Haven Conference 2017 Recap & Review

Sweet Home Alabama! I just got home from spending the weekend in Atlanta for Haven Conference. Haven Conference is a 3 day DIY & decorating blogging conference located in Atlanta, Georgia.  This was my second year attending Haven and like my first year I feel like I have a lot of homework to do.

CLICK HERE to read about my experience attending Haven Conference 2015.

Unfortunately, this year I did not take many photos.

I am going to treat this blog post as notes from the conference. If you did not have the opportunity to attend the conference I hope you gain some new knowledge from my notes below.

How to Create Video Content for Social Media

My first session of Haven Conference was taught by Ben Uyeda from HomeMade Modern. It was all about creating video content. This is an area that I really want to grow in.  I have a YouTube channel with a few videos on it.  SUBSCRIBE HERE.   After listening to Ben, I plan on creating a new video on a bi-weekly basis. My ultimate goal is for every new written tutorial there is a video tutorial to go with it.

Here are a few notes I scribbled:

• Tasty and I Like To Make Stuff are great examples of good video content
• Convert 3-8 minute YouTube video into a 2 minute video for FaceBook and 1 minute video for Instagram
• Talking to the camera is good for engagement
• Each step in Ben’s videos are about 5-10 seconds
• Ben’s editing process:
  1. Upload all the clips
  2. Speed up to 1000%
  3. Record a voice over
  4. Cut clips to length of the voice over
• Osmo Gimbal is nice for stabilizing action videos
• Brands cannot make videos for cheap

Winning at Pinterest

The second session I attended was all about Pinterest (another area I want to improve in).  This is session was taught by Alexandra Evjen. I really enjoyed her session on Pinterest.

Here are my notes from the class:

• Be active and grow 700+ followers a month
• Business account
• Consistent username
• 25-30 boards
• Min. of 30 pins on board
• Have general categories
• Pin to boards daily
• Remove inactive boards
• Board names matter; make it clear & concise
• Edit board descriptions and categorize boards correctly. Include 500 character description
• Add state and city and incorporate blog name to boards
• Understand why people are coming to Pinterest
• Make a wedding board or educational board
• Pinterest scores profile based on community engagement
• Repin to same board but change the pin description (give it new life)
• Give them a reason to click
• Make it informative
• Pin one with and one without text overlay
• Use new features on any social media platform
• A pin takes 30 days to reach its half life
• “Virality” takes time over 52 weeks
• Share, don’t spam
• Pin 90% others content and 10% your content
• Group boards are dying
• Try to pin one thing to every board
• Thursday – Sunday is the most active time on Pinterest
• Consistency is key!

How to Land a Successful Campaign With a Brand (and Actually Get Paid)

The third session I attended was taught by Jamin and Ashley Mills from The Handmade Home and KariAnne Wood from Thistlewood Farm.  This session was focused on working with brands.

Notes from the session:

• Pitch a specific project that meets the brands needs
• Outside of the box idea
• Strong reader influence
• Share positive comments to brands
• Think long-term. Future partnerships
• Always under promise and over deliver
• Agree to something reasonable
• Follow up after the fact
• What makes you unique? Different?
• Don’t wait for brands to come to you, pitch them
• Must haves in a pitch letter
  1. A great intro with a hook
  2. demonstrate knowledge of a brand’s product
  3. A specific project that highlights the benefits of the brand’s product
  4. interesting facts or examples from campaigns you’ve worked on before
  5. conclusion with an ask
• Don’ts in a pitch letter
  1. Don’t be vague
  2. Don’t brag about accomplishments
  3. Don’t tell the brand how busy you are (should be the only brand that matters in the moment)
  4. Don’t mention competitors
  5. Don’t be pushy

SEO – Begin with the Right Stuff

The fourth session I attend was all about SEO. This is a session I wish I sat in before I started blogging. Most of my post-convention homework comes from this class. It was taught by Sabrina Snyder from Dinner, Then Dessert.

Notes from the session:

• Remove dates from urls
• View Google Page Speed for mobile
• Create a site map via Yoast. Submit to the Google Search Console. Keep it up to date
• No pop ups and no link cloaking
• Encourage bookmarking of your posts; say it “CTRL + D”
• Post consistently
• Domain registration lengths (pay for domain a few years upfront)
• H2 italic above opening photo (above the fold content) This text goes in the alt text for the featured photo
• Hiding long pins with HTML
• 6 photos or less (use collages to bring down weight of the post)
• Semrush
• The Feature Snippet
• The Google  Answer box
• Backlinko – Google Ranking Factors
• Screaming Fog

A Content Strategy with a Brain

This session was all about creating a consistent content strategy that works for you. The session was taught by Kristen Thompson.  I did not scribble many notes down during the class as she’ll make the audio and presentation available on her website, Sweet Tea, LLC.

Here are the main action items that I gathered from the session:

• Limit main categories to no more than 5
• Each category should have a cornerstone content (which means you should like back to that post often)
• Every blog post should have 1-2 internal links
• Make an editorial calendar
• Theme the month and create content for each category
• Anchor tags should include anchor text

DIY Drink Caddy

My final session for Haven was something that gave my brain a much-needed break. Jamie from That’s My Letter and Jen from House of Wood hosted a session to build a Drink Caddy.  As soon after I got settled in at home, I applied a finish to the caddy and made it a tool box for my son. I wished I filmed his reaction. He was so delighted to receive a mom-made tool box.

 

The last session I attended at @havenconf was DIY Drink Caddy hosted by @jenwoodhouse and @thatsmyletter. Shortly after returning home today I got started on applying a finish. It’s tool box instead of a drink caddy and the kid approves. He got to it before I had a chance to install the Strong-Tie hardware. . #diy #drinkcaddy #toolbox #havenconf #kidstoolbox #woodworking #dowoodworking #woodwork #sundayfunday #buildallthethings #buildersagonnabuild #toddler

A post shared by Ashley Grenon | DIY Blogger (@handmadewithashley) on Jul 23, 2017 at 5:17pm PDT

Haven Conference

Next year Haven Conference will return July 12-14 2018, but the location has moved to Charleston, SC.  If everything works out, I plan on being there!