Craaa-zzz BizzzzEEE Day - TGIF

It was a busy day at work.

After work, I rushed off to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Then, I hurried from that celebration to The Lucky Labrador to catch up with Kidlitosphere blogging conference attendees. It was a quick reunion - my son Jake stopped on the way home from work with me.


I ran home picked up my daughter and drove to a friend's party in Vancouver, Washington.

It was a fun - but busy - night. How'd you spend the evening?

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR with Greg Pincus

IF YOU WON’T PROMOTE YOURSELF
WHO WILL?. . .

You can start small, with a few simple steps.

The Butterfly Effect describes how one small action can ripple out and create an enormous reaction later.

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Send out a few email blurbs to your family and friends;
2) Simply ask those people to share your website/blogsite with one or two other people. This will start to grow your reading community. Remember, though, patience is a virtue.
3) Email listservs (e.g. SCBWI) and tell them about your blog/website and ask them to check it out.
4) Give your posts strong names (See Marketing Mentor Greg Pincus in the vlog for more on this).
5) Get involved – be part of the conversation.

According to Greg Pincus, “It is very hard to get attention whether you’re selling something or giving it away. But it’s definitely harder to get attention if you’re not out there in the first place.”

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 7

Colleen Mondor who writes her reviews on the blog known as Chasing Ray and Jackie Parker told us about "Making the Most of the Community: Blog Tour Events." They do a group Summer Blog Blast Tour and a Winter Blog Blast Tour (which is closed to their blogging group for control purposes). Colleen said she likes to give the craziest bit of the interview as a teaser to entice readers to read more.

Jackie Parker said, "Part of playing the game is playing the community."

So, get in there and play together, linking to one another is a great way to grow your community.

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 6

Mother Reader had a wealth of wisdom to share with all of us beginning and seasoned bloggers.

She gave tips, hints and suggestions on how to "Be a 'B' List Blogger." And one of the best things she said was if you don't want to be a highly committed blogger, "That's okay."

She also said, "Simplest is best." And, "You don't want text, text, text."

As writers, we might want to sit in our rooms and write but she says to get out there and, "Comment, comment, comment." But make sure it's adding value and not just some random post. Otherwise, it will lead to blog dumps.

She also said, it might be a good idea to set goals. One goal could be to read three blogs a day and make two comment posts. Remember to keep it simple.

Another bit of good advice was to have three reasons why you're blogging and to remember those core values when you post.

Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference - Portland, OR - Part 5

Greg Pincus a/k/a Marketing Mentor to Wanna be Writers of the World read his poem Web 2.0 at the conference. And, admittedly, the quality of this podcast is not the best but the poem is. So, if nothing else, play the video and close your eyes and listen. I promise this one is worth it.

Day 2- Kidlitosphere Blogging Conference in Portland, Oregon

I have so much information I want to share with all of you. I can't possibly get it into one or even two posts. I feel like I was bombarded with information - which is GREAT but there's so much. I want to start by sharing just a few photos and then I will begin uploading podcasts I took of the guest speakers, who were all amazing!

Here is Newberry Prize winning author Kirby Larson, check out Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky. Kirby Larson is pictured with Michele Kophs.




I've also included a few other photos. Author Eric Kimmel, is shown.









Here is Lisa Schroeder of I Heart You, You Haunt Me, with Lisa Madigan and another photo of
Roseanne Parry, Lisa Schroeder and Zu Vincent.










Mother Reader was there too.

And these are only a few of the photos I took. I'll post more later. But there was Mark Blevis of Just One More Book, Alice Pope of CWIM, Dia Calhoun, Lori Ann Grover and Betsy Bird. You'll have to check out Readergirlz. But that's just the beginning. Jackie Parker, Colleen Mondor, Anastasia Suen Laini Taylor, Jen Robinson, and Sara Zarr were all there.

Now, that I've bombarded you with photos and links to check out, I'm sure you'll be busy for a bit but pop back over later and check out more.

It was an amazing conference and I still have more to go.

BLOGGING BRAINIACS - Share their advice

I’m new to this wonderful world of blogging and the one thing I’ve noticed is it can be very addictive. Meeting new and interesting people who are willing to share words of wisdom and advice for FREE!

I’ve only been blogging for about two months so, being a newbie, I want to learn more about this forum. I’ve signed up for the Kidslit Blogging Conference here in Portland, Oregon. If you want to read more about it, check it out here and here.

I am so hoping to meet up with so many people.