This was my second time at Alt, so much of the education was building on last year’s lessons.  I wanted to share with you some of the things that really stuck out to me during this year’s panels and speeches.

Successful Collaborations
It’s tricky to find the right partner.  Find someone with similar aesthetic who can give you a fresh perspective.  There will be growing pains, and you will have to compromise, but at the end of the day, have a common goal that you and your partner are both passionate about. — Bri

Don’t be an Internet DJ. — Bri

When navigating conflict (if you are working with a group bigger than 2), don’t pair off.  If you are a team of three, work as a team of three.  Nothing good comes from pairing off. — Joslyn

Know when to walk away.  Trust your intuition.  Walk away when you are not pulling your weight anymore.  It’s unfair to your partner to stay. — Joslyn

This was the first panel of the first day that I attended.  “Collaboration” was a buzz word throughout the conference because so many projects are made stronger and more interesting when collaborating.  But there are tips and tricks to make it easier, and the four panelists here were very helpful sharing their tips.  Danielle talked about how to make it happen (bottom line: just email and ask!), Bri talked about how to choose the right partners and work with them, Joslyn focused on how to navigate conflict, and Victoria shared all the great things that come from collaborations (like building community and being able to share with others what you can offer).  Coming from this panel, I’m definitely hoping to do some major collaborations this year (anyone interested? :)

Building Relationships with Ad Networks and Sponsors
“There is no God in the machine”.  There is no magic bullet or solution.  The only way to do the work is to do the work.  The only way to write a book is to show up every day and write it.  The only to way to run a business is to run it – no one is going to show up and do it for you.  — Meg

Blogging is not about making money even when it’s about making money.  It’s about building a passion-driven community.  — Meg

Match ads to your blog the same way you match your shoes to your outfit.  Don’t be a travel brochure for someone else’s city.  — Erin

Don’t say ‘no’, say ‘no, but…’ — Erin

Know where you want to be in 2014.  Create a big goal and then little roadblocks along the way that will get you to that point.  — Danielle

Don’t work for free.  — Danielle

This panel consisted of four highly knowledgeable and very articulate women.  I knew very little about ads and contacting brands before coming in, and I do feel better equipped now that I left (though the idea is still very daunting).  The bottom line that I got was to only take ads that match your brand, build relationships with your sponsors, and make sure that you are helping the brand just as much as they are helping you.

Keynote Session: The Relationship Between Traditional & New Media
After lunch, I felt so lucky to be in the same room as these inspiring individuals: Pilar Guzman (Editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living), Deborah Needleman (Editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal Magazine and also founding editor of Domino magazine), and Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan (Editor-in-chief of Apartment Therapy).  The three of them discussed the relationship between print and the web, and it was just so interesting to hear them converse.

One of the things they said was that it is hard to do a good magazine and hard to do a good blog, and few people do both well.  Most magazines will always see digital as secondary.

One of the attendees asked “How do you decide what goes in print and what goes online?”  Pilar Guzman answered that, depending on what the content is, it has to be the one that makes the most sense.  If there’s a complex craft, it would probably look better on video.  But think critically: does it have to be on video?

Another interesting point was brought up by Maxwell.  He said that in print, the ads and content are easily identifiable.  In fact, the ads match the content.  If you flipped open an issue of Vogue, you would see an ad on one page and an article with its own photo on the opposite page.  The ads therefore make the magazine itself stronger.  And this is the way we should approach ads for blogs as well.

The best thing I took away from this session was a very simple bottom line: Storytelling.  How are you telling the story, and how can you do it better?

Click through for more lessons + more of my experience at Alt!

From Blog to Book
This panel was one of the most fascinating to me because it really clarified any preconceived ideas I had about what it took to put out a book.  The panelists consisted of published authors as well as publishers, and they all took part in the conversation.  Because of this, it’s hard to credit who said what; suffice it to say, they were all knowledgeable and collectively shared this information…

Know about every other book in your category.  Know your competition and read it!

Write and design a stellar one sheet or proposal.  Talk about why you’re amazing.  Make it look like your book, so you could let them have an idea of what your book might look like.

Find the right agent [if you choose to get an agent].  Feel like you could go on vacation with them.

Find the right publisher.  Go to cute boutiques, and look at the book publishers of the books they carry.

Ask tons of questions to agents and publishing houses.  Don’t feel shy just because you’ve never published a book before.  Remember that you’re choosing them just as much as they are choosing you.

The biggest issue is the constant battle between control and profit.

The hardest thing about self-publishing is distribution to the stores, press, etc.  You’d have to be an extremely aggressive promoter.

Authors often forget that creating the book is only the first half of the work.  The second half is to promote it and get the word out.  Books are hard to sell these days, so this is really important.  Save energy for the second half; you’re not done just because you finished writing the book.

This session was perhaps the most jam-packed with information.  Julia Rothman handed out copies of her very first book proposal one-sheet (it was clever and cute, just as you’d expect!).  And I was so impressed with Grace‘s honesty about her creation of the book, and how she incorporated it into the vision of her site.

Grace/Chronicle Books’ recap can be found here.

Kickstarting Your Next Project
When it comes to starting your creative projects, make sure it’s something you’re crazy about (ie: do it for love, not for a potential book deal). — Lisa

Never eat lunch alone.  Always look for natural opportunities to make connections, relationships, and most of all, friendships. — Liz

Embrace the fire within you and let it take over sometimes. — Anne

These panelists shared with us many of their own creative projects (like Lisa’s A Collection A Day or Anne’s involvement in Rue) and the lessons they learned along the way.  It was inspiring to see how fun side projects could open worlds that were never imagined before.

