Marketing Practitioner and Author, Mrs Petra Aba Asamoah, has emphasized the importance of sharing positive stories of Ghanaian women through blogging. She said telling stories from a negative perspective prevents us from getting the value from our culture and traditions. According to her, it is imperative for women bloggers to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman can live up to their full potential.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Ghana Women Bloggers Summit (GWBS) organized by the Green Arts Culture foundation, she said, “Learning how to promote your blog is an essential step in the progression towards monetizing your content and building a real business around your blog. Without a steady flow of readers coming in each day, you’ll be left without a fundamental business model”.

Be resilient

Mrs Asamoah encouraged bloggers not to simply give up after they start their blogs just because they don’t immediately see the results they want to achieve.

To her, it is important to start with realistic expectations because blogging is not a business you can get rich quick with, it takes time, consistent work and willingness to experiment with proven ways to promote your content.

“Determine for yourself what your milestones are going to be. There are definitely going to be mountain top and valley experiences. Have a compass and ask questions like where am I now and where am I going to? But do this, not in comparison to someone else,” she added.

Women stories

On her part, the Convener, Ms Justica Anima said, women’s stories are vital to the sustainable growth of every nation. However, much of their success and stories are not shared to inspire other women to take up audacious tasks.

“We however believe that women are better at telling their own stories and that this initiative will spark a drive for telling positive stories of the Ghanaian woman.

She said most job opportunities are currently tech-driven and refusing to take up digital skills only means that you want to be left behind and automated systems may take up your job while you go extinct.

“Once you own a social media account, you are a blogger because whatever you post, from pictures to videos, and captions, are all forms of blogging which is usually referred to as micro-blogging,” she added.

Other notable speakers include, Lawyer Nana Adjoa Adobea Asante, Adiza Brimah-Annan, and Moses B. Arthur, who took participants through topics such as brand visibility, monetizing your blog, and copyright laws surrounding the profession.

Event

The first edition of GWBS aims at highlighting the growing demand of content writers and creators, and the need for young women and girls to pick up digital skills such as blogging, in order to have access to the various opportunities in the technology space.

This year’s event took place at the African Regent Hotel in Accra and saw scores of young women writers and bloggers from various institutions joining in the conversation on the theme, “Telling the African Woman’s narrative through tech”.

Participants were taken through various facets of blogging such as building and maintaining a brand (blog), marketing, operations, brand visibility and copyright laws surrounding the profession.

In attendance were professionals and some students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and the Accra Girls Senior High School.

This event was by made possible by the following sponsors and partners, Asaase Inscriptions, GhanaThink Foundation, HJA Africa Limited, and PigeonUltra Brand.