Silicon Valley Moms Blog

I Left My BlogHer In San Francisco

BlogHer will be back. In the Bay Area, that is. Announced this morning, the BlogHer '08 Conference will be in San Francisco July 18-20 at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square, a wonderful conference venue. Silicon Valley Moms had a great presence in '06 in San Jose as well as in Chicago (with the Chicago Moms) in '07 so I have no doubt many of us will be there in SF. (See our reports from this year's conference.) On a personal note, BlogHer is a fantastic way to meet some really interesting women, and it's a very low key event - not at all intimidating like some other conferences can be. The speakers are excellent and everyone is friendly.

BlogHer '08 will include a 2-day conference followed by an Unconference the following day. For anyone coming from out of town or who wants to get a room anyway if you just want an excuse to get away from your kids for a couple of days, room reservations will open up November 26th. (BTW, the Argent Hotel in downtown SF is being turned into The Westin San Francisco Market Street, so there will be two within blocks of each other, but the one on Union Square is the hotel you want. Right across from Macy's.)

The Momosphere Talks Back

The blogosphere has been aflame this week with a lot of discussion on how to market to bloggers, women, and, most particularly, women of color. The catalyst for a lot of this was the "State of the Momosphere" panel at BlogHer07 last weekend. Stefania wrote about this on Kimchi Mamas earlier this week, Mocha Momma did a very pointed recap entitled "Marginalization & Marketing" on the 30th and Mom-101 wrote on the 31st. I encourage you to read them all--and the comments too. And when I got back to work, I wrote a piece from my point of view both as a blogger and as someone who works in the marketing world, which has collided in strange and interesting ways this week.  If you've written on this, know of a must-read post or have something to say after reading these pieces, please leave a comment below.  And let's keep talking about this, okay?

Do you have a personal theme song?

Day Two of the BlogHer 2007 conference provided participants with the opportunity to meet national leaders in health, personal finance and personal success. Thanks AOL and BlogHer!

Here are my recollections/reflections from the AOL hosted intimate luncheon I attended with world reknown author and AOL Life Coach, Gail Blanke. She recently wrote Between Trapezes and writes a monthly article in Real Simple magazine.. (which I love, BTW) The session focused on "How to create the life you want".

The group of 20 or so quickly introduced ourselves and why we were interested in the topic. From individuals looking for a new career, to women struggling to have it all, we all seemed to be looking for a magic bullet.

Gail explained that she named her book Between Trapezes, because swinging from one trapeze or life experience, be it a job or a marriage or into motherhood, to another trapezee, is where we are the most uncomfortable. However, it unlocks the greatest potential for growth and satisfaction.

As expected she was extremely dynamic and inspiring, here is the run down of what she advised:

• “How good can you make it?”
She said being able to answer this held the key to success. Basically, create a vision for what a great life will look like.
o Often it is not about information, but motivation.
o Create a vision that moves you and gets you out of bed
o She quoted Walt Disney who said, “Build the castle first, because that is where the magic happens.”

• It takes courage.
She was clear that courage comes with action – Courage can not be given to someone or it also can’t be taken away. It has been something inside us and we need to pinpoint times in our lives that we were courageous. Don’t wait for courage.
o Make a list of your defining moments. These are moments when you found something in yourself that you did not know you had in you. For example, occasions when you said, “Yes, I am/will” or “No, I am not/will not”.

• Letting go!
o Let go of the type of person you think you are not; specifically the self deprecating stuff, like the time you came up short, resentment and fear of failing. You simply can not fly between trapezes if you are weighted down by those negatives.
o Make a list of the things you are going to let go of – physical and then emotional.

• Your new mantra - Clarify who you are
Gail shared a story about a time when she was upset that she did not fit in at school. Coming home upset, her mother asked her, “Do you want to be like water?” Her mother explained that “Everyone likes water, but who wants to drink water when there is chocolate milk, soda, wine, etc.” You are your own flavor, so celebrate it.
o Practice saying and thinking “I’m (name) and I am the one who…”
o What is your brand essence? What makes your stand out?
o Then follow it by showing up that way.

• Put it into action.
o Create a Pyramid, with your achieved goal on top. Stand as if you have already done it.
o Write down the building blocks that helped you get there.

Her last bit of advice was to get a theme song theme song, something to amp you up and get you focused. Remind yourself how good you are. Life is hard and this can help you perservere.

Lately mine have been Joss Stone’s “Right to be Wrong” and Gwen Stefani’s “What are you waiting for?”

What is your theme song??

SheilaBD also posts at xiaolinmama.com.

