FemCon13 Recap

Ok, better late than never, right?

I'm only 2 and a half weeks late on this!

#femcon13

So for those of you who don't know, I went to my very first blogger conference on October 26, 2013! I was nervous, excited, and really wasn't sure what to expect! It was the very first annual Femworking Small Business and Blogger Conference in Arlington, Virginia. I had a few hour hike North but not bad. Not like Haven Conference where I'd have to fly to Atlanta, Georgia, SNAP! where I'd have to fly to Salt Lake City, Utah or BlogHer all the way in San Jose, California!

The conference was kicked off by the keynote speaker, Jill Smokler of Scary Mommy. She is hilarious and down to earth. I hadn't actually heard of her blog (no babies = not big into mommy blogs) but I'll definitely recommend it to my friends with young children and babies. She brings a sense of reality and humor to being a parent. We even got a signed copy of her latest book, Motherhood Comes Naturally (And Other Vicious Lies)! 

We had a full day of speakers and discussions lined up. Everyone was bound to learn at least ONE thing per session. I say at least one thing but if anyone was like me, they learned a ton during each session! Pictured here is the Social Media Panel. Left to right it is Christen Green of Social Shop Media, Laura Harders from Beltway Bargain Mom, and Dawn McCaslin of The Crispy Sage. They gave us all sorts of great info! A few of my favorite points I wrote down were:

• Reciprocity - If you help out someone else, they'll help you out! The more I find AMAZING bloggers to network with, the more I realize how true this is! My advice, seek out and find small groups of like-bloggers that are in it to support each other. Start with specific networks/groups like DIY, real food, home improvement, etc. and also look for networks within your home state! If you can't find a good fit for you...start your own support group! 
• Write out goals for each social media platform (Number of followers, amount of scheduled posts, repins/retweets/shares, etc)
• The first 3 or 4 words of a post MUST catch your reader's attention. 
• Focus on one or two social media outlets and be great at them. 
• Have a presence in all social media forms.
• Get used to hashtags...they're here to stay and will help people find you. 

I'll be honest, I don't like that last one! I hate hashtags. Strongly dislike if you prefer. BUT, the panel stressed that in ever social media outlet, hashtags will help people find my blog. If I write a vegan cookie recipe and use #vegancookie on Pinterest, people searching for vegan cookies will find my pin! Guess I have to work on that! In the meantime I'll keep laughing at hashtags because it makes me think of this! 

We also had a business panel, marketing, monetizing/optimizing your blog, and a legal panel. Pictured her is 3 of the 4 (well, you can actually see Nicole Dash of Tiny Steps Mommy (one of the two lovely ladies who put on this conference) in the mirror on the left. Then from left to right it's Taya Dunn-Johnson of Just Another Day with MrsTDJ, Monica Sakala of Wired Momma and Maria Jose Ovalle of Very Busy Mama'. All these ladies were wonderful and relatable. No one sugar coats things around here! Some of my favorite points from this panel were:

• Listen to your voice.
• Trust your instincts.
• Get out of your box.
• No business is going to come to you and offer you money. You need to request it.
• Create a media kit.
• No one can tell your story but you. 

I couldn't find a good picture of all the speakers of the monetizing your blog session but here's some of what I took away from it:

• Have a good bio, photo and contact (e-mail address!) info easy to find and available. 
• Don't use a contact form.
• Create a media kit. Use it as your "brag' page (guess I need to get on this one...seems to be a big point!) 
• Have a self hosted blog (It's on my to-do list I promise!)
• Work with brands that work with you and your blog
• Treat your blog like a business. Because it is one!

Kelly Sanabria and Nicole Dash, the two lovely ladies who put on this amazing conference in only 3 months! We need some virtual applause, snaps and kudos to these ladies! 

After the conference I hooked up with these beautiful gals and we got dinner before coming back for the cocktail hour in the rooftop lounge of the hotel for a bit. From left to right it's Heidi from Life In Pink, Jess of Being Mrs. Beer, Britni of Play. Party. Pin., Megan of Picture This Photo Solutions, LLC. and me! 

Overall it was a great conference and a great experience!

Have you ever been to a conference? Who wants to pay my way to one of those other huge (and expensive) conferences in 2014? Anyone??

Till next time,
Catherine

Disclaimer: All photos (except the last four) were are from here and were used with permission. 

1st Blogiversary! Past, Present, and Future

One year ago today I wrote my very first blog post. Don't judge me. I didn't know anything about blogging at that point! 

You guys have been here through it all. Even when I tried to make bread for the first time and failed miserably.

And then when I got it right and made amazing bread!

It's been a long and wonderful road with a huge learning curve. But I really have enjoyed it all! Through joining blogging networks, connecting with other bloggers and even meeting a few of my fellow local bloggers! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started but now I couldn't even entertain the thought of quitting! 

