Top Ten Things To Take Away From The Fitbloggin ‘11 Conference: Part One

Posted: May 23, 2011 at 7:18 am

And just like that…the Fitbloggin’ conference ends. It seems a little surreal that it has now come and gone. Before sharing a final recap of the conference, I hoped to pass along things I took away from the conference which I believe had the most value. You know, besides numerous bags of Popchips, many Larabars, box of Fiber One cereal, New Balance sneakers, workout clothes, food scale, and plethora of coupons for free food. 😉

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Number One: Be yourself. I think every single panel discussion or conference session touched on the importance of simply being yourself as you blog. We all have such unique voices, experiences, insights, and strengths. We need to trust those and tap into those as our resources to accomplish anything as a blogger – no matter our blogging goals. You can’t reach an audience when you come across as fake or forced.

Number Two: It doesn’t hurt to ask…if you have a relationship. If you have a brand with whom you hope to work, would like to work with another blogger on something like a guest post, or hope to make a connection with other media, you must put yourself out there. Make certain you first build up relationships through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, community chats, or other platforms. Then, kindness and a previous relationship can go a long way in leading to a natural progression of other opportunities to join forces in the future. In blogging, we are a network. Go ahead and use it!

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The nifty Poken we received to pass along each other’s social media with a simple tap.

Number Three: Links Matter. The discussion Matt from The No Meat Athlete did on SEO impressed me so much. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can overwhelm many of us, myself included. He broke it down into a basic note – links matter. Below I listed a very few of the things he touched on. The Fitbloggin site has a full recap on his SEO tips.

  • The anchor text (text that makes up the link) is vital. For example, link to the words “running songs” over “my post”.
  • Have friends share links, tweets, etc to build up links to your site and SEO.
  • Have a highly visible offline appearance in order to get people searching your blog.
  • Focus the use of “keywords” in your title.
  • Focus links around keywords early on in your posts and then use as appropriate.
  • Most importantly - Make content awesome so people share it and link to it.

Number Four: It is not a competition. When chatting with the other bloggers in attendance, a common theme came up a lot in the beginning. Many of us felt a bit overwhelmed or nervous about meeting so many people. Would there be a certain level of judgment? Would there be any unwelcoming bloggers? I quickly learned that there is space for everyone at these conferences – no matter the size of your blog, your current level of fitness, or what you write about as your focus. The blogging world truly is a network where we share similar passions and interests. I felt that network in action this past weekend.

Number Five: Trampolines give a killer workout. Hey – we are discussing a fitness blogging conference! Out of all the loads of fitness activities from Friday morning, the trampoline class impressed me most. Dare I say even more than my beloved Cathe? Those things have my butt STILL sore! You would think bouncing around on something seemingly made for kids would come easy. Oh, no. I think this needs to become the new craze in gyms. Seriously. Thanks Jump Sport for the fun!

Well, I got a lot out of the conference and don’t want to skimp on passing these insights along to you all. So look for part two on this post later this afternoon!

  • What’s a workout you’ve done that was surprisingly hard?
  • Is it difficult for you to reach out and ask about certain things?

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47 Comments to “Top Ten Things To Take Away From The Fitbloggin ‘11 Conference: Part One”
  1. Thanks so much for sharing some tips! From all the tweets and recaps it sounds like it was an awesome weekend. I really hope to make it to one in the future! 🙂

  2. I am so glad you had a great time and it sounds like you got some great information too. Trampolines are fun, but really hard work! Ya gotta love a sneaky workout. I felt the same way about BlogHer. We all shared a common interest, but really we all have a niche so it’s like networking with co-workers, but competition. I hope you have a great week Tina!

  3. I love hearing everybody’s recaps! I always say “it never hurts to ask”!

  4. i definitely don’t like to look like i don’t know something, so asking for help is particularly difficult for me sometimes. and i can see how the trampoline workout would be hard! jumping is difficult!

  5. Thanks for sharing what you got out of Fitbloggin’.. so wished I could have been there. I hopet o be able to go to a conference at some point!
    I love trampoline work outs.. they are definitely tough!

  6. Great tips. I can’t wait to go to a conference like this some day.

  7. Thanks for sharing your insights; I enjoyed reading this. I’d love to go next year. (This year was my son’s high school graduation.)

  8. I’m glad you were able to sum up those presentations so well as I only went to a few and found myself completely overwhelmed. My greatest takeaway is to remember that at the end of the day all of the extra stuff that can make your blog more popular, look great exc. really doesn’t matter. If you write with passion and produce great content your blog will be successful.

    I’m so happy I got to meet you!

    • Tina says:

      Yep. I loved that message too. It really is so true. The passion is what matters most.

      And yet again – so happy we got to hang out!

  9. Great takeaway lessons. Thanks so much for sharing!

  10. I have actually chatted with Matt on the phone and he helped me a lot with the SEO HOWEVER I still don’t use it. I know it would give me more readers/links but once I’m done with a post, I don’t feel like going back to work on the SEO of it. Maybe someday but since I already have a full time job, there is only so much time I can devote. Like you said, as long as you have good content, people will come lol (it just might not be in the millions and I’m okay with that for now)

  11. jobo says:

    Some great takeaways! I like the SEO suggestions too, and they do make a difference, no matter if you really care about the stats or not (I fall somewhere in between, sure I like seeing lots of visits but I don’t base my post subjects on what will get the most visits, ya know?) I also think I need to try a trampoline workout!

