At the start of 2014 I announced that I planned to exercise every single day for a year. I even made the declaration on WBHM 90.3 FM and all across social media. And guess what…

I DID IT!!! I exercised for at least 30 minutes every day for 365 days!

But wait there’s more!

Tomorrow morning I’m going to be featured on the ABC 33/40 television show Talk of Alabama. One of the show’s producer reads my blog (!) and saw my post about my 365 days of fitness. So tomorrow I’ll be on the show discussing exactly how I pulled this off.

When I told people I planned to exercise every day for year some folks said I was “crazy” to set such a goal. But I did  it anyway. And now I’m going to be on TV because of it.

Sure, I’ve been on Talk of Alabama before. In fact, I was on the show summer of 2013 to discuss the launch of this magazine. But this time I didn’t have to send a pitch. This time they came to me. And that makes this opportunity even sweeter and even more of an honor.

The moral of the story is this: Do something crazy!

Do something daring and bold that other people wouldn’t even think about doing. I am convinced that this is the key to making your dreams come true.

Each November I challenge the women of See Jane Write Birmingham to blog every day for 30 days. Lots of folks think that’s crazy, too. In fact, I even call the challenge #bloglikecrazy. But it was through this challenge that the See Jane Write began to transform from just an ordinary writing group to a thriving community.

So what crazy thing am I doing next? My personal fitness challenge this year is to run/walk 1,200 miles by December 31. With regard to writing blogging and business I want to see my byline in at least one of my favorite national magazines, I want my website to be recognized by Forbes magazine, and I want to earn $100,000 in my business.

Do you think this sounds crazy? I sure hope so!

What “crazy” thing will you do in 2015? 

Each November I challenge the women of See Jane Write Birmingham to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days. I call this challenge #bloglikecrazy.

If you decide to join the fun, be sure to use the hashtag #bloglikecrazy when you share your posts on Twitter.

Usually, I #bloglikecrazy on my personal blog WriteousBabe.com. But this year I’m going to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days at the See Jane Write Birmingham blog.

I’d love for you to follow along.

So each day I will update this post to include a link to my latest entry to my See Jane Write blog. I hope you enjoy!

Nov. 1 – Why should I #bloglikecrazy? 

Nov. 2 – What if I run out of blog post ideas?

Nov. 3 – Can I overcome stage fright? 

Nov. 4 – How can I get more done?

Nov. 5 – How can I build an authentic brand for my blog?

Nov. 6 – How do I find my ideal reader?

Nov. 7 – Do I need an elevator pitch for my blog?

Nov. 8 – Should entrepreneurs take a day off?

Nov. 9 – What blogs do you read?

Nov. 10 – Blogging – What’s the Point?

Nov. 11 – Why did you start See Jane Write? 

Nov. 12 – Why do you call yourself a feminist?

Nov. 13 – What should I do this weekend?

Nov. 14 – How can I improve my blog?

Nov. 15 – What should a writer do on her day off?

Nov. 16 – What is a Twitter chat?

Nov. 17 – Do I need business cards?

Nov. 18 – What should I include in my blog’s media kit?

Nov. 19 – What is Bloglovin’?

Nov. 20 – How can I get more involved with See Jane Write?

Nov. 21 – Have you heard the new Beyonce song?

Nov. 22 – Did I hear you on NPR yesterday?

Nov. 23 – What do you want for Christmas?

Nov. 24 – Can I touch your hair? 

Nov. 25 – What are you thoughts on the Ferguson grand jury decision?

Nov. 26 – How can I give back this holiday season?

Nov. 27 – What are you thankful for today?

Nov. 28 – How can I “shop small” this holiday season?

Nov. 29 – What blogging and writing conferences should I attend in 2015?

Nov. 30 – What did you learn from this year’s #bloglikecrazy challenge? 

When Birmingham-based blogger Bertha Hidalgo started her style blog Chic In Academia one year ago she didn’t have much of a plan and didn’t think her site would be much more than an outlet for her love for fashion.

But when she threw a blogiversary party for Chic In Academia late last month she had plenty to celebrate. Thanks to her blog Hidalgo has had the opportunity to work with a number of brands and has even been featured in B-Metro magazine.

