Last week I had the opportunity to speak at another Bloggers Night Out event hosted by Magic City Fashion Week. During my talk, I discussed “The Art of Collaboration,” explaining how bloggers can collaborate with one another and why they should.
Writers and bloggers need to collaborate. Period. Sayings like “A rising tide lifts all boats” and “Teamwork makes the dream work” may sound like a cliche to you, but to me, they are my mantras. I believe in the power of community and this belief is why I started See Jane Write in the first place.
Throwback to the first WordCamp I attended and the t-shirt I got at the conference!
People often ask me why I still bother attending blogging conferences. “You’ve been blogging for a decade,” they say. “Don’t you know what the speakers are going to say before they say it?”
Oftentimes, yes. But not always.
The thing about blogging is it’s always changing. So as a blogger, if you want to keep growing you have to keep learning. And I always learn something new at WordCamp Birmingham.
I was a speaker at last year’s conference but I still attended several sessions, notebook in hand, and I filled the pages of that notebook with blogging strategies for the upcoming year.
This year I’ll be attending WordCamp Birmingham again. WordCamp Birmingham 2018 is set for August 4-5 and will be held at the Pelham Civic Complex. You can learn more and get your tickets at 2018.birmingham.wordcamp.org.
If you’re eager to learn more about blogging in 2018 and beyond you should be there. But if you think you already know it all, you shouldn’t bother and here are five other reasons you should NOT attend…
When the news of Kate Spade’s suicide broke on June 5 I, like many fans of the famous fashion designer, was shocked and saddened for her family. But I didn’t even think many of the things I heard others saying or saw others posting on social media. Things like, “She was rich. Why would she want to kill herself?” or “How could she be so selfish and do this to her family?” I didn’t say or think things like this because I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life but hid my pain by being an overachiever who seems so “together.” I didn’t think or say Kate Spade was selfish because there have been so many times when I was convinced everyone around me would be better off if I weren’t here.
Natalie McMyler, founder of Dream Catchers South // Photo Credit: Anna Conn Photography
I am a writer but I also proudly call myself a “writerpreneur,” a woman who wants to use her writing to make an impact and an income. So in addition to reading and working on the craft of writing, I also learn all I can from business-minded people. This is why I attend events like the Dream Catchers South conference, a one-day seminar for female entrepreneurs hosted in Birmingham each spring. Natalie McMyler, the founder of Dream Catchers South, is the owner of the clothing company 11th Thread, which she launched in 2014 because she wanted to be able to stay home with her son and pursue her passion of owning her own business.
July is a month that fills me with energy, an energy that urges me to work hard and play harder. As a teacher, I seek to soak up and savor the final weeks of summer break and have as much fun as possible. As a writerpreneur, I’m pushed to hustle hard to grow my writing career and my business before school starts. I’m convinced I can do both.
Here are my writing, blogging, and personal goals for July 2018 and how I plan to have fun.
