2024 Blogger Breakthrough Summit

Last week, I attended the all-virtual 2024 Blogger Breakthrough Summit. With more than fifty classes over five days, there was something for everyone, no matter their experience as a blogger. I've been blogging five days a week since 2011, but there is always so much more to learn. And the Blogger Breakthrough Summit was a great way to do it!

I ended up taking 24 classes. Most were outstanding and filled with helpful information. I took a ton of notes and am excited to start implementing new ideas. 

Branding

• Branding Beyond the Blog (Adeyinka Obisanya)
• Influential Strategies: How Design Impacts Your Conversions for Quality Content (Dan Rondeau)

Organization / Productivity

• Pomodoro Powerhouse: Consistency, Content Creation, and Creativity (Sage Grayson) 
• Taking Action in the Right Direction (Michelle Pontvert)

Accessibility

• Accessible Blogging: Writing For Every Reader (Ami Hook-Ireland)
• Creating an Accessible Experience as a Blogger (Erin Perkins)

Email and Social Media Marketing

• Repurposing Your Blog Content for Maximum Reach (Jeanette Spencer)
• 4 Simple Promotional Strategies to Get More Eyes on Your Blog Content (Sarah Jane Burt)
• Creating a Well-Rounded, Value-Driven Social Media Strategy (Ashley Mason)
• How to Write Great Emails, Even if You’re Not a Copywriter (Anna Crosby)
• Strategies for Growing Your Email List: Beyond Opt-ins and Landing Pages (Allea Grummert)
• Create Revenue Rewarding Quizzes (Jack Long)
• How to Level Up Your Blog Beyond Ads (Madison Wetherill)
• Email Marketing (Liz Wilcox)
• Marketing - Panel

Affiliate Marketing and Pitches

• The Dollars in Your Data: Maximizing Blog Revenue with Analytics (Sherry Smothermon–Short)
• The Art of the Pitch: How to Land Sponsorships as a Travel Blogger (Daniella Schoeman)
• Make Money Reviewing Products on Amazon (Liz Saunders)
• Unlock Affiliate Marketing (Alex Okell)
• How to Make a Ton of Money With Affiliate Marketing (Shelley Marmor)
• Blogging Income Diversification - Panel

Legal / Business

• Legal Disclaimers Every Blog Owner Needs To Know (Michelle Murphy)
• Understanding the Financial Gibberish in Your Business (Clarissa Wilson)
• Running a Blog as a Business - Panel

The two classes about accessibility were particularly valuable to me. Both were outstanding. Ami Hook-Ireland shared a really fun mnemonic as part of her presentation: 

 

Dat Goat Earl Means Chaos

DAT: Descriptive Alt Text

GOAT: Good, Obvious Anchor Text

EARL: Everyone Appreciates Readable Language

MEANS: Mighty Easy And No Squinting

CHAOS: Clear Headings And Organized Structure

My blog is fairly accessible, but one major place for improvement is the Alt Text. I'm guilty of relying on the file name fairly often. 

I also especially enjoyed the class about pitching as a travel blogger. It can be frustrating to hear no when I reach out to hotels, museums, tours, etc. (and even more frustrating not to hear anything at all), so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the average response rate for cold pitches via email is only 8.5%. Even from my start as a travel blogger, I've had a far better response than that. I picked up a few tips from this class, so I hope that will translate into even more yes responses in the future!

Always good advice, from Anna Crosby:

If I had to pick one class that was the most valuable for me, it would be the one from Sherry Smothermon–Short of Painless Blog Analytics. GA4 was overwhelming to me, but her simple walk-through made me finally get it. Hurray! 

I could go on and on about the many things I learned during this conference. I'm really glad I attended and will definitely be looking for it again in 2025.