Every Spring and Fall, blog conference season ramps up. You’ll notice your blogging buddies are making travel plans and securing roommates for the host hotel. Attending a blog conference can be a one of the best ways to grow your connections with brands and meet influencers in your niche. How can you make the most out of your blog conference experience? We’ll walk you through what to do before, after and during a blog conference.
Before the Conference
1. Start tweeting. Follow the conference hashtag to see which influencers, speakers and brands will be there. Tag your friends and brands you’d like to connect with.
2. Share travel tips. Although your blog may not focus on blogging, travel tips are always relevant. Show your readers how you’re prepping to hit the road for a few days.
3. Pack light. Blog conferences are notorious for giving out lots of swag, Leave room in your suitcase to bring home marketing material and products to review. Some influencers even bring an empty suitcase or ship their swag home to avoid airline baggage fees.
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4. Drive if you can. Driving to a blog conference can give you a little flexibility. You can stay early and leave late without worrying about rushing to the airport. Pick up a blogging buddy along the way to share the expenses and driving duty. Make it a road trip!
5. Bring business cards. Get an updated design to your business cards. Place the order weeks in advance so your business cards arrive before you leave for the blog conference.
6. Finish your media kit. Brand connections you meet at the blog conference may request your media kit in person or after the event.
7. Update your About Me Page. Check your About Me Page monthly or at least quarterly. Include stats like your location, family members and your niche.
8. Update your LinkedIn Profile. LinkedIn is your online resume. Besides your blog information, include any freelance writing or books projects.
9. Craft an Elevator Pitch. How will your describe your blog, your experience and your qualifications to a brand or PR rep? Work on a short description you can say in about a minute, the amount of time you’d spend in an elevator ride.
10. Schedule content & social shares. Keep your readers and social profiles active while you’re away at the conference. Schedule your blog content and shares to your social media profiles. Hootsuite and CoSchedule are popular scheduling tools. Ask for guest posts and contributors to fill your content calendar while you’re away.
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During the conference
You’ve arrived, checked in and are ready to dive into the conference.
11. Stay active on social media. Show what you’re wearing and what you’re learning. Don’t forget the conference hashtag.
12. Be friendly. When you see attendees in the halls, in line at meals or exploring the city – say hello. If you’re an introvert this may be difficult, but it’s well worth it.
13. Workout and Stay Energized. If a morning workout is part of your daily routine, find the hotel gym or take a morning jog. Conference days can be long. Grab energy bars, snacks and water throughout the day to keep your energy level high.
14. Attend conference meals. Although you may want to sneak away to take midday nap or sleep late, do your best to attend all scheduled meals at a blog conferences. You could end up sitting to a blogger in your niche or a brand representative.
15. Explore the city. If you’ve never visited the host city before, take time to visit a restaurant or local shops. Stay an additional day if you can and be a tourist.
16. Shoot video. Whether it’s for Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook or YouTube – you’ll want to capture video of your experience.
RELATED TOPIC: How to Get Over Your Fear of Video Blogging
After the conference
Welcome back home! You’ve landed back at your home airport, unpacked your bags and settled in to your routine. What’s next?
17. Organize business cards. Separate the business cards you collected at the blog conference into bloggers and marketing representatives. Follow them on social media. Create a Twitter List so you can easily connect with them and share their content.
18. Follow up. Call, email and meet these contacts in person (if they’re local) to discuss collaborations and projects.
19. Send your media kit. The kit you prepared before the blog conference is ready to go. Submit it for consideration to the contacts you met.
20. Write a recap on LinkedIn. What did you learn? What was the overall message of the event? What will you do differently or better going forward.
21. Create better content. Use what you learned at the blog conference about photography or storytelling to improve your content. Go back to your old blog posts and update them for SEO.
Comment below: How do you get the most out of a blog conference? What’s your favorite thing to do while you’re at a social media event?
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