I've now published a total of 211 posts! Wow. That's a lot of blogging! Here are some of the most popular/favorite posts. 

My MOST popular post was actually my husband's first post! His cardboard helmet tutorial got an astonishing 5,570 views! Halloween's coming up soon and this would be an awesome DIY costume for kids an adults alike. 

My second most popular post was my DIY pallet garden for under $20. It rounded out the year with 3,728 views which is still huge! 

The 3rd most popular post was my Magic Eraser toilet cleaner Pinterest fail and 4th popular was The Walking Dead workout! Is anyone as excited as I am that the next season is about to begin?!? 

My most popular Pinterest pin was the recipe for my homemade garden fresh salsa! 

Followed by my homemade no high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup! Both of which are so delicious that you'll never buy those things from the store ever again! So if you haven't pinned them yet, go for it! 

I'll wait. 

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click HERE! 

What Happily Ever Crafter post is YOUR favorite? You can choose from the ones above or the archives on the right sidebar. 

It's really neat to look at my most popular posts and realize they're all totally different! 

Our anniversary trip to Williamsburg, Virginia

And finally...drumroll please! My total pageviews for my very first year of blogging...

39,463!!!

For you seasoned bloggers that may seem like chump change but I am blown away! My very first month I had only 180 pageviews. I guess that's decent considering I didn't tell anyone that I started a blog!

Every month has shown exponential growth and it's so cool to watch! I owe it all to you guys for liking, commenting and sharing my blog! I can't forget my incredible blog networks either, you can check those out on my sidebar. 

The future of this blog is completely unknown. I have goals but I don't know where exactly this blog will take me. Here are some of those goals for the next year of blogging.

1. Reach 1,000 views a day.
2. Reach 1,000 likes on Facebook (currently at 391!)
3. Schedule Facebook posts ahead of time.
4. Get back to consistently posting (good content) up to 5 days a week.
5. Write those posts ahead of time and schedule them. AKA "Get with the times, Catherine."
6. Cook and craft more for better posts.
7. Try more things from Pinterest and share about it!
8. Earn a little money through the blog and buy my own domain name (plus make the blog beautiful and functional!)
9. Connect with YOU better and attend blogging conferences (like this one I'm attending on October 26th!)
10. Be open to constructive criticism and change. 

So here's to the first of many years of blogging! 

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the first post of the week and fill out my blogiversary poll! I want to get to know my lovely readers! 

Till next time,

Catherine

1st Blogiversary! Amazed and Confused

Wow it is incredible to think that it has been ONE YEAR since I began blogging! (Ok technically it's tomorrow.)

I never thought that my little blog would be where it is today. And I never thought I'd enjoy blogging as much as I do either!

Blogging has become this amazing journey of discovering my desire to write and share my thoughts with others, connect with people across the country (and world!) and learn more about myself in the process. It has inspired me to cook more, grow more, create more, adventure more, and overall live a better life.

Gracious, how did I even get here?

A drive to share my experiences with others and YOU.

The main thing that makes blogging incredible is YOU. My beautiful, sweet and smart readers! Ok and you fellas are handsome, caring and intelligent ;-) Can't leave out the guys!

Blogging would be pointless if it weren't for the readers. Whether you're simply looking for a delicious and healthy recipe or you're a die-hard blog reader or a blogger yourself, you're so important.

So to kick off my 1st blogiversary week, I want to say THANK YOU to my lovely readers and now, I want to learn a little more about you!

For fun I'll post my answers down below the poll! I look forward to reading your responses and I'll work on making fun graphs (did I just call graphs "fun"?) later in the week!

• I am in my 20s (25 to be precise).
• I am a lady.
• I am a veterinary receptionist.
• I rent a townhouse.
• I live in Virginia, USA.
• In my spare time I do all of the above except sing (I try, but fail) and shop.
• My life would not be complete without my spouse and my pets mostly.
• My least favorite social media site is a a 6-way tie. I like Facebook and that's about it.  Ok Pinterest is super addicting too.

Speaking of Facebook, have you "liked" my Facebook page yet? If not you can click HERE to do so!

You can also follow me on Pinterest HERE.

No question today, just fill out the poll if you have a moment, please and thank you!

Till next time,
Catherine

Happily Ever Crafter - Now on Bloglovin'!

Happily Ever Crafter is now officially on bloglovin'! 

I'm not sure what took me so long to join but I'm here now! Bloglovin' is such a great site to organize all the blogs that you follow and find new ones. There is even a button that says "Similar blogs" when you're looking at one blog so you can easily find new ones that are right up your ally!

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So click HERE to follow me on bloglovin'! 

