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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Pinterest</title>
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		<title>When My Pastor Said &#8220;Follow Jesus&#8221;, Did He Mean on Social Media?</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/when-my-pastor-said-follow-jesus-did-he-mean-on-social-media/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/when-my-pastor-said-follow-jesus-did-he-mean-on-social-media/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2015 19:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Be Real]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleanse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Chadwick]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At church, my pastor, David Chadwick, was giving his awesome sermon and he was talking about &#8220;following Jesus&#8221;. Leave it to me, being so actively involved in the social media world, to think to myself, If Jesus were on social media or had a blog and he showed up in my newsfeed, what would that be like? I&#8217;m pretty sure this is not what David meant when he said &#8220;follow&#8221; Jesus, but it really got me thinking. I began to think about the people I &#8220;follow&#8221; on social media and what impact they might have on my daily life and I also thought of what I might look like to those who &#8220;follow&#8221; me; what image do I portray and does it align with the message I&#8217;m trying to send? I think defining yourself in the social media world can be quite difficult because you have such a limited amount of space, characters, pictures, etc. to represent YOU. You have to scrunch your entire message into one photo, a few hashtags, or a status update and there isn&#8217;t a whole lot of room to explain what you mean or talk about what you really think. And even if you did, would others accept you? We all have a voice (some voices are &#8220;louder&#8221; than others) and we all deserve a fair chance to be heard. It&#8217;s how you choose to use that voice that can really define your character. We all have a voice (some voices are &#8220;louder&#8221; than others) and we all deserve a fair chance to be heard. It&#8217;s how you choose to use that voice that can really define your character. So think about it. If you&#8217;re negative, constantly ranting, bitching, and complaining online, what do you think people think of you? You may be funny, but is your sarcasm aimed at someone else&#8217;s expense? I think you see where I&#8217;m going with this, right? Is that the image you want people to see? Are you negative because you&#8217;re behind a computer and don&#8217;t have to face the repercussions of being rude or disrespectful? Or do you put up a wall because you&#8217;re insecure or lonely and desperately want someone to pay attention to SOMETHING you thought or wrote, even if it&#8217;s negative? Or are you someone who is filled with positivity, strength, and happiness? Do people smile when they see what you&#8217;ve posted or shared online? Are you displaying how loving and caring you are towards your family and friends? Is the REAL you shining through your posts? When you start to think about how other people might perceive you (like it or not, people are judging you by what you do, say, AND post) it can be a little scary. But it can also be quite interesting because YOU ARE A BRAND and people are judging your personal brand based on what you&#8217;re showing them and telling them. I&#8217;ve always been very selective in who I follow or what I &#8220;like&#8221; on social media &#8211; if I don&#8217;t actually &#8220;like&#8221; it, I&#8217;m not going to pretend I do or &#8220;pity like&#8221; something &#8211; I hate that! I try to be as genuine as I can be, I want my &#8220;virtual&#8221; self to match my &#8220;authentic self&#8221; or &#8220;personal brand&#8221;. I don&#8217;t photoshop (I do occasionally use an Instagram filter), I don&#8217;t say things I don&#8217;t mean, I don&#8217;t post things that aren&#8217;t true, or have ulterior motives. I don&#8217;t tell my friends one thing and post something completely different because I have nothing to hide, and seriously, to those who do this, who are you trying to kid? Because of my selectivity, I follow many incredible, amazing people online and I actually get inspired and happy as I&#8217;m scrolling through photos on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook &#8211; I feel connected to these like-minded people and I love it. But, have you ever wanted to &#8220;unfollow&#8221; someone (and I actually do this quite often) because you&#8217;re sick of their annoying posts or messages? Yes! And sometimes I just laugh at the silly things they say about themselves, their hashtags, and their COUNTLESS selfies (and keep them in my feed strictly for entertainment purposes), but if I&#8217;m sick of their &#8220;brand&#8221; or I&#8217;m tired of them bringing me down &#8211; I get rid of them or click &#8220;unfollow&#8221; &#8211; I don&#8217;t need their crap in my universe! I try to be as genuine as I can be, I want my &#8220;virtual&#8221; self to match my &#8220;authentic self&#8221; or &#8220;personal brand&#8221;. I don&#8217;t photoshop (I do occasionally use an Instagram filter), I don&#8217;t say things I don&#8217;t mean, I don&#8217;t post things that aren&#8217;t true, or have ulterior motives. I don&#8217;t tell my