Cybher 2013

Last weekend I was kindly asked by Most Wanted to pop up to London to visit Cybher. Cybher is a women's blogging conference and consists of many talks and few workshops for fellow bloggers to take part in.
(above was the free neon satchel we all received on our arrival from Leather Satchel Co)

I wasn't so sure what to expect as I have never been to such event before but I pleasantly surprised by the amount of women there and their passion for blogging. I met all kinds of bloggers, from lovely interior design bloggers to passionate knitters. It was sponsored by some great companies that provided us with some goodies on entering. Including a pretty special neon leather satchel.

I had already roughly worked out which talks I wanted to go to beforehand so that I was prepared. I was pretty glad I did as the handout didn't have the descriptions for each talk so was a bit hard to work out what the talk would have been about.

Below is a little about the talks I went to:

Living the Lifestyle Dream
- This talk was by 3 great lifestyle bloggers, Natasha from Candy Pop, Caroline from 91 Magazine/Patchwork Harmony and Rachel from Ted & Agnes. It was great to hear their experiences from blogging and how you can meet some really interesting people. For example Rachel has just published a book with Dottie Angel who lives in the states and they met purely through their blogs and have formed an amazing friendship. I thought Rachel's talk about her experience of publishing a book was so informative and really inspiring. Maybe one day I could publish a book. I have no idea on what though???

Keeping it Legal
- This talk was one of the main one I wanted to attend as I think the legal side of blogging is a little foggy. It was great to hear from Emma who is a solicitor and she really helped clear things up when it comes to Copyright and wording you should use when you are creating a 'sponsored post'

Living on the Edge
- This what about how to use Facebook to benefit your blog. I am new to having a Peas and Needles Facebook page so wasn't too sure how you make your page stand out from the rest. We were told 3 golden rules…
1. Post content audience will love
2. Live it, breathe it
3. Test and learn

(Image above from the Home Barn stand)

From Auto to Manual Photography
- I would imagine like me a lot of bloggers when it comes to taking photos stick their DSLR onto manual and just shoot. I wanted to learn how to step away from this and to try and improve my photos… Jay kindly and patiently explained the differences between shutter speed, ISO and aperture. Her ending words were… 'just practice'. I need to practice.

Pinteresting
- This covered the pros to using Pinterest and how to gain followers on your pins. The ladies who did this talk suggested pinning recipes, seasonal content and downloadable resources to improve your Pinterest audience. Obviously this would then direct them to your blog if pinned correctly. I love Pinterest but have never thought about using it to improve my blog audience so this talk was interesting to listen to.

How to Make Your Blog Pay
- I'm not sure that I would want my blog to pay as I think my blog is more of a hobby than a 'job' but I thought it would be interesting to hear what they had to say. The talk was from the people who run School for Creative Start Ups and spoke about advertising, marketing affiliation and how to benefit from this route. I'm not sure I came out any wiser to the pros of blogging for money as I mentioned I do it for a hobby but I'm sure it might have helped if you had more time to spend on going down this route.


If you are interested in how to improve your blog and how to go about making it a business and not just a hobby I would definitely recommend going to this next year. I had a really great time and met some lovely people, it also helped build my confidence in talking to people I don't know. I guess thats what happens when you are in a room full of people who have the same passions and interest as you!