Tips and Teachings from Traverse 14

Traverse 14 Conference

Hurrah to the brilliant Traverse 14 Conference! As usual the weekend was fabulous, a mix of learning new things, meeting new people and rocking new dance moves, what more could you want from a conference?!

I definitely learnt a few things at this year’s Traverse that will hopefully make me a better blogger, business owner and all rounded person. Here are my top take aways…

Social Media for beginners by Monica from The Travel Hack

I was lucky enough to be Monica’s guinea pig as she practiced her talk on me on Friday night, meaning I got a bonus workshop all to myself 🙂 Monica shared loads of valuable advice, but here are a few key points that stuck in my mind.

• Social Media is all about engagement, don’t be selfish, share good content and people will likely share yours in return.
• NEVER tweet anything you haven’t read… let alone not actually clicking on the link, imagine the awkwardness if it is spam!
• Timed tweets are perfect for busy days. Monica wakes up and reads a few blogs and times tweets to go out throughout the day of interesting things she has read over breakfast. Great idea!

Going Freelance by Julie from A Lady in London

Julie wakes up at 8am EVERY day no matter what (well perhaps unless she has a 6am flight) and talked about how being freelance is all about discipline. She made lots of valuable points and tips for people considering the move from full time work to freelance life.

• Know yourself – if you aren’t very good at self discipline then you are going to have to work harder to make freelance work.
• Tracking your work, expenses, income, time is vital throughout your work, you won’t have a manager or colleagues to check up on you!
• Evaluate your successes – what has worked well and what hasn’t. Make sure you analyse the income, the time spent on projects and very importantly what you are enjoying the most.

Working with Brands by Ana from Mrs O Around the World

Mrs O had done loads of research with different brands she had worked with to see what they looked for from bloggers they wanted to work with. Here are a few key points I took away…

• Professionalism is Key! You need to understand their audience and what they are looking to get out of the partnership, it ISN’T just about you getting a free holiday.
• Remember they are watching your social media accounts, having arguments with other brands on Twitter will not look good.
• Your blog needs to look professional. Spend some money on getting a redesign if necessary.
• Make sure you have a media kit to hand when corresponding with brands, which should include your stats, your USP and any case studies of companies you have worked with in the past.

How Bloggers Should Approach Brands by MSC Cruises

As if I wasn’t greedy enough having an extra session with Monica, I also went to the lunchtime session with MSC Cruises who talked about working with brands from the brand’s perspective. They made some really good points, many of which match what Mrs O said.

• ‘Look at the partnership through their eyes’ – look at the problems and challenges they face through their eyes and think how you might be able to help them
• ‘Stand out from the crowd at rush hour’ – Why is your blog better, different, the one they want to work with? Do you have any specialist skills you could share with them? Including photography, twitter chats, etc.
• ‘Inspire confidence to close the deal’ – whoever you are dealing with will probably have to persuade someone else that you are the right choice. Make it easy for them with a detailed pitch, case studies of past successes and testimonials.

Publishing Projects by Kash from Budget Traveller 

Kash was as inspiring and motivating as ever, encouraging each of us to find our own unique publishing project. Here are some of his top tips.

• Have a really damn good idea!! Enough said.
• Collaborate with companies and other bloggers to create projects and get greater reach.
• Solve problems no one else sees, solve a puzzle, be different.

All the speakers taught me something new and I am determined to put their top tips into action! Watch me fly folks!

Top tips from Jen at She Gets Around AKA me 🙂

I had a fabulous weekend and feel I definitely made the most of the opportunities at this conference where maybe at other conference I have missed out. Here are a few top tips of my own for getting the most out of attending a conference.

• Don’t drink too much the night before… You want to be on your game for networking, listening and learning.
• Go crazy the night after! Ok so lets be honest, the social life is all part of the blogging networks, you guys rock my world and it wouldn’t be the same without the crazy dancing and silly evening twitter tags.

• Recover with a crazy outdoor activity. OK so this is a new one for me, I wasn’t feeling my best on Sunday morning, but a 30 mile bike ride with Saddle Skedaddle soon sorted me out.
• Make your business cards stand out. Why should people want to contact you again? Why will they remember you? Make sure you give them a reason, whether it is on your business card or from the conversations you have.
• Talk to new people. It is very easy (and a lot of fun) to spend the weekend catching up with all your best blogging buddies, but make sure you find time to chat to new people too. You never know what you might learn.
• Enter all the competitions! You might just win, I did!! Bring on Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Thanks Trek America

Thanks to Michael, Ruth, Paul and the rest of the Traverse 14 team for organising another successful event, now bring on BLOGSTOCK!!

I attended Traverse on behalf of Netflights. Thanks for helping me to enjoy a fabulous conference guys.

Traverse 14…