Don't be a Blog-tard

Hollis is coming! Hollis is coming!

Hollis Gillespie, humorist and best selling author of three books -- including one published by Skirt! -- is coming to Charlotte on Sun., July 26. And, you are all invited.

She plans to teach us how to blog our way out of the recession, fill our bellies with mimosas, expand our waistlines with goodies from Amelie's French Bakery and inspire as much inappropriate conversation as we can handle.

Why attend? The woman knows what she's talking about.

You might recongnize her name from Creative Loafing, where she wrote the "Moodswing" column for years. Today, she blogs and writes a column, "Inappropriate Conversation" for Atlanta Magazine and is the author of three books, Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch: Tales from a Bad Neighborhood, Confessions of a Recovering Slut: And Other Love Stories, and Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility.

I can tell you, from my own experience, that Hollis' seminars will make a difference for those of you already writing for a living and for those who want to write for a living.

I attended one of her seminars last year. At the time, I was writing for my university's newspaper. Today, I'm writing for several local media outlets and own my own freelance writing company, The Word Trade. I shouldn't give Hollis all the credit (though she might disagree), but I will tell you this: I think of the lessons learned in her seminar all the time. The tuition and time spent were well worth it.

So, sign up now -- while there's still room in the class. You'll be glad you did ... and, I'll see you there.

That's right, I'm going to be Hollis' sidekick. For one hour, we'll talk about how to get over your fear of writing. Yes, fear. It's a scary thing to put yourself and your ideas on display for the world to see. We get it. We'll teach you how to get over yourself so you can start trading words for dollars.

HERE'S A PEEK at what you'll learn at the blogging workshop:

How to use New Media to promote your blog

• Examples of viral posts and why this is a good thing!
• Set up Facebook and Twitter so they automatically grab your latest blog post and splash it on your page.
• Inventive ways of using YouTube and ConstantContact to flog your blog.

Make money blogging:

• 5 ways to find direct advertisers for your blog
• The best ad networks to join (they're free!)
• How to find a sponsor for your blog
• The 3 things you should look for in affiliate marketing (getting a cut of what you sell on your blog)