It’s nice when you have a community of others around you who can encourage you when needed and can offer suggestions and give feedback. When blogging, having a strong network and community around you is critical. So in order for us to be able to share blog posts, show comment love, and ask questions and get help about blogging and social networking, we have created an open Facebook group for Show Me the Bloggers.

We want everyone to participate in the community as well as share their work. We also hope that you invite other bloggers into the group as well.

To join our new Facebook Group, click HERE. It only takes a second!

We are also looking for group moderators. If you are interested, please comment or shoot us an email at info@showmetheblog.com.

We are all about support at Show Me the Blog! And when one of our own is doing something BIG, we want to give them our full support.

Show Me the Blog ’11 speaker Nick Gilham of A Branded You is presenting a workshop called New Job in 2012 Using LinkedIn. The class is being held on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at Nebula Coworking from 9:30-12 noon.

Here are the details per the event description:

Is one of your goals for the new year to get a new job? Do you want to take your career to the next level?

If you are serious about getting a new job, you need to be using LinkedIn strategically. LinkedIn is a job seeker’s most effective tool for communicating his or her unique personal brand. If you aren’t currently on LinkedIn or feel that you aren’t using the site effectively, A Branded You is here to help you fix that.

In this two and half hour seminar Nick Gilham will show you how LinkedIn can take your job search to the next level. Free parking is available and bagels, coffee, and juice will be provided.

You will learn how to:

• Get hiring managers to knock down your door
• Identify the most important sections of your profile and use them to their full capability
• Conduct a passive job search – land the job of your dreams when you aren’t even looking
• Strategically use LinkedIn Groups to network & find out the secrets to group membership
• Optimize your profile so you appear at the top of the search results
• Utilize the job board built into LinkedIn – learn about the different types of jobs posted
• Put your face in front of decision makers every time they login to LinkedIn
• Reach out to current employees to get the inside scoop about a possible new employer

This event is a great choice for those of you who want to land a new gig this year, and who want to learn how to utilize LinkedIn more effectively to do so. Early bird tickets are currently on sale now for $25.

If you are not currently looking for a job, or want to know how to land one using LinkedIn, please pass this information on to someone who is.

For more information on this event or to register, click HERE!

Many of you joined us back in March for our Spa Soiree at Go! Spa, and have been asking when we will be having another networking experience at the spa. Your cries haven’t gone unheard, and we are proud to announce that we have teamed up with Go! Spa to offer another Holiday Spa Soiree Experience on Thursday, November 17th from 5-7pm.

You can come and join us for door prizes, fab conversation, and Champagne Chillers by Chill. You can also enjoy the following premiere services being offered by Go! Spa’s first class staff:

Go!Spa Mani – $24
Go!Spa Pedi – $38
Feelin’ Fab Facial – $30
Tech Girl Relief – $35
High Tech Relief – $55

This event will fill up quickly, so please send your RSVP’s in to info@showmetheblog.com ASAP. If you are wanting a service done while at the spa, please include the type of service you are requesting. We will send you a confirmation 5 days before the event with the time your service will be performed.

You do not have to have a service done to attend this event. We want you to come and network!

Go! Spa is conveniently located at 11735 Manchester Road, St. Louis, MO 63131 in Des Peres.

Girls, we want to see you there! Music, fun, fabulosity, drinks, and pampering! Get your spa on!

This soiree is a Two Minds Interactive™ experience

This year’s Show Me the Blog may be over, but it’s now time to start working on planning the conference for 2012. We want next year’s conference to be even more successful, so we are putting together a Planning Committee to help organize, develop, and plan next year’s event.

The areas of planning are:

Sponsors/Brands

Speakers/Panelists

Volunteer

Communication

Venue

Conference Materials

Attendees

Our first Planning Committee meeting will be Saturday, November 19th, from 10 am to 12pm at the Maryland Heights Centre, located at 2344 McKelvey Road, Maryland Heights, MO 63043.

If you are interested in being on the 2012 Planning Committee and would like to attend the meeting, please email us at info@showmetheblog.com. There are limited spots available so make sure you contact us quickly!

We want you to be a part of 2012′s Show Me the Blog!

Well, it’s officially over, folks. The 2nd Annual Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference is now in the bag. We want to thank everyone who attended! From our speakers, to our attendees, to our staff and sponsors, you guys made the event a success! We are so very honored that you participated this year.

We will be sending a conference survey to get your feedback so that we can improve your conference experience next year.

And yes, you read it right—as announced during conference, we will be having a 3rd Annual Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference next October. Stay tuned for the date, as it will be broadcast soon.

We hope you enjoyed this year’s Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference!

