Type-A Conference round up

If you followed me on Twitter or Instagram this past weekend, you were aware that I was not in Asheville. I was at the Type-A Conference in Atlanta. I may or may not have had an incredible time. Let’s recap, shall we? (I won’t expand too much on all of the sessions, I’ll just hit on the most important things I learned.)

1. Most bloggers are generally nice people – virtually and in real life. I think all of the nicest ones tend to end up at the Type-A Conference. Even the “big” bloggers were fabulous in real life. I don’t think I met one mean person this weekend.

2. Why isn’t my blog on WordPress yet? I actually hate the development side of WordPress. It is not easy for me to manipulate, and that is why I have held out this long (I’ve been blogging since 2005.) That said, I need to move it for personal and business purposes. If I want to really own my content, I need WP. I need WP so I have more options for tools on my blog, which will (hopefully) ultimately lead to better SEO and search capabilities.

3. Google+ is my friend. And I have finally established my authorship on this blog (and others I’ve written for.) It took me a couple of hours after that session to figure out the coding, but once I did, I felt like I had just won the lottery! Are you on Google+? Are we linked there yet?

4. I don’t know if I’m cut out to be my own boss, but if that’s the path I end up taking, I have many tools to help me succeed. Not everyone is an entrepreneur and that’s not an awful thing.

5. You have to take big risks in order to get big gains.

6. I have not been using Pinterest like I should be using the site. And I love Pinterest, in a big way. It’s time to get on that.

7. I also need to incorporate more than iPhone photos on here. Sure a lot of my iPhone photos are okay for the blog, but I have my big fancy camera for a reason. Why does it go unused for so long? (Because it’s easier to whip the phone out. I know the answer.)

8. Media kits are important. I’m working on mine. I should have completed it while I was in Atlanta, but then life (freelance projects) got in the way. It’s ok. I’ll have it this week.

9. While I can survive (barely) on little sleep, I really do need a solid 8 hours of sleep at night. And a conference is exhausting. It’s so much information to take in. The parties at night are so much fun and I took advantage of the parties this year (I did not go to as many in the past due to just needing more sleep or being pregnant and really, needing more sleep.) But, geez, they were fun.

10. My husband is fully capable of taking care of the toddler while I leave for a couple of days. Any longer than 3 days, though, and it could be problematic. (The first night, the toddler ate ketchup, peanut butter, a yogurt pouch and ice cream for dinner. I was only slightly concerned, but had to give it up since at least the kiddo was eating SOMETHING.)