Making Plans & Dreaming Dreams; Bloggy Boot Camp Las Vegas

Ann About Town has been around for almost 2 years, but its only this last year that I began seriously looking at what I’m doing here.  I’ve joined several Facebook groups specializing in blogging, as opposed to the groups I’ve joined for networking with my business.  Plus, I was lucky enough to win a free ticket to attend Bloggy Boot Camp in Las Vegas in October this year; which worked out really well for me, especially since I had already decided I was going to attend!

BBC Lesson–Creating My Tribe

Friends and family are an important support-system for anyone.  Something I had been doing for the last few months, was one of the big take-aways from Tiffany Romero of SITS; creating a support-system for my fledgling blog.  I was extremely lucky to have found the SoCal Lady Bloggers (or maybe they found me–either way, this group of women is my Tribe!)

They are a wonderful support system, a whole new group of friends and a wealth of knowledge for the blogging world and more!

Design Ideas & Plans

I listened to several great speakers who talked about design–Laurie Turk, Cynthia Wheeler,Trina Finton, Tiffany Romero and Francesca Banducci.  One of the first things I’ve done is to upgrade my camera; I found a sweet deal on Woot to implement this one.  Soon, you’ll be able to critique my (hopefully better) photos!

Earlier this year, I made some changes to the appearance of my blog, but there are several more things I need to consider–so I’ll be tweaking my design here and there on these pages.  Please let me know what you think.

The Business of Blogging

As much fun as I have with my blog, I need to remember to treat it like a business–consistency is the key!  Laurie Turk and Gigi Ross gave some great pointers that I need to use–Where you put your attention is where you will get your results.  I’ve also created a to-do list for this area of my blog/life.

• Create a wish list of brands/companies I want to work with
• Make opportunities where none exist (think outside the box!)
• Create and use an editorial calendar and a pitch calendar; set “office hours” for blogging
• Create a Media Kit and keep it up to date
• Know where you want to end up and work backwards from that point

There are so many more things I could add to this list; and so much more I listened to and tried to absorb in my first Bloggy Boot Camp.  But I think the best advice came from Tiffany Romero, when she said not to get overwhelmed with all the information.  Take just a few things at a time and perfect those before moving on to a few more things;, and so on, and so on.

If you think about it, that’s also a great metaphor for life–there’s so much out there; so many things to try, to do, to achieve.  You can’t possibly do it all (at least, not all at once); so pick and choose–because after all, it’s all about the journey.

P.S.  See you at the next Bloggy Boot Camp!