What I Learned at BlissDom Conference 2013

Every time I attend a conference, I walk away having had a great experience and slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information I have gleaned. I can’t wait to get home and start writing. But then I get home, and realize I need to decompress and synthesize in order to share in a useful manner. No one wants my stream of conscious posts while I synthesize out loud.

Almost two weeks ago now, I attended BlissDom Conference in Dallas, TX. I wasn’t sure what to expect at a conference with 1,000 women. I’m not overly girly and didn’t know if I would love it or hate it. I loved it. In fact, I loved almost every minute of it.

I met some AWESOME people and listened to some amazing speakers. Thank you to all who made my first BlissDom such a wonderful experience and gave me cherished memories.

Thank you Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) for being, well, AWESOME. Everything I thought I knew about marketing was reinforced in Scott’s keynote speech. He made me laugh and shared some great examples of some un-awesome marketing. If you haven’t read any of Scott’s books, you have no idea what you are missing out on.

Jon Acuff (@jonacuff) was so inspirational and motivating. He reminded me that you have to start somewhere and that you don’t start something new in life without making mistakes. If you don’t take risks, you can’t succeed. Two of my favorite quotes of Jon’s closing keynote: “never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle” and “the starting line is the only line you control.”

Shelly Kramer (@shellykramer) shared some wonderful information on content marketing and SEO. I learned a lot in that session, some of which I’ve already started implementing. “Writing good blog content is like drawing bees to honey.” Thanks, Shelly.

Megan Jordan (@velveteenmind) made some suggestions for improving focus. She reminded me that multitasking isn’t actually a thing. (It’s really just something we tell ourselves to feel better about having to run in 40,000 directions at once.) A couple of fabulous quotes she reminded me of stood out to me: “To begin, begin.” -William Wordsworth; “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” –Henry David Thoreau.

Jeff Goins ( @jeffgoins) reminded me that being famous is not the same as being successful. “Do you want to be famous for being famous, or because you’ve done something meaningful.” Thet question sis a no brainier for me…I want to do something meaningful. I need to think about what being successful means to me.

I met some wonderful women, with whom I will likely be friends forever: Anna Epp, Krista Gray-Donald, and Krista House: my BlissDom BFFs. I met these women the night before BlissDom actually started, and I loved them. Kind, genuine, beautiful women. I was so sad to have to leave them Saturday night. I can’t wait until BlissDom Canada when we may be reunited again.