This full-day conference includes educational seminars, meals, snacks, an incredible swag bag, stunning, professional free headshots, and amazing opportunities to network with bloggers and small business owners. You will also receive a signed copy of Scary Mommy Jill Smokler’s newest book, “Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies)” as part of your registration. Your registration also allows you to invite your clients and bloggers to our free after-party!
| 8 am – 8:45 am | Networking Continental Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:50 am – 9:45 am | Welcome - Kelley Sanabria, President and CEO of Femworking, LLC; Keynote Speaker - Jill Smokler, author and owner of Scary Mommy |
| 9:50 am – 10:35 am | Using Social Media (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to Grow Your Business and Blog – Ann Harris, Southern Social; Christen Green Social Shop Media, Dawn McCaslin, The Crispy Sage; Laura Harders, Beltway Bargain Mom |
| 10:40 – 11:10 am | Coffee Break and Vendor Time |
| 11:15 am – 12:05 pm | Business Panel – Alba M. Alemán, President and Co-founder of Citizant; Jamie Ratner, Founder of Certifikid, LLC; Jasmyn Price, Founder of Little Foxes Consulting; Katie Morton, The Monarch Company |
| 12:10 am – 12:45 pm | Marketing in a Digital Age - Holly Hamann, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Tap Influence |
| 12:50 pm – 1:15 pm | Connecting With Brands / Monetizing Your Blog - Christine Wilson and Tracey Harrington McCoy of MtoM Consulting |
| 1:15 pm – 2:20 pm | Networking Lunch and Vendor Time |
| 2:25 pm– 3:15 pm | Blogger Panel – Maria Jose Ovalle, Very Busy Mamá – Life Beauty & Style; Jessica McFadden, A Parent in Silver Spring/A Parent in America; Monica Sakala, Wired Momma; Nicole Dash, Tiny Steps Mommy |
| 3:20 pm – 4:05 pm | A Discussion on Legal and Tax Issues for Businesses and Bloggers – Rebecca Geller, The Geller Law Group; Somya Munjal, Youthful Savings |
| 4:10 pm – 4:40 pm | From Link Building to Guest Blogging: How to Optimize Your Business and Blog – Chad Hill, CEO and Co-Founder of HubShout |
| 4:40 pm – 5:00 pm | Meet “Scary Mommy” Book Signing Opportunity / Vendor Time |
| 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm | Free Reader & Client Appreciation Cocktail Party at Chesapeake Rooftop Lounge at Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Attendees are welcome to invite their readers and clients to this networking event. Must register separately in advance for this event. |
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What Should You Expect to Learn?
- how to know (for sure!) if you chose the right formation for your business (LLC, sole proprietership, corporation, etc)
- how to form an LLC
- whether or not to use services like Legal Zoom for your business
- if and how to trademark, and the costs associated with trademarking
- when client contracts are necessary and when you can skip them: do you need contracts for one-on-one one-time services? What about ongoing services? Could your clients potentially be injured while using your service?
- what kind of disclaimers to put on your website (industry-specific)
- when it’s okay to DIY a document (like photo releases or generic disclaimers) and when you need to invest in a professional
- what to look for in a small business lawyer and what to watch out for
- how to protect your written works (yes, we’ve heard horror stories about blogs and essays being stolen and used without permission
- ways to save money on taxes through smart legal and business planning
- easy, practical ways to protect yourself legally
- what titles you can use for yourself? CEO, president, founder
- if you need a separate bank account for your business
- software recommendations (quickbooks? freshbooks? outright? excel?)
- whether or not you need to report your taxes on a quarterly basis and how to estimate them
whether or not you need to report taxes if your business is not yet profitable - what counts as a business expense and how to make the most of tax deductions
- industry-specific tax deductions (Can I deduct the outfit I bought for this conference? What if I get my hair and nails done? Can I deduct my groceries if I’m a food blogger or vegan meal planning service? What about my kitchen supplies and my actual kitchen space, can I deduct kitchen space from my house?)
- how to find a good CPA or tax expert
common things new business owners overlook or miss that can cost them big - how to handle “gifts” – the free stuff given in exchange for giveaways or reviews
- the correct way to set up your business/tax structure
- why you need an EIN and if you should use your social security number instead
- how to handle multiple businesses (do you need separate EINs?)
- tips for avoiding the dreaded a-word (that means audit, people)
- do custom apps in Facebook to help drive conversions?
- what are your tips on engagement?
- how do you leverage LinkedIn? What about Google Plus?
- are you using hoot suite? Buffer? Bit.ly? Are they batching their posts or do they do them on the fly?
- how do you make sure to use hashtags effectively?
- how much time exactly does it take per week/per day to schedule and upload posts and how does this translates to sales?
- what is the balance between self-promotion and sharing other people’s articles/posts/advertisements?
- should you rotate between pictures, links and plain text?
- why do people link to their posts in the comments? Does it really make a difference?
- what are the best days and times to post on Face
- what’s the best way to partner with like-minded businesses to get them to send business my way in exchange for a percentage of the profits.
- how do you know which affiliate marketing program is worth your time?
- what percentage of your income should come from affiliate marketing versus other steams of income?
- why do some programs reject your application to become affiliate? Is size the only determining factor?
- at what point will brands want to work with me? Are there a certain number of page views or unique visits I should be trying to hit?
- how do brands feel about numbers versus engagement. Do they prefer to work with someone that has a huge following but is disengaged versus a smaller following that’s really engaged.
- how important are thinks like Klout scores?
- is there a right time to monetize? Can you do it too soon?
- how do they find their best, most authentic voice?
- how did they build their following?
- any tips on things to avoid or that they consider essential?
- do any of them run more than one blog successfully?
- what do you do to vet guest bloggers to make sure they are a good fit?
- how do they promote themselves?
- how do they woo big guests?
- how do they find blogs on which to guest?
- how essential is video to their success?
- vlogging versus blogging?
- how often do they blog and/or do they recommend blogging?
- tips for effective networking with other bloggers
- how do you come up with post ideas? If you write a post you’re really proud of, how do you promote it?
- Do you recommend interacting with each person that comments on your blog? If so, then growth becomes really big and hundreds of comments are left, would it be ok for the blogger to tapper back on responses? Should it be all or none in regards to interaction?
- How do you find a virtual assistant to help with posts and social media without having it dilute your brand or confuse your readers? What are some tips for finding VAs?
- What is the best way to pay for giveaways or get sponsorship for them?
- what secrets have they learned along the way
- mistakes they learned from
- ways to network and grow
- what have been the best ways they’ve found to make a profit
- hiring tips and advice.
- how to find potential co-founders and people to join the team.
- how to agree on terms when taking on partners.
- How do you suggest new entrepreneurs deal with the high highs, lows and plateaus of owning a business?
- where did you get financing to start venturing -loans, financers, investors?
- when do you decide to give-up your stable source of income to make your venture your full-time job?
- does link building helping to drive traffic to my site?
- should you only advertise on Google or all the search engines?
- do you have to pay for ads to increase search rankings?
- should you allow people to guest blog on your site? Does this negatively impact search rankings?
- how about guest blogging on other people’s sites?
- when do you need to use no-follow links?
- what is the best strategy for a small business to improve search rankings?
- do small businesses really need a blog?
- how often should you update content on your site?
- do blogrolls or directory listings really help with rankings?