    • Tina says:

      I am the same way. I want to utilize what I can easily add to help my blog…but I’m not going to fret over it. 😉

  12. Priyanka says:

    Great tips! I am shy by nature but if I have a question, I don’t hesitate to ask.

  13. Heather says:

    am I the only one never heard of Poken? totally cool!!!!
    I can’t wait for HLS now!!

  14. This is such a great way to recap your experience. Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. I feel like I learned so much about blogging itself this weekend, but I think #1 is always the most important 🙂

  15. I tend to try to figure out things for myself so sometimes I do have a hard time asking for help or advice — I know that is something I need to get over and not be so nervous about.

    I’m glad you had a great time at the conference!

  16. Jess says:

    Thank you so much for sharing these, great insight – I especially love the “it’s not a competition” point. what a great reminder, huh?

  17. The Yoga Meltdown by Jillian DVD is pretty darn hard, but I’m hoping I’ll get better at it soon! 🙂

    And these are such great tips! And those trampolines made me totally want to get one. Every time I see a recap with those I just want to go jump around, haha!

  18. I’m so glad you had such a fun and rewarding experience. The SEO tips are especially interesting–thanks for sharing!

  19. Thanks for sharing your experiences at Fitbloggin. Sounds like you got a lot out of the weekend.

  20. Kat @ Living Like the Kings says:

    This is such a great recap!! I’m not a ‘for blogger’ but I think these fit to any blogger who strives to build up their brand. Thank you for sharing.

  21. Great info…I can’t wait to hear about part 2 🙂

    I’m confused about the whole SEO thing too, but those tips are great!

  22. I am glad you brought up number four. I am a very competitive person, but I need to remind myself that if I be myself, then people who are supposed to be in my life will be and they will accept me!
    I am glad that you had an amazing time at the conference. It sounds wonderful!

  23. Sounds like a fantastic weekend, Tina! I’d love to get to this conference next year. Sounds like there was so much great information as well as plenty of FUN to be had! 🙂

  24. LauraJayne says:

    LOVE the SEO tips! I definitely need to know more of those! Can’t wait until part 2 of the conference recap!

  25. Fitbloggin seemed like such an amazing time. I need to get better at SEO. Looking forward to part 2!

  26. Mac says:

    I’ve never heard of Poken, but just out their site… totally crazy! I’m totally intrigued though!

  27. Heather says:

    What a great time – and I’m so glad we got to hang out!
    #4 is a great reminder!

  28. love the takeaway post! Off to read Matt’s preso now 🙂

  29. Sounds like a blast. I hope to go next year! Thanks for sharing the highlights for those who weren’t there 🙂

  30. Ela says:

    Sounds like it made a wonderful link between healthy hobby and professional obsession. I’d love to learn more about how to do all that: it seems like with just a little work and planning, we could make our blogs much more visible and powerful. Sounds good to me, so just need to get past the ‘but I don’t know how’ feeling.

    Love to hear more about the trampolines too!

  31. vivoir says:

    at the risk of completely making a shallow observation on what was an extremely valuable post…. HOW CUTE IS YOUR USB?!!!!!!!! lol xxx

  32. Hey Tina, thanks for the reply on my comment. It made my day! I really enjoyed this post since I’m new to blogging (besides my family blog). I just started my personal blog about a month ago, so I’m enjoying the learning process. I’ve also discovered a whole new world (fitness blogging) that I didn’t even know existed! It blows my mind. It’s fun to meet people like you with similar thoughts and interests as me, and learn from what all these other fitness bloggers have to say!

    Funny that you asked about a workout that was surprisingly hard for me because i just did one today. It was the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred on Level 2. It’s only 20 minutes, so I was surprised at how hard 20 minutes of exercise could be!

  33. Janelle says:

    So…I want to hear more about trampolines! I’m looking for a new exercise that won’t hurt my very fragile knees…?

  34. Monique says:

    Reading about all the events from everyone’s Twitters sounded like a blast!! 🙂 I’ve never been to a blogger conference before.

    • Tina says:

      This was my very first one and it was certainly a great time! I hope I get the chance to go to more in the future.

  35. Errign says:

    Some yoga classes I’ve been in have been surprisingly hard!

    It depends on what about, but there’s always a little fear going into something that’s awkward/uncomfortable to ask about or bring up.

  36. Thanks for sharing these great tips, Tina! I love the emphasis on community as opposed to competition. We can learn so much from each other. I just learned what SEO means. 😉

  37. Poken looks awesome! I want one!

  38. Brittany says:

    You are amazing 🙂 So glad to have met you! What a great recap! I’m working on being more authentic on my blog and being more real! <3

  39. Great post! Glad you liked the JumpSport Fitness Trampoline workout!

    • Tina says:

      It really was SUCH a great workout. My butt was sore for like 3 days after, which is cool in my book. 🙂

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