Hi I’m Mary from HOP Interiors *waves*
The wait is finally over my lovely creatives! We’ve blogged, tweeted and documented till our hearts content and now we finally get to #meettheblogger! Whooooohoooooo! (Be sure to use the hashtag). Armed with a colourful notepad, pen, business cards, camera and iPhone, today we will learn first hand what it’s like to be a full time professional blogger. We’ll also get to grips with how to work with professional products & brands and style them with a lot more sizzle!
This event is not just for the attendees so fear not if you didn’t bag a ticket because I’m here to give you ‘access-all-areas’ and a virtual pass to the whole event! As your LIVE blogger I’ll keep you all updated on today’s proceedings, announcements and any surprises that may crop up! So grab a beverage, a few snacks and hold on tight as we #meettheblogger…
12:18: Just arrived at The conservatorium Hotel and what a hotel it is! Ladies & Gents it’s simply A-mazing! There’s a creative buzz already forming at the venue and I’m egerly waiting to see all the wonderful bloggers! Don’t worry folks. I’ll be giving you some visuals to wet your creative blogger appetite. Oh yes, the music is pumping!
12:36: Just under 30mins before the doors open guys! Just had a good ol’ chat with the wonderful guys at Quooker! They’re launching a new tap design, which is sure to wow! More to follow throughout the event. Also Barbantia will be asking the question ‘good design vs beautiful design’. Be sure to use the #meettheblogger hashtag!
1:09: The place is really buzzing! And there are so many international and inspirational bloggers around. There is such a great creative vibe here and the room is filling up fast.
1:27: Aghhhhhh! So much excitement and so far met loads of lovely creative bloggers. Everyone is getting ready to start…. not long now folks!
1:32: Whoooooooooo! The party has started! Liselore and Janneke are doing the introductions and giving us a lovely overview of how #meettheblogger all began. They would like to thank all of us and the sponsors for being here.
1:35: Today’s theme is all about inspiration and education! Be sure to soak up all the inspiration along the way folks – there will be loads to learn, see and experience.
1:39: Key note speaker Frida is up and ready to roll to inspire us with her story and knowledge of becoming and being a full time blogger. Frida started her blog in 2005! – from 25 readers a day to now 70,000+ a month. Wow!
13:44: EXCLUSIVE – Frida’s first issue of her fab, shiny, new online magazine Trendenser is now available on iTunes! Whooooooooo
13:47: Don’t focus on what you can do today – focus on what you want to be able to do tomorrow! ’Star tip’ from Frida! Tip 1: Knowing your passion is key! Tip 2: Find your focus area! Find your own niche and try to become the best within it! So true Frida. What do you stand for, what does your blog stand for and make sure your readers know by the message your front page gives and says about you! Tip 3: Build your brand. Have your focus and work actively improve and move towards the goals you have for your brand & its values. Ladies & gents, you gotta be able to adapt and change over time – logos, branding – you must evolve. Tip 4: Focus and become a specialist in one particular area. Tip 5: Find business opportunities – its a lot more than just banners on your blog, it’s about you and your services. Develop who you are. You can also learn from magazines and other bloggers too! There is a lot to learn here my creative lovelies.
The possibilities are endless! You can write a book and also do freelance work and even work for TV and radio. You can even freelance for producing web content – Facebook/groups, portals etc. Gosh! Another new area is ads and commercials. As bloggers, these opportunities are open to us.
Tip 6: You gotta know your worth people (snaps fingers)! – You are worth every penny so don’t always work for free! Amen Frida.
Tip 7: Keep it legal people….keep it clean, keep it legal. Be very careful with copyright material. This is highly important and I completely agree. Tip 8 & 9: Encourage competition and please ignore the pessimist!
Tip 10: Write your future! You can write about where you see yourself in 5-10 years from now. What are your goals and mission, making it a positive as possible and keep it!
14:53: Sorry folks, the internet connection had a bit of a nervous break-down but we are back and you are still welcome to take your seats for the next instalment. The bloggers are all mingling and getting to know one another and I’m about to grab a good cuppa. Great talk from the panel! Thanks guys.
15:34: And we’re back. We’ve met and mingled (the little nibbles and snacks were feb)! Now it’s showtime with Heleen Van Gent of FLEXA for Trendvision 2012. It’s all about the world of colour and how we can lovingly apply it to our environment and our homes. For 10 fabulous years FLEXA have been creating and documenting colour trends and have organised an analogue group of design experts to share their information regarding the colour trends for the forthcoming season. These trends are then translated into colour palettes. Through the key trends of 2012 the main key colour for 2012 is RED!!
16:18: Now onto the workshops! We’re now going to learn from the wonderful Pippa Jameson, all about Blog Styling – Cannot wait!
17:18: Great workshop by Pippa. The key focus was discovering your USP (unique selling point) and developing your images and photography to tell a personal story.
17:20: Yvonne is telling us all about the wonderful world of working with sponsors and photo styling. So great that we actually get to see it in action too!
17:33: Eeeeek! We’re about to find out who’s won the #meettheblogger 2012 awards! Now presented by vtwonen Editor in Chief – Monique de Ruiter.
Any minute now……………
17:48: Congratulations to APRIL AND MAY as runner up of the vtwonen Awards for #meettheblogger 2012
And the winner is Bloesem Living – WINNER of the vtwonen Awards #meettheblogger 2012. Congratulations!
17:55: There is an announcement! Eeeeek – #meettheblogger continues as Liselore has announced… #meettheblogger Stockholm! You heard it here first!!!
I hope you’ve all enjoyed my live blog. It’s been a pleasure keeping you all entertained and immersed in the event! See sure to keep following @meettheblogger for more details on the Meet The Blogger – Stockholm event! It’s been so pleasantly overwhelming to meet such inspiring blogger from around the world. Thank you all for making me feel so welcome and for making my first trip to Amsterdam so creatively enjoyable.