I attended my first Blogging While Brown conference over the weekend. It’s always great to meet up with fellow bloggers (outside of covering events) to talk more about the business of blogging. I was truly re-inspired to do more with Style & Vibes, but I won’t talk much about what I have up my sleeve (I’m just working on putting the wheels in motion ASAP).
Although it was a 2-day event with intensive workshops on the first day, I only attended the Saturday panels, which was still pretty informational. My sole intent was to network with other bloggers and to get inspired to brand Style & Vibes to take it to the next level. I’ve been to one other blog conference (IFB), but with this one I was more interested in connecting with a handful of people rather than trying to work the room and pass out as many business cards as I could. Which seemed to be a really great tactic (and less stressful).
The panels varied in topics so I chose the ones that directly related to what I needed to know now. I attended the following panels:
- Beyond Facebook & Twitter: Using Google Plus, Pinterest and Instagram
- Ten Easy Steps to “Hackproof” Your WordPress Installation and Backup Your Site
- Starting a Business While Working Full-time Cross-border Conundrums: Being An International Black Blogger
- Diversity: Unpacking the Supply and Demand Side of Diversity
- Professional Blogging Opportunities, powered by BlogHer
- Crowdfunding your Creative Project.
It was a lot of valuable information to take in. Here are my top five takeaways from the event.
1.) There are no shortcuts to success.
“The problem with shortcuts is you arrive premature.” Alfred Edmund Jr. (Editor at Large for Black Enterprise Magazine) made this comment during the keynote session with professional bloggers Angel Laws (Concrete Loop), Necole Bitchie (Nicole Bitchie), Claire Sulmers (Fashion Bomb Daily) and Karen Civil (Karen Civil). They were answering a question from an attendee about “shortcuts they were willing to share from their mistakes growing from blog to business”. His comment was completely spot on. As a blogger (who wants more than a hobby blog) you want to grow at an exponential rate. This truly put in perspective that simply time and dedication will result in success. The success may look overnight but it’s not, many bloggers (like these ladies) have worked hard a sacrificed a lot to reach their goals.
2.) Value Diversity
Understanding and embracing diversity is essential for growth. The mindset should be valued and it starts with you. Blogher co-founder Elisa Camahort Page spoke about companies valuing diversity from a corporate perspective, but this also showed that we have to see the value in our own diversity as well and embrace that regardless if others are ready to embrace it.
3.) Keep the Backend Tight
I always dread updates and back end work because I always hear the horror stories about losing everything, but it’s still necessary. Arsha Jones of BrandSellBuild gave a great presentation with tips for WordPress users.
4.) Maintain Brand Relationships Consistently
This one is pretty simple, but a great reminder. Maintain a consistent relationship with brands over time, not just in the time that you need them.
5.) There’s Never Enough Time
Whether you’re blogging fulltime or blogging while working a 9-5 there will never be enough time to do it all. I struggle with this a lot! I’m currently re-organizing my time to work on Style & Vibes to see the vision I have for the site come to life. I’ll let my actions do the talking.
**BONUS: Here’s a video reel with highlights of the entire event ( JayBlessed and I rep #TeamCaribbean at the 3:00 mark.) The conference will be back in New York City
Mikelah
Mikelah is a Caribbean Culture expert, curating the bridge between the Caribbean and its diaspora. A CUNY Baruch College graduate with a BBA in Marketing. With previous experience with Caribbean lifestyle brands such as VP Records, Tempo TV and JAMROCK Magazine. Currently serving as a digital marketing maven by day, while continuing to collaborate with Caribbean brands.
Follow Me:
Thank you for posting this review. I have to make a final decision whether I should attend this conference (I’m in Canada), you’re post is extremely helpful. Thank you!
It was a great event. I went to blogalicious last year. I try to do one new conference a year, but honestly I’m still implementing a lot of the things I learned from my last conference, it’s so much great information. and a great opportunity to interact with people see/interact with online. A lot of the panelist also stick around so you can talk to them as well.