The first day of the #PBevent was here and I was excited! What would I learn? Who would I meet? What would I see, hear and feel?
I’m sharing my 8 HIGHLIGHTS and 26 PEARLS OF WISDOM (PW) from the day!
Highlight #1
The 2015 #PBevent started off with a bang as Darren Rowse (founder of Problogger) entered the room on a Segway! The room erupted in laughter. We were off to a great start!
Highlight #2
Darren’s keynote address. I thoroughly enjoyed it and agreed with every word. He spoke on 3 Ways to Make your Blog Shine but you could apply what he said to whatever you do, regardless of whether you blog or not.
The 3 ways to make your blog shine that Darren spoke on are:
- How are you?
- What is your why?
- How are you using your time?
I got value out of each of these three elements that he spoke on, but none more so than the first!
- PW1: How are you? Darren said that the health of your blog is directly correlated to the health of yourself. He encouraged us to move each day, eat a healthy diet, rest when needed, fill our cups, and look after our spirituality and mental health. This was all music to my ears as this is what I talk about on my blog all the time so I was so happy to hear Darren share his thoughts with over 700 bloggers. It’s so important because as bloggers we spend so much time in front of a computer and on social media. It can become all-consuming to the point where the lines between when we work and when we don’t can get very blurred! We need to be careful not to let it consume us to the point where our health is at risk. This is why I decided to do my Digital Detox series and why I post regularly on topics relative to Self Investment – to remind people that looking after yourself and getting the work/life balance right is critical to all aspects of your life!
- PW2: “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day”
Highlight #3
Listening to Jadah Sellner (Simple Green Smoothies) speak. Jadah spoke on ‘How to grow your on-line following through engagement, list-building and word-of-mouth’. She had a beautiful stage presence and a smile that lit the room! She took us through her failed business attempts and told us that it took 7 years for her to find success.
- PW4: I loved that she shared her failures and that she didn’t look upon them as failures but rather as ‘feedback’. She says – put it out there and let the world decide!
- PW5: We need to say our dreams out loud and take imperfect action
- PW6: You can’t outsource authenticity!
- PW7: Attract + Nurture + Serve = fans
- PW8: Who is your dream client and/or reader? Think about it and write up a profile. Then, imagine that in all your posts you are talking to that person.
- PW9: You can’t automate connection
- PW10: Don’t try to be perfect. Be real!
- PW11: It’s not about how great you are, it’s about how great you make people feel!
- PW12: No comment should be left behind – respond to all!
- PW13: What value are you adding? What are you offering your readers? Are you entertaining them, being useful, teaching them something, inspiring them? How do you add value to their lives?
Highlight #4
Some pearls of wisdom from Ruth Soukup (Living Well Spending Less) who spoke on Pinterest Marketing 101: the three elements of the perfect pin
- PW14: Pinterest is the ONLY social media channel that was created for the sole purpose of sharing content
- PW15: Pinterest is the ONLY social media channel that allows its users to immediately expand their reach through the use of collaborated boards
- PW16: The perfect pin has:
- Fantastic content – helps the reader solve a problem; makes the reader want to read right now!
- Eye catching photos and graphics – improve your photography or use good stock photos; use bright warm colours (light & bright) over cool monochromatic photos; use vertical images rather than horizontal (at least 600 pixels wide); avoid faces in photographs used and close crops are more effective than far away shots; put borders around photos with a white background; create space for your text; get a consistent look.
- Compelling description – compels your reader to act; make it conversational (around 200 characters); avoid hashtags; make sure it is helpful; make it immediate – eg how are you going to solve the problem right now.
Highlight #5
Some pearls of wisdom from Carolyn Makepeace (yTravel Blog) who spoke on From Blog to Business – The Steps You Need to Take to Create a Profitable Business Online:
- PW17: Set the culture of your community (tone, content, leadership, rules)
- PW18: Lean into the future. What do you see? What is your vision?
- PW19: What’s your Mission? What’s calling you? Who are you serving?
- PW20: In the end, it’s not the tools, systems, content, connections or star power that determines your success. Your ability to manage the mind is the deciding factor!
- PW21: If you’re not willing to act despite your fear, then you’re not willing to win.
- PW22: Rejection teaches you how to refine
- PW23: Overwhelm says your priorities are wrong
- PW24: Frustration is a sign something needs to change
Highlight #6
Pearls of wisdom from Heather Armstrong (Dooce) who spoke on The Courage of Compassion: Transforming your experience with criticism
- PW25: “No-one gets to come into your living room and poop on your floor. Delete negative comments!”
