Attending blogging conferences is one of my favorite activities as a blogger. It’s fun to connect “in real life” with my online bloggy buds, meet new friends and learn about the business aspect of blogging. BarkWorld Expo 2015 was all of this and more because everywhere I looked I saw a cute dog. Brittany, whose goal in life is “to pet every dog in the world,” accompanied me. Watching her approach dog after dog, I think she came much closer to reaching her goal. Along with the sessions, we heard keynote speeches from Gus Kenworthy, the Olympic silver medalist who helped rescue a mother dog and her puppies from Sochi, Russia, Tom Otto and Shaun Sears, the founders of Treetop Cat Rescue, and Shorty Rossi, star of Animal Planet’s Pit Boss.
One of the most helpful business related sessions I have ever attended was led by Ross Jones, who has taught classes in SEO at Belmonte College and is the owner of 2thetopdesign.com. He strategies for “Getting Google To Love You: 8 Super Awesome SEO Tips for Blog Success,” were straightforward and simple. He recommends using the Yoast plugin as a foundation if you are on WordPress, but reminds us this is only the beginning of successful SEO. Also, be sure it is optimized. Guess who needed to look into that? If you are guessing me, that is correct. He also shared while content is king, the title of the post needs serious thought. It needs to be specific, relevant and show the reader what they will get.
In the panel discussion on Advanced Techniques & Strategies to take your content, readership and revenue to the next level, they emphasized goal setting for your blog for periods of twelve, twenty four and thirty six months and set aside an advertising budget, no matter how small. These strategies will help promote a business mindset. “If you don’t have goals, it’s just a hobby, even if you are making money,” states SEO expert Scott Polk.
For our pet loving side, Tom Otto and Shaun Sears shared stories of dramatic pet rescues and one of their pet peeves. “People say wait until the pet gets hungry enough and it will come down. Or have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?” The reality is when a cat becomes so weak it will fall from the tree or be eaten by predators. If your cat becomes stuck in a tree, the best tip is to call an arborist. Be sure to ask if they like cats before they climb up to rescue your furball. Tom and Shaun also dismissed the idea of leaving food under the tree in hopes the cat will come down. Instead it will attract other hungry animals, keeping the cat trapped in the tree.
The Pit Boss’ Shorty Rossi provided the last keynote speech with his trademark humor and straight forward touch. He shared the grim statistic, “Only one in every six hundred pit bulls available for adoption finds a home. ” His story of his grim childhood, his desire to change his life and becoming an animal advocate during his years in prison was truly inspirational.
Of course, we also received lots of treats from the sponsors so look for an upcoming post on our thoughts on the goodies soon. BarkWorld 2016 will once again be held in Atlanta next year. I’m looking forward to attending!
That sounds like such a fun event! I love the dog with the cool shades on!
This was here in Atlanta? Wow it looks like a lot of activity thanks for sharing!
I’ve never heard of Barkworld but those dogs and cookies are the cutest! Thanks for introducing us!
I love events that you can take your dog to. They really are just like part of the family.
Oh I know my daughter would have loved being at this event, she loves puppies. And what cute treats too!
The photo of the dog wearing the Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses totally made my day. What a cute photo and this sounds like it was a fun time.
Now this looks like a fun event! I love my dog, so I will add this to the list for next year.
What a fun event for dog lovers! My daughter would have gotten a kick out of it!
Oh gosh how adorable! I used to do a lot of pet posts, then I started the food blog and that took most of my blogging time. I would love to get back to posting about my furkids.
That does sound like fun. It’s good to be able to connect and see the products demonstrated that we purchase for our pets. I would love to attend one year.
The dressed up dogs and the heart shapes cookies! This looks like it was such a fun event.
I have never even heard of the barkworld conference so thanks for putting it on my radar!
I love blog conferences too. This one seems like so much fun with all the cute pups running around.
Sounds like a great conference! I wouldn’t have thought to call an arborist if a cat were stuck. I’d probably call the fire dept. like they show in the movies.
Those puppy treats look so awesome. What a great experience.
How cute! I love my puppy, those dogs are adorable. This is a great event for them.
How fun! I love my pets so this would be a blast. I also love Yoast, I’ve been using it for a while so great!
Oh my gosh what an amazing event – I would totally want to pet all the dogs! x
Looks like it was such a fun event! Love all the dog photos!
Shaun and Tom had some great advice. I never though of the cat rescue scenario like that but it makes a lot of sense. This sounded like an awesome event!
Love those paw print treats. Looks like a fun conference!
I’ve never had my cat stuck in a tree, only the 3′ maple outside the door when she snuck out! It was easy to help her out.
I love Yoast. It works wonders. This event looks fabulous also.
That sounds like fun. I have never attended a pet conference before. I hope next time I can join.
Me neither, but it sounds like fun! I want to go next year.
That sounds like an awesome event for pet lovers. I should try to go next year!
It looks like this was a great event. All the fur babies are really cute.
This looks like fun!! The doggies are so cute!!
Yes, they sure are cute!
I’ve learned so much at blog conferences over the years! I love that everyone had their furry friends with them! 🙂 The dogs in your pics are adorable!
That looks like so much fun! I love the puppies! I wish I could have been there.