Happy Blogversary to YYZ Bambina!

Today, my blog turns one. It's hard to believe how far it has come in a year (just like how, on Hannah's birthday, I will be in shock about how far she has come as a person and I've come as a Mom).

We've come a long way from my first post about being an uncomfortable 40 weeks pregnant and watching too much Dateline (Editor's Note: There can NEVER be enough Keith Morrison and Dateline).

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures in Mommyhood so far and will continue to read what I post.

I have made some AMAZING Mommy friends and Blogging friends (and some are BOTH at once) and feel so lucky to have such awesome folks in my life due to this blog and the not-so-tiny-anymore person who is the reason I started it.

Here's to the year ahead...

P.S. Do blogs get birthday cakes? :)

© 2013 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.

The Top 5 Things I Learned at ShesConnected 2012

As previously mentioned, last weekend I attended ShesConnected Conference, a two-day blogging conference in Toronto.

I met lots of awesome people - bloggers and brand representatives. And I'm still in awe of all the swag (favourites in my house - Hannah loved her Telus stuffed animal, I loved the gift certificate from Molson Canadian 67 and Chris really likes my "Baconista" tee from Maple Leaf Foods).

However, the most important reason I went to the conference was to LEARN how to be a better blogger (and in some cases, a more law-abiding one).

Without further ado, here is my top 5 things I learned at ShesConnected.

1. When uploading your posts to Facebook, use a picture. Pictures get more real estate in people's news feeds and Facebook users are more likely to interact (ie "Like") a picture than they are a status.
2. Brands follow bloggers on Twitter to check them out. Make sure your Twitter account is a true reflection of who you are. If you want to work with a brand, like them on Twitter and engage them - that should get you on their radar.
3. If you approach a brand (which was highly encouraged by many of the speakers and panelists), detail exactly what you want from them AND exactly what they will get for sponsoring you. Highlight uniqueness.
4. If your blog earns more than $10,000 a year the government wants to know about it. Bad news - ANYTHING you received for free to review is included in your annual income. Good news - anything you review which you purchased can be included as an expense. The speaker of this session was excellent, you can follower her @shoeboxbegone.
5. It is illegal to ask people pay to enter contests. The legal session definitely scared me the most, and I left with more questions than answers (we only had 45 minutes after all), but if you do giveaways on your blog I would definitely check out the Competition Bureau website to make sure your giveaways are legit.

Additionally, I learned that no one looks like their cartoon avatar. Glad Chris, Hannah and I aren't alone. :)

Did you attend ShesConnected? What did you learn if you did? If you haven't attended a blogging conference, what would you hope to get from it?

© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.