Two weeks ago we attended the Problogger conference here on the Gold Coast. So did 700 other people – mostly women! It’s definitely my favourite conference. Not only do I get to hang out with a cool bunch of travel bloggers, but also connect with other bloggers and entrepreneurs across a wide variety of niches from business coaching, to fashion and food bloggers.
I always gain so much through new ideas, collaborations, new friendships and inspiring speakers. The conference always has a high positive energy vibe and full credit goes to Darren Rowse and his team for doing an exceptional job of creating an experience that has extraordinary value with attention to each attendees needs.
The Problogger conference is like a fine wine – each year it tastes better and better.
We missed last year as we were chasing crocs in Kakadu. We were happy to return, and myself as a speaker! It was my first Problogger solo session, and I loved it.
I like to do a wrap-up post with the things I learned the most and the biggest themes I found weaved through each speaker’s presentations. Hopefully, you can take some nuggets away to apply to your personal and business life.
1. Pay it forward with kindness
This was a huge theme of the conference that ran through many speaker’s presentations, including my own. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of hate out there in the world, and as Heather Armstrong from Dooce.com shared, it can be on the vilest levels. We cop it, although not as frequently or severely, as Dooce. It’s frightening how many crazy, unhealthy, miserable people there are.
As Dooce reminded us,
It’s merely a reflection of the deep pain and unhappiness that lies within them. Reach out to them with compassion.
It’s not easy to do, but will soften the hate energy.
I also recommend that you use the cruelty and judgement you receive as motivation and fuel to become a better human being and then do your best to overcome the hate by spreading love to others. It’s the only way I know to deal with it.
Photo: Shutterstock
Ruth Soukup also spoke in her presentation that paying it forward was one of the five ordinary habits of extraordinary bloggers. I completely agree. It’s a big part of what we do.
We regularly support charities, plus I have a private mentorship group, and our first round of the Money Cleanse was a pay what you want. I intend to continue to do all I can to help make the LOVE voice heard!
I met so many kind-hearted people at the conference. I’m so grateful for all the positive words and smiles given to me, and I LOVE how this conference has such a kind communal spirit.
Read more: Who are you letting dictate your life? (How to deal with the haters)
2. Be a glow stick and shine
Jadah shared this quote at the end of her keynote, which everyone loved!
Photo: TinyBuddha.com
Be vulnerable. Share your story and connect with your readers. Let them know you understand and are here to help. Don’t be afraid to shine the truth of who you are.
Don’t be afraid to break. You will many times on the road to your dreams. Use that as the fuel needed to shine!
(It was so awesome to meet Jadah. We’ve followed Simple Green Smoothies for a couple of years. We even did their 21 day cleanse while travelling!! We made 10 days, which I thought was great as doing a cleanse while on the road is extremely challenging. I use their recipes still all the time! I talk about my morning tonic tea being part of my daily ritual in this post. It’s from the cleanse!)
3. Don’t fear failure
As Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies said,
Put it out and let the world decide.
Brandon Cowan, the young Geek and Director of Crazy Dog Apps, changed his life around from drugs and alcohol and high school drop out to helping pets in animal shelters and making a difference. He says,
Embrace failure because embracing risky ideas can result in a great outcome.
And we shared our fave quote from Michael Jordan
Photo: Shutterstock
I feel like I fail brilliantly on a daily level. But, I’m okay with it as I know I can’t get to the success without it.
Read more:
4. Look after your inner world too
Photo: Shutterstock
Okay so perhaps we weren’t doing a great job of this at 2 am with our espresso martini and funny conversations. But, what’s a Problogger without a little party! In Darren’s keynote, he spoke about the importance of looking after your health- physical and mental.
I regularly share with you how my meditation and daily habits routine saves my sanity and keeps me focused.
I also shared that C.A.N.I – Constant and Never Ending Improvement is one way to apply leverage to your business. Work on yourself and learn new skills to keep growing!
A belief I love and I often share in my Money Cleanse is
Embrace this as an empowering statement, not one to upset you. You can easily grow into that person. Find who has what you want and emulate how they think and act.
5. Delete the Fugly
I loved this term from Jadah. She was talking about deleting the ugly photos from your Instagram feed (which I’ve now done.) But, I think we can relate it to a lot of other things.
Know your strategy. Know what your community needs and connects to. Delete everything else – Including those who don’t belong in your community and do their best to tear it down. Don’t be afraid to start again and as Darren says, “Pivot”,
Stick to your zone of excellence – if your skill level is missing and fugly is your only result, then outsource that.
6. Why are you doing this?
Another constant theme was to reconnect with your why. Without a strong enough why you’ll quit.
There’s a certain lifestyle you’re chasing: location independence, time freedom, endless summers, but why else are you doing it?
What difference are you trying to make?
What’s your message and story to share with the world. Follow the calling within – no matter how crazy it might seem.
Photo: Shutterstock
It’s about creating for how you can transform people’s lives, not for the money you can make. Make the love the most important thing and the money will follow.
7. Dream big
Again another huge theme of the conference that was mentioned over and over again.
Photo: Zig Zag Travel
Don’t fear it. Make it fun and remove limitations.
Jadah shared her vision board as a way of doing it.
For me, I shared the
“Wouldn’t it be cool if?”
Paint the picture of all the cool things your blog can take you to. This strategy kind of takes away the limitation and just makes it a fun conversation with friends around a couple of martini espressos. (Oh wait, that was us at 1:30am at the Hydrate Bar! Who’s idea was that?)
These are all the things I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if?” and they happened.
Except for the White House thing! I could never have dreamed we’d get invited there.
Read More: It all starts with a dream
8. The importance of action
Photo: Shutterstock
This is what I speak about in my 30 Day Money Cleanse. The Secret fooled everyone into thinking all you had to do was think about what you want and the Fairy Godmother would bring it! No – action is where it’s all at.
Jadah Sellner said it’s all about heart and hustle.
When we first started heart and hustle was the only leverage we had.
And this was one of my favourite quotes again from Jadah
Don’t wait until everything is perfect. act now and learn along the way. Ruth also mentioned this in the opening to her talk. She spoke to a mentor and confessed, “I feel like such a fraud. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”
His response – nobody does. Everyone is just trying to pave their own way. And if you’re out in front then there’s no possible way you know what you’re doing.
Arm yourself with a machete and hack down the jungle vines along the way.
I often say, “I have no idea what I am doing.” The difference is I still DO it anyway. Again it comes back to that idea about being okay with failure.
I’ll try it and if it doesn’t work then I’ll just refine it and start again.
I talk more about business and balancing it with travel and family on this podcast. Listen below.
9. What’s your one thing?
Photo: shutterstock
A brain like mine doesn’t like to settle on one thing. I have multiple projects (and multiple browser windows) running at ones. (okay and maybe multiple devices too.) So when Darren asked us in his closing keynote to decide on one thing to do upon leaving the conference I wanted to dive under the covers.
But, I have taken action and implemented so much of what I’ve learned through my typical bits and bobs method – the nomad that can’t settle down into one project at a time.
I’ve tidied up some of my email sequence, I’ve tweaked a bit of my Instagram account and strategy – (which is growing by almost 100 people a day! Yay. Come join us!) I’ve set up a rebranding and launch strategy for my 30 Day Money Cleanse and I’ve collaborated with Mike and Ang on an exciting new project.
The one thing we really want to create is a community based challenge for you all. So let us know if you have any ideas of what you need help with so we can create that fun solution for you!
9 Lessons learned from the Problogger conference
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