friends one thing and post something completely different because I have nothing to hide, and seriously, to those who do this, who are you trying to kid? This brings me back to the &#8220;follow Jesus&#8221; idea. I was thinking about what Jesus (or whichever higher power you believe in) would post as a &#8220;status&#8221;, or even a WIRL, if He could and how positive and awesome His messages would probably be. It would be amazing to &#8220;follow&#8221; along as He touched lives and taught lessons in such a positive, loving, incredible way. Having His updates show up on my phone or computer would probably make me want to be a better person and it would help me to see his &#8220;good&#8221; more often than just on Sundays. Wow, just the thought seems cool, right? Then I thought, if I had the privilege to follow THE MAN himself, I&#8217;d want to keep my newsfeed clean, so not to &#8220;contaminate&#8221; or &#8220;dilute&#8221; His powerful messages, photos, and posts so they could have a greater, stronger impact on my life. So I would probably start to do some &#8220;weeding&#8221; of those who I follow  &#8211; I&#8217;d get rid of anyone who doesn&#8217;t share the same message (notice I said &#8220;message&#8221; and not &#8220;beliefs&#8221;) as me (or Him), almost like a &#8220;social media cleanse&#8221; if you will, to get rid of the bad and start anew. Now, imagine this. You&#8217;ve cleansed yourself of the heavy weight of those who bring you down, you&#8217;ve shed the burden of the negativity, rants, and hate that appears on your usual social media feed and you&#8217;re only surrounded by those who share the same love, support, and inspiration for life and helping others as you do &#8211; wouldn&#8217;t that be awesome? Surrounding yourself with positive energy could really change your life &#8211; &#8220;follow&#8221; the good energy, toss away the bad. I mean, I&#8217;ve always been taught to &#8220;follow God&#8221;, but until I thought of it this way, it never really &#8220;hit home&#8221; for me. Call me crazy, stupid, or wacko, but sometimes you just have those &#8220;Ah-ha&#8221; moments where everything just falls into place. This was one of those moments for me. I mean, my whole life I&#8217;ve been taught to &#8220;follow God&#8221;, but until I thought of it this way, it never really &#8220;hit home&#8221; for me. Call me crazy, stupid, or wacko, but sometimes you just have those &#8220;Ah-ha&#8221; moments where everything just falls into place. This was one of those moments for me. So, this isn&#8217;t really about religion here, but it can be if that&#8217;s how you want to interpret it. What I&#8217;m saying is that if we look at the 21st century version of &#8220;following Jesus&#8221; and what that might actually mean if it were possible, it might mean that you would have &#8220;insider access&#8221; into the life of an incredible role model. We all have people we admire and we &#8220;follow&#8221; them online to peek into their lives and stay in the know. What we see on social media affects us, that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s such a powerful tool these days &#8211; it can make us happy, sad, jealous, frustrated, and even angry. Doesn&#8217;t it make sense to only surround yourself with people who build you up? &#8220;A rising tide lifts all boats&#8221;, right? What I took away from those two words at church last week was probably quite different than the intended message, but maybe not. I&#8217;m going to start shedding the negativity in my life by ridding of those who put it smack in front of my face everyday and I&#8217;m going to start following more people who I look up to. Truthfully, I think we should all do this and it&#8217;s so easy to do if you&#8217;re willing to make the change. So, if I &#8220;unfollow&#8221;, &#8220;unfriend&#8221;, or &#8220;unlike&#8221; you or something of yours &#8211; now you know why. You can chose to get mad or maybe you can chose to think twice about the messages you&#8217;re sending on social media. I challenge you to take a look at the life you&#8217;re portraying and ask yourself if it&#8217;s authentic. If it&#8217;s not, you might have some explaining to do, but don&#8217;t worry, I know just the platform to get you started! &#160;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<title>BlogU Taught Me About Myself</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-myself/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-myself/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anxious]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cafeteria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dorm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grow Up]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Myself]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nerdvar]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I’m sure that many others will blog about the amazingness that was Blog U 2015 this past weekend. Blog U was a great conference which packed about a month of information into 48 hours. I got excellent information which will improve TND, help us expand our reach, AND help us chart the next step beyond. I highly recommend it for any blogger looking to up their game. But I’m not going to talk about any of that. Rather, I’m going to talk about what Blog U taught me about myself: 1) I’m not only too old to stay in a dorm, but also too old to eat in a cafeteria. My stomach just can’t handle dining hall food any more. My eyes won’t even allow me to put most of it on my plate. Especially not “vegan meat.” Of course, I did still manage to eat the cupcakes. 