My Montreal Girl Geek Dinner Talk Last March

It has been a week since I spoke at the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner, an offshoot of the London Girl Geek Dinners started by Sarah Blow. These monthly events provide a welcoming atmosphere and a platform for learning in an informal environment, typically a local restaurant.

If there is a Girl Geek Dinner chapter in your town, I invite you to join. These meetings are not about hard core geek stuff. The proof, I was invited to speak for what I am doing right now.

That is one of the marvelous things about blogging: you do not need to be technologically savvy to succeed. But knowing about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), statistical tools, online advertising and social networks can grow your brand faster.

My personal story

For me, the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner talks are about sharing experiences. As a blogger I aim to inspire my readers. It is now possible to earn a living as a professional blogger. I am not there yet but every month I am closer of my goal.

For the past 5 years, I dreamed of building my own home living and shopping magazine. Because I was stuck in the old media business model, I failed until last year to see that I could do it with a blog. A chain of events led me to take the steps for realizing my dream.

To make a story short, this is my third career. I am finally working by passion. Because I believed in following our dreams, I decided to discuss how I am building my online brand. I gave tricks on how to generate traffic through simple SEO techniques that take a few seconds per post, how real-time statistics can sometimes shape your editorial plan and I demonstrate the power of social media. I talked about design issues and the need to be active in and out of your own blog.

I encourage you to read the report of Tanya McGinnity, the organizer of the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner on the MGGD blog. You can see on the blog what the other girls talked about at previous events. If you want to talk, do not hesitate to contact Tanya. Most of the communications are done through Facebook, so join the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner group or your local chapter (Toronto, Bay Area, international listing).

I am grateful

I want to say thank to Tibetan Om Restaurant for accepting that we do a presentation at their restaurant. It is special experience because they were other customers. If you never tasted Tibetan cuisine before, it is really good. It was my first time. I ate a lentil soup, a sampling of dumplings and a beef stew served with vapor bread (that is white the bread is still white). My husband, my official event photographer, ordered a plate of shrimp dumplings that were delicious.

I also wanted to thank all the participants for listening, asking good questions and giving me many sound advices. Finally, thank you Tanya for asking me to talk. Preparing and doing the speech allowed me to put my goals and my achievements into perspective which give me a chance to move further. The Girl Geek Dinner event is really a two-way street.

More Marketing Tips

I want to share two blogs that gives excellent, down to earth advices on generating traffic and blog monetarization. If you are serious about blogging, make sure to add those to your RSS daily feed.

• Problogger – do not miss his Best of Problogger
• ReadWriteWeb – useful tips on how to write an online publication

I also suggest you follow a couple of blogs from specialists in communications or marketing. I do not give you any names because it is a matter of personal style.

I will go back to my regular editorial on my next post.