From Blog to Shop
After the roundtable sessions, this was my first panel of the second day.  I was so proud of Piper sitting up there, sharing her stories and lessons of her first year!  She was joined by equally smart and talented women, Susan and Amy.

Allow yourself to be honest about the life you want and don’t shy away from it. — Susan

Have a “date” with yourself every morning.  Wake up 20 minutes earlier and clear your head with what you want to accomplish. — Amy

Keep a community locally that can keep you inspired and on task. — Piper

I loved that they talked about how owning a store shaped their lives rather than merely the technical side of how to own a store.  They focused on the bigger picture.  And since many of the attendees were up and coming shop owners, they had tons of great advice to give.

Keynote Session: How Pinterest Became the Next Game Changer
I’m fairly certain that all of the Alt attendees walked away with a crush on Ben Silverman, founder of Pinterest and our Keynote speaker after our second day’s lunch.  He was adorably nervous to be standing in front of such a big crowd (he started his speech by saying that he may never have seen this many women in his life).  But the whole time, he was so down-to-earth and humble.  He felt like a guy that you could grab a coffee with and just get along (I say this because he referenced Harold & Kumar on the building of Pinterest, and I think that’s awesome).  And more than anything, he has clear passion for what he’s created and a vision to carry it on for many more years.  Some of my favorite things he said…

I want to be known for things I make, not the things I say.

Our mission is not to keep you online, it’s to get you offline.  Pinterest was created to inspire you to go out and do the things you love.

Pinterest is the most beautiful place to discover things you love.  Discovering things about the world helps you discover things about who you are.

There are so many things that are good enough.  Why not pick the thing that’s beautiful?

What was also interesting was how people have come to use pinboards.  I just pin things, but people use them as travel guides (one woman pinned things in the places she lived and wrote detailed descriptions), art museums use them to showcase new exhibits they’re featuring…one of the founders (a big Star Wars fan) even has a board called “Things that Look Like the Death Star”.

He talked about the development of the site, and how it came to look the way it does in its grid format.  He talked about his life and how he quit his cushy job at Google to pursue something he loved…right before the economy crashed.  He talked about how he started Pinterest and met with Victoria to Pin It Forward and get the ball rolling on the site.  And he talked about what the site is really about – encouraging people to start projects and to discover new things about the world and themselves.

He also answered a lot of those questions we’ve had in the back of our minds: How does Pinterest make money? Venture capitalists fund it.  Will you make Pinboards private please?  Yes, they’re working on it.  Can you make Pinterest better for crediting?  Yes, they’re working on it too.  What’s the most popular pin?  Unknown.

At the end of it all, he received a standing ovation.  Truly a wonderful talk, and one of the absolute highlights of the conference.

Building a Personal Brand
Everything you do – good and bad – defines your brand. — Camille

Get paid for being uniquely you. — Camille

Keep it real. — Jasmine

“I’d rather see you fail at something you love than succeed at something you hate.” — What Jasmine’s husband said to her when she was making the leap to pursue what she loved.

People choose photographers, not photographs.  People choose bloggers, not blogs. — Jasmine

You must showcase more of who you are and less of what you do. — Jasmine

You may never compete with a big blogger, but get over it.  That can be a good thing – no one else can be you. — Jasmine

Make sure people have a reaction to you.  When people come to my site, they think one of two things: I like her or I can’t stand her. — Jasmine

When you collaborate, you are aligning yourself with that brand. — Cassandra

If you don’t have copycatters, you’re not doing it right. — Jasmine

The panelists here were all fantastic, giving thoughtful information about how to brand yourself.  But, I have to say, Jasmine Star really lives up to her name.  She got all of us cheering and shouting “Amen” to things she was saying.  She was so real (and that’s her motto: KIR. Keep. It. Real.) and so honest and just so inspiring.  She shared her story of how she started with no knowledge, no money, and no network, but she built herself up to become the successful photographer that she is today.  She is my new hero.

Closing Keynote: Designing Your Life
I was looking forward to this keynote throughout this entire conference.  I have been a big fan of Gretchen Rubin since I found her site and read her book, The Happiness Project.  A sweet and very smart woman, she had a few key words of wisdom to share on how to live a happier life…

Happiness is like a Utopia that can’t be reached.  Instead, think about how to be happier.

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.  And one of the best ways to make other people happy is to make yourself happy.

Three things to work on to make yourself happier:
Energy – To have energy, you have to give yourself sleep.  And you have to get a little bit of exercise (even if it’s a 10-15 minute walk outside).
Consequences of Clutter – Outer order equals inner peace.  Do the one-minute rule: if you can do it in less than a minute, do it now.  And every night, do a ten-minute tidy-up of small tasks.  That way, you don’t have to wait until you have a free weekend to clean your whole house.  These are small changes you can make everyday to keep your home in order.  (On that note, it’s been reported many times that making the bed makes you happier).
Your Body – Physical experience always affects emotional experience.  Get rid of mild but chronic pains, those little aches and pains that you put up with.  Usually, it doesn’t take much effort to solve these little things.

Be Yourself.  Build your life around what is true for you.  Realize who you are and who you are never going to be.

You manage what you measure, therefore things you can measure are what you pay attention to (think: blog stats and reader numbers).  But the most important things in life cannot be measured.

Imitate a spiritual master.

Cram your life with things you love.

It was the perfect way to end the conference because it reminded us that as much as we love our blogs and finding ways to grow readership or make money or start something new, we are doing it all to create lives that we love and are proud of.  Gretchen reminded us that nothing has to be so dramatic to make a huge change; it’s those little changes you make to your everyday routine that could make us all happier.  It’s all about mindfulness in everything we do.

{All photos from the various photographers who were there at Alt Summit: Justin Hackworth, b.a.d. photography, and Moss + Isaac; all found on Flickr}