The Official Show Me the Blog Premixer (and St. Louis Cardinals World Series Watch Party) is at The Luna Lounge on Thursday, October 20^th from 6 to 9pm.

Nosh on finger foods (vegans, you will have something to nosh on too!), get your drink on, and mix and mingle with speakers and attendees of the Show Me the Blog Conference. This is a fabulous pre-conference event where you can get some networking in before conference begins.

We will also be giving attendees badges so that is one less thing you have to worry about on conference day!

The Luna Lounge is located at 4561 Gravois in historic Bevo Mill, just 10 minutes away from downtown St. Louis.

There is a 2-drink minimum (domestic beer and soft drinks are available for $5.00 for 2 drinks) You can purchase drink tickets at the door for $5 for two tickets!

Also, since the Cards are in the World Series, The Luna Lounge will be broadcasting the game on the big screen for all attendees.

This event is closed to the public and only open to SMBSTL attendees, staff, speakers, and guests from 6 to 9pm. You can stay afterwards and watch the game when The Luna Lounge opens its doors to the public.

Plus, speaker Kate Canterbury will be giving her presentation on Hyper Local: Why Go Global When You Can Go Local from 8-9 during the premixer.

Giveaways too!

To RSVP, please send an email to info@showmetheblog with RSVP in the subject line. Please indicate your name and how many people will be attending with you.

Our official Show Me the Blog schedule is now up and ready for your review. There may be additional changes made to the schedule, so make sure to bookmark and check back for any changes or updates.

This year, we are using Sched.org to post and create our conference schedule. Attendees will be able to sign up for a Sched account and select which sessions they are interested in and create a itinerary of items that pique interest.

To view this year’s schedule, click HERE.

We are almost in the homestretch for Show Me the Blog, and we wanted take the time out to let you know about the new Expo Space we will be having at this year’s conference, which is perfect for selling your products, giving out samples, and reaching those in the social media and blogging realms.

We have kept our sponsorships low in cost so that everyone has the opportunity to purchase a sponsorship, whether they are a big business or a small start-up. We expect to have 100+ attendees this year, so this is a great investment for your business.

Sponsorship also includes tickets to the conference portion of the event and other goodies.

Check out the Expo Space options below:

Media Giant – $450.00
 Full page customized color advertisement in conference booklet
 Website acknowledgement
 Running banner web placement week of Show Me the Blog
 Two tickets to SMBSTL
 Exhibit space to display your products/services
 15 minute presentation during opening ceremony
Google Me – $350.00
 Half page color advertisement in conference booklet
 Website acknowledgement
 1 ticket to SMBSTL
 Exhibit space to display your products/services
Social-Lite – $250.00
 Half page color advertisement in conference booklet
 Website acknowledgement
 Exhibit space to display your products/services during day 1 of Show Me the Blog

Time is of the essence and space is filling up, so if you are interested in getting sponsorship and expo/exhibit space, please contact us now. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

We also have business card space ads in our conference program for only $50. This is a steal, and great for realtors, insurance agents, entrepreneurs, and bloggers.

Call us at 1-877-576-3038 or email us info@showmetheblog.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

WordPress is my preferred blogging platform. The flexibility WordPress gives me is second to none, but I love it mostly because of the plug-ins. Plug-ins are essential to your blog and can make your blog run effectively and smoothly on its own with minimum work or effort on your part. Well heeled plug-ins can be a Godsend to your site and give you an advantage other sites that don’t have plug-ins.

Here are my picks for 10 + 1 Must Have Plug-Ins for your WordPress Blog:

Askimet: Askimet is a free WordPress plug-in that helps block spam comments and trackbacks before they appear in your comment cue. It does a pretty good job at filtering spam comments and I use this plug-in on all of the blogs that I manage and run. You can see the comments still in the spam folder, and once a week, I go through them because sometimes there may be a valid comment that was marked as spam.

Call to Action: Call to Action is a plug-in that my colleague Kesha from XD Web Solutions found for me. It gives you the opportunity to have your readers interact with you in some way on your blog. It is just as it says it is, a call to action; you can update it to do whatever you want your readers to do. Currently on The Cubicle Chick, my call to action currently gives information about how to ‘Like’ me on Facebook (the link, etc.) and I can change that depending on what is going on and what I’d like my readers to do.

CommentLuv: I love the Comment Luv plug-in. At the end of the comment, it allows the commentator to leave a link to their last blog post, which in turn, encourages people to leave a comment since they may get something back in return. Every blog, in my opinion, should utilize CommetLuv.

Google Analytics for WordPress:  Google Analytics is the gold standard when tracking your reach and audience numbers for your blog. The Google Analytics plug-in fits neatly on the back end of your blog and tracks your blog’s activity. You can even see your Google Analytics information without leaving your WordPress control panel.

