doing readers a service if you link to something that gives readers a service; reader service; natural

Men are doing it without feeling badly; one guy made half a million sellion the instyler last year (?!)

Ebooks

Angie: Way to repurpose content - Compile into e-books; First - compilation of posts; Already writing content; why not write it for sale? Some will buy to save time and energy.  Doing service for those who are willing to spend money to save time.

She uses Open Office - format everything as Word document; print to file; save as pdf; save links intact (affiliate programs; etc.); Goal ebook library for moms - 2011

Etc:

- Good Housekeeping - column where republish blog posts (pays $500); Email at egolden@hearst.com

-Selling text links - google doesn't want sites to do so; but there are still firms that do it; if you are going to sell them, get 100% of the value

-Angie - uses Ejunkie and affiliates for her main ebook at $25; Others, she sells on her site - she bundles a discount for her consulting services with the ebook sales.