More BlogHer 07 Pictures

Click here to see more Silicon Valley and Chicago Moms Blog pictures. Please share your BlogHer 07 pictures with us.

BlogHer 07 Live Blogging - Closing Keynote with Elizabeth Edwards

Listed below are live-blogging notes from the closing Keynote of BlogHer 07 conference, which was a one-on-one chat with Elizabeth Edwards. The Silicon Valley Moms Blog had the privilege of meeting with Elizabeth Edwards last October. To prepare for the meeting, many of us went out to buy her book "Saving Graces:  Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers" which we could not put down once we started reading it. We all felt lucky to have met with such an extraordinary woman, and I feel lucky to be able to hear her speak again. This time she will be discussing how blogging and social media has changed her life.

Because the information below is live-blogging, please excuse any errors or omissions (if there are any). For more liveblogging details, please click over to our post "Liveblogging Quotes for Elizabeth Edwards at BlogHer 07".

Elisa Camahort (BlogHer Co-Founder) welcomed fellow BlogHer Co-Founder Lisa Stone(LS) who interviewed Elizabeth Edwards (EE).

The whole group stood up with applause.

LS: Giving all the you have on your plate, why did choose to speak to us?

EE: As I travel around the country, there are probably people in this room that I have met with. The Blogosphere is the new town square were we go to share opinions and have discussions about things that are of interest. If I want to be heard and meet the people, I come to where they are.

If you are in a town where I am visiting, I want to meet with you. It is great to meet with so many of you at the same time.

Liveblogging Quotes for Elizabeth Edwards at BlogHer 07

Whatever your politics, join me in appreciating the grace and strength of character of Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards. She is the closing keynote here at Blogher 07 today. Quotes for the day:

On being attacked on the Internet and the media: "My experience of trolls; they don't go away if you ignore them. The same thing is true of Ann Coulter."

On stating her views, even when they differ from the campaign's: "No one's ever asked me to stop talking."

On Hillary Clinton and the Defense of Marriage Act: "She's in favor of repealing some of it. John and I are in favor of repealing all of it."

On universal healthcare: "The national will is there. But to pay for it we're going to have to raise taxes."

On Hillary Clinton: "If you say as a woman you should support me, then you should lead on the issues that are important to women."

On youth involvement in politics and community work: "I think one of the reasons young people are not involved is that they feel powerless, and that their voice will not be heard...I think it's part of the jobs of campaigns--wherever they are on the spectrum--to hand young people a megaphone."

On Iraq as a women's issue: "Iraq is a women's issue...I bet in 2004 I did not have a single event where a woman didn't cry in my arms for the loss of their child, or in fear for their child. I think if women were in charge there would be no more wars."

On the politics of war: "I was once at a fundraising event when the the audience was asked who among them had a relative who was serving in Iraq, and not one of the guests raised their hand--but all of the people who were serving raised their hands."

On the politics of media: "John has said that he does not want Rupert Murdoch to be the gatekeeper of the information that Americans receive."

More on Rupert Murdoch: "I don't agree with Rupert Murdoch. I agree with me all the time. But I still don't think I should be the sieve through which all information flows."

On where she gets her news: "I turn on the BBC. I don't want to hear 90 seconds on an issue. I want to hear it fully discussed."

On self-expression: "I think people dye their hair purple because they want to be noticed in a very crowded world."

On campaigning in Texas: "I'd like John to go to Texas and campaign against Rudy Giuliani."

On how her faith informs her political views: "I believe that we are given a set of guidelines and that we are obligated to live our lives with a view to those guidelines....not because of the promise of eternal life, but because it is right."

Anyone want to join me in nominating Mrs. Edwards as a write-in candidate for 2008?

Photo courtesy of Stefania Pomponi Butler at Citymama. And thanks to Robyn and Glennia for filling in a few quotes I missed.

This post also appears on my personal blog, The Family Room.

Liveblogging from Blogher 07: Book to Blog, and Back Again

I'm live-blogging this session for the benefit of my mom-blog-writer friends who I KNOW have a book in them--you know who you are. It's 10:15 on Saturday and I'm in a room with about 100 other women curious about how to turn their blogs into a book.

The panelists are Denise Wakeman, founding member of The Blog Squad, writer and editor Ariel Meadow Stallings, Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani and ICM literary agent Kate Lee. Kate represents a number of bloggers--she started out as an assistant trying to find clients, and through them, her niche. She began by contacting people she'd met online, and it spread virally at the beginning. She's looking for voice--unique and compelling voice. She's also looking for traffic, and, finally, ideas and concept--something fresh and new that hasn't been out there before.

