This week, we would like to feature a guest post by the winner of our Most Promising Blog of the WordPress Blogging Basics Workshop last February 20, 2016 in Makati City — Maita de Jesus of thebestofeveryday.com, a blog for solo parents.
Maita was the consensus winner, as selected by the Blog Experts: Martine de Luna of Make It Blissful blog, Fitz Villafuerte of Ready To Be Rich blog and Jonel Uy of Blogger Manila blog.
The main reason why Maita won is because she was able to drill down her niche market — Solo Parents (a cool twist of the term “single parents”). Plus her advocacy of giving support and encouragement to her fellow solo parents was truly inspiring.
We believe that Maita’s blog will surely make a difference in this world.
Now, here, in her own words, are Maita’s takeaways from our very first WordPress Blogging Basics.
Workshops become worth the money spent when you walk out of there with not just new things learned, but with a new belief that you can do anything. This workshop gave me both.
While the training and lessons I got from being in the magazine industry may still be applied to writing for online publications, I still blank out when I’m faced with online jargon, or when I try to absorb the “rules” of blogging.
So when I walked into the WordPress Blogging Basics workshop that Saturday, I was expecting to walk out feeling more confident in my WordPress skills. I got more than what I asked for. Here are the things that I loved about the workshop:
1. The vibe was relaxed, but focused. Being around like-minded individuals who were raring to learn (and were on the same beginner’s level as I was) made me feel so excited, time flew by so quickly—to think that it was an 8-hour workshop! Holding it in The Office Project was a good move as well, because it provided a great working environment—sockets, free Wifi, and free flowing coffee and water.
2. The speaker was knowledgeable, approachable, and relatable. I appreciate self-taught individuals who choose to pass on what they’ve learned, and Marv de Leon of freelanceblend.com is an example of that. What he was teaching us was easier to comprehend because he was just like a friend explaining something to us—but with a projector and presentation slides.
3. The attendees were guided every step of the way. I already had a working WordPress.com website, but during the workshop, we were encouraged to use WordPress.org instead. It was daunting to do so, because compared to its .com counterpart, WordPress.org gives you the power to customize everything to your liking. Good thing we had a step-by-step guide on how to build a blog, from choosing a domain name, to how to make our own blog post.
4. We were given pro-bloggers to be our mentors for the day. When we broke into groups, we were assigned one pro-blogger per group. Our group got Martine De Luna of makeitblissful.com; she’s known to be the blog coach. Her insights, as well as the insights of Fitz Villafuerte of readytoberich.com, Jonel Uy of Digital Circles, and of Marv were all invaluable. We were getting insider know-how from some of the best in the business.
5. Every attendee walked out of the workshop inspired to do better. When I left the workshop, I had a long to-do list. I wanted to buy the book that inspired Marv to take his leap into freelancing. I wanted to burn the midnight oil and fix my blog ASAP, because the mentors were so supportive and excited for me to get started. I’m sure that each attendee had their own to-do list, filled with things that will change their life for the better.
Links and Resources
- Post-Event Review of the WordPress Blogging Basics Workshop by Kristel Silang
- Bluehost – recommended hosting service -> get web hosting for only $3.95 here.
- Siteground – another recommended hosting service -> get web hosting for only $3.95 here.
Maita de Jesus is the blogger behind thebestofeveryday.com, and won the award of the “most promising blog” during The WordPress Blogging Basics workshop. For more information about upcoming workshops, visit freelanceblend.com and manilaworkshops.com.
Photo Credit: George Buid