Style blogger Cydni Robertson wants to help you find your strut — your confidence and a unique sense of style. And on January 4, she’s giving Birmingham residents the chance to help other women find their strut too.

Robertson’s upcoming Serve and Strut Brunch will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4 at Shula’s Steakhouse in Birmingham. The event will feature a three-course meal, live entertainment and door prizes. Tickets are $30 and are available for purchase online. Attendees are asked to donate a pair of new or gently used women’s shoes which will be given to Birmingham-area women’s charities.

“The theme for the Serve and Strut Brunch is ‘Give The Gift of Style,'” says Robertson who blogs at It’s Her Strut. “Through the shoe donation one woman can help another woman find her ‘strut’ or the confidence to walk in her purpose.”

In November 2013 Heather Brown of Birmingham, Ala., launched the lifestyle blog My Life Well Loved, but she is hardly new to the blogging world.

For the past four years Heather has published the website SavingMoneyLivingLife.com with her friend Jessica. Heather and Jessica offered readers the scoop on great deals and built a large online following in the process.  Now Heather is taking what she’s learned over the past four years and using it to build a blog of her own.

See Jane Write Magazine: Why did you and Jessica decide to close SavingMoneyLivingLife.com and why did you decide to keep blogging with a site of your own? 

Heather: SavingMoneyLivingLife.com had truly served its purpose and had run its course. We had fun doing it, but then it became a bit more like work, and less fun for us. Plus, Jessica now has a 1-year-old, a husband in residency, and has a full-time job herself, so time was tight.

I knew I wanted to keep blogging, but was tired of just blogging about deals. I really enjoy healthy eating, working out, fashion, and being creative. So, I decided to re-center my focus and launch out on my own with a new blog. That new blog has turned into MyLifeWellLoved.com where I share how to love your life well by way of healthy eating, exercise, and occasional indulgences all with a Southern Twang.

What lessons did you learn from working on SavingMoneyLivingLife.com that you plan to apply to MyLifeWellLoved.com?

I learned that consistency is key. When you don’t post for weeks at a time, you lose touch with your readers and they never know when they should check in with your blog. I also learned avid fans are more important than big numbers. I’d rather have 3,000 engaged followers that are liking, following and commenting than 6,000 [that are not]. That’s what brands who work with bloggers want to see as well.

You built quite a following on your old blog. Any tips for bloggers trying to build a large and loyal following for their sites? 

So many things play into this, however, my top 3 would have to be consistency, networking, and the occasional giveaway. That means blogging and engaging on social media regularly. Even on the days I don’t blog, I’m active on my social media outlets. Networking can mean anything from garnering blog post swaps with other bloggers, commenting on their blogs, striking up conversation with others via social media or even just asking questions of those you look up to. The occasional giveaway is a great way to grow your numbers, however, sometimes these aren’t the best engaged followers.

What are you doing to retain the readers you had on you old site? What do you plan to do get new readers to your blog? 

I plan to redirect the old blog to the new one in January. I was very lucky that I got to keep my followers via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etcetera. Getting to keep all my social media followers is a huge help.

I truly just plan to continue to post quality content and find ways to expand the reach of said content. I’m making it a goal for 2014 to do at least 1 to 2 guest posts per month.

I’ve networked like crazy already. I asked all my blogging friends and real life friends to help me spread the word. On the day of my launch, many of these people tweeted, Facebooked, shared, or mentioned me in their blog posts, which was amazing. If you are open to helping others out, they’ll usually return the favor.

Check out Heather Brown’s new blog at MyLifeWellLoved.com and be sure to follow Heather on BlogLovin’, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

A few days ago Beyonce turned the world of music, the land of social media and the lives of her fans upside down when she released a surprise album. As a die-hard Bey fan myself, I spent Friday caught between disbelief and elation and couldn’t wait to get home from my day job so I could immerse myself her eponymous fifth studio album.

Coming out of what was supposed to be a month-long hiatus from my personal blog, this weekend I wrote about what Beyonce’s album means to me as a feminist. But I’ve been thinking about what it means to me as a writer too.

When it comes to typical music marketing strategies, Beyonce broke all the rules. And it worked. Just as Mrs. Carter is doing things on her own terms, I want to see more women writers doing things on their own terms too and doing so successfully. Ladies, let’s not wait around to be picked as if we’re a lonely wallflower at the school dance.  It’s time to make our move and get on the floor.