- PW26: “Defensiveness steals your energy and demands that you explain yourself to people who will deliberately and maliciously misinterpret you. It’s a waste of time, like screaming words into a vacuum.”
Highlight #7
THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY – Meeting lots and lots of bloggers who I had previously only known online and bloggers I had not yet come across. I can’t remember everyone that I met on this day but some that stick out include the following people:
- Leah from Leah V Loves who I met online back in 2012. I was so happy that she finally spotted me at the shine party (we’d been trying to find each other since Thursday). She’s exactly as I thought she would be. Love her!
- Steph from Steph’s Joy – we found each other in the blogosphere through a shared love of photography! She is so smiley and lovely!
- Sammie from The Annoyed Thyroid – love Sammie’s blog, her dedicated engagement in the blogging community and the always thoughtful comments she leaves on posts! She is as lovely as I imagined she would be! No more FODP ok Sammie! 😉
[if anyone would like to know what FODP is just ask me in the comments and I’ll be happy to explain] - Kathy from YinYang Mother – I love Kathy’s blog! We’ve known each other a while on-line so it was fabulous to meet in person. She’s exactly as I thought she would be too – so, so lovely!
- Nicole from The Builder’s Wife – I’m so happy that we got to meet, even though it was so briefly and in a crowded and noisy room! I was honoured to guest post on her blog not long ago. Nicole was just as lovely as I thought she would be. I hope next time we will have longer to sit and chat!
- Krystal from Perfect Enough for Us – we nearly met in March at the Brisbane Problogger day but her son was sick so she couldn’t make it in the end. Krystal is such a delightful bundle of energy and passion for blogging! She’s a powerhouse of knowledge about Pinterest! Check out her blog if you would like some tips!
…and so many more wonderful bloggers. Wish I could list you all!
Highlight #8
The ‘Shine’ themed Poolside Networking Evening. Honestly, the whole set up (ambience, music, food, service) was outstanding! Huge thank you to those Problogger staff that organized this and hats off to RACV Royal Pines Resort for an outstanding job done!
One very painful lesson I learned on this evening was that I can no longer do the high heels thing big sigh. Maybe if I’m going to be sitting down at a dinner table for most of the evening but certainly not for a stand up party situation! Oh my hat my coat – I was in so much pain! I had intended on wearing my black boots for ‘the shine party’ but had thrown in some other options in case I changed my mind (I do this often!). As I’d worn my boots on Thursday and during the day on Friday, I decided that perhaps a different look was in order. I decided to wear my sparkly silver high heels because they suited the ‘shine’ theme. Never mind that I haven’t worn heels for ages, apart from medium chunky heels!! Very, very silly decision!
Shhh!!
THE SECRET 9TH AND ABSOLUTE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY: At around 9pm I was back in my room after having limped my way back there in those dreadfully torturous heels. I know – 9pm – Party Animal (not)!! The RELIEF of FINALLY TAKING THOSE SHOES OFF was the absolute highlight of my day and really should have been my 9th highlight BUT I had already completed the feature image for this post (which clearly states 8 highlights) so instead it is my secret 9th highlight!
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Keep watch for my wrap up of Day 2 of the Problogger Event. In the meantime, if you haven’t yet read them, I’ve written about My Top 3 Dorky Moments at Problogger Event 2015 and Problogger Event 2015: Orientation and Networking through the eyes of a newbie attendee!
Were you at the #PBevent ? What were your highlights from Day 1? Any Pearls of Wisdom that I missed?
Ciao for now,
Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT
30 Comments
Wow Min – you really summarised the take aways from PB very well. I learnt a great deal too, and have started on some things – but now I need to get disciplined to put more of it into action. Cheers! 🙂 x
Thanks Lyndall! I have much to do too. One step at a time! 😉 x
I wasn’t able to get to the PBevent but I’ve loved reading your posts regarding it! I do love your sparkly heels, what a pity they caused you such pain!
Thanks Ingrid! I enjoyed reading all the previous years’ PBevent posts when I hadn’t been able to go too. I love my sparkly heels too – such a shame I can’t stand around in them!
