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Archives for January 2010

Win a Trip to SOBCon — $2000 Value!!

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150 People to Fine Tune Your Web Presence

sobcon-vmc

Suppose you could take a weekend retreat away from the noise of the Internet …

  • to focus entirely on your business
  • to work with the support of a mastermind team
  • to get quality time to interact with the top people in social media
  • to get the best information AND time to discuss how you’ll apply it
  • to work with sponsors who are doing the same thing
  • in a room limited to 150 people — all focused in the same direction
  • without worry because the food and the wireless are outstanding.

Imagine a weekend work retreat with these people totally invested.

Would you write a blog post to get a chance to win a FREE SOBCon Weekend?

An Expense Paid Ticket!! AND the Return of The BlogIt EarnIt Discount

I’m delighted to announce that Terry and I get to make this offer …

We had such fun last year with the SOBCon “BlogIt, EarnIt” discount. We’re bringing it back again. Again this year, we’d like to hear from you — this time about what “The Virtual Meets the Concrete” means to you. We want to celebrate how our relationships online help our lives and businesses online and off.

Tell us why online and offline relationships and strategies matter.

Here’s how to qualify for the discount and enter to win

1. Write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life. Celebrate how they have made your life easier, better, smarter, more productive, more meaningful.

2. Then let us know by tagging your post #SOBCon2010 and leaving a comment on this post. Include a working email with your comment and as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings! (We won’t use your email to spam you.)

We’ll also tweet your blog post so that we can celebrate the folks we all think make us stronger.

Get your posts up before Noon EST on February 14th, 2010, and noon EST pm the next day (February 15th), to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss (details coming soon), we’ll put all of the entries in a random drawing and choose one lucky winner who will receive:

  1. a free ticket to SOBCon2010 – $895.00 value
  2. airfare and three nights at Hotel 71 – up to $1105 in hotel and airfare

A total package value worth as much as USD $2000 – nontransferrable, nonrefundable

Blog your thoughts …
Share it, link it back to this post, and broadcast it on Twitter (hash #blogitearnit).

We’ll also encourage you to comment on the SOBCon blog for others to see and learn. And remember as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings!

Or, if you can’t make to SOBCon2010, you could “pay it forward” and pass the discount on to one of your friends — or offer it back to us as a gift for us to pass on for you.

We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.

What could you do with a weekend of the time, expertise, and support you need to focus your business?

We’re all coming for the same reasons.

Win a FREE SOBCon Weekend — $2000 Value !! AND Get a Discount Code to Explode Your Network!

by

150 People to Fine Tune Your Web Presence

sobcon-vmc

Suppose you could take a weekend retreat away from the noise of the Internet …

  • to focus entirely on your business
  • to work with the support of a mastermind team
  • to get quality time to interact with the top people in social media
  • to get the best information AND time to discuss how you’ll apply it
  • to work with sponsors who are doing the same thing
  • in a room limited to 150 people — all focused in the same direction
  • without worry because the food and the wireless are outstanding.

Imagine a weekend work retreat with these people totally invested.

Would you write a blog post to get a chance to win a FREE SOBCon Weekend?

An Expense Paid Ticket!! AND the Return of The BlogIt EarnIt Discount

I’m delighted to announce that Terry and I get to make this offer …

We had such fun last year with the SOBCon “BlogIt, EarnIt” discount. We’re bringing it back again. Again this year, we’d like to hear from you — this time about what “The Virtual Meets the Concrete” means to you. We want to celebrate how our relationships online help our lives and businesses online and off.

Tell us why online and offline relationships and strategies matter.

Here’s how to qualify for the discount and enter to win

1. Write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life. Celebrate how they have made your life easier, better, smarter, more productive, more meaningful.

2. Then let us know by tagging your post #SOBCon2010 and leaving a comment on this post. Include a working email with your comment and as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings! (We won’t use your email to spam you.)

We’ll also tweet your blog post so that we can celebrate the folks we all think make us stronger.

Get your posts up before Noon EST on February 14th, 2010, and noon EST pm the next day (February 15th), to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss (details coming soon), we’ll put all of the entries in a random drawing and choose one lucky winner who will receive:

  1. a free ticket to SOBCon2010 – $895.00 value
  2. airfare and three nights at Hotel 71 – up to $1105 in hotel and airfare

A total package value worth as much as USD $2000 – nontransferrable, nonrefundable

Blog your thoughts, share it, link it back to this post, and broadcast it on Twitter (hash #blogitearnit). We’ll also encourage you to link to the SOBCon blog for others to see and learn. And remember as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings!