2) I’m too socially anxious to play well with others. (Ok, I already knew this). Networking events for me were like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded while suffering from malaria. After the first few minutes I began fantasizing that the room would suddenly be seized by militants, which would certainly decrease my anxiety levels. The dining room felt like Middle School all over again. If I didn’t see an open seat at a table populated mainly by the 6 or 7 folks I “know,” I made a beeline for a small table off to the side where no one would notice the losers (as Momus was my ever companion) eating alone. Worst of all, I skipped the headline “Middle School Dance” entirely in order to avoid my deep-seated costume trauma and the possibility that I would have no one to talk to. I am of course regretting all of the above now. There were so many amazing people that I failed to meet, and so many missed connections. I’m now determined to either A) never go to another conference again as long as I live, or B) finally get that treatment for social phobia that I’ve been avoiding my whole life. Let’s be honest: probably A – and that’s only because C) never leave the fucking house again is likely implausible. 3) I have Nervdar – the ability to spot another anxious soul at as much as 80 yards away. These kindred souls (you know who you are) provided me an oasis, as I was able to approach them almost like a genuine member of the human race. 4) I still have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. I went from session to session creating different lives for myself. One session convinced me that I wanted to move from blogging into journalism, the next that I would be a really kick-ass copywriter, and yet another that I really should be writing a book. I went to dinner Saturday evening with my head spinning as I tried to figure out what path I want to move down with my writing. I have a feeling that this is going to take more than a little time to figure out. At least I know that Idon’t want to be a data analyst. Oops. 5) I want to be Jen Mann. That is all. 6) I will never master Pinterest. I just don’t have the time or graphical savvy to do what it takes to make me Pinterest Perfect.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for Pinterest Passable. &#160; These are my personal lessons learned. I can guarantee that everyone who went to this event has her own set of lessons. I can also just about guarantee that none of them are as pathetic as mine. &#160; *This WIRL was originally published on The Next Deslusion &#160; &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Cassandra is in her mid-forties with two children. She works as a research consultant and data analyst despite her love of words and deep mistrust of all things numeric. Her writing has been featured on The Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop, Great Moments in Parenting, and Project Underblog. She blogs with her partner in crime, Momus, at www.TheNextDelusion.com. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter (@TheNextDelusion), and Pinterest. &#160;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The 10 Things That BlogU Taught Me</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-10-things-that-blogu-taught-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-10-things-that-blogu-taught-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 18:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6996</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Guys, I’m not gonna lie. Going to a conference is hard work. But if you’re dedicated, like me, this is what you have to do. This weekend I went to the BlogU blogging conference where they run a pretty tight ship. They keep you going the whole damn time. I guess they want people to get their money’s worth or something, but I’m like, “Hold up, Ladies. I’m gonna need a nap now.” Unfortunately, this year they did not build nap time in the schedule, but all that’s gonna change next year with their new added group nap session. Nicole Leigh Shaw said so and I’m gonna hold her to it. It’s pretty much the only conference in the world that will have a nap session, which automatically makes it the best conference (even though it was already the best conference). I know not everybody who wanted to go got to go, which is why I’ve written up the Top 10 Things I Learned at BlogU15 highlighting the key elements from the weekend. It will feel like you where there. Top 10 Things I Learned at BlogU15 10. Talk to people while in line in the bathroom. You never know who you’ll meet, and it totally speeds up the waiting process. I’ve met some of my best friends in bathrooms. At BlogU15 that’s were I ran into The Dusty Parachute at long last. (Another good strategy is to talk to people at the bar. That’s where I found Orange and Silver, but she’s lush.) 9. Bring your A game to the Saturday Night Dance ParTAY, but know that you will always be shown up by Susan Mclean. She had on her badass, ORIGINAL, circa 1985, straight-out-of-her-parent’s-attic, teal and black (because that’s always a winning color combination) New Kids on The Block jacket. And roller skates. ROLLER SKATES. Anyone who shows up to a middle school party, or any party for that matter, in roller skates is the automatic winner. That’s just how it works. The woman simply will not be outdone. 