So, how important is it to have a blog? Kate says "it's a no-brainer"--for marketing and for connecting directly with your audience. Most publishers want you to have a Web page so there are at least links to Amazon, B&N and Borders. Ariel and Gina talked about how having a blog has helped them market their books. Gina included the traffic stats, etc in the book proposal. Lifehacker is a Gawker Media blog, so Gina had the ability to build traffic that way. "So I wasn't touched by God. I was touched by Nick Denton."

She had a mention in the NYT the day her blog launched. Ariel's personal blog is Electrolicious, which inspired her first book Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides. Another question: if your work is posted on a blog, is it considered previously published for the book trade? No, but you might just run into a problem of whether there's new material that's not freely available online. Gina said that she did run into that issue with her book--her publisher wanted exclusive content, so it was a "delicate dance" to work it all out.

What about book tours? Ariel calls it an "ego-crumbling" experience, since no one goes to a reading unless they already know who you are. So she did many readings to eight people, "seven of whom were my friends, and the other one was some homeless guy who just wandered in." So Ariel ended up doing her readings...in bars. Her advice? "Have your antidepressants in your pocket."

To find an agent: go to Everyone Who's Anyone in Publishing. And if there's a book you like, look at the acknowledgements--they always thank their literary agent. Another bit of advice: find an inexperienced literary agent. The experienced ones are good, sure, but the new ones NEED your book to make their own career. And publishers love to publish experts. But not just by friends: according to Kate Lee, "You need to be an expert in the larger sphere...try to establish yourself elsewhere."

Final words from Ellen Gerstein, Director of Marketing at Wiley Press: "Look at some publishing industry blogs. There are some great agent blogs, some great puslisher blogs." And "break out of your echo chamber. Think really hard about how you're going to appeal to a broader audience."

Oh and you would expect that lifehacking goddess Gina would turn her personal experience into something practical we can all use: she wrote the definitive piece on turning your blog into a book. Check it out, and good luck!

This post also appears on my personal blog, The Family Room.

Liveblogging from Blogher: Health care questions for 2008 Election

This is in the questions for the 2008 elections for candidates... We were given a list of questions, we can add some and then we vote on our top three. The official name of the session is:

Earn Our Votes: What Questions Do Women Bloggers Want Candidates to Answer in Election 2008?

I'm just blogging the breakout session, which is on Health care. The other sessions were on environment, war in Iraq and economy.

New Questions - I summarized these myself, didn't copy them from the flip chart so I apologize if I didn't capture them completely.

1. Allocate funds fairly to people at all stages of life, address bureaucracy?
2. Mental Health parity - covering mental health drugs?
3. How to we give doctors back the right to decide what we need?
4. How can we talk about health care without making it a partisan issue, politicizing it? Lead us in a real debate without politicizing it, bringing science, not religion into it.
5. What is your health care plan? Not lead them with questions, just give plan overview and how would you fund it?
6. How do you fit in long-term disabilities (physical and mental) where the care is not going to lead to a fix? E.g. veterans
7. What, to them, is family-friendly health care policy?
8. Where is health care on your priority list? (e.g. compared to education, etc.)

There were a lot of great questions, and I'll try to provide a link later. The questions were just a smidgen biased, not surprising given a room full of mostly left-leaning female bloggers. We didn't have a long time to choose so I just picked fairly quickly. My choices were questions about: health insurance for all US children, stem cell research and preventative medicine.

There was a really great discussion and could not capture it all. The final three questions were:

1. Rationing care - we can't afford to give everyone everything they want, particularly end of life. How to we ration and allocate health care resources?
2. How to you intend to make sure everyone gets health insurance?
3. How to we get birth control universally supported worldwide? (will you support it being covered?)

And on a lighter note, themotherhood.com gave our cute little bags.

Cross-posted on my personal blog Not Just A Working Mom

BlogHer - Live Blogging! Ways To Make Money With -- OR "Monetize" -- Your Website

OK Ladies!  This is the one session that you all want to know about.  (Don't even try to deny it!).  I am here live blogging about ways to make money on your blog.  Stay Tuned!!! (just to state up front, I am SORRY if there are typo's, but this is live blogging!)  :)

OMG!  Stefania (aka. City Mama) is a speaker!  Go Stefania!

What is a professional blogger?  You could be hired and blog full time for a company.  You can be a consultant.  You could be a hobby blogger and turn it into a business.  Basically, you are getting paid for your writing/blogging.

