At the end of next week I'm off to Chicago to attend the Annual BlogHer Conference taking place July 27-29th. My friend and associate blogger, Yvonne DiVita, will also be attending with me and is the one who introduced me to the BlogHer network. This will be my first conference totally devoted to blogging as well as one that is focused just on women. So, my main objective will be to both meet other women bloggers and to hear about trends in today's blogoshpere.
BlogHer is an online community "Where the Women Bloggers Are". It's mission is to create opportunities for women bloggers to pursue exposure, education and community. By having an online community as well as one that regularly meets in person at regional, local, special events, and through this annual conference, it enables women bloggers to form their own personal networks. Growing your blog is very much about making connections and building your network, so it seems to be a good fit for me at this time. Yvonne has built quite a network and I'm really excited about having the opportunity for her to introduce me to those that see knows as well as meet people in person that I've already met online.
BlogHer held a special Business Conference in New York City back in March which Yvonne did attend and one that I'm particularly interested in. Back then I was just getting my blog going and actually was in Chicago attending PMA's Annual Conference, so I couldn't be there. The business blogging network is where I fall into since the primary objective of my blog is tied back to my business, DDC Marketing Group.
The focus of Donna's Promo Talk is to share information and provide up to date news on interactive promotions, specifically sweepstakes, contests and games as well as social media and blogging. Since my business, DDC Marketing Group specializes in these services my objectives are to enhance my expertise in this area, raise awareness of my business, drive more traffic to my website and hopefully meet new clients. I believe the majority of the women bloggers who will be at the Chicago conference will be blogging for personal reasons. Some will also be into the business to sell products through their blog. So I hope to meet a mixture of all types as well as those with similar business objectives as mine.
Yvonne and her team at WME Blogs were instrumental in getting me and this blog started. In return I have agreed to help them incorporate promotions in their blogs. Last month I wrote a post about two of the promotions we started which you can read here. The first promotion was on the pet blog Yvonne writes for Purina called Scratchings & Sniffings. We started a Cute Cat Video Contest in order to try and gain some insight from the cat readers by asking them to submit a consumer-generated video. The submissions were very small and we're still trying to find out why. Was it because the blog is mostly read by dog lovers? Perhaps cat people don't have video cameras? Or was the prize just not a big enough incentive to warrant the effort? It was a cat book.
The second promotion is for Yvonne's own blog, Lip-sticking, Smart Marketing to Women Online, which we're now in our second month. In June the response was somewhat small, but it was a start. I did a random drawing and we awarded the sweepstakes prize. The July Sweepstakes offers the chance to win a book called
"Let's Not Call it Meditation" by a woman named PadMe who you can visit at her blog, Living With Awareness. Well she must have a very big network because as of today we already have 158 entries into the sweepstakes. This will give Yvonne insight into who is reading her blog and then be able to communicate with them directly whether she has a new announcement, special offer, or perhaps to get input from them on what they would like her to blog about.
So, you see you don't have to have a huge budget or have to build an entire website to do an online promotion. Small businesses and bloggers can do this very easily and inexpensively. Yvonne and I offered to be speakers at the BlogHer Conference, but we submitted our proposal too late. Actually the business BlogHer Conference which will take place again next March will probably be more appropriate for our topic which is titled "How to Get Results and Excitement Using Interactive Promotions on Your Blog". Showing these two promotion examples with their results was part of our plan. So, by the time we actually do make the presentation we hope to have many more examples.
I am now incorporating a Blog/Small Business Sweepstakes Administration package into my list of services from DDC Marketing Group. I believe the blogosphere will continue to grow and become more of an integral part of a company's marketing mix, whether that company is one or two people (such as Yvonne's and mine) or a corporation, like Purina. I promise to report back from Chicago on my BlogHer experiences and let you in on what's going on in the blogosphere, especially as it relates to us marketers.
By the way, guess which brand is one of the primary sponsors of BlogHer. Dove Ultimate Clear is offering BlogHer attendees an exclusive "Sleeveless Ready Kit" which includes their product as well as a sleeveless tee shirt. How cool is that? Also, we're invited to the Dove "Sleeveless Ready Cocktail Party" on Saturday night. Dove is donating $1 to the ME!the Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program for every sleeveless person in attendance. I guess I better pack some sleeveless tops! If anyone's planning on being in Chicago for BlogHer, please look for me!
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