Here are five things I think we women writers can learn from Beyonce’s surprise album release:

Be brilliant. Beyonce’s new release could have been a simple 10-track mixtape and it still would have garnered plenty of attention. But you don’t become the Queen (or the King) through mediocrity. Beyonce’s new album is a cohesive body of work that includes 14 tracks and 17 videos. Who does that?! She does. And you should follow suit. This is especially important for women writers looking to self-publish. Allow me to be frank: There’s a reason self-publishing has been looked down upon for so long. Too often self-published books are of sub-par quality — in desperate need of an editor and a decent cover design. Self-publishing should not be seen as a last resort after your work has been turned down by other publishing houses. Self-publishing should be the route you take when you want more creative control. And whether you’re self-publishing or not, you should always present your very best work.

Be bold. Beyonce’s new album is unlike anything we’ve seen from her and this surprise release is unlike anything we’ve seen before in music. Women writers, don’t be afraid to try something new. That crazy idea you have for a book or blog just might work. That wild story idea you have for your favorite magazine just might be the pitch the editors have been waiting for.

Be tireless. Beyonce didn’t need months or weeks of marketing to promote her new album. Instead she just hit the stage or as she says in the song “Ghost,” — “I don’t trust these record labels/I’m tourin.'” The hard work she puts into her shows was all the promotion she needed. And be honest, can you think of a performer who works harder on stage? Now it’s your turn. What’s the hard work you need to do to set the stage for your success as a writer? Do you need to write every day so you can finish that book? Do you need to pitch publications every week so you can make a name for yourself in magazines? Do you need to launch a book or blog tour of your own? Guest blog for other websites. Be active on social media. Seek out speaking engagements. Build your brand.

Be transparent. Beyonce’s fans love this album, I think, for the same reason we love her documentary Life Is But a Dream and her website Beyonce.com — it gives a glimpse into the life of Queen Bey. We enjoy seeing beyond Beyonce the brand and getting a peek at Beyonce the person. Believe it or not, your readers want the same from you. Don’t pretend you have it all together. Don’t pretend to have all the answers. Be vulnerable in your writing. Be willing to show your scars so others can learn how to heal.

Be a Queen Bee. Beyonce affectionately calls her fans the BeyHive and when this album dropped you better believe we were buzzing. In fact, Beyonce’s surprise album release even surpassed Sharknado in social media buzz. Women writers, we must be the Queen Bee and build beehives of our own. We each need a group of loyal readers — people who are more than followers, but fans. Jeff Goins calls this building a tribe. Regardless of your name for this process, it’s one that must be done. But do so sincerely and selflessly. Focus on building up your readers, not yourself. Consider what can you add to their lives with your writing. Consider how you can make their lives better with your wisdom and skills. You can build your beehive through a blog or even by starting a networking group like See Jane Write Birmingham. Uplift your fans and they will uplift you.

With the winter holidays upon us, chances are you going to need to take some time off from blogging. Maybe you’re traveling to visit family and friends for Christmas. Maybe your in-laws are coming to visit and you know you won’t have time to write while they’re in town. Or maybe you’re facing end-of-the-year burnout and you just need a break.

Just because you go on vacation doesn’t mean your blog has to as well. Updating your blog regularly is important for building and maintaining a loyal readership.

Here are three tips to keeping your blog fresh while you’re away.

Blog like crazy before your break. Grab your laptop and your notebook of post ideas and head to your favorite coffee shop. Spend the day writing and scheduling blog posts for your time off. Keep the posts short and sweet, but meaningful. Be careful not to sacrifice quality for quantity.

While you’re preparing for house guests, invite guest writers to your blog. Recruit a few friends to do guest posts for your site. Offer to do the same for them for their next vacation. Be sure your guest bloggers are writing about topics related to your niche and in a voice that is distinct but not so divergent from yours that they’ll scare off your readers.

Take your blog (and your readers) on vacation with you. If you love to take pictures when you travel, simply turn those snapshots into blog posts. Don’t feel you have to spend hours of your vacation writing wordy posts. Just upload pics from your photo and create mini-photo essays for your blog.

When you return from your hiatus, regardless of the reason for your break, be sure to come back strong with a thoughtful, high quality post that your readers will love and that will remind you why you started blogging in the first place.

It’s about to be that time again; it’s almost time to blog like crazy!

Last year I challenged the women of See Jane Write and some of my other blogger buddies to “blog like crazy.” The challenge was simple: for the month of November post new content to your blog every day. That’s a new blog post every day for the 30 days. Sure, it sounds simple, but if you’re a blogger you know that posting every day is a lot easier said than done.

But many ladies of See Jane Write gladly stepped up to the challenge, posting daily and sharing their posts in the See Jane Write Birmingham Facebook group and on Twitter using the hashtag #bloglikecrazy.

