Melbourne’s Blogging community is strong and passionate

Last weekend I attended my second Problogger Training Event, which was a two day conference to learn about blogging. This was the second Problogger event I’ve attended. Last year was a one day event and had lots going on, so much so that it left little time for networking. This year was different, and better, with two full days and decent breaks during the day, there was much more time to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

Prior to the 2011 Problogger Training Event, I had created a Twitter list of everyone I knew would be there. It was a great decision, because many people then recognised me at the event as ‘the list guy’, which was a conversation starter. This year I decided to make another Twitter list, as a networking tool and also as a conversation starter. It worked as expected. People recognised my face and a few asked “have we met?” - yes we had, though only virtually. It is so great to see the power of social media connecting people in real life (who would have guessed that?).

Left: John Young, Young Digital Group
Right: Darren Rowse, Problogger

The breaks allowed plenty of time to chat and barely was there a time where I was alone. I made a few new friends and new potential business contacts.  Through my event tweeting I also met someone that lives down the same street as me, something that would never have happened had I not been active on Twitter during the day.

Whilst all sessions were informative, there were two stand outs which I think deserve a mention. Jules Clancy from The Stone Soup talked about memberships and courses, which is something I’m looking at incorporating into this site. Her insight was really helpful. If a membership site is something you’re considering, I recommend listening to her session. The other session was Darren Rowse’s (aka Problogger) “How to use email to drive traffic, build community and make money“, there was so much useful information that I’ll be applying to my email campaigns immediately (which you can join over here). Darren’s session is also worth listening to.

Here are some thoughts from the day (via Twitter), there are too many good ones to put on this post, so I’ve just selected a few.

Listen to your blog readers. They will tell you what they want to hear by their questions (@chrisguillebeau #PBEVENT)

— The Reach Kit (@TheReachKit) October 12, 2012

@chrisguillebeau “Be mindful of what you’re trying to create for your readers rather than think of numbers and traffic.”Yes! #pbevent — Grace Titioka (@_MamaGrace) October 12, 2012

Look at ways you can collaborate with other bloggers to increase opportunities and income #PBEVENT1

— Problogger Event (@ProbloggerEvent) October 13, 2012  

As social media evolves you can’t tell people HOW to interact with you. Be where people are. #pbevent — SuziDafnis (@SuziDafnis) October 13, 2012

@zenpencils creates comics that tap into people’s emotions and tries to tell a story. This is a really effective way to engage #PBEVENT1

— Problogger Event (@ProbloggerEvent) October 13, 2012

When I had the opportunity, I did some video interviews with other bloggers, to get a feel for how they will apply something learnt during the event. The main question I asked was,

“What was something you learned that you will take away and immediately apply to your blog?“

Here are their stories.

Want to know what all the fuss is about with the Problogger Training Event? There are virtual tickets available so you can access all the session audio and slideshows.