Rookie errors I made at ProBlogger

Recently I attended my first ever ProBlogger event. Now you may be looking at my blog here and going…well are you really a blogger? You’re kinda sporadic! To which I would reply…yes, yes I am a blogger! I also blog for business over on my other site Chicks and Mortar as well as various guest blog posts.

So, yes I am a blogger and yes, I did attend my very first ProBlogger event! I have to admit, I didn’t know if I would attend at the time of buying the ticket. All I knew was the tickets sold out very fast and the year before when I was feeling a huge amount of FOMO about not being there. At the time of buying the ticket, I thought that if I didn’t go myself I could easily sell the ticket on.

But time flew so so quickly and before I knew it the event was only weeks away. Momentum was mounting in the ProBlogger Facebook group, energy was rising and it was hard not to be caught up in the excitement of it all….it was exciting, until it was scary.

But go, I did and I learned lots and had a great time. Although, as a newbie, I did make a few errors along the way (as you do!) I want to share with you my top 3 ProBlogger rookie errors:

Rookie error #1

Letting the Hype take over. It was great to see so much excitement in the Facebook group, but my error was letting it consume me. Talk of what to wear, how many business cards to take, what goodies to give out, made me think that I was nowhere near prepared to go to a blogging event! OMG what have I gotten myself into?!?

I started worrying about it all… what to wear and if I had enough cards, if these virtual strangers would like me and accept me into their world. But luckily common sense took over, I put on my big girl pants and fronted up to the event with 700 other bloggers as me and only me. Who else could I be? Thankfully it was totally fine. Turns out cards and clothes were totally irrelevant once you got there.

Rookie error #2

Not moving around enough. We are all creatures of habit, and I am no exception. I did meet some lovely ladies but I did walk away from the event slightly disappointed I didn’t meet more.

During each session I gravitated towards the same spot (at the front, to the side) each time and during the breaks I stuck to the same area and joined the same lunch line. Ironically enough, so did everyone else. This meant I saw the same people several times throughout the two days. The same people in the lunch lines, the same people sitting around me in the sessions.

In hindsight I should have alternated my movements and habits throughout the event to maximise the opportunity to meet new people. I will definitely do this next time.

Rookie error #3

Not taking the opportunity to meet people I admired when I had the chance. I saw so many bloggers and business owners who I admired, and by day two I did pluck up the courage to introduce myself to a lot of them. But I wish I had done this earlier in the event. It was such a great environment and such an awesome opportunity that was not harnessed to it’s full potential…Such a rookie error!

In all fairness, there was soooo many people there and it was just a little intimidating for a newbie such as myself, but I am generally not a shy person, and I did have to give myself a stern talking to about the missed connections and the promise to never do it again! If an opportunity arises, take it! You never know if that opportunity will come around again.

If you ever find yourself attending a huge event (and I highly recommend ProBlogger), make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I made. Stay grounded in the face of fear and excitement, Try new things to get different results and grab every opportunity while you have the chance.

And above everything make sure you have fun.

I’d love to hear your experiences attending big events as a newbie. Share in the comments below.