“Highlights from ProBlogger Event 2012” plus 1 more

Highlights from ProBlogger Event 2012

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 03:10 AM PDT

Last weekend, over 300 bloggers converged at Etihad stadium in Melbourne to attend the annual Problogger event.

Image by Marija Ivkovic

We had dreamed a lot bigger this year. This was the first year that we held the event over two days. It was the first year we had two different ´streams´ of content and the first time we uploaded the presentations shortly after the sessions had finished for virtual attendees.

I think it was pretty successful. People loved how many different niches were represented – we had speakers from travel, cartooning, business, food, photography, fashion, parenting and more. People also enjoyed having direct access to the team that has helped me grow my business revenue over the past 2 years.

From Little things Big things Grow

This turned out to be the accidental theme of the two days. I started my keynote on Friday by telling the audience about my early experiences as a blogger – including the story of my now defunct printer blog (which I had no passion for… and as a result couldn’t sustain it)!

I think the attendees appreciated hearing from people at different levels of success in their blog. We heard from bloggers who were focused on building a part time business around other responsibilities. We also heard from bloggers who had enjoyed a lot of success within 2-3 years of starting their blog.

I think Elle Roberts said it best:

It is OK to shift, change and maybe even completely flip your direction. You need to give yourself permission to stay true to who you are what you want TODAY and stop holding on to what you wanted when you started your business.

Many bloggers told us that they felt reassured after attending as well as having specific ´action steps’ planned to complete after they had recovered.

One of my favorite moments of the event at the end of Day 2 when we all went out into the 40,000 seat stadium to think about the impact we can have as bloggers – Image by Danimezza

Take Small Actions, Every Day

Something else that really resonated with people was the idea of finding small blocks of time each day and using it to do an activity that improves your blog.

I spoke about how I created my first ebook by finding and using 15 minute blocks after the birth of my first son. Maybe people tweeted their own suggestions and followed up with blog posts:

Image by Marija Ivkovic

Chris Guillebeau was one of the standout speakers. He received so many compliments on his kindness and sincerity. It was a real honour to share this event with him

The PBEVENT Team!

The day 1 networking drinks at Maha was another highlight. As you can see, we had a lot of fun catching up and posing for pics courtesy of Smilebooth Australia.

The Virtual Pass

This was the first year we made the presentations available almost live, and this was something that all attendees really responded to. People loved not worrying about missing information and being able to participate in the conversation virtually. We also had 100+ others attend the conference from around the world virtually – it was great to see so many tweets coming in participants in places like Serbia, South Africa, America, Canada, New Zealand (and of course many from around Australia).

It really added an extra element to the event and is something we´ll look at expanding on next year.

The virtual ticket is still available if you are interested.

It includes 21 hours of great blogging teaching, all the slides used by presenters and a recording of an hour long Q&A webinar that I recorded with attendees after the event.

Get your Virtual Ticket here.

Do it in a Dress

I ended the first day by wearing a dress to the final session. Yes, a dress. The goal was to raise enough money for 10 girls in Africa to attend school.

Image by Misho Maranovic

We hit our target. You can still donate here.

Our 2013 Event

This year’s event was a real success but we’re already looking forward to next year. We’ve just finished our debrief as a team and there are some further improvements and new features of the event that we’re looking to add.

Interested in coming?

Leave your email below and we’ll let you know where and when it is on:

Note: your details will be kept private and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Reviews of PBEVENT from Attendees

There have been a flood of blog posts about the event this year. Here are just some of them – enjoy!

Thanks to our Sponsors!

Thanks so much to our partners and sponsors at PBEVENT who helped make the event so great!

Lenovo, MYOB, Holden, Yellow Pages, Curtin University, Social Callout, Blurb, Coldflow, Zendesk and Oz Blog Hosting.

Also thanks to World Vision Australia for helping out at the event with volunteers.

Image by Marija Ivkovic

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Highlights from ProBlogger Event 2012

Blogging Isn’t a Numbers Game: It’s a People Game

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 07:02 AM PDT

Last month I had the privilege of attending one of the biggest events in Australia—the AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final. For those of you outside Australia, it’s kind of like the Superbowl of Aussie football (without all the cool ads and wardrobe malfunctions…).

Anyway, I was a guest (with my wife “V”) at the event of Virgin Australia and it was quite the experience.

The game is held at the MCG (a stadium in Melbourne) and was attended by 99,683 people.

During the Nathional Anthem moments before the game started

I don’t know if you’ve had the experience of being in a crowd close to 100,000 people, but it is a pretty amazing thing to be a part of—especially when so many of them are so passionate about supporting their team to win the season’s ultimate prize.

The game starts

As I sat there in that frenzy of flag-waving, face-painted, screaming fans it was easy to look at the crowd and almost see them as a single unit. Within an hour or so, the stadium had been transformed from a quiet, empty place into one that was teaming with life.

Buddy Franklin (one of the biggest AFL stars) takes a ‘Mark’ early in the game

However that crowd was actually made up of almost 100,000 small parts. Each person in attendance had entered through the turnstiles that day, one by one, having made their way to the stadium from around the city (and in some cases, from around the country). Each one came in their own unique way, with their own unique story, and their own unique expectations of what was about to unfold at the Grand Final.

Within seconds to go the game was tied up – this vital contest led to a goal that sealed the match for the Sydney Swans.

Each one also had their own experience of the day. For some, those expectations were exceeded as their team won. Others left the stadium dejected after seeing their team lose.

This was highlighted to me at the end of the game, particularly when I watched these two fans celebrating with such emotion.

Tension – it went down to the wire

Emotion – the win is in sight

Jubilation – the final siren sounds and pandaemonium breaks lose around us

It strikes me that all this is true for the “crowds” that read our blogs, too.

I was chatting with one blogger at the ProBlogger Training Event in Melbourne recently and they told me that they’d just passed the 100,000-visitors-in-a-month milestone. As we chatted, I told her that that’s enough people to fill the MCG, and an amazing thing!

However it is good to also remember when we celebrate these milestones that the crowds (whether they be 100, 10,000, 100,000, or 10,000,000) are actually more than just a number—they’re made up of individual readers.

The total “unique visitors” stat that many of us use to measure the success of our blogs is actually made up of real people who arrive, one by one, on our blogs.

They have unique journeys, and arrive from different places.
They each arrives at a different part of our blog (many on our archives).
They each come with their own set of needs that they’re looking to fulfil.
Each person has been shaped by their own stories and experiences.
Each has his or her own expectations of what the experience of your blog will be like.

Keeping this in mind as you blog is so important—it should shape the way that you write, the way that you build community, the way that you find new readers, and even the way that you monetize.

Don’t get too wrapped up in the overall number of visitors (big or small). Instead, focus upon the individuals who make up the crowd, and you’ll create something that not only grows, but really impacts the lives of those who read it.

A big thanks to Virgin Australia for the experience of going to the Grand Final – an experience of a lifetime.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Blogging Isn’t a Numbers Game: It’s a People Game