It was lovely to finally meet you Min. I looked for you many times, but with such a big crowd it was so difficult to find anyone. I really wish I had of been smart enough to go home at 9pm. I regretted it the next morning 🙁 Look forward to seeing you again soon. xx
It sure was difficult to find people – especially when you only had the blog photo’s to go by coz you’d never met them IRL before! So it was a miracle we found each other really Nicole! Sounds like you might have had a late night on Friday night huh? I might have stayed longer if my feet weren’t in so much pain! I’m sure we will meet again soon! 🙂 xo
So glad to have finally met you in person Min and that you found me amongst the many! Love your wrap up, I haven’t had opportunity to sit and review my PB notes yet, so appreciate reading yours and others! x
Ditto Steph – so happy we found each other in the sea of bloggers and met! I still have so much more PB stuff to write – Day 2 and more! I couldn’t summarize the whole experience in 1 post. 3 down and who knows how many to go! lol
I think I lasted until 9.30 or something – I was pretty impressed with myself for that effort! But it was also nice to go and slop around my hotel room on my own for a little while.
You did well lasting until 9:30! It was such a big day so I was very happy for the quiet of my room and to get changed into my PJ’s and sip on a coffee. I’m just a dag at heart! 😉
So many great takeaways. Thanks for sharing them. I just listened to Jadah on Elise Blaha’s podcast while I walked the dogs. Loved her.
Glad you enjoyed Deb! Jadah was my favourite – such a great speaker and she had some really valuable stuff to share! 🙂
Sounds like you got a great deal out of PB Min. Yay!
It certainly was jam packed full of info and experiences Jodi!
I’m glad I read this. I still haven’t gone over my notes since Problogger. Almost called it pro-booger. haha! I’m sure there’s someone out there who actually calls it that. haha.
It was a good refresher to go over your notes. Thanks. ALSO – really wish I had met you. It was a bummer I missed getting to meet a few of my favourites – same place but SUCH a big space. You should have worn a red hat so I could find you.
I still have pages of notes to get through yet! Yes – such a shame we didn’t meet – hopefully another time! 🙂
That is one of the most comprehensive recaps I’ve seen so far – well done! I had an absolute ball even though I didn’t take a single note and missed half of it with a migraine. I just loved being with “my people”. People who understood this whole blogging caper and why we do it. People who wanted to talk about it all the time too!
Thank you! Not good that you had a migraine! It was fun to be amongst others who get the whole blogging thang wasn’t it?! 🙂
A great wrap Min – thanks for including me in your bloggy buddy list (XX) and I can’t believe we didn’t find each other on the Shine party night. I love those silver shoes and would have worn them too. I’m a sucker for pain for fashion when it comes to shoes. You’ve done a lovely job too of finding the best nuggets amidst so much wisdom.
Thanks Kathy! I didn’t even see a glimpse of you (and many others) at the Shine party! I was always a sucker for pain for fashion too – in my younger days!!
Ahh Min – they are pretty sexy heels. Surely worth the pain, no? 🙂 Thanks for the recap. Very handy for those of us who didn’t attend.
Nope – not worth the pain I’m afraid Renee!! Hope you enjoyed the Day 1 recap! 🙂
I love the lessons on dealing with rude and negative comments.
Whilst I have luckily never had anyone swear and be rude commenting on my post, I have had the occasional hater or dictator. Thanks for PW to just respond briefly and calmly and don’t let that negative energy into your life.
I’m very fortunate in that I haven’t had any rude or negative comments to deal with really but I know what I’d do should I ever get some! 🙂
LOL I love the bonus 9th secret highlight 😉 . Loved reading this, esp as I didn’t get there this year x
I was too tired to re-do the text overlay on the feature image! LOL I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. I love reading them when I haven’t been too! 🙂
Wow you are incredibly organised with your notes Min. I’m going t have to read over this post several times to take it all in. That’s a shame about the shoes hurting you because the look quite glamorous. I’m with you though on the time that you shot through I think I would have done the same as large groups of people tend to overwhelm me, unless I can find a chair or a couple of chairs in a corner and mingle with just a few. But big kudos to you for going to the event and seeing it all through.
I have LOTS of notes. I’m not sure why I took so many – it really wasn’t necessary! lol I still have Day 2 of notes to get through and put into a post yet. Those shoes ruined the party for me as I was in too much pain to properly enjoy myself. I kept having to sit down to get some relief. I learnt my lesson! It was a big day – loads of socialising, lots of incoming information, partying etc – so 9pm back in my room was perfect! 😉
Really does sound like a fantastic event! With so many wonderful bloggers out there I really struggle to keep up and wonder what my purpose is! I remember that being spoken about last year and I’m still a little lost to be honest! It’s wonderful to meet bloggers we connect with online, in real life! That was definitely a highlight for me last year! I look forward to the day you and I are able to connect in the real world!
It is a fantastic event Zita. Darren and his team do an outstanding event organising this every year! You need to be prepared though for the reality of being but one fish in a very big and very clever sea and the fact that this might get you down a bit (it did me). I am sure we will meet before too long and I very much look forward to it! 🙂 x