When I started writing this “What I Learned” post about my first blog conference, I quickly realized that I couldn’t possibly fit everything into one post without it being a gazillion words long. So I decided to split it up into two parts: the technical stuff and the not-so-technical stuff.

We had some pretty amazing speakers, and I learned something from each and every one of them. You may have even noticed some of the changes I’ve made on the blog lately, which are a direct result of the knowledge I gained at the conference. Here are the highlights.

Blair from The Fox and She blog and Blog Better By Leap was up first, and she did not disappoint. I think I wrote down just about everything she said.

Takeaways:

• There are a lot of new blog design trends going on right now, like sticky navigation bars and social icons and “read more” functions.
• You should add alt text to every image to make your blog images pop up in searches.
• You shouldn’t have more than 2 to 3 fonts on your blog.
• Pop up opt-ins are ok as long as they aren’t super annoying.

Blog conference attendees Rachel (from Stupid Good Rachel) and Beth (from Beth Cakes) shared a presentation on product photography. For me, this was incredibly helpful. I learned so much more about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and took home a few photography tricks.

Takeaways:

• If you aren’t totally comfortable with shooting in complete manual mode, you can use the Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority settings sort of like training wheels.
• Lighting in restaurants suck. But us bloggers just have to take a photo of that plate with our glass of rose. In a pinch, have a friend shine their flashlight app on their phone through a glass of water to create beautiful diffused light.
• Marble contact paper is the best way to make a photo background. Luckily, I had some left over from this DIY, so I’ve been using it for a few photos (like here, here, and here). You can definitely expect to see more of that from me!

Amy Northland is a fabulous CPA for creatives and freelancers, and I was so looking forward to meeting her. As an accountant, I thought I already knew a lot about how to take care of finances and taxes for my blog, but I was so wrong. I learned so much from Amy!

Takeaways:

• If, as a blogger, your expenses were greater than your revenues for 3 out of the past 5 years, blogging is considered a hobby. If the reverse is true, your blog is considered a business.
• There are some really helpful tax deductions for bloggers, including related meals and travel (hello, Charleston trip is deductible!!), your home office, and your cell phone (to the extent it is used for business).
• The free stuff you get for doing sponsored posts….yeah, that shiz is taxable. Womp womp.

Alison from ESPNW was not only informative, she was inspiring! She had some enlightening tips for marketing and advertising your blog and products, and her analogy for determining whether or not certain content is a fit for your blog was so unique. (More on that later….hint: it involves a bulls eye.)

Takeaways:

• Use your days. #mcm, #wcw, #tbt, #followfriday…they are popular for a reason. Plug in to that community and add to the conversation.
• It’s ok to branch out and expand on the topics you cover on your blogs. Just make sure to earn your credibility before making the stretch.

Natalie from ShopStyle also had some interesting insights, especially when it comes to how often you should blog and how you can increase your SEO and searchability (is that a word?).

Takeaways:

• Use keywords…everywhere. In your title, in the body of your post, in your photos, and in your URL.
• You can change the URL of your post to use those keywords while still keeping a catchy (but not very searchable) title.
• You should include links to your other posts, as well as links to other sites, in each post. Natalie recommends at least 10 per post.
• The most successful bloggers at least 3 times per week, but the real key is to be consistent.

Lastly, we had a panel with reps from Lilly Pulitzer, Kendra Scott, and The Real Real.

Takeaways:

• A media kit is important for working with brands, but they want to see more than just your raw numbers. They want to see conversion rates, like posts per week, comments per post, and views per post.
• Don’t just send a brand an email that says, “Hey, I want to work with you.” Send a specific idea about how you can collaborate.

So now you see why a full “What I Learned” post would be ridiculously long. I hope if you’re a blogger (and even if you’re not) that you learned a thing or two from this post. In my humble opinion, a huge part of blogging is about building community and passing the knowledge along.

You can find the first two recaps of the weekend here and here, and be sure to check back next week when I’ll be sharing a few more things I learned at SBScon!

Photos by Kim Graham Photography.