Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Join Me (And Everybody Else) At BlogWorld

View Comments | Posted In News by David

Unless you’ve been under a rock as a blogger, you most likely know about the Blogworld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas. If you haven’t been there before, I highly suggest you go.

This will be my third year at Blogworld. I’m looking forward to going for more reasons than one. Obviously, the networking is the biggest motivator for me. However, since my wife and I just had our second child in February, let’s just say I don’t get out as much as I used to. :) I used to attend more conferences than I have this year, so Blogworld in October is going to be my first trip out of Florida since March. Looking forward to it.

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Why You Should Be There, Too

Networking. For me, this is the primary reason I go. Once you’ve met somebody offline, the online relationship is so much stronger because you then have an actual reality with the person.

Sure, first you have to deal with the whole, “Well, this person is kinda different than I was picturing” thing. I’m sure some of you who meet me may think the same. ;) But, it is far more REAL. The people I have the most dealings with online are people I met offline. And it just so happens I met many of them at Blogworld.

The content of the event is great as well. Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett will be doing a full-day “Problogger” track (and you know I’ll be there hanging out, too). Brian Clark and Sonia Simone (from Copyblogger) are talking about Remarkable Communication. Yaro Starak tells me he will be flying in (which will be cool because we’ve never met in person). There’s even talk of a milk crate talk by Jordan Cooper. ;)

But also…

I’m Speaking This Year

Last year, I had several people ask me if I was going to be speaking. Last year, that answer was no. Honestly, last year, by the time it even dawned on me that it might be a good idea, the speaker deadline had long since passed. Oops.

This year, however, I will be speaking. I’ll be conducting a panel with my pals Nathan Hangen, Mike Cliff-Jones and Lisa Morosky. Our panel is going to be about treating your blog like a business. And if you know me from my writing here on my blog, you know that that subject is pretty much my motto. :)

I’m going to give it my usual direct approach and tell it like it is. Nathan, Mike and Lisa are going to crush it with their contributions, then we’re all going to be available for questions.

Last year, way too much of the monetization stuff focused on the same boring crap – ads. The questions from the audience clearly showed they weren’t thinking about their blogs as businesses, yet were trying to make money. Well, come talk to Nathan, Mike, Lisa and myself and we’ll get you on the right footing. :)

Reader Appreciation Party?

I had an off-the-cuff idea. What about a little evening get-together for me and my readers and customers? I bet I could get some others to come, too. :)

Knowing me, its going to be pretty informal. Honestly, I’m just too lazy to set up some big organized affair. :) However, I’d love to just meet up at a bar, share some drinks, and meet as many of you as possible. If you’re a customer of mine, chances are pretty good that drinks will be on me.

If you’re coming, would you be in on that?

The Excuse Killer

For me, Blogworld is the one event of the year that I have to get to, no matter what. I do attend some others, but Blogworld is a must-do. The relationships built at Blogworld go so far online. I can sit here and honestly tell you that I have made THOUSANDS of dollars from attending Blogworld, simply by some of the joint venture arrangements I did since the event. Yes, it is a lot easier to get somebody onto a JV deal after you’ve met and hung out in Vegas together.

So, let me wittle down the typical excuses not to go:

  1. It is too expensive. In my view, it is more expensive NOT to go. Plus, Vegas hotels can be had pretty cheaply (especially now since the economic downturn has hit the place). Flights to Vegas are usually not bad at all. Perhaps you can use flight miles on your credit card. However, if you only do one event, perhaps you can then afford to do this one. Hanging out with a bunch of bloggers and networking with people who do it all the time will serve as such a kick in the ass that I’m sure you’ll quickly see just how worth it this event is.
  2. Can’t get off of work. Really? I think you can…. you’re just not giving this any priority. If you want to eventually look at life’s cage from the outside, then you’re going to have to bend the rules a little bit. And that means learning that a J-O-B can be molded to what you need. I’m quite sure you can get off of work for a long weekend. Take Thursday and Friday off work, fly to Vegas late on Wednesday, and head home on Sunday. You’ll be back in the cage by Monday, but this time fresh after some kick-ass networking and excited about what you can pull off online.
  3. Too far away. Some of my readers are International, and that does surely make it a tougher trip. However, keep in mind that many do make the trip because they see the value in it. Mike CJ is coming over from the Canary Islands. Many people are coming over from Australia and England. You know a lot of Canadians are coming down.

