The Conference Venue

I have attended several other conferences that were held at Walt Disney World, and this is the second one at Coronado Springs. This is my least favorite resort on Disney property for two reasons-size and dining options. The resort is huge and very spread out, it is built around a lake and this makes walking from your hotel room to the conference center a real pain. I’ve also never been impressed with The Pepper Market, the main restaurant at Coronado Springs and the menu at the Rix Lounge isn’t great either. There were 4 conferences, that I know of taking place at the Coronado Springs Convention Center while we were there. It was odd to be often crossing paths with other groups and the janitorial staff did not do a great job of keeping the restrooms clean and stocked.

The Conference Sessions

There was a good mix of sessions on a variety of topics to suit the needs of bloggers. While, as at any conference, the session quality varied-most were very good and it was refreshing o hear from speakers I had never heard from before. The top 3 sessions for me were:

1. The Hand-On SEO Workshop You’ve Always Wanted–@MattWallaert from Microsoft and @Momables. It was great to hear what a search engine wants from the search engine itself! The top 3 takeaways were:

• Visit webmaster tools (Google and Bing) monthly
• Search Engines hate photo collages-don’t include them in your post
• How to optimize WordPress SEO by Yoast

2. 30 Easy Changes to Make for GIANT Growth-Matt Cherry of @iblogmag. Top 3 takeaways:

• Your sidebar should be about YOU! Get rid of badges and ads.
• Utilize LinkedIn-make connections daily
• Just say “NO!” to short term gigs and $50 posts. (This will be a hard change for me)

3.  Affiliate Marketing Round Table with @TarynP This was a whirlwind of a Round Table and a great way to start off the conference. Top 3 Takeaways:

• Your first call to action needs to be in the first sentence of your post.
• Use the ad rotate plugin and put in your own affiliate links.
• Use exit pop-ups to gather email addresses.

An over arching theme was to start email newsletters for the subjects I write about. That will be something that I will introduce in the new year.

The Keynotes

We had 4 keynotes throughout the weekend and they were very varied and two were very good and two were very boring and lacked any takeaways. My favorite keynote was by Alberto Sardinas. He spoke about the power of our story. He also shared about how he, as a radio personality uses social media. It was inspiring on both personal and professional fronts. Kim Garst of Boom Social share with us “How to Build and Award Winning, Profitable Blog”. She gave us actionable steps and ways to move our blog forward.

The Activities

We had the opportunity to be a part of a different evening activity each night.

Thursday was a Sunset Safari and Dinner at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I have ridden the Kilimanjaro Safari ride countless times and never have I seen so few animals. My guess is that since we were the last safari of the day, most of the animals had been called in for the night. On the savanna we saw 1 Ankole Cattle and a few Wildebeest. There were no giraffe, impala or gazelle! We saw 1 elephant and none of the lions, hippos, rhinos, ostrich, zebras and other animals that are usually seen on safari. We ate dinner in the dining area of the Flame Tree Barbecue, but we didn’t eat Flame Tree Food We did enjoy a delicious buffet, music from a great DJ and a visit from Mickey and Minnie.

Friday night we boarded buses to take us to Universal Orlando to see Blue Man Group. This was my second time seeing this show. It is a lot of fun, but not one of those shows you need to see over and over again.

Saturday night the group went to SeaWorld Orlando for Halloween Spooktacular. Since I didn’t have any young children with me and I have been to the event a few times in the past, I spent the evening showing some Disney newbies around the Magic Kingdom until 2:00am! We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot!

The Expo and Friday Afternoon Activities

When the Niche Parent Conference 2014 agenda came our I was concerned that the Winter Wonderland Expo, the Chevy test drives and the Painting with a Twist activity were all scheduled at the same time. I had nothing to worry about. There were only 7 brands represented at the expo! One I already work with, 2-3 I’d like to work with and 3 that don’t fit with my blog at all.

I spent 2 hours painting an adorable goldfish with Painting with a Twist. Prior to this event, I had seen friends share their Painting with a Twist creations on Facebook but I had never done it myself. I had a blast! I can’t wait to do it again at my local studio.

After the painting activity my roommate Tomika and I headed out to test drive a 2015 Chevy. Unfortunately, I had left my driver’s license in my room so I rode with Tomika as she drove the 2015 Chevy Silverado. I must say, this truck had a smooth ride and a very comfortable and roomy interior.

Mom Maven’s Thoughts

All-in-all Niche Parent Conference was a wonderful experience. I went not knowing anyone who would be there and I made some great friends and I learned a lot. The weekend wasn’t perfect. Everyday ran way off schedule and that is one of the things that drives me crazy. I was there as a volunteer and I got to see some of the behind-the-scenes disorganization and lack of communication that happened on several levels. I hope to attend Niche Parent Conference next year, if it fits in my budget and schedule.

