Build Your Blog Conference 2013

I had the Amazing opportunity to be able to go to the Build Your Blog conference put on by the adorable sisters from Six Sisters Stuff. I was so excited and so nervous at the same time. It was my first blogging conference and didn't know what to expect. But oh my goodness it was not scary at all. It was so much fun I met so many amazing and talented ladies, and I was so excited when people knew who little ol me was! Seriously?! You have heard of my blog. It made my day. There is so much I loved about this conference meeting new people, hanging out with old friends, classes, inspiration, and just play fun!

And of course the Swag Bag is always a fun bonus! Thank you to all the sponsors and teachers along with the sisters and their cute mom and dad who made this conference possible.

When I first got there you check in and then as soon as you walk in the main room there was a business card swap table. I loved this idea. You would just put your business cards on the table and then you would walk around and get all the other amazing sponsors and bloggers cards. They also had rings and hole punchers so you could keep them all organized. I gave out about 250 cards throughout the day! And got a whole bunch in return.

This little man was a champ and pretty much the perfect baby the whole conference. He was so cute. All smiles and was one of the stars of the show. Everyone was saying how cute he was and wanting to hold him. How could you not love this face?!

Adorable Camille (one of the sisters) starting off the conference with introducing each of them, telling us what to expect and welcoming all of us.

Brooke Walker was a the keynote speaker. Brooke one of the hosts of Studio 5, a lifestyle show here in Utah. I loved Brooke already but after today I just love her even more. Some things I learned from Her:

-Bloggers have another name: influencer and she challenged us to use our influence in our blog and through our writing no matter what type of blog you have. I love this and really want to work on that.
-She said your readers may not remember what you write but they will remember how your words, pictures and projects made them feel
-She gave us six ways to be an influencer in our blog writing- 1. Find a focus 2. Add your voice 3. Ask interesting questions 4. play up the positive 5. balance the bucket 6. leave a lasting impact
-I love how she said it is ok to play up the positive. She said it is great to be real but no body wants to read all negative, be positive and real.
-I loved when she was talking about balancing our bucket. Not only working on filling our own bucket but filling others which in turn fills ours at the same time. She referred to the book Have You Filled a bucket today? and I am so wanting to get this for my little boys now. I love the concept behind it and I am hoping to do better about filling ours buckets and celebrating the all the thank yous and comments I receive through my blog which is how others are filling my bucket.

 Brooke and 5 of the Sisters

The first class I went to was "How to get your blog featured and stand out from the rest" by the very talented Kari and Becky from Ucreate. This is the first time I have met them and been able to hear them speak, but I have been a fan of their blog pretty much since it started. I love their ideas, their photography and their personalities. They gave some really great advice and I learned a lot from them. 

-They opened with the quote: "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" I loved this. It is something I need to work on and I am finally understanding that it is ok to be myself on my blog. It is ok if I am different and my blog is my space to show my personalty and creativity. 

-They talked a lot about how important photography is. I struggle with this since I don't have a fancy camera and I live in a basement apartment so the lighting is horrible. So I am excited to use some of the tips they shared: use as much natural light as possible, use foam boards and wrapping paper as back drops, take tons of picture to get one amazing one, take a photography class. 

-I am excited because hubby is letting me get a DSLR with some tax refund money so hopefully you will be seeing some more amazing pictures on here very soon. I also want to take a class and get to know my camera and improve on my photography skills even more. 

 Lovin these beautiful colored threads from Pick your Plum and the cute ladies at U-create

Thank you!!!

The next class I went to was "What to expect the first year of blogging" given by the very creative sisters Natalie and Holly from My Sister's Suitcase. although I am past my first year of blogging I still thought they would have great tips for me and my blog, and of course they did. They are so successful and I look up to them so much. Some of my favorite tips they gave are:

-use link parties, feature sites, pinterest and facebook to get your blog out there and noticed
-I loved this tip: Tag companies in facebook posts of products you use in your products. I am going to try this. They said they did this and then the companies contact them and want them to do more posts for them with their products. So smart
-"Your never too small to have a good idea" I loved this because sometimes I feel too small for people to care but this gave me the confidence I needed to keep going
-Celebrate every milestone!

 During the lunch break I had a great time meeting and chatting with some amazing ladies. I was so so so excited when the adorable Jennie from Craft O Manic and Kelly from Dixie Dollar Deals said my name and started chatting with me. They knew my name?! eeek! They know my sister in Law Brooke from All things thrifty and were so fun to talk to and connect with. Oh my goodness they were so sweet. They are some of my blog idols. Little Holden just loved them and they couldn't get enough of him either. 

This is my cute friend Abby, she writes the blog Twist Me Pretty. I actually went to high school with Abby and we went to the same college but we didn't really know each other very well just of each other. Then we reconnected through facebook and blogging and it has been fun getting to know her. She is really sweet and very talented. She is amazing at hairstyles, she is fashionable, crafty and sings. She was attending the conference as well as taught a class on writing an ebook. She has written an ebook and has published a hard cover book. I hung out with her a bit at the conference and had lunch together. I am kicking myself for not getting a picture with her while we were hanging out.

After lunch I headed to the Photography class taught by Emilie from Photo by Emilie. She is an AMAZING photographer and she teaches classes. Like I said I am hoping to be getting a DSLR soon so I loved how this class was able to teach me some of the basics of the fancy cameras. Hopefully it will give me enough to get the ball rolling with my photography skills.

-I learned about using natural light as much as you can
-Top light it the less flattering so try to use side lighting such as a window or door opened
-The F-stop manages the light and bokah
-ISO manages light and grain

The last class I went to was taught by the sisters father Larry Adamson. He is super smart and is the founder of MyrecipeMagic. His background is many years of computers, financial advising, teaching and business. He talked about growing your blog and helping you make money. But using the correct SEO techniques, stacking your ads, getting a business license and using deductions on your taxes.

 At the end of the classes we all came back together for them to just do a little closing and to thank all of the sponsors and teachers who made it all possible.

This is the Adorable from Nikki from Chef in training and Elyse from Six sisters stuff. Love both of them.

After the conference I visited with the other bloggers for a bit and of course went and chatted with the sisters for a while. I have know Elyse since College. We met down at SUU and did Presidential Ambassadors together. She is a doll. Then I met Camille just at a few blogging get togethers. Love her too. I was so lucky to be able to chat with both of them again and to meet the equally as darling Kristen and Stephanie. They were so much fun to get to know. I didn't meet the two youngest Lauren or Kendra they were hiding somewhere :)

This is Kristen's beautiful baby girl and my little Holden. I got to hold her at the end while she was taking some pictures with some other bloggers. Isn't her hair just to die for. Holden just kept smiling at her. I think he has a thing for her :)

I had such an amazing time and I learned so much thank you to the Six Sisters to all the sponsors, the teachers and to everyone else who put this conference together and made it possible. It was fun to see other bloggers and to learn how to make mine better. I hope I am able to use the skills I learned. And I am excited to come again next year to the Build Your Blog Conference 2014. Thank you for making my first conference such a positive and fun experience. I am excited to go through all of the business cards I got and check out all your blogs and connect.

Sorry about all the cell phone pictures its all I had on me :)