Starting Nov. 1 we’re going to #bloglikecrazy again this year. I hope you’ll join us. You don’t have to be a member of See Jane Write or live in Birmingham to participate. You just need a blog and willingness to write.

I’ll be blogging like crazy at my personal blog The Writeous Babe Project.

You may be wondering why you should bother blogging every day. Some people believe that writing daily can kill your creativity or result in sub-par content. While I believe there is some truth in those statements I also believe in the power of practice. Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones explained this notion best:

This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don’t want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don’t wait around for inspiration and deep desire to run. It’ll never happen, especially if you’re out of shape or have been avoiding it. But if you run regularly, you train your mind to cut through or ignore your resistance. You just do it. And in the middle of the run, you love it. When you come to the end, you never want to stop. And you stop, hungry for the next time.

This summer I exercised every day for 30 days as I was working to complete Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred workout plan. This meant that one night, after a very busy day and an evening spent at a friend’s birthday dinner, I had to exercise at 10:30 p.m. with a belly full of Indian food. But I was determined not to skip a day. That month I likened exercise to brushing my teeth and in November I’ll do the same with blogging. You don’t skip brushing your teeth because you’re too tired or too busy, do you? (I sure hope not.)

I believe that choosing not to write simply because you don’t feel like will, in the long run, hurt your craft because you won’t learn the discipline and dedication necessary to succeed at writing.

You may be thinking, “But what if I have nothing to write about?”

Don’t worry. I have you covered. Below are prompts for each day of #bloglikecrazy. Now, you don’t have to follow these prompts to participate. But these suggestions are here in case you find yourself experiencing blogger’s block and staring at a blank computer screen.

If you plan to participate in #bloglikecrazy leave your blog URL and your Twitter handle in the comments and please spread the word to your friends.

#bloglikecrazy writing prompts

1. November Intentions. What are your goals and intentions for the month?

2. Why do you blog? Why are you choosing to #bloglikecrazy this month?

3. How do you blog? Tell your readers about your writing process.

4. Shelf Pleasure. Tell us what you’re reading right now or tell us about your favorite books.

5. Currently. Share with your readers what you’re into at the moment. Check out this post for ideas: http://www.writeousbabe.com/2012/11/currently.html

6. What’s your favorite TED Talk? Share one of your favorite TED Talk videos and tell us why you love it.

7. Blogging Bucket List. What are your goals for your blog and for yourself as a blogger?

8. There’s an app for that! Tell your readers about your favorite apps.

9. Hey Girl. Write a post in honor of girlhood.

10. What do you believe in?

11. Liberty. How do you define freedom?

12. Shout out your tweeps! Tell us who you follow on Twitter and why.

13. Write a how-to piece.

14. Write a how NOT to piece. Check out this post for inspiration: http://avajae.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-not-to-write-blog-post.html

15. Body Beautiful. Write a post celebrating a part of your body.

16. Who What Wear. Write a post about fashion or beauty. Yes, even if you’re not a fashion or beauty blogger.

17.  What about your friends? Write a post celebrating friendship.

18. Controversy. Write a post on a controversial topic.

19. Tube Time. Do a video blog post.

20. Mission Possible. Write your personal mission statement or manifesto. You can find examples here, here, and here.

21. Q&A. Do a Q&A with someone you admire.

22. Write a post on how to beat burnout.

23. See Jane Eat. You’re probably thinking a lot about food right now as you are preparing for Turkey Day! Write a blog post about food.

24. Fan Girl. Write a post about something you totally geek out about.

25. A Writer and Her Workout. Write a post about fitness.

26. Girl Power Playlist. Share your favorite pro-woman anthems or your personal musical mantra.

27. Family. With the holidays on the horizon, you’re probably thinking a lot about how much you love your family (or not). Write a post about those folks you call your kin.

28. Happy Thanksgiving! Write a post expressing gratitude.

29. All I Want for Christmas… Share your holiday wish list.

30. Now what? What did you learn from this challenge? What’s next for your blog and for you?

Every Game of Thrones nerd knows that the Mother of Dragons is a respected leader. Not everyone knows, however, that she sets a good example for woman bloggers. Here are some lessons to take away from that violet-eyed badass.

Free the slaves. The Khaleesi cultivates loyalty by freeing the slaves of the peoples she conquers. Though the blog-o-sphere isn’t a place of servitude, freeing your mind and body of negative thoughts and habits provides more mental space for you to focus on writing.

Never underestimate the power of language. The Mother of Dragons’s skill with language wins her the first part of her army. On the Internet, being fluent in SEO and Google Analytics can help build your online brand. However, don’t sacrifice good writing for the sake of keywords. Strong content with a meaningful message is ultimately what will keep your readers engaged.

