During the last weekend of September, Communication Central hosted its’ 8th annual “Build Your Business” conference at the Rochester Plaza Hotel in Rochester, New York. This conference offers a wealth of advice and insights from industry experts to improve a freelance’s business, and I was honored to be included as one of the presenters this year.

The theme for this year’s conference was “Be a Better Freelancer – Marketing Magic and More for Your Business,” which was the perfect occasion for me to unveil a new presentation, “Self-Publishing from Both Sides.” I really wanted to give my editorial fellows a good foundation of information and perspective to help them better attract and serve clients in the self-publishing world. I also focused on some reasons why an editorial pro (or any pro, really) would benefit from self-publishing his or her own book—a topic I’ve written about before—and how they could up their chances of success with such an effort.

Communication Central designs programs to help communications professionals learn practical, business-building information. This conference is held every fall, and it provides a two-track event for entrepreneurial communicators – one aimed at writing, editing, and proofreading pros, and the other primarily featuring approaches to the freelance lifestyle, with a few “conceptual” topics sprinkled in as well.

I’m pleased that my presentation was so well-received! Here’s what a few attendees had to say:

“A terrific job, combining all the right stuff—lots of useful content, in well-articulated and fluid speech, spiced with laughter and sharp attention to individual questions. I daresay you were the best speaker of the event. Brava!”—Carolyn Haley, editor and author of The Aurora Affair

“Ally’s background in traditional publishing allowed her to give attendees a deep look into the publishing business. She encouraged us to think beyond the art of writing to the business of self-publishing. Ally was a lively, energetic speaker who captured my attention and gave me a lot of information to act on.”—Erin Brenner, owner, Right Touch Editing

“Allyson Machate really knows her stuff. She is clearly an expert in the self-publishing field, and she explains things so that we can all understand them. She has terrific energy, and it infused her presentation and really kept our interest. I came away enlightened, energized, and excited about self-publishing!” —Laura Poole, editor and teacher, Archer Editorial Services

“I attended Allyson’s presentation at the 2013 Communication Central conference. On the plus side, I came back with a list of dozens of things I need to start doing or doing better. On the negative side, I came back with a list of dozens of things I need to start doing or doing better.”—Geoff Hart, freelance editor

It was a fun weekend of learning, sharing, and building camaraderie with colleagues. If you get the chance to attend next fall, I highly recommend it!