24 October 2014
I awoke very late at 0845am in the morning. The TBEX Welcome and Opening Keynote with Rick Calvert, Jaume Marin and Chris Christensen was scheduled to start at 0915am but since I only slept at 0245am the previous night I was okay with attending just the last few minutes of that session.
Even though I had prepared a plan of which TBEX sessions to attend more than a month in advance (see my preparation post for TBEX Athens here), when it came to the day I made quite a few changes.
The first session that I attended was by Nash Vegas on “SEO for Bloggers”:
SEO for Bloggers in this beautiful hall at Megaron. Been waiting to hear from @studionashvegas #ThisIsAthens #TBex pic.twitter.com/ICb5UwPBV7
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Nash gave some great tips and insights:
SEO is changing. @studionashvegas is providing tips on how to have our content ranked better. SEO is about getting your content discovered
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
“Treat your pics as a business. Some will ask for your pics for free, don’t do that.” #tbex #thisisathens
— Roni Faida (@thetravelguru_) October 24, 2014
Pillars of SEO / CDO (content discovery optimization) – research, tech, content, promotion. @studionashvegas #TBEX
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Questions to ask from @studionashvegas – What words or phrases do people use to describe the “focus area” of your blog or website? #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Who makes up the largest, most relevant audience you could write content for? #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
What would people search for that your content, if they found you would make them a lifelong fan? Topics should be consistent #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Travel blog should have a number of category focus areas – easier to optimize for seo/cdo. Research helps #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Faster load times actually have an influence on your search engine rankings by Google @studionashvegas #TBEX I need to move of Afrihost!!
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Don’t have broken parts on your site. People will leave, your bounce rate goes up and Google penalises you. #tbex @studionashvegas
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Sign up with Google Webmaster Tools. Tells you what’s not indexed, if u have a virus, can submit a site map, etc. #tbex @studionashvegas
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
WordPress SEO,W3 Total Cache are good plugins for your site #tbex @studionashvegas
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Make sure your content solves a problem. If you answer someone’s question people may come back for more answers #tbex @studionashvegas
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Go back and tweak / edit old content. Use updated keywords within the context of the article #tbex @studionashvegas
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Places to use keywords in your articles #SEO #tbex Meta Decription on images – used by Google for search excerpt pic.twitter.com/fQjjhYxEJM
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Promotion: social is important! #tbex @studionashvegas pic.twitter.com/s35qRwowZU
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Guest blogging is a great way to build up your search rankings, and reach other peoples audiences. #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
The next session was on “Build a Better Blogging Brand: How a Unique Identity is Key to Blogging Success” by Bret Love (@GreenGlobalTrvl ):
Bret Love, @GreenGlobalTrvl speaks about How a Unique Identity is Key to Blogging Success #TBEX #ThisIsAthens
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Chasing traffic / social media followers may not be best thing for your blog. Branding is crucial, and builds your followers #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Many organisations surveyed they will work with bloggers more in near future, and word-of-mouth professional reputation matters #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Content quality, followed by professionalism and then brand alignment – what companies look for in bloggers they want to work with #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Many companies want to align with well-defined brand (incl. content, professionalism, and niche). #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Your brand is made up of a number of elements #tbex @greenglobaltravel pic.twitter.com/9UYC9kHuls
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Why do we need a brand identity? #Tbex pic.twitter.com/ciTUPQnSxv
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Ten ways to communicate your brand identity #tbex pic.twitter.com/8lNusm1tQA
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
What’s your blogs mission statement? #tbex pic.twitter.com/YP4SsnqeDC
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Your business name must be practical. It may be 20% creative 80% practical #tbex pic.twitter.com/sH0o7ztG85
