I am very excited and happy. Yes a rare occurrence due to the fact that I have not done anything on my to do list (this to do list is mainly housework and organsing stuff for kids )
However I did manage to do something I have wanted to do since experiencing Problogger in 2013.
Today I managed to secure a ticket to Problogger. If you don’t know what Problogger is, It is the biggest and most amazing blogging conference in Australia.
Silly photo fun with mummy at the QT on the Gold Coast in 2013. We were there for Problogger.
Why I wanted to go back:
I loved it.
It was an eye opener and I had a ball!
Learnt so much
Networked and met such amazing people
So with the idea that 2015 is the year to achieve. The year to progress and get things done in a professional sense.
Yes screw the housework (although I secretly wish that while I work away, my clone would be cleaning and doing all the things I loathe to do)
I had enough in my PayPal account and that made ticket buying easy. Also I was sitting at the computer when ticket sales were announced and was able to get a ticket while some were still left, at the time of booking there was only about 230 tickets left. Last year they sold out in about 30mins to 15mins. Yes crazy isn’t it! Being online at the right time is crucial!
I phoned the hotel to book a room and that is now organised. Although still waiting on my confirmation email. I chased this up but it is due to the fact that bloggers have kept the hotel staff very busy. I wanted to make sure that I had a room at the venue as this would have made things harder. I have been assured my email should turn up tomorrow. I hope so.
In our hire car at Gold Coast Airport in 2013. This time it will be just me driving my hire car.
I need to help pay for my trip and to help hubby not feel upset about the outlay so far. Plus The Problogger event is a perfect time to get more eyes on your products and business. We can work something out if you would like to sponsor me.
Are you going to Problogger in August? If you are I will see you there! I cannot wait. Not only will I be learning a great deal, I will be kid free for a while.
Hi everyone. Yesterday I boarded the ship for my conference or should I say relaxing holiday?
It was wonderful to meet my room mate in the flesh rather than over a computer. I am roomies with Elise from Mummy Hearts Money.
Today is the start of the conference and I’m getting ready in style. As I write this I’m having a pedicure at the spa. My feet are going to look a million bucks after my treatment.
Here are some great pictures of the last few days. A big shout out to www.cruiseabout.com.au for sponsorship.
This would have been what it would have looked like if I had my swimsuit, Really! Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now as you all know, we have recently come back from a fabulous trip to the Gold Coast. It was fun and amazing, however I forgot two essentials, they were:
1. My swimmers
2. My business cards
I got all beach ready to then have to wear shorts and t-shirt to the beach. Not glam or comfortable but at least this allowed me to exerpeince the sea and have a bit of fun. Still upset about this. I got everyone’s swim suit and clothes organised and forgot mine! Have you done this? Talk about a mother thing to do. Next time I will sort my swimmers out first and as I think about it, I WILL PUT THEM IN THE SUITCASE RATHER THAN DO IT LATER!
While at the Gold Coast I was attending the Problogger Conference and only realised the night before it started that I did not have my business cards. Where were they? Well they were safe at home on my desk, doing NOTHING! Annoying to say the least.
Tears were shed, Many words not fit to print were uttered and yelled, and just felt like a stupid idiot forgetting them as I was so looking forward to making new contacts. Oh well, the only saving grace here was technology. I had my phone and tablet and this allowed me to follow new contacts on twitter or via Facebook and therefore allowed me not to be too upset about not having my business cards on me.
What have you left at home to only realise later that you really needed or wanted to have it? Were you annoyed? Could you get a replacement for the thing/things you left at home? Send in your comments.
Problogger was exactly what I thought it would be like, awesome! I learned so much, met wonderful people and overcame my fears of saying hi to some well known, very established bloggers. As my hubby reminded me, they are just like me, however the only difference is they have done it a bit longer.
I was super lucky to have been able to attend this conference and it would not have happened without winning the 1stAvailable.com.au blogging contest, so thanks again to the lovely team at 1stAvailable for making it all happen. I do attribute a lot of things to luck, maybe I need to adjust my thinking and believe it was skill. At the end of the day I felt blessed and amazed to be attending the event as at the same time last year, I was stomping around upset that I would never attend such event and just having a bad time of it all.
