Alt Summit NYC in Martha Stewart Living

By: Jenny Batt

There's less than a month to go and we're starting to get excited about Alt NYC. It will be our second event at Martha Stewart, they graciously hosted Alt NYC last year, and we're counting down the days until June 20th.

When we opened up our June issue of MS Living and saw Alt Summit had made Martha's calendar, we admit, we squealed in delight. Looking forward to seeing you soon! Thanks, Martha!

Alt For Everyone Was Last Week!

By: Melanie Blodgett. 

Our very first all online conference went swimmingly and we couldn't have done it without you! Thank you for participating. Thank you for making the chat lively. Thank you for your kind comments. Thank you to the fantastic teachers for sharing their expertise. Thank you for creating a community we're so proud to be part of.

If you've written a post about your experience, we'd love to see it! Please email it to melanie@altitudesummit.com or tweet the link our way.

And if you weren't able to attend, we've got a fresh line-up of online classes for June that you'll want to check out.

Editorial Calendars with Nicole of Nicole's Classes

By guest contributor Monica Lee.

How do brands manage their blogs? Monica Lee asks about the importance of having an editorial calendar with Nicole Geurlat Hill of Nicole's Classes.

Treating Readers Like Valued Customers

By: Sara Urquhart. Photography by: The Light Fantastic

We’ve all experienced the joy of a great customer experience and the frustration of a lousy one. When you’re selling goods, offering a product, or have a brick-and-mortar store, paying attention to customer service is obvious.

But the fundamentals of customer service also apply to blogging, where your readers become “customers” whose loyalty and happiness directly affect your success, so here are 5 tips for treating your customers right:

1. Show appreciation for readers by doing your best to respond to their comments and emails. For email overwhelm, consider the five.sentenc.es email approach, introduced to us at Alt by Erin Loechner ofDesign for Mankind.

2. Create new posts consistently. Whether that’s daily or three times a week is up to you, but readers will come to expect regular updates. Offer them the service of consistency, and let them know when you’ll be away.

3. Offer authenticity. Remember you are your site’s best asset, and readers come for your curated perspective, your great DIYs, or your point of view on any given topic. Being true to yourself is a gift to readers.

4. Use your readers’ trust wisely. At Alt, Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook shared her concept of “blogger capital,” which is basically your value and credibility to your readers. You create “capital” when you post original ideas and content. Treat your readers well by balancing your original content, or capital, with sponsored posts that feel authentic to your brand and blog purpose.

5. Make visiting your blog a pleasant experience with good design, lovely images, and user-friendly functionality.

Thinking of Starting a Blog? Great Tips from Chelsea Fuss

By guest contributor Monica Lee.

Has Alt for Everyone inspired you? Been thinking of starting a blog? Monica Lee chats with Chelsea Fuss, of Frolic!, has some great tips about how to get started creating a blog you will love.