People often ask me how I generate blog post ideas and I’m usually a bit embarrassed to answer this question. My process is really weird. Normal people will tell you to read other blogs and to delve into news and opinion pieces related to your niche and that is fine advice. I do plenty of reading to keep myself inspired. But I also have this uncanny ability to stare at an object, contemplate how I could connect it to my niche and produce a blog post idea from this process. See, I told you I’m weird.

I especially enjoy using parts of the human body for inspiration. I could stare at my big toe and come up with five blog posts ideas. (Really, I can. I tried it before I typed that sentence just to be sure I was being honest.) Weird as it is, I thought this process would come in handy when the organizers of the food blogging conference FoodBlogSouth asked me to come speak about generating blog post ideas. On Saturday, Jan. 25 I’ll be giving a presentation called America’s Next Top Blogger: How Tyra Banks Can Help You Generate Blog Post Ideas. This is a play, of course, on Tyra’s advice to the contestants on her show America’s Next Top Model. Ms. Banks always tells the young aspiring models to model head to toe or “H2T.” At FoodBlogSouth I’ll be giving a  15-minute crash course in what I call blogging H2T. I’m going to show attendees how they can generate 30 food-related blog post ideas by contemplating (or meditating on) different parts of the human body.

I hope you’ll join me at this event. There are plenty of other great reasons to attend FoodBlogSouth other than my weird talk. The conference will feature sessions on photography and food styling, how to turn your blog into a career, multimedia storytelling, and much more. You can view the full agenda online.

FoodBlogSouth 2014 will be held Jan. 24-25 at Rosewood Hall, 2850 19th Street South in Homewood, Alabama. Registration is $175 but See Jane Write Magazine readers can receive a discount by following this link.

You could say that Daniel Stewart and Alex Wier of Augusta, Ga., ad ageny Wier/Stewart are entrepreneurial soul mates.

“Most people will tell you business partnerships fail, but we had the same idea of what we wanted to do to be happy and the same idea of what wealth was, so we courted each other,” said Daniel Stewart, Studio Director of Wier/Stewart.

“We decided that we didn’t want to wake up in the morning, realizing we were just chasing money. My idea of wealth is being able to go to the grocery store and get whatever food I want without looking at the price,” added Wier/Stewart Creative Director, Alex Wier.

The team at Wier/Stewart lives by the mantra of finding happiness in your work and shared tips on how to find such happiness at the Southern Coterie Summit in Athens, Ga., on Aug. 1.

Stewart and Wier were joined by Wier/Stewart Agency Development Director, Lee Heffernan, who previously worked in New York City marketing women’s television stations to advertisers and designing the Martha Stewart Pets market campaign. The team’s synergy and family-like business relationship was apparent from the moment they took the stage.

Together they drafted 12 steps to help rising entrepreneurs love what they do as sole proprietors and in business partnerships.

Check Your Attitude: Sometimes your attitude is the only thing you have control over. Clients appreciate a good attitude because it makes achieving a mutual goal easier and bad attitudes are apparent from workplace morale. When hiring, be wary of bad attitude red flags because if someone does have a bad attitude, they’re not going to suddenly get a better one.

Set Your Goals: Think five years from now and plan every step to get there. Many small businesses fail because they become complacent. Imagine what your business could do if it got a big break and plan to make it happen.

Assemble Your Crew: Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find people who are good at doing what you need to be done and don’t be afraid to delegate. Get people who are dedicated to the same things you are. If you’re worried about hiring someone, give the potential employee a trial period before hiring. But in gathering your team, you have to be okay with people making mistakes. Just make sure they have a positive attitude and want to get better.

Have a Revenue Model: Hourly rates can put you in a corner because someone may only want to pay you for two hours when it’s really a ten hour job. Consider having clients commit to a minimum number of hours, or set up flat rates for specific tasks. Don’t be afraid to ask to be paid what you’re worth.

Develop Your Process: Do a good amount of work on the front end to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Have several meetings with the client to establish what they want the finished product to look like before you begin work. And if the client wants you to do something that you wouldn’t be proud to showcase, offer alternative solutions so you can both agree on a professional end result.

Know What Works: Don’t be afraid to try new things and push the envelope, but know the basics of what works so you have something to fall back on.

