A Marvelous Weekend of Learning at #HLS13

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed I was quite busy this weekend. Two weddings back in Nebraska, a rehearsal dinner (on the night of the first wedding..a lot of driving that night) AND we celebrated my brother’s 21st birthday. I’m glad I wrote this post up last week since I am likely driving the 6-7 hour drive back home to the twin cities as you are reading this. I will be back Wednesday for a weekend recap of all my yummy eats, but check out what I learned while I was at the Healthy Living Summit a couple of weeks ago!
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I was pretty excited to attend the Healthy Living Summit because not only was I excited to hang out with my blends, eat good food, and snag some swag, I wanted to learn and get ideas to grow my blog. I was not disappointed.

Check out my other HLS recaps here:

What I Ate in Minneapolis at HLS13
Healthy Living Summit Un-Recap

I knew my schedule for the most part going into the weekend, but all I knew for Saturday’s sessions was that they went from 8am to 5pm. Thank goodness we got schedules when we arrived!

Original photo from HLS Facebook Page

I ended up staying in the same conference room the whole day (quite convenient). Let me give you a description of the sessions (quoted from the Healthy Living Summit 2013 website) and a peek into the notes I took during each one. (Also note that each title is linked to the website for more information AND the hashtags will take you to the twitter feed of each session. Yes, I do want to give you all of the information I possibly can if you were not able to attend the weekend. :))

Blogs in Transition: Embracing Your Blog

#HLS13BlogGrowth

Me and the roomies had front row seats!

My notes and questions to ask myself:

• Why am I blogging? What’s my endgame?
• Should I make a blogging schedule?
• There are a zillion tips on using WordPress, but none for Blogger, should I switch? For example, Feedily sounds awesome. I want it.
• I should make some kind of tutorial for Blogger since I’ve been using it for three years.

From Blog to Job: Utilizing Your Personal Blog to Elevate Your Career

#HLS13BlogtoJob

My notes:

• Put my eggs in lots of baskets.
• Don’t depend on eventually making lots of money from my blog. The percentage of those who actually do is small BUT I can use my blog to open other doors and opportunities!
• Share percentage of growth instead of actual numbers if your blog is still small.
• LLC talk:  (I had to ask why bloggers get LLCs and I learned a lot!)
• Bloggers get LLCs just in case they get sued. If you are sued for work on your blog and have an LLC, you can only have your blog earnings taken as opposed to everything/anything you own. This is important to consider if you own property.
• Make the LLC in your name if you are a freelance writer so that your employers can make checks out to your personal name.
• LLCs are also helpful when doing taxes. If your blog is making money, you must claim that on taxes.
• LLCs have different rules in each state, so talk to an accountant about this.
• Include relevant blogging experience on resume. Be proud of my blog!
• You never know who will stumble upon your blog!

Lights, Camera, Action: Learn to Love the Video Camera

#HLS13Video

My notes:

• Wear something that makes you feel comfortable.
• Have a format.
• 2-3 minutes max…people have short attention spans.
• Get a microphone.
• Make sure you check copyrights for music.
• Take video of food.
• Reminds viewers to subscribe.
• Make an intro for your videos on fiverr.com.

Using Your Platform For A Cause: Philanthropy and Blogging

#HLS13DoGood

 My notes and questions to ask myself:

• How do I choose who to work with? Match my passions with my skills.
• Many organizations need help with administrative work.
• Consider yourself an unofficial representative of the company.
• Don’t answer questions to which you don’t know the answer.
• When telling stories, respect confidentiality.

I got to meet Mary Uran, the co-founder of Girls on the Run Twin Cities. She inspired me to keep up my work raising funds for this wonderful organization.

Blogger and The Brand: A Best Practices Session for Building Relationships

#HLS13Brands

My notes and questions to myself:

• Be picky! Don’t try to work with every brand or you will end up being overwhelmed and have poor quality of reviews.
• Know your value to a brand.
• Why are you valuable?
• What is your time worth?
• What is your brand?
• What every brand wishes bloggers knew…
• Brag about yourself a bit.
• Tell them what you’d like.
• Reach out with ideas.
• Budgets are limited, but they are open to other ways of payment.
• Make it easy to say, “yes.”
• Don’t be afraid to say, “no” and/or refer friends who would be a better fit.
• What makes you unique?
• FTC guidelines for reviews such as “all opinions are mine.”
• Keep a wishlist of companies you want to work with.
• Have a media kit.

Kim, Emily and I being good bloggers. 🙂

I got to chat with some of the representatives from Applegate and Stoneyfield afterwards and am very excited to sample their products! Working at a cafe that uses mostly organic and a lot of grass-fed beef and the like, I am thinking about switching certain food items to organic and naturally raised animals and these companies give me that option.

I left the summit so inspired and filled to the brim with ideas that there are actually some big changes coming on the blog, but more on that later!

Questions:

Which of the sessions would you/did you attend? 

Can you answer any of the questions I asked myself in the notes for your own blog?

What is the highest number of weddings you’ve attended in one month? I think my number is only 3 or 4, but let me tell ya, two in one weekend takes it out of ya!

Linking up to the Healthy Diva!