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Your tagline is your 10 second elevator pitch. Be less than 10 words #tbex pic.twitter.com/YOsj8aY4s2
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Logo is the face of your business. #Tbex pic.twitter.com/J5ralphQ8a
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Your website design should align with your brand. Changes most frequently during the life of your business #tbex pic.twitter.com/sHdW57PNoW
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Content quality is a critical element in branding. It must reinforce your brand identity! #tbex pic.twitter.com/oF5hClaQNZ
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Social media tips for your brand. Social media is a great content curator and creator. #tbex @greenglobaltrvl pic.twitter.com/wKS7FEnHUh
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
PR outreach is awesome. Generates press trips, partnerships, etc. #tbex @greenglovaltrvl pic.twitter.com/Pk7wufbanE
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Send out your own press releases with major milestones to PR outlets. Define your brand in their minds #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Native Advertising – should be unobtrusiv, reinforce your brand #tbex pic.twitter.com/NnFuPcM2cy
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Freelance work reinforces your brand. Working for free is ok if it builds your brand #tbex pic.twitter.com/4dNZbSYFAX
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Great tip from @GreenGlobalTrvl … google companyname + press release to find PR people names #tbex #TBEXAthens pic.twitter.com/duv4NA31xT
— Venturists (@venturists) October 24, 2014
You don’t have to send press releases. You can send companies an introductory personal email. #tbex
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
I then attended the session on “So Much Content, So Little Time: Productivity Tips for Bloggers” by Tim Leffel:
Looking at productivity tips as a blogger. Prioritise! #tbex pic.twitter.com/uiY6eKk8pX
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Focus on what’s important. Forget the rest. Work smartly, outsource stuff others can do easier & cheaper #tbex pic.twitter.com/I0nZnP7Qag
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Productivity tip: invest money in yourself and business. Lots of people willing to work cheaply for you #tbex pic.twitter.com/1afwH7o1tt
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Productivity tip. Slay your dragons, find a balance #tbex pic.twitter.com/UZHdiEsyyO
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
You can see that this was a popular session:
Packed house for learning about building your travel blogging brand! #tbex #tbexathens pic.twitter.com/3zKujQfQ0C via @thetravelguru_
— The Travel Junkie (@TravelJunkieID) October 24, 2014
Who is the boss with social media? #tbex pic.twitter.com/qlUyjgDZmT
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
Be the boss of your comms tools. Don’t get distracted! Batch similar tasks. #tbex pic.twitter.com/OpZqCSuJjV
— Zaid -Travpacker.com (@zaidmo) October 24, 2014
.@timleffel Productivity Tips for Bloggers #TBEX Do this: Automate and systemize everything you can. Recharge weekly! pic.twitter.com/viR1J6E8h7
— Travel Blog Exchange (@TBEXevents) October 24, 2014
After those morning sessions I headed for lunch, a bit tired after that information overload in the morning. It was great to meet some of the bloggers I met the previous night and some new faces at lunch.
Great to meet the @venturists @Passion4Greece and @zaidmo today at #TBEXAthens.
— Brit Boone (@bbabroad) October 24, 2014
After lunch I headed for a session on “Travel Bloggers: Be Seen and Be Heard. Working with tourism boards and travel PR, advice from the other side of the fence” by Michael Collins:
How to get ahead – be nice, say thank you! Be seen, be heard with Michael Collins @TravelMedia_ie #TBEX #TBEXAthens pic.twitter.com/5aB5MPcbuT
— Shelley Ryan (@ShelBot5000) October 24, 2014
I had to leave this session early as I had a Speed Networking session with Tripinview, a Greek company that has a website which provides aerial panorama videos of coastal destinations. The solution is still in beta. It felt as though there purpose is still undefined, but they are willing to work with others. I gave them a few ideas on what they could do.
After the Speed Networking session I waited for heavy rain outside to subside and chatted with a few bloggers. I only left Megaron at 6pm for my hostel.
There was an Expedia party at 7pm at Skyfall. I was exhausted after this intense day of study and socialisation so I slept and only went to the party at 09:30pm for 20 minutes. The place was too crowded as the venue is small, and the music was too loud for people to chat.
I found Cosa Nostra delicious Italian Restaurant opposite Athens Style hostel.
They made better Italian pizza than what I actually had in Italy.
After supper I headed back to City Circus Athens hostel and was fast asleep by 1am.
