On Saturday I attended the SITS girls Bloggy Boot Camp in downtown Baltimore where I spent the day meeting other amazing women who have found their niche and their passion through blogging. I learned countless tips, tweaks, and tricks and some downright eye-opening techniques to blow your blog straight through the roof.
Dumb Mom from Parenting By Dummies and I hamming it up
I came away from this conference with a definite road map of where my blog needs to go and how it needs to change to accomplish it.
Most unfortunate was learning that WYSIWYG is the name of a software program used to in web publishing and therefore I will NEVER be able to purchase a URL or trademark with that name. *Sigh* Therefore I have made the decision to change my blog name AGAIN.
UGH!
I know this may be a bit confusing to those of you who are used to seeing WYSIWYG show up on your Google Reader or your Blogger Dashboard but I assure you this was the right decision to make in order to help my blog grow and expand upon some of the plans I have for it in the future.
I recently purchased www.extremeparenthood.com and www.extremeparenthood.net and I will be making the change very soon with a brand new header and background and some other HTML features I learned about at Bloggy Boot Camp. In addition I have already changed my twitter handle to @xtremeparnthood and my new email address will be extremeparenthood@gmail.com.
I am also seriously considering a switch from Blogger to Wordpress. Chances are this will happen later, rather than sooner due to finances but I know now that it is the best platform for bloggers who want complete control of their content.
On Saturday I also learned some valuable information regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which was something I had never heard of but after the presentation I realized it is a very big deal. SEO is centered around how to best bring traffic to your site by utilizing headers, keywords, and tags. I never considered the way I title my blog posts or how I named my photos made a difference in how people find my blog. Making some very easy changes can make all the difference in your traffic numbers and transparency in the blogosphere.
I realized after brainstorming with some amazing ladies that my blog has a great potential for outgrowth to the special needs community and the various businesses that want to offer assistance and inclusion to their venues.. I admit I had never considered this as a possibility for my blog. I began it as a way to break up the monotony of parenthood with the daily joys and struggles of raising my boys. I was mostly looking for a way to connect with other parents facing the same challenges and offer hope or at the very least, humor.
I also learned the importance of building your "tribe". These are the people who visit your blog daily and leave comments that lift you up and show support. After a short time you find yourselves conversing by email and phone and giving advice or maybe just a listening ear when they call. These are the relationships that build you up when you feel like a negative commenter is trying to tear you down. They will make you laugh when you feel like crying and they bring you awesome flashing rings to wear during your conference (WOOHOO! Daune!).
Daune of The Grasshoppa & Shell of Things I Can't Say
It was hard to say goodbye to the amazing ladies I met. Many of us are hoping to attend the next regional Bloggy Boot Camp to be held in Philadelphia, PA on September 11, 2010.