8. I can no longer party like it’s 1999. This is rather upsetting news for me. I woke up the morning after the party sore, and all I did was dance. I’m still recovering and this is Day 3. Now I’m too old to even dance? How is that possible? This is not okay, Universe. I want it rectified! 7. Do whatever Jen Mann says. That’s my new motto in life. Also, marry her husband. I’ve been plotting a way to get Jen’s husband to marry me ever since I learned he is her super fan and her #1 pimp, and he doesn’t even require sexual favors. I mean I’m sure he’ll accept them, but he doesn’t require them and that’s key. My husband’s good and all, and he cooks for me, but what I really need is someone to schedule my Facebook posts, make graphics and get me an agent. I don’t know if Jen’s into sister wives or anything, but this could be another revenue stream for the business. Think about it, Jen. Here’s my little montage of Professor Mann in action. 6. Make sure posts on your own page and anything you’ve written elsewhere link back to your main post on the topic. The more links you have to a post the more credibility it has in Google’s eyes and the better it ranks. If you syndicate a post have the article link back to your original post NOT your page URL. Again, better for Google rank. 5. Say hello to everybody. Turns out people like that. Friendliness is not frowned upon. Plus, that’s what you’re there for. To meet people. And how are you going to meet people if you don’t meet people? It took a little while for me to internalize that one. About a year. Last year even though everyone was super friendly and welcoming and accessible, I was nervous, and I didn’t want to look like a idiot or know what to say so I didn’t say anything. You know what that did for me? Nothing. This year I said, “This is one of very limited opportunities to actually meet people I know online, and God dammit I’m going to meet them.” So you know what I did? I met them. It worked out so much better that way. 4. If you compliment someone on the 80’s jelly bracelets you wanted to wear because it reminded you of your Madonna period in 6th grade and that person who is another blogger you greatly admire and may or may not be Julianna Miner so generously rips them off her arm to give to you, you will forever share an unbreakable bond. 3. Make your pins on Pinterest “rich pins.” Sadly, I have no idea what that is or how to do it. If you want to know more, you should have gone to BlogU15. I can’t do everything for you, Ok? I think it might mean adding a description of the pin with key words, though. You should also make a spread sheet for your pins so you know when you posted them and can plan when to repin them in about a month or two. Oh, and you should also have a “blog” board on Pinterest for all your blog posts, which I did not know and which I currently do not have. 2. To thine own self be true. I got that from the truly inspiring Keynote speech by Nikki Knepper. While there were a ton of informative classes at BlogU and wonderful people to meet and chat with, Nikki’s speech fed the soul. It was real and honest and what I needed to hear. So often at conferences you get the down and dirty details and the technical information, which is great and necessary, but you don’t get the sustenance you need to forge ahead. It’s so easy to get distracted and overwhelmed and paralyzed by all the information and things you should be doing that you can’t possibly do. It was so refreshing amid the million and one technical things I’m always doing wrong to have some affirmation that, yes, if you keep your head down, continue doing what you’re doing, follow your gut, you will be on the right path. Because you know what? We can’t control the Internet. All we can do is continue to do what we believe in. Otherwise, what’s the point? 1. And the #1 thing I learned is I need to go away more often. My husband texted me like 20 times asking when I was coming home and if I could move up my departure time because he couldn’t take the kids anymore. When I did get home, he had dinner made for me AND cleaned all the bathrooms. Now that’s a man who appreciates his woman. And the kids? Well, Crazy didn’t miss me at all, but The Kid acted like I’d been gone for a whole month. She was nice to me. I’ve never had that experience before. I kinda liked it. *This was WIRL originally posted on One Funny Motha &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Stacey Gill is an award-winning journalist, the mastermind behind the humor blog, One FunnyMotha, and co-author of I Still Just Want to Pee Alone,the third book in The New York Times best-selling series. Her work has appeared on such sites as The Huffington Post; BlogHer; Babble; Brain, Child; Scary Mommy; Mom365; The Good Men Project; and Mommyish. In 2014 she was named one of the Top 10 Funny Parent Bloggers of the Year by VoiceBoks. Perhaps most importantly, she is the proud founder of the Detached Parenting Movement, a child-rearing model she single-handedly developed without any guidance or advanced degrees in child psychology. Currently, she’s at work on a memoir based on this radical theory. For a good time, find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. &#160;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Top 10 Things I Learned at