The first speaker I heard at Florida Blog Con was Katy Widrick, she explained why bloggers need a media kit and branding plan. She is the executive producer at Growing Bolder Media group and she has seen media kits that are good, ban and ugly. This is the first time I’ve considered the need for a media kit but now it is on my to do list.
The next speaker Jennette Scott explained how to make money blogging. This was a real eye opener. I tried setting up Google Ads on the blog last year and didn’t see a cent from it so I disabled the service. With Google ads, you make $1 for every thousand impressions. I never made a dollar. The turning point was when I started seeing Full Sail ads on AADW. I immediately dumped Google ads. Jennette explained affiliate marketing which is her primary way of making money from her blog. Any time someone clicks on a link on her blog, she makes money. I use links extensively so this feature seems a no brainer. She collaborates with IZEA which is an Orlando Internet marketing group that has celebrities market products using social media. Other ways Jennette makes money blogging include direct sponsorships, freelance gigs, paid content, and free items that she is given to write about. Amazingly she makes more money now than she ever did in her previous 9 to 5 job.
After lunch, Jason Headsetsdot.com, the founder of I wear your shirt spoke about “How to sell Yourself Without Selling Out”. He was hilarious. He started asking companies to pay him if he would wear their logo on a tee shirt for a day. Amazingly this turned out to be a very lucrative way to make money in the age of social media. Even his dog began wearing company logos and the dog became an instant Internet celebrity. Jason’s advice included…
1. Be different.
2. Build an audience.
3. Be interesting.
4. Under promise and over deliver.
5. Know what you control.
6. Find your niche. What is your style?
7. Build your list. Building an e-mail list of people interested in your site is important.
8. Create content and syndicate that content.
9. Sell that shit.
10. Be different and work hard. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.
11. Give people their crack, interact!
Jason actually sold his last name. He put out a Facebook invite for any company to buy his last name. The highest bidder was Headsets.com who paid him $30,000 for the rights and so Headsets.com is Jason’s last name. I have much to learn as I begin to monetize, and market Analog Artist Digital World in a brave new world.
Great sketch! I was ad I didn't make it to Jason's session. I wanted to go to all of them!