Or, if you can’t make to SOBCon2010, you could “pay it forward” and pass the discount on to one of your friends — or offer it back to us as a gift for us to pass on for you.

We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.

What could you do with a weekend of the time, expertise, and support you need to focus your business?

We’re all coming for the same reasons.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Register for SOBCon2010 NOW!!

Make the investment.

Thanks to Week 223 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A


digital-trends

justified-lions
not-easy-to-forget
techipedia
youthedesigner

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 01-29-10

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Colleges and Universities
Here is a list of 100 blogs that will help you improve your writing by providing inspiration, motivation, creativity and new techniques from experts, freelancers, and editors from every genre.

Misadventures with Andi
I did find a few blogs to read, but this activity also left me with the overwhelming need to share a piece of basic web usability advice.

Thomas Clifford
Pink definitely motivated me to rethink how organizations might use multimedia in ways beyond traditional corporate communication methods. Let’s look at one idea from the book and adapt it for our purposes.

Stephen Smith
How can you not generate big ideas every day? Some of them will not be good ideas, but that is okay. Get them out of your head.

Good ideas come from doing something differently, an unusual experience, an unexpected inspiration. Seek these experiences intentionally. Listen to a radio program that you disagree with, or music that you do not like.

45 Things
Mute.

In today’s workplace, I think a lot of people long for a “mute” button. Unfortunately, not only do we not have the option of tuning everything out, but the increasing stress levels have made it just a bit too loud — in all kinds of ways.

Cube Rules
Meetings have many purposes. One of the purposes is to get a decision made about something so people can move forward in their work.

Yet, few would say that meetings produce decisions. Many, if not most, people will tell you the vast majority of meetings are a complete waste of time.

John Haydon
What if you could cut down on the number of social media sites that you’re posting content on? Posterous allows you to do just that – entirely by email.

Related ala carte selections include

Social Media Examiner
In this video I interview Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer for the 358,000 member organization MarketingProfs.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

I’m a proud affiliate of

Are You Going Out of Your Way Not to Repeat Yourself?

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Think about That

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When you sit looking at a blank screen wondering what you’ll write about today. Do you find yourself thinking, “I already said that.”

Do you go out of your way not to repeat yourself?

Think about that …

That single idea will make your job harder and harder the more you write.

AND

Establishing a coherent core marketing message that identifies who you are, identifies the problem you can solve and gives the potential customer a look at what life looks like after their problem is solved is key to success in your consulting business. Anton Pearce

Studies show that people need to hear the same message many times in many ways to process it fully. Why do you think repetition is such a big part of both school and advertising? Great brands, great marketers, and great teachers know that their message is key to expressing how they what they have to offer can solve problems and change lives. Service professionals spend hours on their 30-second pitch to introduce themselves. Don’t set such power aside.

Our most basic message positions and defines us.

A good positioning statement easily adapts to various media. It should be simply stated and works in every aspect of your marketing effort. So in summary, a positioning statement is:

* Short sentence-less than 12 words (not counting product name)
* Simple language
* Adaptable to various media
* A compelling statement of one benefit
* A conceptual statement…not necessarily copy
* Supported by 3 additional benefit claims
* Satisfies 4 evaluation criteria (unique, believable, important and useable)
— Messages that Matter

Great speakers and writers say the same things in different contexts. Great rock bands are constantly asked to play the same songs again. Weave your message into everything you write and don’t be afraid to write about it often. It’s what your readers came to learn more about.

Surely your classic message deserves to be discussed more than once.

What message of yours is worth repeating most often?

You’re not a stranger anymore.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

I’m a proud affiliate of

Isn’t it time you registered for

SOBCon?

Develop strategies and tactics with the best of the Social Web for an entire weekend.

I Asked for Hot Fudge and Cool Whip but I Got Skittles

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The Gesture Was Lovely

cooltext443809558_authenticity

It was a mission. The task was simple.
On the way home from dinner, he said “I need to go to the store.”

We hired a taxi to place him at his destination.

On the way out of the car he asked, “What for you?”
I said, “hot fudge and cool whip.” I was thinking hot fudge with the butter pecan ice cream we had for a late night sundae. I was thinking Cool Whip for an early morning “blogger’s latte.”

Didn’t get the hot fudge or the Cool Whip.

What he brought home was Skittles.
I like Skittles, but Skittles — they are his favorite!

The gift was lovely, but … he got me what he liked, rather than what I asked for. It was nice thought and I said, “thank you.”

Still uou can’t make a blogger’s latte with Skittles, no matter how much anyone loves that candy …

Ever been there? How do you respond when someone — maybe a favorite company — gives you what THEY want.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

I’m a proud affiliate of