7 Things I Learnt: Problogger Training Event

A week and a half ago, I had the honour of attending the Problogger training event in Melbourne. It was an early start which kicked of with a networking breakfast (dread!) My day started with my brain ticking over with fear and doubt. As I drove in I was dreading walking into the room of 300 bloggers. Bloggers that are established, that already know each other and suddenly I am full of self doubt and completely petrified.

I walk into Etihad stadium to where the Problogger training event is being held and get my name tag from the registration desk. I take a deep breath and walk into the room. There is the buzz of chatter within the room. I grab a coffee to calm my nerves and walk past three lovely ladies and they all give me a smile. I stop and start talking and introduce myself. The fear disappeared in an instant.

Within five minutes we have given a brief description of what we blog about and exchange business cards and twitter handles. Josefa, Sarah and Grace you don't know how much talking to you eased my mind and gave me the courage and confidence I needed. We we stuck together like glue for the two day event. In the end I had nothing to worry about, I was surrounding by like minded people that were all here for the same reason. To meet bloggers, to learn and be inspired.

What I took away from the event...

My head was spinning with ideas after the first day but also I was questioning why I blog and whether or not it was good enough to engage an audience. I was comparing myself to so many bloggers that were in attendance that I admired. I had to give myself a slap across the face ( a virtual one) to snap myself out of that funk.

Here are my top 7 take-aways from the event:

1. Darren started his speech from little things big things grow. It made me look at why I started blogging. I started as outlet for me to express the things that I loved to do. Granted my audience is only my Mum and the girls in the office.

Darren's closing speech.

2. But engaging an audience outside of your Mum and your friends is important to grow. Understanding your target audience and giving them what you want. In the words of the amazing speaker James Tuckerman you want to" rent eyeballs".

The amazing James Tuckerman from Anthill Fame's opening slide "Lubricate your mind.... Or.... How to build a global empire in your underpants."

3. What is your blogs purpose. My number one take from the two days! Find your purpose and stick to it!

4. Take 15mins a day to make your blog better. Darren challenged us to take 15mins a day to do something to improve your blog

5. Consistency - I have never been a consistent blogger. Blog within your means and if you can only post once a week, blog on the same day every week. Your audience will be expecting it!

6. Network more - I need to meet more bloggers and engage more online

7. Stats - I have been blogging for more than 3 years. I have always had statcounter and Feedburner as my guide to where my traffic from. My biggest rookie mistake was not having Google Analytics. This is the tool that PR agencies and brands want you to share with them. As it is the most reliable and resourceful tool. Understanding you stats was also a key point. Look at what posts are getting the most amount of views to understand what people are reading and also look at the ones that are not being read.

The Event was the most valueable two days for me. I met great people, listened to amazing speakers and most of all learnt how to be a better blogger. Now it is time to put it into practice, 15 minutes at a time!