If you haven't joined it yet, you definitely should if you're a blog reader like me. Also because Google Reader will be gone very soon. It even shows you which blog posts you have read and which ones still need to be read. It's awesome! I can't wait to find some awesome new blogs to read! Any suggestions? 

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And while I'm here I thought I'd remind you all that I've also got a Facebook page for my blog. Don't forget to head over there and LIKE my page! I don't post 100 times a day so don't worry, I won't be blowing up your news feed. I love to interact with my readers and share my latest blog posts with you all and Facebook is just the place for it.

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I recently turned my personal Pinterest page into a joint personal/blog Pinterest page. I pin all kinds of cool things from home decorating/organizational ideas, recipes, gardening tips, DIY crafts, funny and cute pictures, and more. Be sure to FOLLOW me on Pinterest! 

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And let's not forget good ol' fashioned e-mail! You can contact me with questions or comments or if you just want to chat at CatherinePageWood@gmail.com. You can also enter your e-mail address in the box on the right side of the page to subscribe to Happily Ever Crafter!

Thank you all for your love and support! 

How do you keep up with Happily Ever Crafter using social media? What other forms of social media (Twitter, Google+, Instagram, etc) would you like to see Happily Ever Crafter use? 

Till next time,

Catherine

10,000 Pageviews!

I have just reached 10,000 pageviews on my little corner of the internet!!!

It's so hard to believe! Who, me? Really??

I want to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you who is reading my blog! Whether you are a faithful reader each day (even through my mindless posts), or are someone just passing through, I appreciate every reader! Six months ago I never would have thought that my little blog, my words, my thoughts, my discoveries would have been viewed 10,000 times! It's incredible!

(source)

Now I know, 10,000 pageviews really isn't all that many when you compare it to blogs that get that many pageviews in a day, but for little ol' me...it's a big deal!

Just two months into my blog, I celebrated 1,000 pageviews and only 4 months after that, I'm celebrating 10,000!

So again, THANK YOU for your love and support. It means the world to me!!

I'll also pose the same question as I did at the end of the 1,000 pageview celebration.

What kind of things do you like to read about? Personal posts, recipes, crafts, Pinterest failures? Please comment and let me know what you'd like to see more of and what you'd like to see less of! Also, would you rather watch a tutorial video of a recipe/DIY project or scroll through pictures/text?

Till next time,

Catherine

Exciting Blog News!

Tomorrow marks the start of my very first blog giveaway!! 

I couldn't be more excited about this! 

I can't really give any other details away but be sure to come back tomorrow and enter the giveaway!!!

Is the anticipation killing you? It killed me to wait this long to share but it's worth it! Any guesses as to what I'm giving away?

Till next time,

Catherine

Wedding Blog Posts-Yay or Nay?

When I went through the amazing journey of being engaged and planning a wedding, there were so many times where I would think, "Man, I should write this down!" I used a lot of great books and resources for planning our dream wedding but there were plenty of instances where I just wanted real advice that made sense. Now that I'm into blogging and loving it, I wish more and more that I had started this blog ages ago when the real wedding planning began! Not to sound cocky, but I feel like I had/have so much advice to pass on to future brides! And especially for brides in the Richmond/Hanover area of Virginia.

I absolutely LOVED planning our wedding. Yes, at times it was a little stressful (fortunately I don't stress out that bad) but the majority of it was so fun! I had a blast DIYing some things and hunting for the best value and the best vendors I could. Oh and the bridal shows were tons of fun! Even now I get super excited when friends ask me any sort of wedding planning advice. I'm more than happy to help them out as much as I can! And now that I've dove into the ocean that is Pinterest, my wedding ideas are endless! Yeah...I didn't have the luxury of planning a Pinterest wedding! I didn't know anything about it until maybe a month before I got married!

Now I wonder, should I go back through my wedding planning binder and try to recreate it all? What do you think? Would you read wedding planning advice or send it on to friends who are getting married? Let me know, please!

Till next time,
Catherine

1000 Page Views!

Wow...I have had this blog for a little over 2 months now and I have just reached 1000 page views!!! I can hardly believe it!

Thank you SO much to everyone who has been reading my blog! I really had no idea how much I would enjoy this and how much of a response I would get. I know 1000 views may not seem like that  many to most bloggers but I feel like it's such a big deal! How cool would it be to have 1000 page views be an average day? Hey, a girl can dream, right?

I promise to continue to work hard on bringing you great blog posts that are fun and informative. I don't plan on giving this up anytime soon!

What kind of things do you like to read about? Personal posts, recipes, crafts, Pinterest failures? Please comment and let me know what you'd like to see more of and what you'd like to see less of! Also, would you rather watch a tutorial video of a recipe/DIY project or scroll through pictures/text?

Till next time,
Catherine