My Blog
My blog is the place where I share actionable advice and in-depth tactics that can help you build up your knowledge and add new skills to your marketing stack. My content is as detailed and specific as possible, including templates and samples you can put to practice right off.
![The Only Free Stock Photo Sites You’ll Ever Need – and 116 Others [2025 Update]](https://valchanova.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/stock-photo-sites-list.jpg)
The Only Free Stock Photo Sites You’ll Ever Need – and 116 Others [2025 Update]
It’s a common issue if you’re working for a small company or building your personal blog. You have a great idea about a post on social media, but you need the right visual. Good photos are hard to come by and sites like Shutterstock and iStock can be no viable option for your budget. There’s…
WordCamp Europe 2019: the Talks, the People, the Workshop
I spent a week in Berlin with the WordPress community for WordCamp Europe 2019. I wanted to share a bit more about my content planning workshop, but more importantly about teh event, the people, and the things that make WordCamps great.
How I Overcame Shyness and Became a Public Speaker for Audiences of 1,000
I always hold my breath when I click the button to submit a speaker application. I lean forward in my seat, my heart beating just a bit quicker. Experience doesn’t seem to play a role – the excitement and anxiety cocktail doesn’t get any weaker. Those tumultuous emotions don’t have anything to do with how…
Get Your First Marketing Job with Zero Experience
Countless times, I need to write the same advice. It’s because countless times I get asked the same question. “What’s your advice for a person just starting their marketing career? What do I do – and how do I get a job?” So I decided to distill how to start in marketing with no experience…
Ana Reyes-Menendez: Our Brain Has Not Evolved at the Speed of Tech
As a science geek, I’ve always been interested in the research part of marketing. This is why I was immediately drawn to Ana Reyes-Menendez in the lineup of the upcoming Innovation Explorer conference. She started her career in communications some 10 years ago and then went into the world of science to search for marketing…
Dan Ramsden: Designing User Experiences Requires a Balance of Humility, Curiosity, and Confidence
Dan Ramsden is the Creative Director for User experience architecture at the BBC. He designs experiences for a living. He’s quick to note, though, that everyone does that. Dan leads a team of information architects who are committed to making the BBC’s tools, content and experiences more meaningful and connected. This sounds like a hard…
The Best Books for Marketers: 20+ Reads for Each Stage of Your Career
At the end of the first course lecture, a hand goes up. “Could you recommend us any books to read?” A variation of this happens in each course I teach. I often tell my content marketing students that the best way to create content is to listen to your users’ questions. I decided to practice…
My Top 10 Lessons From SaaStock 2018
It’s Sunday and I’m finally ready to look back on the great adventure that was SaaStock – three days of learning from the best minds in the SaaS (software-as-a-service) industry. I’m ready to share with you some of the sessions and insights that left the strongest impression on me. Exhausting, but inspiring The best decision we…
Growth Marketing Bootcamp: All My Notes from SaaStock
This week I’m in Dublin with the Enhancv team to attend one of the leading events for SaaS business growth in Europe – SaaStock. Everyone who’s anyone in product, marketing, sales, and business development in the SaaS industry attends this awesome event. Which means there’s a lot to learn and a lot to see. I’ll…