Hey everyone! Some of you were wondering where I was yesterday. Well, I was recovering from all the craziness after FinCon13. It was such an awesome experience, and I learned a lot that I want to apply to my work.
For anyone thinking about going to FinCon in 2014, I highly recommend it. I regret skipping the past couple of years because the networking alone is worth it, and the sessions are just as amazing. PT did a fantastic job planning FinCon, and Ashley Jacobs is a great rapper.
I met so many incredible people, and I’m thrilled to have connected with so many of you. There were a few people I didn’t get to meet, and I hope to catch up with them next year. To those who met me, I’m sorry I was sick the whole conference. I’m sure everyone was tired of hearing my raspy voice and coughing (I was on medicine, so I wasn’t contagious!).
FinCon was in St. Louis this year, which was great for me since I live just 15 miles from the hotel. It was a very affordable conference for me, especially with W driving me on some days. One big plus of having the conference in St. Louis is that it brought people to my city. I believe St. Louis is underrated with tons of fun things to do.
When it was first announced that FinCon13 would be in St. Louis, I heard some complaints from other bloggers. It made me sad because many people have a negative attitude about St. Louis. However, many attendees told me they loved the city after visiting. They enjoyed the architecture, restaurants, lively vibe, and the excitement when the Cardinals won.
I’m finally self-employed! Yes, you read that right. I haven’t announced it directly on Making Sense of Cents until now. I’ll be publishing a more detailed post on this soon. Wish me luck! I have many things I want to work on that I learned about at FinCon, and I hope this helps me grow and succeed.
I want to start working on an eBook. There are many reasons for this: I want to give something to my readers, help others, and it would make me look more professional while building my brand. I’m not sure yet if it will be free or paid, but money isn’t the main reason. Writing a quality eBook takes a lot of time, and the financial return is usually small. Many writers say the main benefit is building your brand and appearing more professional to readers, clients, and advertisers.
I also want to work on building my brand. From the keynote by Jean Chatzky, I learned that I need to focus more on this. I’m not sure what direction I’ll take, but it’s definitely on my to-do list.
I need to promote more effectively. One big mistake I make is creating content but not promoting it enough. Promotion is crucial, and I really slack off in this area. I might tweet my article once or twice a day and post a link on Facebook, but that’s about it.
I need to accept more interviews. I’ve been asked to do interviews, like podcasts, and I’ve often said no. Online interviews don’t make me nervous because I can think about my responses. However, live interviews make me anxious because of my tendency to ramble. Jeff Rose convinced me to do a podcast interview, and I said yes. I need to work on this.
Eventually, I want to speak at FinCon. I attended many sessions, and every speaker was fantastic. I would love to do this someday. I did okay with speaking in high school and college, but speaking in front of intelligent people I admire scares me. Still, it’s a goal of mine. If you’ve spoken at a conference before, how did you prepare? Were you scared at first?
What are your business plans for the short-term and long-term? Did you enjoy FinCon? Are you attending next year?