Earlier this month I experienced my first Bloggers event. Given I was going alone (one of my commitments to myself was to solo network more!), I didn’t go in lightly and decided to head for BlogConLdn, an annual event that connects bloggers, influencers and creatives for informal networking in a fun, yet insightful environment. This is the second event of its kind by Scarlett London, and having experienced this one, I kinda wish I could turn back time and experience the first event that took place in 2017!

I’ll be honest. When I parked up at the CEME Conference Centre in Rainham, Essex and quickly noticed girls in pairs and others in groups excitedly predicting what the day might look like, part of me wanted to drive straight back out the carpark! I suddenly felt like this was an event that needed to be enjoyed with friends or other bloggers and so my initial idea of going solo, suddenly felt like a big mistake. Nevertheless, I soon shook of any feelings of nervousness and headed in, afterall, the idea was to network, meet people and most importantly move my blog forward with help from some of the workshops arranged for the day.

The spacious conference space that was filtered with natural light allowed for comfortable mingling. I casually wandered around soon after I arrived, checking out the planned workshops agenda and deciding on which talks would aid me in my pursuit to build my blog. After treating myself to a glass of champagne, I made my way upstairs and decided to attend the ‘Improving your blog photography with Lightroom’ workshop with blogger, April Todd, followed by ‘Taking your Instagram To The Next Level’ with Jordan, from Hello Miss Jordan. Lasting for 45 minutes, both offered insightful tips on photography and how to get the most out of your blog photos.

After both sessions, I headed back downstairs to visit some of the exhibitor stands,

which included some of brand favourites – Macadamia Natural Oil, Jewellery Box, Johnny Loves Rosie and Scan Disk. I instantly fell in love with Jewellery Box , an online retailer who specialise in a wide range of versatile, 9ct gold and sterling silver pieces and found the ethos of recently launched TOTM very interesting. Created in 2016, TOTM is a brand passionate about raising awareness of periods and eradicating the idea that ‘the time of the month’ is a taboo subject for girls and women. Ethically friendly, I learnt about their range of period products that are 100% certified organic cotton, eco friendly and cruelty free.

On the main stage, four bloggers and influential YouTuber’s shared with us ‘How To Find Your Blogs USP’, something I’m sure we’ve all given extensive thought after deciding we want to write a blog or create a YouTube channel.It was interesting to hear their views on how to increase your following, maintain consistancy, grow your market and how to find your all important USP. I definitely learned some good takeaways from the session.

The last workshop I joined was ‘Collaborating with Brands: Blogging, Blagging and Blagging Your Dream Projects’ as presented by Kirsty Leanne from Clickstay. This was a great session as there was an opportunity for a bit of ‘on the spot writing’, which, although feels a little daunting, is a great way to get you writing in the spare of the moment. One thing I have always found tricky is how to pitch to a brand – how do I start an email? How best to sign off at the end? What does the brand wan to hear? and so the exercise whereby we had to write a pitch email was a great learning curve, as it finally allowed me to establish exactly what to include in a pitch email. Clickstay also gave me some great holiday type blog post ideas, which I can’t wait to start writing!

BlogConLdn was definitely worth the solo visit (even just for the goodie bad alone!), although now that I’ve experienced it, I reckon next year I’ll be getting my blogger friends to tag along! Despite all that I learned and the informative workshops, I missed out on photo opportunities because there are only so many times you can ask others to take a quick photo! Nevertheless, I’m glad I didn’t turn back when I arrived because the valuable tips I’ve taken away, would be ones I may never have known….