Solve the Problem: The client may not know what the root problem is, but it’s your job to figure it out. Show people things they didn’t know they wanted. Think of creative ways to achieve their goals and help them reach new audiences.

Find the Void: Look for unique ways to capitalize. Think about your competition and evaluate what they’re doing, and, most importantly, what they’re not doing because that could be your ticket to a new opportunity. Be innovative with your business by finding the marketplace void.

Do Something Different: Step away from the traditional and think of ways you can incorporate new technologies into the client’s goals. Build better mousetraps everywhere you can.

Self-Promote: Do fun and creative things to get your business noticed. Try guerrilla advertising or fun office window decorations to attract passers-by.

Fire a Client: That’s right. Fire a client. If a client is unnecessarily difficult to work with and is making you hate your job, which means you’re not doing your best work, fire them. More than likely, if they treat you poorly, they treat others poorly, so potential future clients won’t think badly of you for firing them. In fact, firing a client commands a certain level of respect from people.

Plan for Growth: The No. 1 reason small businesses fail is because they didn’t plan for growth. Plan for the big order and the high profile client. And if a client asks you, “Can you get this done?” the answer is should always be “yes.”

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.  

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.  

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

That’s the question Sheryl Sandberg posed to women in the audience during her keynote talk at last month’s BlogHer ’13 conference in Chicago.

Placed in the center of the tables at which we attendees were seated were sheets of paper with the same question printed at the bottom. Sandberg wanted us to write down our answer, take a picture holding our written declarations and then leave ready to go after our dreams.

Despite the fact that Sheryl Sandberg is the kind of woman that really makes you feel like you can do anything, I just took one of the sheets and slipped it into my bag. I couldn’t figure out what to write!

Last year this time, without a second thought, I would have written: “Start my own magazine.” But on July 1 I conquered that fear and launched this site.

I thought about writing: “Be a feminist blogger.” I spent much of my time at the conference kicking around the idea of re-launching my personal blog as one that focuses solely on feminism instead of one that mostly focuses on the world of writing from a woman’s perspective. But then during her talk, Sandberg said that she wants to be unapologetically a business executive and unapologetically a feminist. And I knew exactly what she meant.

I am a feminist and proud to say so. But I also want to be a well-respected writer; I want to be known as a social entrepreneur who strives to empower women to find their voice and share their stories. I refuse to choose between writer and feminist. I am both and my personal blog should be a reflection of that.

A few days later while thinking about Sandberg’s best-selling book Lean In and the theme for See Jane Write Magazine this month my answer came to me. If I weren’t afraid I would “TAKE THE LEAD.”

Let me explain.

Lean In showed me that most of my life I’ve been acting like a little princess, but not in the way people typically mean when they say that. In her book, Sandberg talks about the “Tiara Syndrome,” a term coined by Carol Frohlinger and Deborah Kolb, founders of Negotiating Women, Inc. The “Tiara Syndrome” is where women “expect that if they keep doing their job well someone will notice them and place a tiara on their head.”

Guilty as charged.

I am a worker bee. Give me a task and I will work on it from dusk to dawn if that’s what it takes to get the job done and get the job done well; and I won’t even ask for overtime pay. This is exactly what I did at my previous newspaper job and I thought all this hard work would automatically lead to the promotion I wanted. When it did not I was devastated, but I had only myself to blame. I didn’t aggressively go after the position I coveted. I thought it would land in my lap, I thought the tiara would be placed on my head simply because of all those long hours. And I was wrong.

As Sandberg writes in her book, “Hard work and results should be recognized by others, but when they aren’t, advocating for oneself becomes necessary.”

And so I am taking the lead. I am drafting a new bucket list, constructing a new vision board and instead of waiting for opportunities to be handed to me, I’m going to create the opportunities I desire. Instead of waiting for my metaphorical prince to choose me, I choose myself. I will aggressively go after every goal and I will not apologize for my ambition.

In August many of our articles will celebrate women who are taking the lead in their careers and in their communities.

My hope is that their stories will inspire you do to the same.

And it’s OK if you’re afraid. Being courageous is about feeling the fear and pressing on in spite of it.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

When you think of good branding, the Kardashian family probably isn’t what comes to mind. But at the Southern Coterie Summit in Athens, GA, on August 1, that’s exactly how Shameeka Ayers, founder of blog and brand The Broke Socialite, kicked off the conference.

