It’s early Sunday morning. I’m sitting here on my couch while the kids play, drawing pictures of fairies and telling me their news from the past two days. We’ve got swimming lessons and a birthday party to go to today. Reality.
But despite all the usual chaos, I feel calm – energised even. My mind is buzzing with information and inspiration, snippets of conversations, images of slides and powerful messages. Problogger 2014 has reinforced for me that writing and working online is something that I love. The speakers and attendees themselves have shown me what is possible. There was such a positive, generous energy that pervaded the entire event.
It’s tough to name a favourite speaker. Pat Flynn from SPI was a delight. He embodies the values that he espouses – authenticity and transparency. He shares the good and the bad in an entertaining way. Rand Fishkin and his wife Geraldine from The Everywhereist were amazing speakers, so warm and witty. Chris Ducker and Matthew Michalewicz both had inspiring (and funny) stories to tell about their entrepreneurial journeys. And hearing from some of my favourite bloggers including Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim, Eden from Edenland and Stacey from Veggie Mama was such a treat. And of course Mr Problogger himself, Darren Rowse, who is just such a nice guy. His enthusiasm and generous spirit make the event what it is.
I’ll be redesigning and revamping my blog soon so all this inspiration couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m determined to come back next year having implemented many of these ideas. In the meantime, here are some of my favourite quotes from Problogger 2014…
“Put some you into your blog.” – Pat Flynn
“If you want to change somebody’s life, start by changing their day first.” – Pat Flynn
“People don’t want clever, they want easy.” – Christie Burnett from Childhood 101
“If you love it, other people will want to read it. Be the thing you’ve been waiting for.” – Geraldine DeRuiter
“Dress rehearsals always happen in an empty auditorium. Mistakes make great stories.” – Geraldine DeRuiter
“A meal shared is more fun and exciting. It’s like that in the blogosphere, we just need bigger tables!” – Nikki Parkinson from Styling You
“Learn what your elephant is and how you’re going to eat it.” – Candice deVille from Vintage Current
“You want to create things that make people think, ‘Me too! I’m not the only one’.” – Chantelle Ellem
“Ignorance is the cost of where you could have been but you’re not. Ignorance is expensive.” – Matthew Michalewicz
“When you build the business of you, nobody can copy it.” – Chris Ducker
“Never forget the people behind the numbers.” – Darren Rowse
“Take imperfect action.” – Darren Rowse
Some themes came through across the board: Know your reader. Show your personality. Let people get to know you. Develop a rhythm and be consistent. Be generous. Get off your blog. Engage with your community.
If you were at Problogger, which speakers did you most enjoy? What were your biggest take-aways?
Sally
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Thanks so much…I’ve been glued to #pbevents all weekend. I unfortunately missed out on a ticket this year
Love hearing all the little tidbits of learnings. 
The tickets sold out so quickly, didn’t they?! Have you seen the tweets of bloggers like Carly Findlay and Emily Hawker? They seemed to have every session covered!
Ooh – I love “Take imperfect action”…
Yes I really loved that one. Nothing ventured nothing gained!
I love your post, Sal. It was great to catch up and you have summed it all up very nicely. Hope you had a great weekend. Look forward to chatting soon x PS I can’t wait til you post the food pics as well. Delicious!
Thanks Kym, it was so nice to see you! Now to listen to the recordings of the sessions I missed… so much good stuff!
Augh! You are so sweet