As many of you may know, I write about blogging and new media for the official BlogWorld Expo blog. I’ve been planning my trip to the conference, which is held annually in Las Vegas, for months now, and in a little over a week, I’ll board the plane to fly farther than I’ve ever flown before, all by myself. I’ll spend the week covering the event for both BlogWorld and After Graduation, and hopefully learning a thing or two (or three or four or…) from the keynotes, panelists, and speakers.

Life has happened.

No matter how much scrimping and saving one does, sometimes bigger, more important things get in the way. I’ve had some unexpected bills pop up recently, bills I can’t ignore, for the sake of the people I love. I’ve seen my BlogWorld fund go from “going to have a great time in Las Vegas” to “not sure how I’m going to pay my rent when I get home.”

So, I’m swallowing my pride and asking for your help, even if that means only five or ten dollars.

The awesome people from BlogWorld have stepped in to help me with the flight and part of the hotel, and for that I’m forever grateful. They are truly wonderful people. I’m still worried about paying for the rest of the hotel, meals, and transportation while there and still having enough money to pay the bills when I get home, since I won’t be doing freelance work for the entire week.

Whether you donate or not, I’ll be there. Somehow, I’ll make it work. Helping me out just means I can sleep at night, not worrying about money. It means while I’m there I won’t have to skip meals. It means that when I come home, my electricity won’t be shut off.

I’m willing to offer you help for your donation. Got a writing project? If you front the money, I’ll do it at a discount when I get back to town. Want help with your blog or freelancing career decisions? I’m offering consulting over Skype, totally free. Have a product to promote? Let’s do a video or interview while at BlogWorld and I’ll promote it. Can I help you some other way? Seriously, just let me know. If you help me, I will do everything I can to help you. Just comment or email me, and I’m more than happy to make it happen.

If you can’t help, I understand. A lot of people are saving every single penny to make BlogWorld happen right now. It would really help me if you retweeted this link - that doesn’t cost a thing.

It means a lot to me. A whole lot. With the stuff going on right now in my life, it means more to me than you can ever know.