Have you ever poured so much water into a glass that it overflowed? Well, that glass is me. It’s how I’ve been 
feeling since Blog Paws 2010 ended–filled to overflowing with great information, good vibes, and new friends.
Trying to capture all that happened is simply impossible. This is due, in very small part, to the fact that I couldn’t be everywhere all of the time. (I hate that). More to the point, I don’t remember the last time I experienced such an amazing ‘contact high’ just from being in the presense of people who time after time called to my better angels.
There’s no question that I, like many others, were anxious to learn alchemical secrets for transmuting our blogs into gold, or maybe a book. And, many informative presentations dealt with exactly this. (You can visit Dogtipper.com for a collections of blog posts about the the conference.)
But, the thing that is lingering longer and deeper for me is the contagious good will, generosity, and okay, I’ll say it, the LOVE, that infused the conference. To me, all that joy is best expressed in the video, “Be the Change,” by Lynn Haigh, aka @frugaldougal, of pawpawty.com. Most of you have probably watched it over and over. I have. (I tear up every time.) But, just in case you haven’t seen it or want to listen again to the terrific sound track by Glee, click here.
Okay, let’s come back to what else I took away from Blog Paws. Here are the first five things—themes, mostly—that came to mind without looking at my notes when Sadie asked me, “Mom, what did you learn at Blog Paws?”
1. Bloggers can be the change!
Dr. V (Jessica Vogelsang, DVM) aka @pawcurious, set the bar extremely high when she accepted an challenge from Caroline Golon (RomeotheCat.com) to blog for 24 hours straight to raise money for animal shelters. Then Anthony of k9cuisine.com challenged her to taste-test dog food and she did! Read about it here. Apparently she passed on the unagi and seaweed. Can you blame her? (Dr. V’s achievement is highlighted in the “Be the Change” video.)
I don’t know about you, but I’m not up to big-league 24-hour blogathons just yet. But, I am going to participate with other bloggers on Friday, April 16, in the “Be the Change” blog pawty to raise funds for Pets without Parents in Columbus, Ohio. You can read all about it in Friday’s post. To find out what other anipals are doing search #bethechange on Twitter.
Of course, there are lots of other ways to use your blog to do good. You can simply write informative posts. You can highlight a hard-to-place dog or cat at one of your local shelters once a month, or week, or day. The list goes on. You get the idea.
2. Blog post titles should be no longer than 65 characters.
Okay. This isn’t a theme. I heard it said only once and that was during the “Tips, Tricks & Habits for Successful Search Engine Optimization” panel. (I’m sorry. I forget who said it 🙁 ) But, I think it’s important. Less is more.
3. Tell stories.
Blogging at its best is storytelling. Every critter, every person, dog, and cat has a story. Tell it. And, as Dr. Larry McDaniel said in his keynote talk Saturday afternoon, don’t just write about the dry details of, say, a medical procedure, or dog training, or a new cat food. So, for example, don’t just tell us about the mechanics of clicker training. Tell us about Sandy, the pit bull mix, and how his foster mom used a clicker and positive reinforcement to undo his fear of people and transform him into an exemplary therapy dog at the local hospital. Be sure to include a picture of Sandy working his magic with Sam, the bedridden cancer patient.
4. Meta tags don’t matter.
You’re right. This isn’t a theme either. But, this little gem, also revealed during the “Tips, Tricks & Habits for Successful Search Engine Optimization” by Stephen Spencer of Covario, caught my ear. Why? Because I almost paid a web consultant lots of money to make my blog more noticeable to Google and other search engines by, among other things, identifying meta-tags! I never could wrap my paws around the concept of meta-tags and now I don’t have to bother. Apparently search engines seek out meta-tags about as much as Sadie sniffs out never-been-used tupperware. Tags and categories? You gotta have those. Meta-tags? Not so much.
5. Blog with integrity.
Be honest and transparent. Don’t be a shill for products or sponsors. Ever. Go ahead and review products, run contests, and blog for charities. Just put all your cards on the table and tell your truth. What a breath of fresh air. And, just about every speaker made this point. Makes me proud to be a blogger.
So in the spirit of tranparency, once again, my trip to BlogPaws 2010 was generously sponsored by Pedigree Adoption Drive for Dogs. The Pedigree Adoption Drive also has a huge Facebook fan page. For every new fan, Pedigree will donate a bowl of food to a shelter dog. If you want to become a fan click on this:
Great Post. Lots of good tips for every blogger to be aware of. I think it is so important to tell stories it is a way for your readers to connect with you and really follow your blog.
Felissa
http://www.twolittlecavaliers.blogspot.com
http://www.felissahadas.blogspot.com
Hi Felissa
I’m looking forward to your story about taking your girls to Hong Kong to live for a year.
I know just how you feel – that was an amazing conference! I was so bummed I had to miss the SEO panel (I was speaking on the book panel, which ran at the same time). I think the SEO panel and “Be the Change” were the go-to panels of the conference.
Darn. I really wanted to go to your panel! I heard lots of good feedback about it.
Yup, I’m there with Janiss — hey there, fellow panelist — glad to have been given the chance to talk but sorry to miss the other panels. So thanks for the SEO info, esp. about meta-tags, whatever they are.
Many thanks for sharing your experience at BlogPaws. And for the tip regarding meta tags…phew! I too “never could wrap my paws around the concept of meta-tags”. Will certainly become a Pedigree Facebook Fan…anything for a shelter dog…! Cheers!
Amazing post, Deborah! I love reading what other people took away from BlogPaws and comparing it with the notes/takeaways I had. Thank you for everything at the conference!
Hi Mark
Thank you for your kind words and please thank Pedigree for me for making this awesome experience possible for me.
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