How to Recover from “Blogging Conference Overwhelm”

 

Ask any blogger who returns from a conference and they’re probably suffering from “Blogging Conference Overwhelm.” It’s not a solid medical condition.  In fact, I made it up. But hey, I’m rolling with it. You may recall earlier this month, I attended So Fab Con in Arkansas presented my Collective Bias social shopper agency.  While it was by far, the best blogging conference I’ve attended in the last four years, I came back overwhelmed. Personally and professionally.  Sit back and understand why bloggers feel this way after attending a conference. You may feel this way if you attend home schooling conferences, religious or business conferences. Plus, I’m sharing some action steps on how to treat “Blogging Conference Overwhelm.”

Blogging conferences offer those of us who spend hours everyday hunched over our laptops and smart phones, an opportunity to get away for a few days to meet our online friends  and brands we work with in real life! I had a blast in the photo booth with Sarah from HowIPinchAPenny.com. She also helped produce my vlog on the perks of driving to a blogging conference vs. flying. Mandi from ChewsyLovers.com was my “wing woman” on the 22 hour round trip drive from Georgia to Arkansas. Last and definitely not least, I met my “sister circle” of bloggers from PushingLovely.com who I talk to a gazillion times a day on Facebook and Twitter. Besides the social aspect of a blogging conference, the most important reason we go is to  find out the latest blogging trends and tips. Then go back home and implement them. At these concentrated events we learn about:

• growing your blog traffic
• building your online community across various social media profiles
• dominating Pinterest
• creating great YouTube content
• building relationships with brands

But you also return home after a few days away and start to think, “Where do I start?” That’s exactly how I feel after SoFabCon14, so I’m working on a plan of action that you can find helpful too after a blogging conference:

• Focus on one social media channel at a time. I can’t jump in and dominate every tool I have. But I can definitely step up in the areas where I am able to monetize my blog. Mommy Talk Show’s YouTube presence is good, but I want it to be outstanding. I want to host more Google+ hangouts with experts like the one I did last year with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. I’d also like to offer parents more video tutorials since one of my most-watched videos is on how to attach the net on the Little Tikes Basketball hoop.

• Ask for guest posts and contributors if you need a day or two to write a plan of action for what you’ve learned at a blogging conference.
• Hire a babysitter or set-up an extended play date so you can get work done. I found our sitter online and you can save 30% on a SitterCity.com membership to search for a sitter near you with the promo code: NOV30
• Do one thing really well. Believe me, I wish I was a craft or recipe blogger whose pins go viral with a gazillion and a half visits to my site in a day. But I’m not. What I am –  is a communicator and talk show host.
• Hire a virtual assistant. This has been on my to-do list forever. But the control freak in me has a hard time letting go to the tasks I do everyday for my blog. I’m working on it though!
• Take a moment and re-evaluate your blogging goals. I feel like I do this daily. Nothing helps you get clarity like taking a break and finding what genuinely drives you to blog or work or home school. Write your goals down

Talk to me in the comments!  Do you plan to attend any blogging or professional conferences this year? How do you prepare for them and recover when you get back home?