On Sunday I attended the Blogging For Business event with Sinead and Saibh from itwbn.ie. I was really excited about this event because as you know if you've followed me for a while that I love them. Seriously these girls can do no wrong. This event was a little bit different but it still had the #itwbnBloggerEvent charm.
The event took place in Galway in the Galway Bay Hotel, located in the heart of Salthill. It is a 4* hotel and has a warm and welcoming atmosphere, with gold luxurious interiors. On arrival we were treated to a refreshing and healthy breakfast. We got a choice of smoothies, fruit cocktail kebabs and scones with fresh cream and jam. This event was open to businesses as well as bloggers. Before breakfast as we were waiting for everyone to arrive we got to catch up with everyone as well as meeting new bloggers and business people.
Joanne Sweeney Burke was the first speaker of the day. Joanne is an author, blogger and co-founder of EdTech startup Webiket. Joanne is also a regular speaker at national and international conferences as well as been a finalist on the TV show The Apprentice. Joanne's blog was named one of Ireland's top marketing blogs by US-based website Search Engine Journal.
Joanne is an expert when it comes to blogging, marketing and social media. She really does know the industry so well. Here are just some of the topics and advice she gave us:
- Its what you bring to the party that makes you stand out or that makes your business or blog successful.
- Find your niche and be an expert in your brand.
- Share your experiences.
- Don't copy anyone. There's a very fine line between being inspired by someone and actually copying them. Stay true to yourself.
- Be relevant.
- Add value to peoples lives.
- Build your brand, nurture it and don't be afraid to change.
- You have to be confident and believe in yourself.
- Prove yourself to the internet.
- Never give up!
Up next was Robin Chedgey a digital marketing trainer and consultant. Robin is also the key player in the organisation OMIG. This is a non-profit organisation set up as a platform for all things digital marketing related in the west of Ireland. Robin is so passionate and loves what he does and this really showed throughout his talk. Here is a little of what he taught us:
- Create contact that you and your readers love.
- Be passionate about what you're writing and your brand.
- Be consistent.
- Keep working.
- Don't think about your blog as a business, just do what you love.
- Engage and commit.
- Passionately believe in yourself.
- Do what you love!
Lunch time!
Micheal Reilly who is the founder, principal developer and tutor and over all 'wiz kid' at Educated Machine taught us about all the 'techie stuff' that comes with blogging. He taught us about different platforms, utilizing social media to promote your blog, plugins, design and much much more. He is so enthusiastic about technology and this was contagious. I am really looking forward to working with him in the future.
Last but by no means least Ciara O'Dohery shared her story with us. She is such a inspiration, so hard working and such a fun loving girl. She shared her story with us about what inspired her to start blogging, what it takes to make it as a career as well as some of the tips and tricks that helped her along the way.
- Focus on the now.
- Get yourself out there.
- Use your resources.
- Support yourself.
- Be organized.
- Provide a service.
- Never stand still.
- Share tips.
- Never go back on your word.
- Be clear and concise.
- Think of your readers like friends! :)
Like every #itwbnBloggerEvent I learnt so much and left feeling very motivated and inspired. I have been thinking about redesigning my blog for a while now and after this event I have been doing a lot more research into what I want. I have so many more ideas for blog posts to. I was making separate lists during the day - multitasking at its best. Just when Ciara brought me back down to earth by stating to focus on the now. The blog post your writing right now not the one you have planed for next week - guilty! But we'll get there!
Yours Stylishly
Kerrie
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