exquisite photo of the pirate and me by secret-agent-mama
There are so many ways I could go about recapping BlissDom. Let’s see…1)photos of the great bloggers I met. Oh, wait, I only took four pictures the whole weekend. OK, how about 2) transcribe the copious notes I took and share them with you. Oh, wait, I didn’t take any notes because Asa was always in my arms. Hmmm….oh, I know! 3)give a play-by-play of the whole weekend hour by hour. Ugh, but I’m not good at that either.
I haven’t been able to calm my swirling thoughts down enough to recap anything! I’ve only been online a handful of times since I left the conference on Saturday night and each time I’m ADD with 18-20 blissful tabs open. So many amazing ideas to process. So many posts and articles and sites and downloads to check out. I’ve got a long list of action items and a few of them are going to take me out of my comfort zone. But I *think* it will be worth it.
My main reason for going to BlissDom was to decide the future of my blog(s). I feel like blogging has so mushroomed that maybe, just maybe I had missed it. Maybe there wasn’t any more room for me to be as successful as I thought hoped want to be.
And while I was there…being more of a wallflower than I really am…I felt encouraged. And empowered. According to Megan at Velveteen Mind (at the Branding: You, Your Blog, Your Business Workshop Panel) if you have 100 readers a day, you’re in the top 10% of bloggers! Not sure if that’s ALL bloggers, or mommy bloggers, etc. but still what a great encouragement!
Blogging and other social media (facebook, twitter, etc.) is so new and is just beginning to careen into “normal” life. Everyone is just NOW figuring it out. The big rock-star bloggers are still new at this! Everyone is just a geek behind a keyboard. A mom furiously typing in between naps. A wife getting up early to have some “me” time.
Your blog CAN be what you want it to be. You can have the traffic, the readers, the comments, the community and yes, even the money. It’s all a matter of your goals, your purpose AND what you put into it. The theme I heard over and over was there-are-no-rules and you-can-do-it and there-is-room-for-you! If you’ve got something inside of you to share, guess what? There’s an audience for it. You just have to get it out there!
Remember my New Year’s Resolution of MORE? Well, this is part of it. I’ve been wanting to do more—maybe it’s that former-children’s pastor/career woman kicking in, or a new pinhole of light in the dark of what-does-God-have-for-me-future-plan or maybe it’s just because I’d like to be famous in any realm I can. Regardless, BlissDom started some MORE in my head. I’ve got MORE going on in my heart.
(and uhm, not to beat a dead horse, but I promise BlissDom: Sponsors and BlissDom: The Blogger Stalking and Blissdom: The Linkalicious Love posts coming soon!)
(and if you can’t wait, check out Jo-Lynne‘s huge Mr. Linky o’Blissdom Recaps.)
Adventures In Babywearing says
I LOVE that photo. Her photos are all amazing!
Steph
Sarah (RealLife) says
What a wonderful encouragement, Amanda! I feel the same as you- with the ideas swirling around in my head. I can’t wait to see what you do this year!
Musings of a Housewife says
It really was empowering, wasn’t it!? 🙂 Thanks for the plug!
AmyG says
I’m glad to hear that it refreshed you in a way. I was afraid that you were going to decide to give up on blogging. But I love reading what you post & would miss you tons if you threw in the towel! 😉
andrea says
Inspiring few days a Blissdom! Thanks for a great write up- can’t wait to read more!
Renée aka Mekhismom says
I love the photo! Great write up and can’t wait to read more. It helps keep my memories close to me.
Katie @ Heart Gone Walking says
Thanks for sharing for those of us who missed Blissdom. (tear falling) It is empowering to hear that our blogs can be whatever we want them to be!
And that is such a beautiful picture, by the way. Love it.
bee says
Wow! Whatta post! Very empowering… you have a gift for motivating!
BTW, this pic of your hair has inspired me to call and get a haircut appointment!
Dana says
Thanks for sharing this. I wasn’t able to make it to Blissdom, so I really appreciate hearing your take-aways. I found the bit you shared about even big rock-star bloggers being new to blogging encouraging. Even though I’ve been blogging since last spring, I still just feel so green in the craft. But I guess nearly all of us feel that way since this is such an emerging form of media, right?
Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) says
And if you have 35 readers like me? Hey, I’m not so bad off, I guess. 🙂 (I did apprentice, so I didn’t hear Megan say that.)
It was a good weekend, and I was so glad to meet you and Asa.
Secret Agent Mama says
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you last weekend! You’ve definitely got a new blog reader, dear!
melissa says
great recap. i wish i could have been there.