“Everything I needed to know about building my brand, I learned from the Kardashians. Yes, those Kardashians. They’re doing something right because they’re grossing $73 million a year. Now, that’s good branding!” said Ayers.

And she’s right. Before her sex tape faux pas, no one cared what Kim wore or who she dated, much less cared about the goings-on of the entire Kardashian/Jenner clan. So how did the Kardashians go from rich nobodys to overnight celebrities with their only claim to fame a leaked sex tape?

“It’s all because of Kris Jenner,” said Ayers. “Kris cleaned up the sex tape fiasco by making Kim out to be a princess. She used her powers as a junkyard dog to take Kim’s mess and spin it into success for the whole family.”

Ayers went on to say how everyone needs a junkyard dog, someone to stick up for you no matter what kind of mess you’re in, because that’s the secret to branding success. “And if you don’t have a junkyard dog, be your own. Protect your brand, perpetuate your brand, own your brand. Don’t take BS and do what it takes to further your brand,” Ayers added.

Ayers illustrated her point by playing “This Is Why I’m Hot” and suggesting that everyone adopt a theme song that gives them the confidence to own their brand amidst competition, naysayers, and media.

“Kris being an opportunist made Kim successful, but what keeps Kim successful is that she owns her brand. Kim walks into a room like ‘This Is Why I’m Hot’ is playing in her head and doesn’t slouch or apologize,” explained Ayers.

There’s power in self-confidence, working hard, and having a 15-second elevator pitch for your brand.

“If you don’t believe in your brand, neither will anyone else,” Ayers said. “You have to be infectious.”

Meanwhile, Kris Jenner is keeping the window of opportunity open for the Kardashian/Jenner clan by maximizing every favorable circumstance she can find and forging partnerships. Kris has strategically aligned the Kardashian brand with similar brands and like minds.

“Kris convinced Sketchers that people would believe those high-heeled tennis shoes would give you a Kim booty. But we all know Kim doesn’t wear Sketchers. Then Kris did the same thing with Sears for the Kardashian clothing line, with perfumers, and more,” Ayers said.

For the not-yet-famous, building strategic partnerships may include doing things in trade or complimentary. It’s nearly impossible to further a brand by isolation, so don’t be afraid to work with similar brands.

Last, though far from least, engage with followers online, but do so responsibly.

“Social media is a dialogue. Don’t just post information; expect to engage with your followers. If done right, it’ll be the game changer for your brand, so don’t be afraid to post,” said Ayers, who concluded by adding, “As my granddaddy used to say, ‘It’s a poor dog that don’t wag its own tail.’”

Now it’s your turn to learn from the Kardashians and wag your own tail as your own junkyard dog to become the entrepreneur you dreamed you’d be.

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.

About Shameeka Ayers: Shameeka Ayers knows something about going from “want-repreneur” to entrepreneur. She is the created of blog and brand The Broke Socialite, which combines her love of social media and PR. She’s the author of the novella Instantly! How Quickly I Realized I Hate My Job, and the founder of the nationally acclaimed Sugar Coma dessert festival. Check out The Broke Socialite blog, and follow The Blog Socialite on Facebook and Twitter.

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.  

Social media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter opened up a world of online networking that was quite the dream come true for shy, introverted writers and bloggers. But one of the best ways to promote your work, even if your work primarily lives online, is to step away from the computer and meet new people, in person.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to attend BlogHer ’13, the world’s largest blogging conference for women. This was my first BlogHer and I was thankful that the first day of workshops kicked off with what was called the “Newbie Breakfast,” a morning session for first-time BlogHer attendees.

At the breakfast Sandy Jones-Kaminski, author of I’m at a Networking Event – Now What? gave tips on the best way to meet new people at conferences like BlogHer.

1. Stop staring at your phone. If you’re at a conference alone and waiting for a workshop session to start, it’s tempting to take out your phone and start checking email and scrolling through your Instagram or Twitter feeds. But if you put the phone away and sit with a pleasant look on your face, chances are someone else rolling solo will come introduce herself and you’ll have a new blogging buddy.

2. Open conversations with common ground. When networking at conferences you know you and the folks around you have at least one thing in common – you’re all at the freaking conference! So break the ice by simply asking the stranger next to you why she decided to attend.

