Last fall, I had the immense pleasure of giving my second-ever Pecha Kucha presentation. (Weird phrase; fun concept — essentially, you build 20 image-based slides that auto-advance every 20 seconds.) I did it at the Florida Blogging and Social Media Conference and chose the topic:
10 Secrets Only Bloggers Really Know About Blogging
It was really fun to share some of the silly and serious things that come along with sharing your life online. And I thought you guys might appreciate some of the slides!
1. We Speak a Special Language
I mean, where else can you weave these words into casual conversation and have people understand you?
2. We Take Pictures of Everything We See and Do Because We Never Know When We’ll Need Them
Admit it. You have a camera roll that likely includes at least three of the following: a picture of a plate of food, a picture of someone’s feet, a picture of a random street sign, a selfie and a picture of a beautiful flower.
3. Our Moods Rise and Fall in Proportion to Our Comments/Shares/Likes/Pins/Follows
Sad, but true. I don’t check my feeds when I first wake up because I need that first hit of coffee as a buffer.
4. We Will Spend Big Bucks on Fancy Cameras and Computer Software but Nine Times Out of Ten, We’ll Use Our Smartphones and Instagram Filters to Take and Share Pictures.
Right? My poor DSLR only gets dusted off when it’s a really big project or I want to be super fancy.
5. Buying Domain Names Can Be Addicting.
I own so, so many. It’s insanity. Every year, I let about ten “brilliant” domains expire because they weren’t so brilliant to begin with OR I just never knew what to do with them. Ahem, BoozeandShoes.com and KegsNoEggs.com.
6. Nothing Trumps Kittens, Puppies or a Good Giveaway.
I can spend hours on an SEO tutorial, or a series on media kits. A post with a funny dog picture or video will always get more shares.
7. Some of Our Best Friends are People We Have Never Met and May Never Meet.
Lucas is always asking me — “is this someone you know, or someone you blog know?” when I talk about a friend. And mostly, it’s the latter. I love you guys.
8. We Can’t Seem to Find Time to Cook, Clean or Read a Book but We Will Spend Hours Trying to Find Out What a Favicon is and How to Get One.
One google search can lead to a serious time wormhole.
9. No Matter How Big Our Audience is, There are Days When Each of Us Wants to Shut the Site Down and Forget We Ever Started the Darn Thing.
Truth. Hopefully, the good outweighs the bad but let’s not fake it…sometimes blogging is disheartening and hard and frustrating.
10. It is One of the Most Rewarding Things We Do, and We’re All Incredibly Blessed to be Able to Have a Place to Share Our Thoughts, Dreams and Passions With the World.
Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to not only have the right to run this blog, but that so many of you are interested in me, and my crazy life. It’s an awesome privilege.
THANK YOU ALL.