Draw strength from your past. Overcoming abuse, lack of experience or diminished inspiration is a big challenge for leaders and bloggers alike. Your past experiences shape who are now, but they don’t define you. Draw on your past victories as a source of strength and wisdom.

Keep fighting. Even when it seems that you’re facing insurmountable odds, keep going. Write about your struggles and open up about them to your close friends. It isn’t necessary to broadcast them to the world, but having someone share your burdens can considerably lighten them.

Listen to your advisors, but follow your moral compass. Daenerys Stormborn’s advisers come from a different cultural background than she. As a result, their advice doesn’t always mesh with her morals and standards. Though mentoring is important in the blogging world, take some recommendations with a grain of salt. Don’t compromise your morals or standards just to follow someone else’s path.

Be wary of big promises. The Khaleesi is promised many things because of her beauty and gender. Some of those making the promises betray her and many more simply don’t follow through. As the old saw goes, plan for the worst, but expect the best.

Learned any lessons from the Mother of Dragons? Share them below in the comments!

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. 

Fashion’s Night Out may be on hiatus in New York, but in Birmingham, Ala., this annual evening of shopper’s delight is still alive and well. Birmingham’s Fashion Night Out is set for Thursday, Sept. 12 and is a must-attend event for style bloggers.

Birmingham’s  (located at The Summit) will be selling select cosmetics, accessories and apparel tax-free all day and will host a cocktail party that evening. From 5 to 8 p.m. style mavens can enjoy Skinny Girl cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. You can also get a 10-minute beauty touch-up, which will come in handy since Big Swede Photography will be on site doing professional headshots. You can finally update that Twitter, Facebook, or blog avatar you’ve been using for over a year.

“We invite you to come out and see all of the new fall trends and show off your own style,” says Herman Heinle, President of Gus Mayer.

Admission to this event is free.

For the style maven looking for something a bit offbeat for Fashion’s Night Out, check out RE Fashion.

This is unique event seeks to prove that you can be environmentally friendly and fashionable, too. Set to be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the trendy Aloft Hotel in Homewood, this event will benefit the Alabama Environmental Council in their efforts to restore the Birmingham Recycling Center. Models will be wearing exclusive designs by organic Birmingham fashion line, Earth Creations and jewelry by local boutique, Charm.  The affair is the brainchild of local makeup artist and hair stylist D. Alex Tino.

There will be a small silent auction, also to benefit the Alabama Environmental Council.  Guests can bid on one of the evening’s fashions, donated by Earth Creations and other surprises. The first 75 guests will snag reusable “swag bags” donated by Mountain High Outfitters and filled with goodies from sponsors like Cathead Vodka and Regis Salon – Riverchase. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. For more information call  334.328.5856 or visit Facebook.

Back in June I wrote “Birmingham – I Run This Town,” a post about my favorite running route in downtown Birmingham, Ala. My friends and I ran 14 miles of the Mercedes Marathon route and I took pictures of my favorite landmarks along the way.

It was something that I had wanted to do for months, but just hadn’t had the opportunity. Like all of my posts, my only goal was to share another one of my running experiences.

And then it took off. My family and friends read it first. Then a handful of bloggers. Then my running friends, who shared it with their friends. Who then shared it with their friends. The first day I had an all-time high for views. The next day those views tripled. When all was said and done, my views were 400% above average.

So what happened? Why did this post go viral? What did I do differently? After some thought and talking to others, here’s what I learned:

Strike an emotional chord. Write with an intent to drive a specific result or emotion, not numbers. If you make people laugh, get angry, feel nostalgic, they are more likely to return to your blog and share it with their network.

Make it familiar. People like things that they can relate to. It makes it more real, and in my case people recognized the places in my pictures. Runner or not, my audience was able to recall their own memories of downtown.

Tell a story. Everyone loves a story – it’s human nature to want to share our experiences with others. My post was about more than a run; it was a story about a lot of little stories. Having been able to explore Birmingham on foot has given me a bigger appreciation for all the small businesses, the revitalization of the downtown area, and the people that fight to preserve and make this city’s dreams a reality. That’s what community is all about. My goal was to let my audience experience, through my eyes, all of those things that make me proud to live in Birmingham.

Open eyes. Posts that teach readers something or bring something unknown to their attention tend to get more traffic and shares. If I find something cool, I want my network to know about it too.

Don’t force it.  You can’t make something go viral; viral is not a strategy. Stay true to yourself and write about what you love, but also listen to readers and pay attention to what they like.

In the end though, it’s all relative. What’s considered viral for my blog may be your everyday statistics. Think of it this way – if the majority of your network saw and interacted with your post, you did your job. If they shared it with their network, you have something deeper there that you need to continue exploring through your writing.