3. Ask easy-to-answer questions. Ask questions related to the topic of the conference. If you’re attending a blogging conference ask the person next to you what her blog is about. If you’re at a writing conference ask your fellow attendee about her work-in-progress. If you’re at a social media conference strike up a conversation about Twitter, Facebook, Google + or LinkedIn. Ask if she’s on Instagram or Pinterest or if she’s into Vine.

4. Listen. Good networking isn’t about doing a lot of talking; it’s about getting other people to talk. During her presentation, Jones-Kaminski mentioned a great quote from Guy Kawasaki, who was also a speaker at this year’s BlogHer. Kawasaki once said: “The mark of a good conversationalist is not that you can talk a lot. The mark is that you can get others to talk a lot. Thus, good schmoozers are good listeners, not good talkers.”

5. Have your business cards and pen handy. Bring plenty of business cards and stash them in an easy-to-access spot, not the bottom of your purse. I’d suggest placing them in your plastic nametag holder. Write a note on the cards you collect so when you follow up (and you should always follow up) you will remember who this person is and what you discussed.

6. Don’t be a jerk. Those are my words, not Jones-Kaminiski’s, but I think that phrase sums up many of the tips she gave. Once you have found some conference buddies, don’t turn into the mean girls clique. Welcome others into your circle. Also, don’t make it rain with your business cards (again, my interpretation). Exchange cards only after you’ve actually started a conversation with someone. And don’t get drunk. I know you may think you need liquid courage to talk to strangers but I doubt you want to be remembered as the chick who had to be carried out of the conference after-party.

Everyone has a story. And blogging and social media are great ways to share yours. But as you do so, remember it’s not all about you.

This is the main lesson I took away from Y’all Connect Presented by Alabama Power, a digital conference for corporate storytelling held in Birmingham, Ala., last week.

In his opening keynote communications expert Ike Pigott told attendees that we must remember the role we play in the stories of our readers.

“Figure out what your place in their story is,” he said.

Speaker, author, and brand strategist Erika Napoletano of the popular blog Redhead Writing is known for being raw and real and encouraged Y’all Connect attendees to do the same.

“Your willingness to tell your story is the most powerful thing you have,” Napoletano said.

But the stories you tell, she added, should honor you and your readers. Invite your readers into your story. Find ways to interact with your readers and give them opportunities to help you tell your story and chances to share their own.

One of the best ways to show your social media followers that you don’t think it’s all about you is to, well, make sure your social media shares aren’t all about you! WordPress designer and front-end developer Mitch Canter, who also spoke at Y’all Connect, reminded us that social media marketing expert Chris Brogan has a rule that for every 10 things he shares via social media, only one will be of self-promotion.

Canter recommends that we think of ourselves as content curators. For example, if you’re a niche blogger don’t send out dozens of tweets and Facebook status updates each day promoting your blog posts. Instead share interesting, entertaining, and compelling articles and information related to your niche.

Soon you’ll evolve from content curator to content leader.

 What’s your social media strategy?

For more Y’all Connect reflections check out the See Jane Write Birmingham blog for the post, What Writers and Bloggers Can Learn from Taylor Swift. 

The Deep South may be the last place you’d expect to find some of the nation’s greatest social media gurus. But Wade Kwon is determined to change that.

Kwon is a well-known blogger, journalist, and communications consultant based in Birmingham, Ala., and is the director of the upcoming blogging and social media conference Y’all Connect.

Y’all Connect is all about digital and corporate storytelling and will be held July 23 in Birmingham.

“Birmingham is too talented and too rich of an environment to keep quiet any longer,” Kwon says.

The conference will feature speakers like Mack Collier, an Alabama-based social media strategist, trainer and speaker and author of the book Think Like a Rock Star: How to Create Social Media and Marketing Strategies That Turn Customers Into Fans. Collier will help business owners figure out how they can use blogging and social media to tell the stories of their companies and teach bloggers how they can build a strong fan base and vibrant community around their work.

Meteorologist and Twitter superstar James Spann of Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 will also be speaking on how to tell your story across multiple platforms and to wide demographics.

The conference will be flying in some speakers, too, including Erika Napoletano of Redhead Writing, who will be speaking on the power of storytelling and giving tips to entrepreneurs who feel their businesses are stuck in a rut.

You can view the complete conference schedule here.

