This year’s BritMums Live at The Brewery, London, was another epic event. Great speakers, informative sessions and an amazing chance to meet and chat to other bloggers. The only problem was, I was missing a crucial part of my get up. No, not my heels, I managed to squeeze them on. I also remembered my notepad, business cards, Oyster card and my keys. No, what I was missing was my VOICE!
The morning of the conference, I woke up sounding like Bet Lynch. Not ideal on the day of the biggest blogging events of the year. So, on the down side, I didn’t get to chat in detail to as many people as I would have liked to and those who I did, please be reassured that I don’t usually sound like I’ve swallowed a pack of fags and smell of fisherman’s friends – honestly!
I also didn’t get to take advantage of the seemingly free flowing wine and had to sneak off after the awards so missed out on a boozy dinner. But, the frustrating issue of having no voice (and the second day it was barely worth me opening my mouth), did mean I focused on the learning. I diligently took notes and I learnt lots – way more than 5 things but here’s just a taster.
1. Pinterest Is King
What have I been doing with this platform? Well, not a lot! Many bloggers get the most traffic from Pinterest- who knew? Not me. I was merely dabbling in it to collate ideas and dream travel destinations. Now, I have some ideas and tools to actually start using it probably!! I’ve started by registering as a business account. Check me out here – and maybe follow me or repin some of my pins! Go on, you know you want to…
2. YouTube
There seems to be more of an appetite  for parenting videos on YouTube.  It is something I’ve been looking at doing for a while. Thanks to the lovely Marco Danesi from YouTube, I now have a better idea what I need to do to set it up. Watch this space!!
3. Stay UniqueÂ
At the heart of most blogs is just one voice, one unique voice, and this is what makes each blog different. With that, it is important to stay authentic. This is something Ella Woodward from Deliciously Ella spoke about in her keynote speech. Hearing her talk made me realise why she has done so well. Ella came across as being incredibly down to earth and (to use a Louis Walsh phrase) very likeable. I came away with an even better understanding as to why her blog is so popular. Not only does it have great content (I love her recipes) but her warm persona shines through as well.
4. Meeting People!
Although I didn’t get to chat to as many people as I would have liked, it to was fantastic to put some faces to names, including those who run all the fab linkys I take part in. It was particularly fab to hang out with some fellow travel bloggers and swap travel tales – including these ladies – Ting from My Travel Monkey and Cathy at Mummy Travels.
5. Record Breaker
Yes, it IS possible to wrap a person in a roll of toilet paper in 3 minutes AND break a record. We are now the (very proud) title bearers of the Guinness World Record for the most ‘mummies’ wrapped in three minutes.  It’s true! I have the medal to prove it! It was a great icebreaker and a big thanks to Hannah from Budding Smiles for being our mummy and the rest of my wrapping team, Vicki (Honest Mum) and Niki at Play & Learn Everyday for making sure our Mummy passed with flying colours – there are definitely no gaps here….
Those are just 5 things that I learnt from the sessions at BritMums Live. Thank you so much to those who ran the sessions and passed on their knowledge and expertise. It was great to meet so many of fab bloggers. So, until the next time….I’ll see you online.
What did you learn from BritMums Live? What was your favourite bit? As ever, I would love to get your thoughts, just comment below.Â
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It was so lovely to meet you too – sooo much good advice to implement too!
Cathy (MummyTravels) recently posted…10 ways you know you’re travelling with kids
I know! Its going to take a while to work through it all. Look forward to seeing you next week
Ahh, love this. You didn’t sound like Bet Lynch at all!! But I do hope you’re feeling better now. It was so, so lovely hanging out with you. I really enjoyed it – to me that was the best bit! xxxx
Ting at My Travel Monkey recently posted…Urban Monkey Guide: British Summer Time Family Day at Hyde Park
I’m getting there Ting but it’s a particularly nasty one. Really fab to hang – defo the best bit xx
Love your Mummy photos. I videoed a few clips so suspect I was slightly negligent about the actual Mummy wrapping!
I enjoyed making and reinforcing relationships with more travel blogger friends too.
I’ve already been on YouTube for a while but picked up the odd handy tip from Marco even so!
Practically Perfect Mums recently posted…THE SOUND OF MUSIC Family Review
Haha! I mid way through thinking ‘we should be recording this’ so at least someone did!! It’s such a great event for meeting people. Xx
I wish I had gone to the Pinterest session! I love it but not sure how to use for my blog so I will be having a little research now 🙂 #bigfatlinky xx
Something Crunchy Mummy recently posted…My BritMums Live 2015 round up and (loads) of pictures
It was really good actually. Seems like it’s an important tool. Aby at you baby me mummy summarised it really well in a recent post. Xx
Looks like you had a great time! #BigFatLinky
It was a fantastic event. x
I’m gutted that I didn’t go to BritMumsLive but really hope to be able to go next year. Sounds like a fab event (even without a voice). I agree about staying authentic and ‘true to yourself’ is key to a good blog. I think it’s far too easy to see through fake voices nowadays! 🙂 #bigfatlinky
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Yes, you are probably right. Defo come next year! It’s a great event. x
More than anything, BritMums Live has taught me that I have nothing to be scared of when it comes to blogging events like this. As a huge introvert, I was terrified coming in and yet I was made to feel so welcome by so many people that it felt like I was properly part of this one big family.
It was lovely to meet you. Unusually for me, it was the social side of things that really made my weekend. I’ve been smiling ever since at the thought of our world record too.
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I would never had thought you were an introvert Tim. Fab to meet you too. Our world record was just the cherry on top! x
It was so good to meet you. Fab event wasn’t it?! Hope to see you next year 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to #TheList x
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It was brilliant! Great to meet you too! I’ll be there next year! Xx
Now I understand what the mummy tissue wrapping at BritMums Live was about! Why should one’s pinterest account be a business account as opposed to a personal account? #TheList
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Haha – the toilet paper DID have a purpose. So, if it’s a ‘business account’ (which is super easy to do). It verifies your website and you can keep track of stats too after popping a code in your site. It also means you can get ‘rich pins’ – I’ve still got to do that but they make your pins look better. Hope that makes sense. Xx
Was great wasn’t it! I didn’t get any photos of all of the mummies so great so see some here! x
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It was brill! I was at the front and looked around after our mummy had been checked to see the strangest sight!!
I really wanted to do the Pinterest session but I had to miss it because of other commitments – sounds like you had a fab time there even if you were a bit ill. Shame I missed you, would have been lovely to have a chat 🙂
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Yes, it would have been lovely to see you too. Hope you had fun. The Pinterest session was really interesting Xx
I live these posts but finding them so frustrating because there were so many people that I wanted to say hi to but never got a chance!! Great post and maybe we can say hi next year! Thanks for linking up with us on the #bigfatlinky hope to see you there this week
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I know! Same!! There’s just too many people and not enough time. Such a shame I missed you. Hope you had again time. X