Thanks to all of the great sponsors and organize who made this weekend a success.

The post Niche Parent Conference 2014 Recap appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Blogs and Small Businesses

1. Online Sweepstakes sent 381 people over to enter my giveaways!
2. Contest Girl sent 146 people to my giveaways.
3. Tightwad in Utah sent 45 people to my giveaways. She only lists giveaways with less than 200 entries and my August giveaways had a lot more entries than that.
4. Revive Old Post sent 19 people my way. This is a WordPress plug-in I use to tweet out about older posts on my site that are still relevant today.
5. Infinite Sweeps sent 12 people to check out my giveaways. I’ve never heard of them before but someone listed my giveaways there!

Linkys that Send Traffic

1. A Bowlful of Lemons–One Project at a Time-Tuesday mornings.
2. Living Well Spending Less-Thrifty Thursdays
3. Someday Crafts-Whatever Goes Wednesdays
4. Turn It Up Tuesday–Monday nights 8pm ET
5. The Mommy Club-Wednesdays

The Biggies

1. Google- 4541 Gah! This keeps going down!!
2. Pinterest-1639 Too low.
3. Yahoo- 357 A little improvement.
4. Bing-283 A bit of improvement here too.
5. Facebook-277  Creeping back up, engagement is just so low here.

How was your August? I hope it was better than mine. Here’s looking to a great September!

The post August Top 5 Blog Traffic Referrers appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Blogs and Small Businesses

1. WholeMom listed my half bath giveaway on her site and sent 1,667 over to enter!
2. I had some big giveaways in July and Online-Sweepstakes sent 330 people over to check them out.
3. ContestGirl sent 85 people to my giveaways.
4. Twitterfeed sent 25 people my way. The exact same number as last month!
5. AllSheCooks included my Hassleback Potatoes recipe in her 52 weeks of No-Repeat Meal Plans and sent some traffic my way!

Linkys that bring Traffic

1. Turn it Up Tuesday-I am a co-host but I received a lot of traffic from the host’s page when my Using Linkys to Gain Readers, Followers, Friends and Fans post was featured as Best of the Best!
2. A Bowlful of Lemons-One Project at a Time-Tuesday mornings
3. Living Well Spending Less-Thrifty Thursday-Thursday mornings
4. Smart Schoolhouse-Whimsy Wednesday-Wednesday mornings
5. A Peek Into My Paradise-Happiness is Homemade-Sunday-Thursday

The Biggies

• Google-5,196 way down again
• Pinterest- 1,667 up a little from last month but stil way lower than normal
• Yahoo-319 up a few from last night but still too low
• Bing-249 virtually the same as last month
• Facebook-226 way down from last month and half of that was from mobile users.

StumbleUpon was way down too. My summer break is over and I am back at it full time so hopefully my numbers will be increasing as well!

The post July Top 5 Blog Traffic Referrers appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Blogs and Small Businesses

1. A Bowlful of Lemons I join her linky every Tuesday. In June, 82 people visited The Mom Maven from her site.
2. We have a tie! Online-Sweepstakes and Contest Girl each sent 77 people to my giveaways.
3. 33 people from the Thrifty Thursday linky at Living Well Spending Less.
4. WholeMom shared about my half bath giveaway on her blog and she sent 31 people over to enter.
5. My tribe-mates and I all use TwitterFeed to share each other’s feeds and 25 people stopped by thanks to those links.

The Biggies

• Google 5,540 way down
• Pinterest 1,048 way down
• Facebook 420 highest of the year by over 100 visits!
• Yahoo 304 down again
• Bing 247 down again

I have no idea what I am doing to make Facebook work but I’m not going to change what I am doing there. StumbleUpon traffic was up in June. How was your June? Let me know in the comments.

The post June Top 5 Traffic Referrers appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Blogs and Small Businesses

1. Online-Sweepstakes sent 392 people over to enter my giveaways in May!
2. Contest Girl sent 72 people to enter my giveaways.
3. Living Well Spending Less sent 38 visitors from her Thrifty Thursday linky.
4. Epic Mommy Adventures sent 24 people. I co-host the Turn It Up Tuesday linky with her!
5. A Bowlful of Lemons sent 21 people from her One Project at a Time Linky.