Though the focus of Y’all Connect is corporate storytelling, a new mode of reaching potential customers through blogging and social media, Kwon stresses that Y’all Connect will be beneficial to bloggers and writers too, especially those looking to help businesses with their online presence.

“Someone has to do the storytelling,” Kwon says. “Bloggers and writers are best equipped to tell the story in digital form, whether through prose, photos, videos or other clever means. I believe the smart companies will hire more digital natives to help them reach their audiences.”

If anyone knows the power of social media, it’s Wade Kwon. The Poynter Institute selected him as one of 35 Influential People in Social Media. And in 2011, Kwon co-founded the Alabama Social Media Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people in social media. He currently serves as chair for the board of directors.

But why has social media become such a powerful tool in the world of business?

The answer is simple, Kwon says: “It’s free, That is a price tag that is hard to beat, especially when considering how much other forms of marketing could and do cost.”

Y’all Connect blogging and social media conference is set for Tuesday, July 23 and will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in downtown Birmingham, Ala. Tickets for “Y’all Connect” can be bought on the website for $129. The price covers a full day of seminars, food, access to the pre- and post-parties. See Jane Write Magazine readers can receive a $30 discount by using the code SJW89.

They call it a virtual front porch for Southerners and people who love the South.

In 2011 St. Simons Island, Ga., residents Cheri Leavy and Whitney Long decided to launch a Tumblr blog about the South. But with so many Southern-themed blogs out there, Leavy and Long knew they had to find a way to set their site apart from others. In January 2012 they added a weekly newsletter.  In July of that year, inspired by their love for connecting with people, Leavy and Long launched a social network that would allow users to interact with one another.

The Southern Coterie was born.

Better known at The Southern C, The Southern Coterie is meant to be the social network of the South, Leavy and Long say. Through the site users can share blog posts, photographs, videos, recipes and more about Southern culture.

“We have created a virtual front porch for Southerners and all those who love the South,” Long says. “It’s like dropping by your neighbor’s house and chatting but at The Southern C, your friends can be from around the country.  It’s a unique site that offers the opportunity for conversations between a variety of members about a common interest – the South.”

The Southern C is the place for sharing your grandmother’s famous recipe for pimento cheese and learning about the hottest restaurants in Charleston. It’s the place to talk football or find the perfect spot for a seaside wedding on 30-A. And whether you want  to listen to the Blind Boys of Alabama sing their rendition of “Amazing Grace” or just catch up with your favorite Southern blogger, Leavy and Long want The Southern C to be your go-to site.

This year Leavy and Long decided to take the fun offline with The Southern C Summit, a series of conferences for Southern bloggers, brands, and businesses.

“The Summit Series is a live event designed to offer attendees an opportunity to network and develop business relationships, while engaging in meaningful conversations in an intimate setting,” Leavy says. “It is a great opportunity for writers, bloggers and journalists to learn new media marketing to promote their efforts and the seventh largest magazine in the nation, Southern Living, has editors participating and networking in a casual atmosphere.”

The first summit was held in May at Jekyll Island, Ga., and featured panel discussions on blogging, workshops on how to pitch stories to media, and presentations on brand building through storytelling.

“Seeing all of our hard work come together for a successful event was very rewarding,” Long says. “And by successful, I mean people connecting, collaborating and creating together – be it a blogger with a business or brand or a business owner finding out about a quality southern product and now carrying it in their store as a result.”

Long adds: “The educational sessions were top-notch with useful takeaway info on a variety of topics that related to our attendees.  We wanted to make it a truly inspiring and learning event and from the feedback, we accomplished that.”

The next summit is set for Aug. 1 and will be held in Athens, Ga. In October, The Southern C Summit will hit the road and travel to Nashville, Tenn.

Scheduled presenters for the August summit include Southern Living executive food editor Hunter Lewis, Shameka Ayers of the popular blog The Broke Socialite, and Robin Wheeler, a sales lead at Twitter.

“Much like on Jekyll Island in May, our gathering of Southern creatives in Athens offers invaluable opportunities for creating connections and collaborations with others all while networking with other knowledgeable, inspiring and successful women,” Long says.  “We have once again assembled a talented and qualified team of speakers to lead the educational sessions and panels so attendees will leave inspired and ready to take their blog, business or brand to a whole new level.”

Learn more and register for The Southern C Summit here.