We had a chat with Hidalgo at her blogiversary party about the lessons she’s learned from one year of blogging.

“Because I started my blog for fun I didn’t invest in a camera and I didn’t put much effort into my pictures,” Hidalgo says when asked what she wishes she had done differently this past year. Hidalgo says she also didn’t realize how important it would be to frequently post fresh content.

Finding time to blog can sometimes be difficult for Hidalgo. Not only is she a wife and mother of two, but she is also a PhD-level genetic epidemiologist. Hidalgo firmly believes that it should be socially acceptable for a woman to be both intelligent and fashionable, and that those two qualities should not be mutually exclusive.  She started her blog, in part, to show the world that a woman can indeed be both.

Hidalgo usually find time to blog in the evenings after she’s put her two sons to bed.

Hidalgo believes that one thing she has done well this past year is be original. Chic In Academia is not just another fashion blog simply featuring one “Outfit of the Day” post after another.

“If I just did that I knew I would be a guppy in a sea of Shamus if I did that,” Hidalgo says. “I talk about how I shop and how I find deals.” And, as the blog’s title might suggest, Hidalgo also blogs about fashion for the workplace. Sometimes she also blogs about fitness.

Though she’s only been blogging a year, Hidalgo has already garnered much attention for her site. Betabrand included her in a campaign that featured women with doctorates. B-Metro magazine recognized her as a style icon in its July 2014 issue. And when Hidalgo announced on social media that she was attending this year’s Birmingham Fashion Week, Lotus Boutique offered to provide her with outfits for the week.

Some of the opportunities she’s landed has been through social media. Hidalgo is very active on Instagram, for example, and uses this platform to engage with brands. Her Instagram tip: hashtag, hashtag, hashtag.

Hidalgo is also a great networker although she doesn’t see it as networking. She’s just passionate about blogging and passionate about fashion, so she loves to talk about both.

“I talk to everybody about what I’m doing,” she says. “If you do that enough with the right people then you’re at the forefront of their thoughts when opportunities arise.”

Javacia Harris Bowser is founding editor of See Jane Write Magazine. 

Last month fashion blogger Alexis Barton of SameChicDifferentDay.com made an important announcement on her website and social media channels. This particular announcement wasn’t about a new line of designer duds or about fall fashion trends. Last month Barton announced that she was going back to school.

Barton is now attending a graduate program in community journalism at the University of Alabama. The program, “encourages students to think critically about the role news plays in community and to explore new ways to serve communities through the evolving practices of journalism,” Barton says. And she believes this program is the next step in her journey as a digital storyteller. 

Barton has maintained her popular style blog for three years.  Her personal style tips also have been featured in The Birmingham News, Skirt.com, Life and Style PR and on WBHJ 95.7 JAMZ. Barton has appeared on ABC 33/30′s Talk of Alabama, CBS 42′s Wake Up Alabama and a number of other television programs. Barton has been named a 2013 Role Model by the Girls Scouts of North-Central Alabama and this year was named a Birmingham Trailblazer by The Birmingham Times. She has worked with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, H&M, Girls Inc., Macy’s, Belk, and many other non-profits, businesses and brands to help make the world a more stylish place. 

But Barton has more to do and she believes education is the key to unlock the doors she wants to strut through in style.

While it may sound as if I need to go to conference rehab, I say “No, no, no!”

I attend all these conferences simply because I love learning and I love sharing what I’ve learned.

At Y’all Connect, a blogging and social media conference held in Birmingham, I learned about the importance of knowing your audience, that helping someone for free today can actually pay off big tomorrow, the value of visual content, and much more.

At BlogHer ’14 in San Jose, California, I got inspired to blog as if my life depends on it. (And I got to meet Arianna Huffington and share the same air with Kerry Washington!)

And at the Bloganista Mini-Con, a conference for fashion, fitness and lifestyle bloggers that I hosted through See Jane Write Birmingham, I was inspired by speakers like Megan LaRussa Chenoweth to work on taking my writing career and See Jane Write to higher heights.