The Biggies

1. Google 6238 down again
2. Pinterest 2032 back up closer to where it should be.
3. Yahoo 315 down again
4. Facebook 287 2nd highest this year!!
5. Bing 231 down again

So search traffic was way down but referrals from Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and even G+ were up. Considering all the linkys I participate in, traffic from those aren’t what I’d hope they would be. I’m not going to stop though because new eyes are new eyes and hopefully some of them will subscribe and come back!

How was your May? Did you write a Top 5 post? Leave a link in the comments.

The post May Top 5 Blog Traffic Referrers appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Things to Think About BEFORE You Host a Linky Party

Do You Have Time?

Hosting a linky party takes time. Hosting a linky party isn’t like writing a regular blog post. You need to write the post in advance, share the post code with your co-hosts (if you have any), choose your features etc. You also need to visit as many of the posts that are linked up as possible and comment on the posts.

When Will You Host It?

What day and time will your linky go live? Can you commit to this day and time every week? IMHO linkys should go live early in the morning, NOT the night before. I have never understood a linky with the word Monday in its name going live at 8pm on Sunday night, that just irritates me. <rant over>

Co-Hosts?

Having co-hosts can be a pro and a con. If you have co-hosts please get the linky code to them at least 48 hours in advance so that they can schedule their posts. Also co-hosts can each be assigned a specific number of entries to comment on so that mare posts get visited. Having too many co-hosts can be a hassle for you and if you require your readers to follow all of the co-hosts they may just leave your site if there are more than 4-5 people to follow.

Theme?

Good linkys have a theme. Is your linky just for recipes? giveaways? healthy living posts? DIY? Crafts? Your theme can be anything goes or only one type of post-just make it clear in the rules and delete entries that don’t belong.

Branding?

Your linky needs a catchy name and a blog badge. Whether a link back is required or suggested is up to you but PLEASE make it easy for your readers to add your linky badge to their linky page. Remember from last week that Google doesn’t like all the links to the linkys at the bottom of the post so help your readers by having a 125×125 or 250×250 badge-nothing larger. Then use a widget generator to create the code. Use your button in the linky each week and have it on a “buttons” page or in your sidebar so you readers can find it.

This week I want you to think about the points I have listed and decide if you are ready to host a linky party. Next Thursday, come back for part 2 and I’ll walk you through the “How-Tos”. Make sure you are subscribed to The Mom Maven so you don’t miss any posts. If you have any specific questions you want answered please leave me a comment. I’m here to help!

The post How to Host a Linky Party Part 1 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Hi everyone! It’s Mother’s Day weekend! I’m super excited to see what everyone has been crafting and cooking in preparation. Really quickly before we get to the features and party, I’d like to let you know of an exciting blogger opportunity on A Conquered Mess. ACM will be turning one soon and I will be celebrating with a cash giveaway! The giveaway is now open for link registrations If you would like to be included please sign up here: Blogger Opp: Upcoming Cash Giveaway. So now that the announcement is out of the way, lets check out our features and get this party going!!

[Your Hosts]

Host	Host
Alma	Cathy
of A Conquered Mess	of A Peek Into My Paradise

Co Host	Co Host	Co Host
Dana	Cindy	V
of Chocolate and Sunshine	of The Mom Maven	of Sprout’s House

[The Features]

Gooey Chocolate Brownie
by Faithful Feat

Extra Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken
by The Seasoned Homemaker

Grilled Salmon with Spicy Pineapple-Citrus Sauce
by Learn From Yesterday, Live For Today

DIY Teacher Appreciation Gift
by Written Reality

DIY Wood Photography Background
by Sew Crafty Cat

[Spread the Word]

[The Hop]

[The Link Up]

[Don’t miss the party, sign up for a Friday Pin Fest e-mail reminder.]

The post Friday Pin Fest 30 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

How to Be a Good Linky User

1. Be organized
2. Be consistent
3. Be obedient
4. Be nice

I know those sound like directions we would give to our children but they really do apply to linkys.

Be Organized

You need to share different content each week on your linkys. I use the spreadsheet I found at TheCraftyBlogStalker. Of course, I have added and deleted linkys and instead of blog post names at the top, I put the URL so that I can easily copy and paste it from the spread sheet into the linky. Using the spread sheet, I stay organized and I know that I am sharing unique content with each linky each week.

Be Consistent

In my Time Management for Bloggers Part 1-Writing post I shared my daily schedule with you. My first hour of every morning, BEFORE email and FaceBook, I do my linkys. IF I have time in the evenings, I do any that I may have missed in the morning.

Be Obedient

Every linky has its own rules, read them and abide by them. If you don’t like a certain linky’s rules don’t join that linky. The host has made the rules for a specific reason so please abide by them. I have created a 3rd column in my spreadsheet for notes about specific rules for each linky.

