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Lyn Vicknair
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New Orleans

New Orleans Blogger Brunch, round two!

Saturday was the second Blogger Brunch get together (you can read about the first here).

This time, Megan hosted our group and we had a couple of new faces this time around. Megan was an amazing host, with waffle and omelets stations set up for us. Once everyone made their food of choice, the champagne and conversations started flowing. It felt like everyone is working on new projects! 

Two of the new people at the brunch were just getting started in blogging, so they were very interested in asking about how to get started and for any tips the rest of us may have. This lead us down a road of WordPress vs. Squarespace debate, lol. It felt like the overall concensus was pro-Squarespace (heck yeah).

As the brunch went on, some people had to leave early to go to other projects or work. The rest of us sat around and had the idea of evolving these brunches into mini-seminars in which we could teach each other things that we are experts on. Such as design, SEO, social media, etc. We are a pretty diverse group of bloggers, so we all have something to contribute. I think this will be an amazing step forward with this group.

Everyone still seems to be really into this group and the connections made through it. I hope it keeps going strong in the future!

In attendance we had:

Allen the Alligator New Orleans children's book release May 17 at Octavia Books /// GUEST POST

Allen-beignets

Allen the Alligator Counts Through New Orleans children's book release is 2 p.m. Sunday, May 17 at Octavia Books. Allen the Alligator Counts Through New Orleans is a New Orleans-set children's book written by Megan Braden-Perry and illustrated by Lyn Vicknair (Lazy Lady).
 

In addition to being sold at Octavia Books, Kickstarter-funded Allen the Alligator Counts Through New Orleans is available for purchase online direct from the author in print and from Amazon as an e-book.
 

AllenOysters

Check the hashtag #AlligatorNamedAllen to stay current on Allen the Alligator's latest adventures.

Megan Braden-Perry is a writer, food lover, wife, mother, blogger and now a children's book author. You can check out her blog here.

New Orleans Blogger Brunch

Saturday was the Blogger Brunch, a brain child between Missy (from Now Listen, Missy) and I, and it exceeded my personal expectations. 

BloggerBrunch

Missy and I had talked about that even if it was just the two of us, we'd still have fun and enjoy the opportunity to talk about blogging. Luckily, we had a pretty good turn out. It was small and intimate but I found that helpful as we all got to talk to each other as a group.

MISSY, JULIET, MALLORY AND LIANNA

MISSY, JULIET, MALLORY AND LIANNA

We had mimosas and coffee (option whiskey for the coffee), because we live in New Orleans and like to have alcohol for all social engagements. ;) The food, prepared by Missy's boyfriend, was delicious (and there were some other nibbles brought by myself and other bloggers). We all plated up and got the show on the road.

BloggerBrunch-yummy
mallory, megan, juliet, lianna and your's truly.

mallory, megan, juliet, lianna and your's truly.

We talked about sources of revenue and display ads versus affiliate links. We also touched on buying ads and if it is worth the cost. It was a good mix of veteran, middle of the road (like me), and pretty fresh in the game bloggers, which was really nice. Questions that the newer bloggers had were able to be answered by us middle bloggers and my questions were answered by the veterans. Mallory, of Miss Malaprop, was our blogging guru. Any question we had, she had a great answer and was very thorough with her explanations. I was worried, at the end, that we were scaring her off; because in the last hour or so of the brunch, we were all basically sitting around her, listening to her talk and asking her questions. Luckily, she is an amazing person who genuinely wants to help others and loved the experience.

BloggerBrunch-convos

One of the most interesting aspects of the brunch was discovering how diverse we are as bloggers. A couple of bloggers are using their platforms as a way to get their names out and promote their freelancing/non-day job professional pursuits; so their monetizing of their blogs is a very different strategy than say a blogger that wants to just earn extra/side income from it. We also had bloggers who do not monetize at all, but have in the past or are looking to go that way in the future.

me, showing off my blog planner and media kit. juliet knew i was bringing it and asked me to show it.

me, showing off my blog planner and media kit. juliet knew i was bringing it and asked me to show it.

We didn't just talk about revenue, though. We also talked about using social media, driving traffic, and SEO optimization. The amount of knowledge and experience at the brunch was a lot to take in. It really and truly felt like a mini blogger conference!

megan and her son showing off the advance copy of our book.

megan and her son showing off the advance copy of our book.

Megan brought her little man to the brunch, and he seemed excited to be there, too. I was super excited that Megan brought along a preview copy of the book we did together! I can't wait until they are finished printing!

As we were wrapping up, everyone really seemed excited that this little group exists and can't wait to get together again! It seems like Missy and I have stirred up a local community that is more than willing to help each other grow and support each other's endeavors. There were a few bloggers who were invited and couldn't attend, hopefully they will make it to the next brunch! And yes, there will be more of these in the future!

In attendance we had: