Earlier this month, when Philadelphia’s temperatures were in the “freakin freezing” range and it seemed there was absolutely no hope in sight, my winter blues were suddenly cured by a little jaunt to Mexico. It was my first time vacationing in Mexico. My first time traveling solo, too. And, as all vacations in Mexico should be, my first all-inclusive resort.
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Happy 4th Birthday, Her Philly!
So I’m a little late, but I couldn’t let the month go by without mention. So here she is, the 4th DOB (month) of my little Her Philly beeb.
Much like most of the world, 2016 was not a 12 month period I’d put on the “best years of my life” list. But I am growing as a human, and with that, watching my interests and habits change (which I suppose is normal as a woman gets closer and closer to 30 than she is to 20), and I’m, so far, okay with that.
The Things I Learned At LuckyFABB
Last month I attended LuckyFABB, Lucky Magazine’s blogger conference. It was an amazing opportunity and I am so glad I got to experience it during my first year as a blogger! There was a lot to learn, so I wanted to make sure you ladies got in on some of the valuable advice the panelists & editors shared with us. Keep reading for the Top 10 things I learned at the conference, but first, a look at my NYC journey through my filtered lens:
My pretty dressing room at South Moon Under! // Picking out an outfit for Day 2
Cruising to the train in Uber // Sunrise in NYC from my friend Amy’s apartment
Starting Day 1 of LuckyFABB! // Pretty jewels at the Charming Charlie booth
Learning about style from Eva Chen & Eva Mendes // Hanging at the Covet Fashion booth
Trying on pretty (Philly based) Lagos jewels! // A prize from The Hunt, Drybar goodies!
Day 2 begins! // Checking out entrepreneur Tamara Mellon‘s boot-legging hybrid
Showing off my South Moon Under look // Heading home with free wi-fi on Amtrak
And now, the Top 10 things I learned at LuckyFABB:
10. {Write everyday} Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam spoke about the importance of writing each weekday to maintain your voice. She also encouraged us to keep lists of blog ideas everywhere and keep at least four evergreen posts banked for emergencies.
9. {Promote internally) Advice from Elana Fishman of Luckymag.com: Every new blog post you write should in some way reference a previous post & include a link back to said post.
8. {It’s all about digital karma) Linking to other blogs and proposing brand partnerships with fellow lady bloggers is not only great for your traffic, but can help create awesome stats, and therefore score coveted brand sponsorships.
7. {Keep a little mystery} In the “Five Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make” session, we learned it might be a good idea to keep social media accounts for your blog, as well as personal accounts for things you don’t want to share with your professional audience.
6. {Women rock} Jess Lee, founder of Polyvore, shared that women control 80% of household purchasing power. AKA, ladies, we rock.
5. {Stay true to you} When writing a really “meaty” story, Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller, tries not to look at other blogs so she is not influenced by other voices. I find this is also true when you’re covering the same story as someone else. Write your piece, then browse.
4. {Define success} Before you launch a project or campaign, decide and define what success will be for you. That way, you can evaluate your successes with clear metrics in mind.
3. {Don’t be obvious} Do you always end your blog posts with a question for your reader to answer? According to Gabifresh, that is cheesy & transparent . . . and I do kind of see her point.
2. {Be punctual} In perhaps the most useful piece of info I gained from this conference, Bryanboy told us that taking 3-4 days to answer an email is not only bad, it’s unacceptable. I really have to work on that.
1. {Don’t be a mean girl} Lucky Mag’s EIC Eva Chen said it best: “It’s cool to be nice right now.” Stop being competitive & smile. Life is good.
There were so many talented & inspirational humans at LuckyFABB, but I also had a lot of help making my journey a smooth one from South Moon Under, Amtrak & Uber – THANK YOU! I hope you enjoyed, ladies! Talk to you soon. xx
