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There were definitely some goodies to be had at the BlogHer DC conference, like slippers, a cute little portable mouse for my laptop, and a laser pointer. But really these conferences are about knowledge and making connections.
If I had one big takeaway from theBlogHer DC conference, it was that authenticity is key. Authenticity and good content are the cornerstones for building a successful blog. Even when panelists had differing opinions on methods, techniques and formats, they all in some way advised bloggers to be true to themselves.
I thought about this when I overheard someone at the closing cocktail reception say that he was going to get his site all spruced up with bells and whistles. He reasoned that if it looked good people would come, even if he didn't put so much time into the content. Sure they'll come, but will they stay? And will they ever return?
At a bare minimum, a blogger needs to identify themselves somehow--with a picture, a graphic or a tagline--and give readers some method for contacting the blog's author.
You also need to spread the link love, meaning you gotta include hyperlinks to the cool stuff you mention and link to the cool bloggers you read. I definitely have to do more of the latter, but here is some of the former. I got great tips on some online tools to put method to my madness:
rescuetime.com--Analyzes your internet usage each day. You can set alarms to help you limit time on certain applications (Facebook!!).
yoono.com--Links you into your Twitter, Facebook and IM accounts on one page.
Zotero.org--This is a good tool for aggregating research, as their tagline says: 'research, not re-search.
digsby.com--A tool for organizing and aggregating your e-mail accounts and social networking applications.
springpadit.com--This set of online notebooks wants to help you get organized one project at a time. It's still in beta, so you have get a code, but look for it to launch.
alertbox.com--This usability guru's site isn't cute, but it doesn't have to be because he has the inside scoop.
Besides learning about these super-useful online tools, I also learned that the Chinese have a word for the first person to leave a comment on a blog/article and that people are having virtual baby/wedding showers where they present to stories to the guest of honor.
Who knew?