Last month I attended WordCamp Birmingham and a talk by Reneta Tsankova, chief operations officer at SiteGround.com, helped me see branding in a new way. So often blogging gurus and social media marketers tell us writers and entrepreneurs that we need to see ourselves as brands. And that just sounds dirty! Thinking of yourself as a brand can feel cheap, shallow, or even dehumanizing. But Tsankova talked about branding in a way that really resonated with me. She said that when it comes to branding we should focus on values.

What are your values? How will you showcase these values? What makes you (or your business) different? What do other people think makes you (or your business) different?

Drafting a list of values for the See Jane Write network was simple. I value self-expression through storytelling and the written word, women’s empowerment, wellness (especially exercise and physical fitness), and Birmingham — I am devoted to making my city a better place. While I’m not sure what other people think makes See Jane Write different from other networking groups, I believe we offer a safe space for women to learn about blogging, business, writing, and social media — a place without pressure or pretense.

Thanks to all these conferences I attended this summer I feel I am truly headed to the next level as a writer, as an entrepreneur, and even as a woman.

This month I’ll be posting articles that are all somehow tied to the importance of learning. I hope they will inspire as much as this summer’s conferences inspired me.

xo,

Javacia Harris Bowser

Founding Editor

On Saturday, March 29 I attended the Natural Hair & Health Expo at the BJCC in Birmingham. Ironically, however, I didn’t attend this event to learn more about how to care for my curls. I went hoping to learn how to be a better blogger. And I was not disappointed.

While at the expo I had the opportunity to interview Demetria Lucas, who was part of a celebrity panel discussion on relationships and hair. Lucas is the woman behind the relationship blog A Belle in Brooklyn, a blog that eventually landed Lucas’ first book A Belle in Brooklyn was published in 2011. Her second book, Don’t Waste Your Pretty, will be released this year.  Lucas is also one of the stars of the new Bravo reality TV show “Blood, Sweat, and Heels.”  If there’s someone we should be taking blogging advice from it’s certainly Demetria Lucas.

When Lucas started her blog in 2006 very few people were writing on the web so this certainly gave her an advantage.

“A lot of people weren’t blogging so I was a lone voice,” Lucas said. But her success was not simply due to timing. Talent and transparency were factors too.

“I also had a background in journalism and English so that certainly helped as well,” Lucas said. “And I was very honest. I didn’t try to do a different persona for my blog. I didn’t try to make myself look great all the time. I was very transparent about a lot of my experiences in dating and coming of age in New York and it was relatable to a lot of people.”

While growing her blog Lucas was also working at Essence magazine. Yet, she still found time to write for herself.

“Essence was a very demanding job,” Lucas said, adding that she often worked 12 hour days. “But I was commuting to work everyday on the subway.  I wrote my blog posts on my Blackberry on the way to work. In fact, I wrote most of my blog and most of my book on my BlackBerry.” 

So if you feel like you don’t have time to blog — make the time. Blogging can be a great way for aspiring authors to build a platform, which is crucial for writers seeking publication. But Lucas does not suggest you blog simply because you want a book deal.

“Do it because you love it,” Lucas said.  “Write about what you know. What are you passionate about? What are you interested in? What could you do over and over and talk about on and on and on until you just get lost in it? Write about that.”

At the Expo I also had a chance to chat with Jessica Lewis of the popular natural hair video blog MahoganyCurls. She started her video blog in 2009 simply because she wanted to document her natural hair journey. But thanks to word of mouth and being featured on the popular natural hair blog CurlyNikki.com, the MahoganyCurls YouTube channel became wildly popular. Today it boasts more than 200,000 subscribers.

Her tips for good video blog posts were simple but solid:

Be clear. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a camera but your image should be really clear because you’re showing people what you’re doing,” Lewis said.

Be concise. “Get your point across,” she said. “I’ve had times when I ramble but be able to get to the point.”

Be consistent. And part of being consistent is being honest with your viewers. “I’ll let them know if I didn’t care a product and I’ll explain why but try not to bash the product,” she said.

Lewis also believes that being kind is essential too. “Just be friendly,” she said. “That’s very important. Have a nice personality and smile. Encourage people.”

