I attended #SMBSTL or known as Show Me The Blog Conference, in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 23, 2010. It was a full day event filled with engaging in conversation face-to-face with other local bloggers from the St. Louis area, as well as parts of Missouri and Illinois.
The Show Me the Blog conference was started by Danyelle Little of TheCubicleChick.com. When I entered the area where the conference room was located, she immediately said my name and I knew right there I would have a good time and meet some great people.
The majority of the presentations resolved around the different niches of blogging, some tips to get ahead, and just generally connecting with each other. The conference had that home type feel to it as everyone was very friendly and accepting.
I was happy to even successfully convince a few Blogger users to convert to WordPress, at the offer to even guide them through the process. 😀 w00t!
I liked the spectrum of the presenters as I have done a bit here and there. I kind of still do, but I just felt like I could connect with locals. The Internet does bring people together and blogging is the first step.
Blog Sponsorship
One of the biggest things that stuck out was the presentation by Vernon Ross of Ross Public Relations. I had to agree with him wholeheartedly and knew I would be writing about this on this very conference recap post about making money online – particularly blog sponsorship. It is funny because I am halfway through a whitepaper about “The World of Making Money Online” and this was one of the explanations.
What he talks about is that if you have a website receiving traffic and it is relevant to a company out there, all you have to do is pitch why they should sponsor your blog. You cannot expect them to find you first. I was lucky enough to have a representative of VistaPrint find me. However, I am going to take his advice in hand and start approaching businesses more with my pitch. Regardless of the amount awarded, this is great advice. You do no have to have an extremely popular site, but the traffic and stats certainly sweeten the deal.
Blogging on a Budget
Reggie Levine of ReggieLevine.net had a great presentation on bloggers who are on a budget. This is something even I can relate to as I cannot just spend freely as I want yet. I also get this question a lot from both bloggers and small business owners wanting to have a blog on a small budget. Reggie suggests to ‘beg, borrow, but do not steal” when it comes to those bloggers who review products. Do an item exchange with a blog friend. If they reviewed something, and you wanted to review the item too, ask. You can even ask friends and family too! I liked this advice as it just makes sense.
Blog And Be Yourself
Linda Doty of JustLinda.net was hilarious to listen to. She runs a blog with humor, something I do not see often, but goes to show that you can blog about anything as long as you are passionate. And you know, Linda is passionate about life.
I could recap all of the speakers, but I think it is best to share the ones I thought stood out and delivered a message that I have not heard touched on as much at other conferences I have attended.
Also, anyone who went, I encourage you to share your favorite highlight of Show Me The Blog 2010.
What did you take away from #SMBSTL? How are you going to apply what you learned?
I am glad you enjoyed yourself and met and networked with a lot of local area bloggers. I know sometimes we tend to look at the big picture meaning globally, but we forget to start in our own backyards. Networking at home builds a solid foundation for building in other areas. Thanks for coming. And next time, I hope you will be speaking!
My recent post Tina Knowles’ ‘Miss Tina’ Line Misses the Mark for Cubicle Chicks
Definitely will put my proposal in for speaking for next year. Maybe see if I can help you get some extra sponsorships too. 🙂
Also, we should have a monthly STL blogger meetup. The SMC is practically dead in the STL area. I keep getting tons of invites to attend the Chicago SMC, but that is a lot of gas money to be spending on their weekly meetings…lol
Cool that you were able to attend the show the blog conference in St Louis. I can't visit these conferences due to geographic differences.
I like to attend different conventions from all over the country. It really is fun to meet so many people and those who already do know me through my website can meet me in person. It is very often I will be recognized at a convention and it is both an honor that people have taken the time to read about me, other than learn about me through my though processes within my articles.
My readers, like you, are what I enjoy the best from blogging.
It's great that you were able to attend such conference. As in life, learning in blogging never ends. Hope to read more of what you learned there. Have a good one. 🙂
– Wes –
My recent post Influence and Increase as a Life Coach
There are indeed a few points from the conference I want to touch base on. Of course, with those points, I will again give the speaker a bit more link love because… well, they should get credit for inspiring me to tackle the same topic.