Last week I wrote a similar post about running in Helena, a small town just outside of Birmingham. It did well statistically and people loved it, but it wasn’t met with anything near the amount of interest that my “I Run This Town” post had. Conversely, a post about women and their thigh gaps surprisingly surpassed my “I Run This Town” post.

What does this tell me? You can never predict with perfect accuracy what people will respond to. Just write from the heart, and your network will take care of the rest.

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.

Three Chic Geeks is basically a nerd girl’s roadmap to being awesome at fandom. (Urban Dictionary defines fandom as “The community that surrounds a TV show/movie/book, etc.”) Originally started as an excuse for the three to drink and write for friends, the blog quickly turned into something more. “We went viral on Reddit,” said Critique Geek Amber. “It was a post about fictional characters we’d like to date. It went crazy viral.”

After their posts went viral, the site’s readership exploded. Though their success gave them the freedom to commit to blogging full time, it also brought on the trolls.

“Reddit is a great thing, but use it with caution,” said Freak Geek Katherine. “There’s Dave Grohl, but there are also some very mean Redditors who see that you’re a chick and deserve to be trolled.”

Despite the trolls, the geeks’ creative process is still largely the same, with inspiration coming from Pinterest, fanfiction and online arguments. Each DIY, rant or article is written by an individual geek, but most are born through a collaborative brainstorming process.

The website has also opened up new freelance markets. Critique Geek recently covered Comic-Con in San Diego for MTV Geek, and Freak Geek has already started to budget for New York Comic Con in October. “We all freelance for MTV Geek,” said Critique Geek Amber.

“We get to make pterodactyl sounds and go to things for free,” Freak Geek Katherine added.

When I spoke with them, their biggest piece of advice to nerdy woman bloggers was to write about what you love, said Unique Geek Cecelia. “You can’t care what anyone else has to say.”

When she isn’t writing, Clair McLafferty 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. 

The traditional steps in creating a brand include a logo, often with a specific Pantone color, a blog, and a multi-platform social media presence. Yet, the Olsen Twins have managed to capture the nation’s attention for 27 years, their entire lives, without the traditional approach. Jessica Nell Graves, Creative Director at Shops Around Lenox and early blog adopter at The Love List, explained the secret to the Olsen Twins’ branding success at the Southern Coterie Summit earlier this month in Athens, Ga.

“The Olsen Twins are a great example of branding success because they’re not just selling a product or information. They’re selling a lifestyle, which has evolved as they’ve gotten older. Because what they’re selling has changed over time and they don’t have the traditional branding logo and Pantone color, that means their brand has always been them,” Graves explained.

She urged bloggers and entrepreneurs to humanize their brand as a means of better connecting with followers. Seeing the faces behind the brand leaves followers confident in the brand’s transparency and helps customers identify with the brand.

“If you want to see how adding a face to the brand can boost business, just look at Jenna Lyons, the Creative Director of J. Crew. She’s almost as famous as J. Crew itself and international fashion magazines detail what she’s wearing each new season. The J in J. Crew might as well stand for Jenna,” said Graves.

Like Lyons, the Olsen Twins own their brand and they’re their own ambassadors. They’ve inserted themselves into their brand and found their voice in dialogue with their followers.

“Don’t be afraid to own your brand and post pictures of yourself doing so. Mary-Kate and Ashley aren’t afraid of being photographed slinking all over New York City in black, rockabilly garb and smoking cigarettes. They’ve nailed down who they are and are comfortable in their own skin. That’s what it takes,” Graves said. “Your face is your brand.”

Graves suggest openly sharing your ideas, opinions, and tastes, and writing in first-person to do so. Although there’s a certain vulnerability in doing this, it’s ultimately forwarding your brand, she argues. And if there comes a time when someone disagrees, don’t apologize for your taste.

“You have to defend your brand while showing that you don’t just have a knack for whatever you’re doing,” said Graves, “you have a unique take on it.”

Another way you can improve your blog, and therefore your brand, is to make it look more professional by forming a partnership with a local photographer. Having someone in charge of photography means better photos of you sporting your brand. It’s a partnership that’s good exposure for both parties and shows that you’re open to collaboration, which Graves says you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace.

“Don’t get angry if others are doing something similar to what you’re doing. Either embrace a collaboration or move on because the idea is so old someone else is using it. Brand success doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Graves said.

If you still feel uneasy about personalizing your brand start by focusing on and sharing who you are within the context of your brand. Later you can open up more as an individual in other contexts because you’ll then be identified as your brand.

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.