The speakers are Arienna Schweber, Stefania Butler, Jody DeVere, Paula Neal Moon

What do some of these bloggers get paid? 

• Paula makes $1000 month.  Stefania was not comfortable sharing this information but here is what she did tell us: When Stefania started blogging, she got paid $5 a post (this was a few years ago).  Bloggers pay is still arbitrary.  It varies between sites.  Bloggers can and should negotiate their rates. Sites are willing to pay bloggers for their work - and the SHOULD pay bloggers.
• Ask Patty pays her employee (but again, did not disclose the exact pay).   
• Chloe (a 16 year old) makes $30 a day on Google Ads.  Arienna does make a six figure salary.

How do bloggers make money, without a large volume of readers? What other things should we know about blogging for money?

• Write about current events!  You need attract more vieweres.
• If you want people to click on your ads, you want those ads to blend in with your content.  You want it to have the same colors as the rest of the site. 
• Go around to other parenting sites and comment!  Write compelling content and the bigger sites will expose your writing! 
• Understand your viewers!  Talk to your viewers!  Find people that are like you, and see what they are doing.
• Tag!  Using Tags consistently.
• Images are important.  Name the images. 
• Set up a good string of categories. 
• Create a VIRAL post!  Make posts that are interesting and are TIMELY!
• Hosting on Typepad was important, because they make you "bigger then you".  It adds you to a much larger community. 

How do you get advertisers to place ads on  your blog:

• Google Adsense is free
• Stefania has text links ads on her blog.  She has advertisers contact her directly.
• The BlogHer Adnetwork is still taking blogs take ads.
• BlogAds.com, Federated Media,
• AskPatty.com does take ads, but NOT on her home page of the site.   She puts information about ad rates at the bottom of her site.

More information about advertising

• It is very important that ads blend with your site. 
• Get hooked in with new technology, like Twitter.
• PR Web is a great way tool to get a lot exposure to your site.  (social network/pr - syndicates press releases). The cost is $40 a release.  You .Will expose yourself to a much larger readership
• How else can you syndicate your content?  examples are Digg and Skirt.

How do you break in to being a "paid" bloggers.

• You don't necessarily need to be a blogger.  You need to be a GOOD writer and passion.  Respond fast!  Show PASSION!  Show Style?  Traffic on your personal blogs can be important, but not a "must". 
• Stefania suggests that if you want to write on a certain site, COMMENT on their posts, and make sure you leave your URL and email address. 

How do you find jobs?

• Ask to "guest blog" on different sites.
• Speak at local events.  Many people still do not now how to blog, and the "corporate" world are panicing about how to incorporate blogging to their business.
• Get paid accordingly!  Marketing departments are just starting to "get". blogging or want bloggers.

How do you figure out how much to charge per ad?  There was no clear answer on this one.  They didn't really answer the question.

Do the speakers take "pay per post".  Most do not.

Live from BlogHer: Earn our Votes!

This session (which does not have enough women in attendance) will focus on what women bloggers want candidates to answer in the 2008 US Presidential Election.  There were representatives from the John Edwards campaign and the Hillary Clinton campaign.  Where are the Republican candidate's representatives? BlogHer invited all the candidates, only two showed up.

Women voters are an electoral majority and represent the "swing" vote in every election. 

Women Who Vote: Who are We?

• 35% are moms
• 55% voted Democrat in the 2006 election
• 62% are married
• 53% are btwn 45-54 yrs

• Single women are powerful.  45% of women are unmarried in the US and they equate to 25% of the total electorate.  They consistently vote democratically.

Top Issues for Women

• #1 issue for women is  HealthCare.
• For men, it's illegal immigration. 
• Independent and Democratice women have similar concerns compared to Republicans.
• When women talk about immigration, they talk about the affects of illegal immigration in services, healthcare, public schools.

Will 2008 be the year of the woman president? 

• Overwhelmingly popular for democratic men and women while overwhelmingly unfavorable for republican men and women.
• Women can be the biggest source of support for women candidates.  When there are women candidates, more women get out to vote, volunteer in campaigns, and are generally more active.
• Will women vote based on policy or personality?

Interestingly enough, international issues, humanitarian assistance, and world-wide support have not registered on the polls.  Perhaps it's due to the Hurricane Katrina crisis and the lack of government assistance homeland? 

Raise of hands - Will you vote for a candidate just because of their gender?  The President of NOW stood up and said that they will vote for the candidate that is best FOR women.

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Links:

Emily's List

Women in Media and News

National Organization for Women

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For more live blogging from BlogHer check out my personal blog, Who's the Boss??