It’s safe to say that I’m no stranger to speaking on the social media conference circuit. However, it’s rare that I’m offered an opportunity to present on something I’m passionate about outside of my day job. So, when my friends at Hubspot offered me the chance to give a Bold Talk at INBOUND, I was excited – and a little scared. The assignment? Pick a topic – any topic – outside of your professional job that you’re passionate about and speak for 10ish minutes.
The reality for yours truly? Join a group of incredibly accomplished, dynamic, inspiring marketers and attempt to dazzle the crowd with your own words of wisdom. Pushing all worries and doubts of being able to live up to such a task aside, I chose to listen to my gut and speak about something I knew very well – this lil old blog.
Although running a blog may seem like a small side project, the reality is that The SavvyBostonian has taught me a lot about myself and what drives me. Putting myself out there and blogging regularly has also opened up an incredible amount of opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Here’s a summary of my Bold Talk – a video of my talk is also embedded at the end of this blog entry.
It’s hard to believe that starting this blog on a whim in 2006 resulted in so many important learning’s and opportunities. I started The SavvyBostonian because I needed a creative outlet in my life. I’ve always loved writing and photography, so starting a blog seemed like a natural choice.
As I went to create The SavvyBostonian, I learned a valuable lesson – don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I didn’t know how to create a blog, but I spent a lot of time reading, studying and visualizing how I wanted it to look. During this time, I had so many fears – fear of the website looking terrible, fear of the content not being up to par. Putting yourself out there is scary, but it’s also liberating.
What helped me was coming up with a system – I thought, if anything would offend/upset my employer, friends or family then it wouldn’t go up on the blog. If people judged me for anything else – well, I would just have to learn to live with feedback and criticism. As part of this process, I also learned that sometimes done is better than perfect. This blog will never quite be 100% where I want it to be, but the sheer act of publishing on a regular basis feels better to me than having the blog be perfect.
Another valuable lesson that I learned as the result of blogging was one of perspective. When I launched The SavvyBostonian, I was in corporate PR. I was pitching story ideas to journalists and bloggers and learning about best practices as a junior level employee. Before I knew it, PR professionals were e-mailing ME pitches for blog story ideas or events to cover.
Seeing pitches from other PR pros, plus attending events, was an incredible lesson in do’s and don’ts. The person on the receiving end of that e-mail knows who pitches on target and who doesn’t. And yes, even today I’m more likely to open an e-mail from someone who pitches on target versus someone who constantly spams me.
As my blog took off, I experienced a defining career pivot. As it turns out, my experience working with bloggers and running a personal blog translated into a new career path. Companies wanted me to start or run their corporate blog, develop shareable content, and work with bloggers. The field of social media, which really wasn’t a career path when I graduated college, emerged and having strong personal blog and social media presence made me a good candidate for those roles.
Outside of work, blogging has also been an excellent way for me to discover what I’m passionate about. I found myself writing about cooking, baking, travel, fashion and sharing tips/information to make people’s lives easier. My schedule can be pretty daunting, but blogging taught me small but valuable things – like cooking something new each week is something I really look forward to. Or, how important travel and seeing new places is to me. Even though these seem simple, takeaways like this help to keep me focused and prioritize how I spend my time outside of work.
Lastly, blogging also taught me just how important it is to be the driving force in your life. It sounds cliched, but there’s so much you can accomplish if you go for it. We live in a world where crafting a personal brand is easier than ever (look at me!) and positioning yourself for the career and life you want is attainable if you work hard.
The key is to be true to yourself and don’t pretend to be something you’re not because it won’t come off as genuine. Don’t let thoughts of failure or self-doubt hold you back. If your gut tells you to go for something, you owe it to yourself to at least try.
As my father always says, “Only you can control your destiny.”
Dad, here’s my addition to your famous one-liner, “Don’t be the person who holds YOU back.”
Following my presentation, I was so proud of my ability to put worries aside and present to a packed house (standing room only). I spoke about what I knew and what I had learned – all with confidence. It goes to show – in life you need to seize opportunities to step outside of your comfort zone and share your experiences. Don’t feel pressure to be the smartest, the most inspiring, or the most well-spoken. Just go for it! And hey, practicing a little doesn’t hurt either ;).
After the event, I was excited to see a few blog entries published referencing my presentation, including one in business2community where I’m honored to be very first quote cited in a list that also contains Seth Godin and Arianna Huffington! Check ’em out – there’s also a lot of other good takeaways from the event:
business2community: #Inbound13: Top Takeaways From HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Conference
Success Measured: 6 Things I Learned from Inbound’13 That Will Change The Way You Work
A huge thank you to Laura Fitton and the team at Hubspot for offering me this incredible opportunity. Each Bold Talk that I listened to was different and inspiring – in a good way. It was refreshing to hear what motivates successful people outside of their day job. While it’s amazing to be recognized professionally, connecting on a personal level through shared experiences was much more meaningful for this Bostonian.
To watch my full talk, please view it below on YouTube!