So this week Daniel aka The Consumer King and I will be attending BlogHer Food. I am very excited to see what BlogHer Food has in store for us. I have never been to BlogHer Food so this will be a new experience for us.

There  are several reasons why I want to go. Daniel is getting more involved in my blog and he could use some tips. Now that we are blogging about cooking, recipes and the food industry on The Royal Family I am hoping to get inspired by some of the speakers this year. I also want to make connections with some of the Food/Kitchen brands as well some of my fellow food bloggers.

I am also hoping to gather some tips and feedback that I can bring back and share with colleagues at my full time job with Fast Fixin'. Not to mention create some brand awareness.I am hoping to create more content for their blog as well as some great YouTube videos for them like recipes and more.Learning what new technology is out there. I feel like I have dove into a whole other niche since I started my family blog. If you have never been to a conference you should definitely check out the video above. I would also like to thank all my sponsors from last year! Also check out the Hanes Comfort Zone from last year as well as my Interview with Greyson Chance.

Blogs are becoming more and more popular but there are still so many out there asking how do I get started, what does all this mean, and what will I gain from it.

I ran a message board for several years but never really got into blogging until this year. I can tell you it's the best thing I ever did. Since I have started blogging I have been picked up by Walmart for their 11 Moms program. I have also been contacted by several major companies to do product reviews and giveaways!

To get started you just need to find your niche! Who are you? What is your passion? What do you want to accomplish? Once you figured that out the hard part is over.

There are many places you can sign up for a free blog like Word Press and Blogger just to name a few. Once you get your blog going you will want to tap into Social Media to get more readers. You can sign up for free sites like:

Myspace 

Face Book 

Twitter 

YouTube 

StumbleUpon

Gather

These are just to name a few. You can meet other people with the same intrests and connect. You will also be able to connect with PR people who may want to work with you to get their product or brand notice. You will also want to create a Media page. I suggest using Tumblr.

One thing I wished PR firms would understand is that many of us who have blogs treat it like  a business and we get hundreds of emails a week from people who want us to push their product. I hear from so many blog owners who spend time pushing the delete button because they are constantly hounded by people who want them to push their product but offer nothing in return.

If you want someone to be excited about your product, offer a giveaway or something to the blog owner in return. This will make sure that your site or product gets top priority over anyone else. 

I have been fortunate to work with several great companies and soon you may find yourself  doing the same. Just remember to be true to your readers and offer your honest opinion.  Its also a good idea to keep in mind to help promote other sites and blogs and not just your own. You will find thats your readers will grow and so will your respect amoungst other bloggers.