January 31, 2013

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For a very long time I referred to myself as a small blogger. At 5’10”, not small in stature, but small in terms of my reach, my page views, etc. My friend Mary helped me switch my mindset, after repeatedly hearing me tell people that, and instead said, “You’re not small, just less well known.” Funny how just switching some words around can help you look at something in a different light.
Alt Summit was my third big blog conference I’ve attended, and so far it’s been my favorite. Partly because of the people and brands and panels that were there, but I think in large part because of how I now view myself and my work here. I no longer think of myself as small, and while I may not garner hundreds of thousands of page views a month, I now view my work as valid and I know there’s a place for me in this crazy world of blogging. What I mean is, for the first time, right in the middle of Alt Summit, I realized that if you’re doing solid work, then your work will get noticed, and people and brands will want to work with you. That’s not to say that our goal in its entirety should be just to get noticed and garner the attention of brands and others, but when you get some credit, it certainly helps to justify the amount of time we spend here, in our online spaces. A lot of people have asked if they should bother going to conferences, and if they’re really worth it, and some think they have to grow before they even can justify attending one, and to this I’d say, no matter what size of blogger you are, there is something to be gained by attending the right conference, as long as you’re willing to put in the work.

Blogging is very entrepreneurial in spirit, after all, we put our words, work, heart out there every day. And while it’s all fine and dandy to want to write or craft just for yourself, I think it’s safe to say that many of us, if not most, want our blog to go somewhere, anywhere. Attending Alt was a huge stretch for us, so I was hell bent on making the most out of it. Here are some of the greatest bits of wisdom I gained from the conference and and advice I can share with you. I’ll try to keep it short, as you know I have a tendency of getting verbose. –Jasmine Star was my favorite speaker of the whole conference. Which brings me to point #1. Don’t attend a conference thinking you will love every single speaker and panel you attend, because you won’t, and if you think you will, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Even at a well respected conference like Alt, some speakers will just not bring it, and you’ll be leaving your panel thinking, “what in the hell?”

-Some takeaways from Jasmine’s talk on Building A Personal Brand: “Decide what success looks like for YOU.” I’ve never done that, but I need to write down each milestone I want to hit, and when (if) I do, I need to celebrate. I look back and there have been several times where I missed out on an opportunity to feel good about my accomplishments because I was so consumed about moving onto the next hurdle to tackle. Stop, and celebrate success.

-“I want to either attract you or repel you. I want you to love me or hate me.” While I don’t think I want anyone to really hate me, I do think I’m often way too worried about everyone liking me, and Jasmine encouraged us to reveal our truest, richest self, instead of just being vanilla.

-In the Advanced Blogging session, we were encouraged to create an editorial calendar for our content, because if not, our writing will be easily influenced by the last 10 blogs we’ve read. I like to be carefree and fly by the seat of my pants, but when I think of it this way, it is so ridiculously true! Without an editorial calendar, before we write a post we will be swayed to write like this, or photograph like that. Starting in February I’m creating a calendar.

-When asked if a “smaller” blogger should think about interning or contributing with a larger blogger (for free mind you), Helen Jane honestly responded and said “no.” She said that there is very little exposure you can’t get yourself, and to save your creative juice for developing your own brand.

–Stefan Sagmeister was the keynote speaker at lunch the second day and this quote has continued to stick with me: “This life would have been much richer if I’d been willing to risk more.” Now here are some practical tips and advice I can give: -Attend with intention. Go in with a plan. Create a lit of people you’d like to meet in person, or brands you want to introduce yourself to, and go for it. People are much more likely to remember you, be interested in you and want to work with you if they’ve met you in person and you made a good impression. So smile, be engaging and don’t ask for favors or pitch an idea straight away.

-I may get crap for this, but part of an impression has to do with your presentation. You don’t need to be a beauty queen or a fashion plate with designer shoes (believe me, no one notices that stuff), but take care and time with how you look, which will translate into how you feel. Plan out your outfits, wear what you will feel good and comfortable in, wear a cute piece of jewelry or some fun new shade of lipstick, heck even order some pretty cards. When women get nervous, and most of us are, we tend to lean on complimenting each other; “your cards are so cute, I love your pin, or that lipstick is great.” So give them something to work with first and foremost, and then you will win them over with your dazzling personality. Don’t roll your eyes at me, you know this is true.

-If a panel doesn’t look like it’s right for you, don’t be afraid to sneak out. Sit towards the back so you don’t look like a total jerk, but don’t be afraid to sit through an hour panel that will get you nowhere.

-Present yourself with confidence (no matter how “small” you are) and like you know what you’re doing, especially when meeting brands you’d like to collaborate with, but try not to come across as braggy.

-Remember, there is a place for all of us, whether “big” or “small”. Brands and fellow bloggers don’t want to just work with the huge bloggers. We all have our individual audiences and our reach isn’t any less valid than celebrity blogger’s reach. -Don’t be shy! I know this is hard, but try to remember that beyond the panels and keynote speeches, the biggest thing to be gained from conferences is the networking opportunities. You do yourself no good at all if you sneak off to a hallway or your room in between every session. Set yourself small goals, and work up from there. Perhaps you will need to take anxiety breaks in between and sneak off to your room, but at least try and meet and talk to 5 new people each day you’re there. The first couple of hours of Alt were very nerve wracking for me, so at one point I snuck off to the bathroom and on the way back to my session I stopped at a photo booth and took pictures by myself. It sounds silly, but it really helped loosen me up. If you have any specific questions about Alt, please let me know. Shoot me an email or leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to answer it honestly and knowledgeably. Sometimes I wonder how long all of this will last. Will we all still be here in 10 years? Who really knows, but for the mean time I’m going to enjoy this all as much as I can.

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*All photos with the exception of the photo booth pictures are from the Alt Flickr Photostream