I’m going to share some basic linky rules so you know what I am talking about.

• Follow the host(s) on social media.
• Add my linky badge to your site or link back some other way. **I have read several accounts of bloggers getting dinged by Google for having the “I am linking this post up to these link parties” followed but a ton of links at the bottom of every post because it comes across as spammy, and it is very time consuming.** Create a link party page, like I have, and list all the parties you join in one neat place. your readers can find it easily and you don’t get in trouble with Google.
• Only link up recipes.
• Don’t link up giveaways or Etsy stores

The rules aren’t usually hard to follow and a good host will delete links that don’t follow the rules.

Be Nice

Don’t link and run. I typically link 2 posts to each linky. Then I start at the bottom of the linky and scroll up to find at least 2 posts that interest me. Click on the links, read the post. Leave a comment and share that post on social media. Make sure you mark off your actions on your Printable Daily Social Media Checklist then move on to the next linky.

As long as you are linking well written posts with great photos you will begin to gain followers from corners of the web you didn’t even know existed.

In addition to linkys that you add posts to, there are a lot of linkys that help you directly gain followers to your social media accounts. My favorites can be found at TheUltimateLinky.com, A Peek Into My Paradise’s Social Media Mixer, and Barbie Bieber and Beyond’s Stumble Upon Party.

I hope these tips have helped you wrap your head around the use of linkys. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask!

The post Using Linkys to Gain Readers, Followers, Friends and Fans appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Blogs and Small Businesses

1. LivingWellSpeningLess.com sent 64 people my way. I take part in her Thrifty Thursday linky each week.
2. LuvABargain.com featured my Sweet & Salty Easter Treats in her Easter round-up and 49 people clicked through to check my recipe out.
3. Online-Sweepstakes dropped to number 3 this month only sending 31 people my way. I’m sure this is because my giveaway was for local people only.
4. SkipToMyLou.org sent 29 people to my site from her Made By You Monday linky.
5. Shabbynest.blogspot.com sent 26 people over from her Frugal Friday linky.

The Biggies

1. Google 6,597 (down)
2. Pinterest 1,433 (way down)
3. Yahoo 329 (down)
4. Bing 273 (down)
5. FaceBook 140 (way down)

I am very happy that my traffic from G+ tripled in April! StumbleUpon traffic was down a bit.

In case you missed them, I did a Time Management for Bloggers 4 part series. I hope you will find these posts helpful.

Time Management for Bloggers Part 1 Writing

Time Management for Bloggers Part 2 Social Media

Time Management for Bloggers Part 3 Household Responsibilities

Time Management for Bloggers Part 4 Family Time

I hope you had a great April!

The post April Top 5 Blog Traffic Referrers appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Lori made some awesome Buttery Garlic Herb Knots. If you are looking for a fancy lookin recipe this ones for you. It seems easy enough but is perfect for impressing family members for all those summer get togethers.

And your Co-host this week is Cindy from Mom Maven!

You can check her out at any of these links

Blog  | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Today she is sharing a post all about social media links with her Time Management for Bloggers series.

And for this weeks features we have some awesome stuff to choose from but decided to go with a bit of a random theme

1. First is Shanice, from City of Creative Dreams, sharing her Recycled Plastic Bag Decorative Pillows! And I know all of you have a stash of grocery bags that fall all over when you open the cabinet so start makin some pillows!

2. Next up is Elyse sharing her Etched Ceramic Mugs from her blog Artsyologist.

3. Mindi from My Love 2 Create is sharing a DIY tapered tray and Contact Paper Pots. Two projects in one, bonus!

4.Rachel, from Like A Saturday is sharing her super chic DIY Dessert Stand. I know you’ve always wanted one of these but never known it was so easy to make!

If you are one of our features PLEASE grab a button and share it on your blog!

<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.gracelangdon.blogspot.com" title="Kitchen Table Art"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L5eknem5XOc/UhbuocSnhWI/AAAAAAAAD5s/1AE84ATdRqQ/s128/MAKINGMONDAYFEATURE.jpg" alt="Kitchen Table Art" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
<p>

And don’t forget if you didn’t make it as a feature this week to check out the Pin board and to keep linking up, next week could be you!

<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://gracelangdon.blogspot.com/" title="Kitchen Table Art" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kp9MFsu6sRU/UhI3fYjHNAI/AAAAAAAAD2w/wenummLiQnM/s125/making%2520monday%2520button.jpg" alt="Kitchen Table Art" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
<p>

The post Making Monday Link Party appeared first on The Mom Maven.