Since the third series of the BBC’s Sherlock hit England, my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been buzzing about the show. Needless to say, the Internet was pretty much in agreement that it was awesome, beautiful and almost perfect. But one sector of the fandom was discussing it in terms of how the TV series fit into the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Stories.

I became aware of this discussion after following the Baker Street Babes on Twitter a few months ago. Their all-female blog and podcast has a huge (and growing!) following, and has members who are fans of all of the different parts of the Sherlock-verse. As their About page states, they “hope to provide a bridge between the older and often intimidating world of Sherlockiana and the newer tech savvy generation of fans that are just discovering the Holmes series.”

Though a few of the Baker Street Babes bloggers, podcast participants and social media mavens came to the series through the BBC show or the Robert Downey Jr. movies, most began reading the Sherlock novels when they were kids. “As a kid, I can definitely say I didn’t get all the nuance, but I loved them,” says Babe Amy Thomas. The diversity of the members’ passions and interests gives them the range and ability to explore new parts of the canon, says Baker Street Babe Lyndsay Faye. “We’re never going to run out of awesome content.”

The Babes’ influence isn’t limited to the Internet. In fact, many of the contributors are active participants in fan groups in their areas. Their New York annual charity benefit, The Daintiest Thing Under A Bonnet, draws substantial crowds for its theme party and auction. Most importantly, several of the members are authors in their own right and benefit with writing-focused organizations in their areas.

Despite the focus on the male subjects of the series, Faye doesn’t believe that it’s a male-dominated fandom. “There have always been rabid female fans,” says Faye. “After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock’s death, there was an anecdote about a woman who wrote him and called him a brute.” As the author of Girl Meets Sherlock, Thomas focuses largely on women’s issues within Sherlock Holmes. When she attended the 221B Con (a Sherlock convention), she noticed it was “incredibly female-dominated.”

“I was so thrilled and amazed to see that,” says Thomas. “It’s amazing to think that women weren’t welcome in some settings, but couldn’t be kept down because it was something they cared about.”

The Babes’ advice for woman bloggers was simple: write about what you’re really, really passionate about. “Choose the subject you can’t stop talking about after your second glass of wine,” Faye says.  Thomas’s advice is to share your thoughts and perspectives without fear. “What makes a fandom amazing is the variety of perspectives,” says Thomas. “Get what you love out there.”

Check out Amy Thomas’s personal blog, Girl Meets Sherlock and find more of Lyndsay Faye’s writing at LyndsayFaye.com.

Clair McLafferty is the author of our geek girl culture column Talk Nerdy To Me.When she isn’t writing, Clair can usually be found nerding out on programming, cocktails, physics, comics and movies. Some of these interests spill over into her writing at clairmclafferty.com and on to her Twitter feed @see_clair_write.

When the New Year rolled in you expected it to come with renewed inspiration to do everything bigger and better than the year before. But January has come and gone and somethings feels off. The blog, or freelance gig, or novel that once was exciting to write suddenly seems like a chore. Just looking at a pen and piece of paper gives you writer’s block.

So what do you do to find your love of writing again? Here are some tricks I’ve used in the past:

Seek out inspiration – Sometimes, we just need a little nudge in the right direction to feel motivated. Take a step away from your blog and surround yourself with things that get your creative juices flowing. Go for a walk, read a new book, browse your favorite blogs, cook a new recipe, take a shower (best spot for thinking!).

Give your blog a facelift – Have you ever had a day where just changing your outfit or adding some lipstick makes you feel rejuvenated? The same can help your blog. If you’re not in love with your current theme, spend some time browsing theme sites to see if any templates jump out at you. Not ready to commit to a big blog change? Try updating your logo, or changing your current color scheme.

Consider a topic change – Maybe you have writer’s block because you’re not as excited about your topic as you used to be. A lot can happen in a year, and your tastes and interests may have changed, whether you realized it or not. Flip back through some old posts – which ones are you proud of? Which felt forced? It may be hard to say goodbye to the blog you poured so much love and time into, but like a relationship-turned-sour, it’s best to let go rather than try and force it to work.

