Inspiring, overwhelming, humbling, invigorating, enlightening, stunning, and motivating; such a rush of seemingly discordant emotions percolated throughout hours of workshops and sessions during the 2018 WOWsummit. Bringing together bloggers from across the country for a 2-day celebration of this incredible online community, connecting screen names to real faces turned a potentially dry educational experience into a real-life reunion party. Beyond meeting and greeting, the main goal here was to share experiences, build stronger networks, and dispense invaluable advice.

With so much information to absorb packed into each discussion, you could easily fill a book after just one day on the expo floor. Condensing down some of the top tips that resonated with me, my notes are not all-inclusive nor definitive advice for guaranteed success, but bold reminders of how to step up my own game. There’s always more that can be done, whether you’re a complete novice or seasoned veteran, often with little extra effort needed. Want to know what resonated with me most? Here are the top tips that continue echoing through my brain…

Finding Your Voice and Personal Brand:

• Think about your values
• Speak from personal experience
• Understand your purpose, know what you have to offer
• Establish a mission based on your passion
• Never lose yourself in branding; a human face is what others can connect with
• Keep it real, not necessarily polished
• Check in with you audience to find out what’s important to them
• Numbers don’t tell the full story; quality over quantity always rules
• Be honest, vulnerable, relatable
• Have a focus, define your niche
• Don’t dilute your brand by partnering with companies that don’t fit with your perspective
• Define your own success; set goals, personally and professionally
• Be consistent
• Engage as much as possible
• Have a schedule
• Put yourself out there and reach out to brands you already support
• Network, create connections with other bloggers

Working with Brands:

• Make sure it’s a good fit; same audience, same perspective
• Pay attention to detail (no spelling errors, get names right)
• Do your research to know what they’ve done in the past
• Give examples of what you will post, link to past work
• Be clear about terms, goals
• Encourage ongoing relationship, ambassadorship
• Offer many options for collaborations
• Giveaways, Facebook chats/ask and expert/Twitter party/unboxing
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate
• Make real connections; talk on the phone, meet in person if possible. Make it personal.
• Stay in touch, follow up

To say that this is just a shallow overview would be generous. Anyone who’s attempted to blog for more than a day understands what a complex, crazy venture it is, which is why we’re all our greatest resources. What are your best practices for success? What keeps you blogging? Or, if you haven’t started, what’s stopping you from diving into the pool and joining the blogosphere? Come on, don’t just dip in a toe; jump head-first! There’s nothing to lose, and a whole community to gain.