Google XML Sitemaps: Google XML Sitemaps builds an invisible site map for your blog that Google and other search engines ping to gather content from your blog. Having it on your blog helps search engines get your content and put it in their search engines.

nRelated Content: To get the most out of your blog and your content (as well as give them more reasons to stay on your blog), you need to have links to other articles that are like the article the reader is currently reading. nRelated cultivates at least 3 additional articles at the end of your blog post that are like the article they just read. This may get the reader to click on that like article, thereby giving them more time on your page and more examples of the content already posted on your blog.

Sexy Bookmarks: I use this plug-in on Stay in Your Lane Guide and I love it. It is an all-in-one area with almost every social network you can think of that allows people to post your content to the network of their choice. You can customize it to have as many social networks as you want, therefore expanding your reach.

Subscribe to Comments: If a commentator wants to see replies or other comments for a blog post you’ve written, you can give them the option of subscribing to the comments on that post. They will receive an email letting them know when someone else has replied to that post or left a comment.

Tweet Old Post: You may want to share great content that you have created that may be old. Tweet Old Post allows you to set up parameters in which you can tweet to posts that are 30, 60, 90 or more days old. It’s a great way to introduce new Twitter followers to your old content.

WP Hide Post: There are times when I write a blog post that I don’t want on the first page. If I am doing a personal post that I want to feed to all of my social networks, but not necessarily want it on the first page, I can use this plug-in that allows me to post the article, but hides it on the front page.

WP Touch: This neat plug-in turns your blog into a mobile version which can be read on smartphones. It loads quickly, and gives you  a lot of ways to personalize it and makes it look like your desktop site. There is a free and paid version for this plug-in.

There are tons of WordPress plug-ins that many bloggers use—as you’ve read this article, hundreds of plug-ins have been created. These are my top ten choices, but I encourage you to research and try out other plug-ins that may suit your fancy. I hope these suggestions help. Happy Blogging!

Written by: Danyelle Little, Founder and Organizer, Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference; The Cubicle Chick.com

Creating an income with your blog is now something that most bloggers can achieve with a little hard work and determination. Gone are the days where only a certain few bloggers could make money—it has become a platform that has created additional sources of income for the millions of people who blog professionally or for fun. Making money with your blog isn’t hard, but it does take a knowledge and a little time.

Here are 5 ways to make money on your blog:

1. Ad networks: The most obvious way to make money on your blog is to use an ad network for your site. This could be an ad network such as Google Ads which isn’t exclusive and allows anyone with a site to use the service. An ad network gives you a code (the code produces a visual ad) for you to put in select spaces on your blog, and money is earned by impressions (or page views) for the ads, or clicks for the ads. If you have a nice amount of traffic, you can make a pretty good income using ad networks, but if you are a new blog with a small audience, it may take time for you to rake in the dough. Using more than one ad of different sizes can also increase your cash. But be careful. Too many ads can cause your site to load slowly and may turn some people off.

2. Sponsored or paid blog posts: Sponsored blog posts are a great way to make money on your blog. Brands and services are looking for influencers to get the word out about what they have to offer, and bloggers are usually the ones who have good clout. A sponsored blog post can bring in revenue from your blog and be a good way to align yourself with brands. When being paid for a blog post, the FTC requires that you disclose so in your post, or you could be fined. Also, doing too many paid blog posts can also lower your credibility.

3. Text links: Text links are when companies pay you to insert a particular link in your blog post, usually for SEO purposes. When you have a blog that ranks high in the search engines, you may get a lot of requests for text links. Text links can be lucrative but you have to be careful, especially because the link could lead to a site that you don’t want to be affiliated with. Make sure you are dealing with a reputable company and only do text links with those companies who you don’t mind co-signing.

4. Consulting: If you have been blogging for awhile and know your way around social media and the web, the next obvious step is to work as a consultant. Bloggers, companies, brands, non-profits, etc. are always looking for someone who can give them one-on-one consulting and help them tweak their social media message. Being a consultant can create a lucrative income stream for you as well as give you the cache of being an expert in your genre.

5. Freelancing: Writing for other sites is a great way to stretch your talents and lend your name to other sites. Doing so increases your visibility, builds your portfolio, and shows that you have what it takes to not only blog but write as well. It can also create a nice income for you when you write for multiple sites.

Making money on your blog isn’t hard, but it does take hard work and diligence. I hope these 5 ways to make money on your blog help you on your road to becoming a professional (and well paid) blogger.

Written by: Danyelle Little, Founder and Organizer, Show Me the Blog Social Media and Blogging Conference; The Cubicle Chick.com