This bad time could be due to kids not listening, feeling like the blog was not going anywhere, but felt that it would be a nice goal to attend one day. I must have put my thoughts out into the universe and the universe rewarded me this year. I did catch myself wanting to pinch myself that I was actually on the Gold Coast and about to hear such vibrant people like Trey Ratcliff, Amy Porterfield, Darren Rouse, Tsh Oxenreider, Clare Bowditch, and Bernadette Jiwa speak.
Have you got mad about something but really you are just jealous or annoyed due to really wanting to go but can’t. Then it finally happens and it seems very surreal. If so I know how you feel?
So what was the conference like? Is it worth it?
Yes the conference is well worth every cent and effort made to attend. The talks were inspiring, the information was helpful and it opened my brain to do things a little differently on the blog. The QT on the Gold Coast where the conference was held was amazing, it is quirky, and has a 1960’s funky vibe. The food was so yummy, dining at Bazaar was a magical and a relaxing experience. Breakfast was the same, so much to choose from, that said the catering for the conference was wonderful and we even got served by flight attendants from Virgin Australia as they were one of the major sponsors. It did take me a moment to realize why they were there after leaving a very engrossing talk.
Darren and Trey
What were the key messages and takeaways?
Image is key, make sure that you have an image for everything
Facebook is where to market yourself
Make sure that you have a good cover image for Facebook that has what you do clearly visible
Your profile image should be the same across all your social sites (need to fix up one I think)
Focus on telling a story and adding personality into your brand
Tsh was very inspiring with ways to brainstorm and think of what to write about. I do have a million and one ideas, however I don’t write them down or remember them all. She was very clear about how to link things and suggested creating a series
If they don’t fit your brand, what could you do with the content? Does it belong on another blog or site?
Amy was amazing with all the secrets she shared about Facebook marketing, creating Post Page Ads is one thing I did not know about. Will find out more when I go through more notes
What personality type are you? Are you a morning person or is it evenings? Figure out how you work best and go with that.
Treat the blog as a business from day 1, this way you will be more focused and organize it as such. Writing and organizing time will not be so bad if you do this from the start. I need to do more of this.
Trey showed me that looking the world differently is o.k and one key quote he said about his critics is “fight back with awesome”, I am going to do this, but not sure about critics. I will just assume I have none and power along with awesomeness.
Darren’s Keynote Presentation
Clare was amazing and showed me that I have so much in my head that I want to be, I just need to follow my calling and go with it. Focus on what makes me happy. So I will do that. I normally have to do things for others, but due to kids and creating a role for myself at home with the blog and soon to be social media manager it is slowly happening. Following my bliss.
Don’t give up with your blog. All the speakers at one time or another was going to throw in the towel and they kept at it, success was just around the corner.
Excited to be at ProbloggerVirgin Australia serving our food. I did a double take as did not expect this!I know Austin from way back. Yeah baby. At the Party on Friday night @ Gold Coast HiltonYUM sweets!Wobbly dark choc dessert, YUM!These interesting creations are so yummy it is hard to explain. The pill thingy is a squeezy tube that you add over it. It gives it a nice zesty taste.
I now want to go next year. Keen to find out where the conference will be and see if it is possible for 2014.
If you were unable to attend the conference, the virtual ticket is still available, this gives you access to all the talks – audio and presentations that we saw over the 2 days. As said it was great and a lot of information to digest. Over 30 hours of learning that will help your business and grow your blog. If you do wish to look at and purchase the virtual ticket. Click on the link on the to right of the blog website, you can learn more and purchase from here. Enjoy, and get ready to be inspired!
What did you think of the conference if you went? Have you attended via the virtual ticket? Are you going to go next year?
Silly photo fun with mummy at the QT on the Gold Coast.
Hi, we are back from our holiday and Problogger. It was so wonderful and I am super grateful that we got to go. Thanks so much to 1stAvailable.com.au for making this all possible. We are super tired and I have many posts to share with you all in the next coming days.
At the conferenceMe at the beach
If you did make it to the conference it was lovely to meet you. It was amazing and I am making plans to be there next year, where ever it will be.
Good night world, gotta go get some sleep as kids are at school tomorrow and I have a big day cleaning and blogging.