BlogU</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-top-10-things-i-learned-at-blogu/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-top-10-things-i-learned-at-blogu/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 11:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Burrito]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past weekend I attended the Blog U conference in Baltimore, MD. I overcame fears, met inspiring people, and learned a mind blowing amount of information to help me become a better blogger and overall writer. Listed below are just a few of the things I learned… mostly silly, but seriously epic. &#160; 1. I don’t know jack shit about Pinterest Pinterest is like the female g-spot. We assume it’s straight forward and easy to figure out but then we dive in and realize there’s weird twists and turns. A click here, a double click there… It takes so long to crack the code, the freaking out begins… I NEED TO HAVE RICH PINS, TOO?! I HAVE TO USE KEYWORDS AND PIN TO ALL MY BOARDS EVERY DAY?!!! We give up and our Pinterest boards are left looking unsatisfied and broken. Luckily, I won’t have this problem since I took the Mastering Pinterest class. 2. Photo booths are always fun, especially after wine. Okay, I already knew this. I just wanted to show off my bitchin’ hater blockers. (Pictured: The Home Tome and Live, Laugh, and Learn) &#160; 3. I brought WAY too many business cards. Blog U has it’s own online group where members stay in touch and post links to their blogs and social media accounts. Because of this, I really didn’t have much use for my cards other than to force them upon statues. &#160; 4. I have no willpower when it comes to dessert. There was food. SO MUCH FOOD. “What’s that? Dessert after lunch? Don’t mind if I do…” “Oh hey, dinner time! Wouldn’t want to NOT follow five pounds of pasta with a marshmallow brownie and peanut butter cupcake!” And finally…”A BUCKET FULL OF HERSHEY KISSES AT OPEN MIC?! Well smack my cunt and call me Petunia! This chocolate will give me the bravery I need to read my piece!” &#160; 5. I shall henceforth be known as ‘burrito girl.’ Speaking of open mic, I spent an entire day deciding what I was going to read. I was SO nervous. Would this group of strangers accept my weird habit of turning everyday things into sexual innuendos? Finally, I decided to go with my gut. I read one of my more popular posts, My Love Affair With Chipotle. Turns out, people loved it. The next two days I was referred to as the ‘burrito’ or ‘sour cream girl.’ I learned that I was stupid to be afraid to let my freak flag fly. This was by far, the highlight of my weekend. &#160; 6. Dressing like a middle schooler channels insecurities. Nickelodeon sponsored an awkward middle school themed dance. When I myself was in middle school I was a nerdy Spice Girls fan. Seriously, I would have licked the bottoms of their boots. I styled my hair like Baby Spice and wore plastic jewelry. I even donned a Hello Kitty lip gloss ring. Seeing myself in that way again made me reflect on my preteen dances. I’d ask my friend to ask a boy to dance with me (that’s what you did when you were too afraid to approach a boy yourself). My friend would then return and deliver the bad news. Grown up Jamie is SO GLAD middle school Jamie got her happy ending. 7. Sometimes the stars align. Dressing like a middle-school-spice-girls-fan-girl worked out because Aussa Lorens dressed as Ginger Spice. Although I didn’t lick her boots, I did watch her bust some moves on the crowded dance floor. When the tune If You Wanna Be My Lover came on, the universe exploded. &#160; 8. If there is a chalkboard in the room, you must always take advantage.When I needed to step away from the dance floor due to drowning in a lake of sweat, I’d walk over to the chalkboard and um, decorate. 9. Always end the night on a high note. Upon arriving back at the dorms after the dance, I discovered an unusual silence through the hall. I took advantage of the space and had my roommate perform a photo shoot. Life is too short not to have a woman scream out “You’re a tiger!!!” I felt oddly sex-a-licious. &#160; 10. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I went to Blog U barely knowing anyone and I was scared. Scared that I’d say something offensive. Scared that I’d be lonely. Scared that I wouldn’t feel worthy of being around such amazing people. But I left empowered. I left inspired. I left knowing I had made one of the best decisions of my life. This weekend was exactly what I needed to move forward with improving as a writer and working towards future goals. NOTE: Although this post was mostly ridiculous I feel the need to stress all the top-notch sessions offered. I learned SEO, mastering Pinterest to get more traffic to my site, pros and cons of going viral, pitching techniques for websites and magazines, making money as a writer, and how to build a book. I would absolutely recommend Blog U to any blogger whether you’re a novice or seasoned pro. &#160; &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Jamie Alvarenga enjoys writing about humorous, awkward, and sometimes uncomfortable topics. She is inspired by strong women who aren’t afraid to speak their minds and compete with men. In her free time she&#8217;s lovingly annoying her husband and chasing after their two dutch rabbits. Find more of her ridiculous stories at FitsofWit.com. She can also be found (telling one too many dirty jokes) on Facebook and Twitter.]]></description>
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