Bloggy stuff from Voices of 2013

I know there is heaps of advice on the blogosphere about how to, what for and when?
But I just have to share some insights from some of the successful bloggers who were at the masterclass that I went to a couple of weeks ago.
It was put on by Kidspot and I did blog about it here.

The session Blogging 101 was led by the wonderful blog-queen Pip Lincolne. Her partners in crime  blogging were Rebecca Lowry-Boyd of Wee Birdy, Jen Bishop of Interiors Addict and Vivian Mansour of Ish & Chi.

These are some little pearls of wisdom I gathered from their chats.

What attracts readers to a blog?
Beautiful-looking blog. Clean design.
Clear navigation.
Fonts? Not too many different ones.

An eye-catching header.

If you can't or don't want to design your own blog you may need to pay for a website developer.
How to find one?
See a blog that you like the look of? Ask them if they used a professional developer?

 Quality content - research.
                          - explore
                          - get away from the computer!

What to blog about?
Post original content.

Be yourself.
Be true to yourself.
Do your own thing (don't be a copycat)

Stay humble.

Blog with passion and enthusiasm.

How do you attract followers?

Reach out to people.
Comment on other blogs.
Have a conversation with people.
Build up networks.

Use social media to increase your blog traffic.
- pinterest
- facebook
- twitter
- instagram

What about SEO?

Do you choose "killer headlines" or opt for more descriptive titles?
Make it easy for people to find your posts by not be too clever-clever with your titles.

What blogs do you admire?

The Design Files 

Hair Romance

Potty Mouth Mama

52 suburbs

in out

I'm sure there was lots more - but that is all I can glean from my notes!

Have a great week.

What I got from Voices of 2013 - blogging ideas and tips and other inspirational stuff.

What I gleaned from the keynote speaker at the Voices of 2013 masterclass.

How to make your dreams a reality with Hayley  Bartholemew
1. "Find something that makes your soul sing"
2. Write down your goal
3. Make a start
4. Keep going - persevere
5. You will encounter obstacles but you can overcome them
6. Keep going when it gets hard
7. Love what you do
8. Make it a prioity
9. Sometimes you need to take a break - then keep going.

Sometimes knowing what your goal is or can be is a challenge before you start!
I like the idea of finding something that makes your soul sing.
Don't just follow the crowd.
Don't just do something because it is popular, or you think it will sell or whatever...

Writing down your goal makes it real.

Sometimes starting is the hardest thing.
But you need to take a step - it can be a very small step.....
then you take another step.

You need to make your goal a priority and not get too distracted.
Remember your goal.

There will be obstacles....such as -
lack of skills
lack of equipment
fear
lack of energy
lack of money
shortage of time
other demands upon you

....but chip away at these problems.

You can learn new skills.
You can borrow equipment or make do.
Share your fears.
Rest sometimes if you run out of energy.

But if you keep going you will get there.

What a wonderful inspiring message from this softly spoken woman with an amazing life journey of her own.
And I'm so grateful for receiving what she has to so generously share.

Hayley is an award winning photographer.
She won the viewer's choice award for a short film that she made for an abc tv competition.
You can see that lovely little movie here.
She created the 365 Grateful Project which has touched many lives and has grown like topsy!





365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.

Hayley and her husband have a very successful film, photography and design company you can't be serious and travel the world doing what they love. 

The Voices of 2013 masterclass was organised by the incredibly interesting and diverse Kidspot.

Voices of 2013

Yesterday I did something I've never done before - I went to a meeting of bloggers.

I was a little nervous but knew that one of my on-line friends would be there....and being bloggers everyone was very friendly.

And there were people there who you felt that you knew like Pip Lincolne from Meet Me At Mikes and JustB.

I didn't know what to expect.
Certainly not a neat little notebook and pen, beautiful flowers and some yummy afternoon tea.

There were inspiring speakers-

Keynote speaker Hayley Bartholemew

Panel discussions - 

Panel 1

Panel 2

Michelle and Sally

and goody bags!

The whole shebang was put on by Kidspot which is a fabulous blog dedicated to parenting. And what a fab job they did - it was so well organised.

I should add that there is a section on Kidspot called Village Voices which hosts a wider range of topics - go check it out!

The venue was rather amazing - an old warehouse that now has a cafe Kitchen By Mike and a very interesting looking furniture store koskelo.
Note to self "must go back and explore these places someday"

Then there was the goody bag that we all got!

It was great!

I'll blog about what I gleaned from the afternoon some other time,

Thanks so much to Kidspot and everyone who took part and shared so generously.