As I said last year, the people at Blogworld are the upper crust of blogging, even if they’re not making money yet or seeing a lot of traffic. Why? Because they had the drive enough to get on a plane and travel to Vegas for something they’re working toward. That’s huge and worthy of respect. And, in my view, if you’re not willing to do something like that for what you want, then you just don’t want it bad enough.

Yeah, I’m blunt. Sorry. :)

Hope to see you all at BlogWorld Expo.

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  • I'm in too!

    After attending several UK-based events, this is my first US event for bloggers, and I'm really looking forward to it. Chris Garrett gave me great advice on my blog (mobilementalism.com) at last year's A4UExpo in London, and having the opportunity to share experiences with the likes of Darren & Chris (and of course, you Dave ;) and hundreds of other bloggers is simply priceless.
  • Thanks for sharing what many of us have known for years (even before we began working for BlogWorld) - that BlogWorld is the single most important event to attend if you're looking to grow your online career, build your brand and learn how to blog from the absolute best, bar none, in the business.

    We're stoked you're speaking at BlogWorld and can't wait for you and your panel to totally knock it out of the park.
  • I wanted to add another excuse - "My family needs me." I wasn't going to even bring up the subject of BlogWorld '07 (the first ever) because I figured my family couldn't survive without me. Finally one day I mentioned to my husband that there was this conference for "people like me." He was very supportive and encouraged me to attend. As much as we want to think our households can't run without us, the truth is, our family is fine for a few days if we go.
  • Wow David thank you so much for the kind words. We are really excited about having you join the speaker list this year and about your topic. It really is the essence of what our event is all about.

    Can I just quote you and tweet out links to your post every day from now until the show?

    Seriously... Thank you

    Rick Calvert
    CEO & Co-founder
    blogworld
  • Joshua Houghton
    My biggest concern is actually how to meet people when you go to events like these when you don't actually know anyone. Does this event have a meet and greet or something so you can meet others. It just feels strange to walk up to someone and say. Hi, I blog and you do too, lets be friend :) I'm sure the convo would be more natural, but still something I think about.
  • chrisgarrett
    Joshua - Blogworld is one of the few conferences where you could actually do that and people would respond favorably :) It's probably best though to start discovering the people who are going through social media first, find people you connect with then reconnect at the event - saves time and doesn't feel as intimidating :)
  • Hi Josh,

    This event was literally built so I could meet my blogger friends and learn how to turn my blog into a job. I think if you ask people who have been to the show they will tell you, everyone there is a lot like you and that makes it very easy to just walk up to Darren Rowse, or Chris Garrett, Lisa Morosky or David Risley etc and they will be happy to talk to you. In fact you will find other folks will walk up and say hi to you.
  • StuartMcMinigal
    Miles away in London England... Too far and too expensive at the moment... I'm in New York at the end of August if there's any Bloggers out there???
  • eblogr
    From far away England, Vegas seems like on another planet... but at least to listen to your panel with Nathan... and the networking, it would be worth it. Hope to make it
  • I'm in and I look forward to meeting many of you, who I've followed for the past year or so.
  • I plan to be there, though I still haven't heard back about my speaking proposal. I submitted a controversial one, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. :) If accepted, I think it will seriously shake things up!

    -Erica
  • A little birdie told me that if you haven't heard back yet - it means you're still in the running. ;)
  • Woohoo! Thank God. I really want to speak at BWE and it would mean a lot to me. Plus what I have to share is pretty unique and I don't see a whole lot of bloggers doing it, but it's meant hundreds of new subscribers for me every month. :)
  • I hope your panel isn't scheduled during my milk crate talk... it would suck seeing you guys get no attendees for your thing since I'd draw them all away. :-)
  • I'm in.. I just booked my ticket. Now for flight and hotel. I will buy you a couple drinks for all the great info you have given me over the last year or so..
  • I'm considering it! :-) Actually, I want to come very badly... it'll be convincing the hubs that I should come that'll be hard. haha We're in FL Oct 2nd-10th, and our anniversary is the 15th. Hard getaway, but I really want to.

    As much and I'd love the conferences, I'm wondering, is it worth it just for the expo/networking? Since it's our anniversary I'm wondering if I could spend more to get us both out there, do things together, and then get us both some expo passes. My husband blogs too, so I think he'd enjoy it.
  • Count me in for the meet up and a drink or two!
  • chrisgarrett
    Make time in your schedule for a drink with me Mike, whoever has the most points in the F1 comp by then buys the first round ;)
  • I will be there for two days of the conference and am looking forward to it. Will see you there!
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