Let it go – If all else fails, don’t stress over it. Take a break for a few days, or weeks even until the writing bug bites you again. You’re doing a disservice to yourself and your readers if you’re posting just for the sake of it. Your writing won’t have passion, and your readers will recognize it. Allow yourself some time to regroup, without guilt – you can’t force greatness.

What other ways do you pull yourself out of writing ruts?

Tanya Sylvan graduated from the University of Alabama with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Advertising and Public Relations. A native of Kendall Park, N.J., Tanya currently works in marketing at CRC Insurance Services, Inc. and Moosedog & Co. She is an ultra runner and can’t live without mountains, ethnic food, and her husband Zack. She blogs about running at tanyasylvan.com.

Many avid bloggers dream of quitting their day jobs. In June of 2013, Courtney Mirenzi did just that. Mirenzi is the woman behind the feminist fashion blog Those Graces and has been named one of the 50 Most Fashionable People in Boston and one of The Boston Globe‘s Top Bloggers. Recently, Mirenzi shared with her readers that being a full-time blogger turned out not to be her dream job after all.  Stunned by her honesty, I reached out to Mirenzi for a chat because I wanted to know more.

How did you decide to quit your 9-to-5 job last year?

It was something my husband and I talked about for six months before it actually happened. I was working in the tech industry and took the job mainly because at the time we were moving form South Carolina to Boston and I needed to make money to support my family. My husband was in graduate school when I started work at the company, and when he graduated, we both decided that I should make a go at working for myself.

My husband and I worked to build a three-month emergency fund before I quit my job. We compared our spendings from the previous year to see how much I would need to make in order for it to be a viable option. We settled on an amount that would basically allow us to break even every month, with the eventual goal of earning enough to save more and pay down debt. It took me about three months to get up to my goal earnings, but I’m finally there! Now I’m focused on gaining more clients and expanding my business.

I should mention that both of us are former full-time AmeriCorps volunteers and are used to living on a small budget. We track what we spend and earn very carefully, so we were both OK with me taking a huge pay cut to try my dream.

What are some of the misconceptions you had about being a full-time blogger? 

I imagined the way I felt about myself and my work would change. I thought I would have this a-ha! feeling because I thought I would be doing exactly what I wanted to be doing. After a month of blogging, I realized I wanted to expand into freelancing because I missed things like, oh, interacting with people and getting out of the house. Though full-time blogging wasn’t how I imagined in my head, it’s still very much a part of long-term work strategy.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions you believe people other people have about being a full-time blogger or a full-time freelancer? 

The biggest misconception about being a full-time blogger is that people assume that because I’m doing it full-time also means that I’m earning a lot of money. Just because I’m investing time, doesn’t mean I’m making money from it! Also, there’s a certain amount of false glamor that comes with full-time blogging. Truth is I’m at my desk, color coding my to do list and responding to comments.

As for being a full-time freelancer, I’ve found this is typically a term most people understand compared to being a full-time blogger. Less questions come with this title, to be honest. Introducing myself as a freelancer has also been very helpful because people immediately think, “Can I ask her to do something for me?” I’ve gotten a lot of gigs just from sharing that I work for myself!

What kind of freelance work do you do? 

Since I’ve moved into the world of self-employment, I’ve been able to work with clients on projects that I’ve always been interested in. For example, I’m a copywriter for a domain registrar and a freelance photographer for a local non-profit. I also do social media management and consulting.

Overall are you happy with your decision? 

That’s hard to say! I’m someone who thrives on inconsistency, adventure and change. I don’t think I’ve ever had a job where I didn’t think, “What’s next?” Overall I’m happy with what I’m doing now because I’m using skills for work that I used to regard as hobbies like writing, photography and social media.

What advice you would give to someone who wants to become a full time blogger and freelance writer?

Have a plan, but don’t be afraid when it falls apart. I pictured myself falling in love with full-time blogging. I obsessed about taking the leap for almost two years before I did it. I won’t lie, it was a bit disappointing when I realized it wasn’t the best fit for me. However, it helped me figure out what I do want to be doing, which is freelancing with blogging being apart of that.

You can follow Courtney Mirenzi on Twitter @mirenzish and be sure to read her blog at ThoseGraces.com.