I was asked to do a short talk at London Bloggers Meet-up. To people I know and like and respect. After being on live television more than once, honestly nothing was scarier than standing in front of a room full of people you know and like. Because they listen.
Luckily, Domestic Sluttery also provided cakes and biscuits. People are much nicer to you after you've given them cheesecake brownies. I'm not necessarily very good at talking in public (I've only done it twice), but in life I tend to jabber like an idiot. I have a lot of things in my head, and sometimes it's difficult to get them out in any kind of order (it's especially difficult if you print your notes out in a tiny font and don't wear your glasses). There hasn't been an occasion when I'm talking in public and think to myself "OMG people are paying attention". That's when I stutter, go red and stumble over my words. Luckily the guys at LBM were kind enough to see past that and say nice things.
For those of you who weren't there, here's some of what I talked about, put more eloquently than I did that night. I talked about things you should do when you're blogging. Which was much more positive than it sounds.
- Don't look ugly - get a pretty theme, use a format you like, always use photos of videos. Make things pretty. No one likes blog posts without pictures. My first blog had no pictures for months because I didn't think they mattered. I'm sometimes really stupid.
- Don't rant - Passive agression, "being honest", being a bitch is all a bit dull. So is being controversial just for the sake of it. Have something to say. Or, shut up.
- Don't assume you know best - other bloggers in your field do know better than you, checking facts and getting the full story is vital to get blogging, yet so often ignored.
- Don't expect people to agree - even if you're making a good point, people will disagree. That's no bad thing as long as you stand by what you're saying. Link back to conversation and others will do the same. It's not the same as having a blog troll (aren't they fun), people disagreeing is for the most part quite fun. It sparks new thoughts, new conversation and inspiration. What's bad about that?
- Don't ignore your readers - REPLY TO COMMENTS! Even the negative ones. In fact, especially the negative ones. If someone has made the effort to comment, make the effort to reply.
- Don't ignore other bloggers - read more blogs, write more comments, talk to more bloggers. Being a better reader makes you a better blogger.
- Don't forget to ask for help - if there's something you can't do, ask someone to show you how. That way your blog is better. I can't do HTML. It's been known to make me cry. I get help with this.
- Don't give up - find something you're passionate about, if something isn't working, change it. Just keep blogging, get better. I've had three personal blogs, and one failed online project. Not everything you try and do will work. And that's OK.
- Don't blog if you don't want to. Take yourself offline. Don't feel bad for not blogging.
- Don't listen to me. Do it yourself, fuck up all on your own. Start over. Get better. The best way to enjoy blogging is to make mistakes. Sure, everything stays online, but it's a rolling commentary, your writing and your opinions will change. Enjoy blogging because your blog is your own. There's nothing better than that. It's sometimes the only place you can write uncensored, and that's a pretty amazing thing.
Last week was The Sway, which I wasn't meant to talk at, but am apparently much more microphone grabby at this event. I booked the speakers at the last Sway (contact me if you want to get involved in speaking, or indeed sponsoring the next event) and everyone had a great time. Huge thanks to Whatleydude, Matt Churchill, Dan Shore and Gary Andrews for coming along and agreeing to speak. I wasn't expecting to talk, but Lastminute.com were there so it was nice to say a bit on their behalf (I've done some work on their iPhone app recently).
Both events are brilliant, and both very different. I like the chilled-out side of LBM. I like that it doesn't feel like at networking event. But I like that the Sway does. I enjoy the debates, I like it getting all a bit Trisha. I've got two new clients after talking to people at The Sway. Two! If you're a blogger looking for work, and you're not at the next event, you're missing out. Besides, the Skimlinks team are pretty awesome so it's fun to hang out with all of them. What I like about both events is how welcoming they are. Not just to industry veterans like James, but to newbies as well. Bloggers get a reputation for being cliquey, and sometimes I think that's true. But none of that is apparent at these events. Everyone is friendly, everyone's opinion is valid. It's exactly how blogging events should be. Taking online discussion and continuing it offline. Over beer.
And well, this speaking in public malarkey is getting kinda fun. Who knew?
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