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What Business Are You In

January 15, 2009 by SOBCon Authors

Cam Beck from ChaosScenario shares an interesting insight:

: Are you in the business you think you are in?

…imagine you’re Wilbur or Orville Wright, who, in addition to running their own bicycle business, decided to take on the “problem of flight,” which included not only successfully flying a heavier-than-air craft under its own power, but also maneuvering in mid-air.

Oh, and due to a general human intolerance to blunt force trauma and impalement, landing alive consistently was another important issue to solve.

But what business were the Wrights in? Weren’t they just bicycle men?

Well, yeah. But they were so much more than that.

They were even more than entrepreneurs or even inventors. They were all of these things.

But chiefly they were problem solvers who, importantly, were not afraid to try, though they might fail.

Ray Croc, the founder of McDonalds restaurants, is famously known for telling an audience that McDonalds was not in the food business, rather the real estate business.

When you take a step back from the day-to-day operation of your business what does it look like? Are you in the “Marketing Business” or are you in the “Relationship Business”?

Can changing a couple of words in the label change the entire meaning and scope of what you do? What might happen if you changed some other labels in your life and work?

Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: bc, business, marketspace, problem-solving, relationships

Tips for Community Evangelists

January 13, 2009 by SOBCon Authors

Let’s have a group project, shall we? Some folks have been talking about growing communities lately, and there is a heap of scattered information out there about the best way to do it. I thought we might be able to put some of the best advice together here and compile it into a resource that we can share.

toolbox
toolbox

Let’s harness the power of our connections and see what we can build. I’ll start with a couple of my own tactics:

A. Prove that you are a passionate believer.

As Hugh McLeod says, “The market for something to believe in is infinite.” People want to believe in something (or someone) so give them a reason to join your community. Express your passion with authentic language.

B. Make it easy to share the enthusiasm.

Provide a vehicle for community members to share with each other. Comments on blog posts are a simple method, creating an actual forum platform is even better. Depending on your community and its needs there are plenty of applications to choose from:

  • ning.com
  • Facebook
  • flickr.com
  • LinkedIn

C. Encourage new ideas.

Keeping the content fresh is what entices people to come back and to stay involved. Explore new concepts and get people talking about them. Reward innovation and collaboration.

Take it one step further

What say you? What would you like to add as advice for a community evangelist? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: bc, evangelism, Group-Writing-Project

An Interview with Grant Griffiths

January 6, 2009 by SOBCon Authors

Blogger and sobcon talk radio show | Grant Griffiths – Professional Blogger

Who is Grant Griffiths

In February of 2005 my first blog was born. This blog was used to market and promote my family law practice. Soon blogging became my only form of written advertising because of its reach and effectiveness. What I also discovered is blogging is one of the most powerful marketing tools available for the small business home business and professional service firm. In fact I am so sold on the effectiveness of blogging it is the reason I am cofounder of G2WebMedia.

I also now publish this blog and another blog who’s focus is on providing information to those who work from a home office called Home Office Warrior.

Prior to starting my first blog much time was spent researching what the heck blogging really was. There were a few blogs out there about blogging. Many of them focused on monetizing a blog with ads and payforlinks. My idea was different How to use a blog to promote professional service firms.

Why I started Blog for Profit

The primary reason I started Blog for Profit was to teach you how to use your blog as an attraction tool to generate profit. How By having it would serve as a powerful promotion and marketing tool for your business or firm. That’s why you won’t see us normally suggest ways to put ads or “text link ads” on your blog. Our focus remains on blogging as a communication tool which you can use to build a relationship with your target audience turn them into regular readers and then into lifelong consumers of your goods or services.

BlogTalkRadio is the leading social radio network with thousands of shows from around the world.

Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: bc, blog talk radio

Aren’t We in the Idea Business?

January 6, 2009 by SOBCon Authors

I have been reading the Age of Conversation 2 ( a book of essays on Social Media, but you know that, site | book) and it really gets me thinking. For example, we have nuggets of inspiration like this:
Efrain Mendicuti – Google Mexico

“We have to realize that most of the jobs that will be here in ten years haven’t been invented. So it’s hard to set up a curriculum for these new kind of creatives.”

These jobs that are yet to be created are in the realm of the knowledge worker, the creators of ideas that will transform the workplace.

Where should we look for new ideas?

The blogosphere is full of these creative types, and there is the very real possibility that one of the remarkable people that comes to SOBCon this year just may create something that no one has ever seen before. But we are not learning these skills in college, or in high school. We are learning them from each other as we reach out across teh interwebs and talk. We talk to our friends and neighbors, whether they are around the corner or in faraway countries.

This new medium has transformed the way that people talk to each other, work and live together, create businesses and communities. Everything is different today, and it will change again tomorrow. Writing for the Web – DIY SEO training course

Can we share something here?

All this talk about conversations, and the amazing things that we see on places like Twitter and Flickr everyday gives me a great deal of confidence in our future. So here are some questions for sharing:

  • Where do you get your ideas?
  • What gets your creative juices flowing?
  • Who inspires you to be better today than you were yesterday?

Please leave a Comment, and share your answers.

Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: age of conversation, bc, ideas

Introducing the SOBCon Affiliate Program

January 2, 2009 by SOBCon Authors

Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

This is the time of year to celebrate new projects, and what project could be more celebratory than getting ready for SOBCon 2009?

How about an affiliate program for SOBCon 2009? That’s right, Terry Starbucker wanted me to let you all know that there is a super new way to promote the conference and save yourself some money!

We have launched the “SOBCon09 Affiliates Program” on Eventbrite.

This provides bloggers the opportunity to earn a referral commission for every registration that results from a click-through from their site.

Of course, this helps SOBCon promote the event too!

The commission will be 5% of the registration amount.

Of course, you all can sign up for this and earn some commissions – please also tell your friends about it as well.

This is what you need to do:

1) Go to the Eventbrite Affiliate link.

2) If you have an Eventbrite account, you will be prompted to log in. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to provide an e-mail account and a password.

3) Once you do that, you’ll go to another screen that will ask you to join the program.

4) Open a new browser window/tab and grab one of the SOBCon badge/widgets below.

5) Copy/paste the appropriate badge/widget to your blog/website

6) Return to your Eventbrite window, to the “My Account” page that will have the referral link to put on your blog, copy this link code

7) Add this link to the badge/widget on your blog.

8) Publish, go to your blog and check to see that the link works.

9) Return to Eventbrite, you should find that your account has been updated with a least one site visit. You can check your ongoing ticket sales and commissions on the “Account” page, “Event Affiliate Program” tab.

For right now you can use one of these banner for your promotions, we will have some more cool banners soon.

Save the date!

Then use the referral link that you were given to send folks to the Eventbrite registration site.

Good luck! We are looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: affiliate program, bc, SOBCon badges

The SOBCon Newsletter

December 30, 2008 by SOBCon Authors

SOBCon09! Biz School for Bloggers

News!

Register for SOBCon09,
before December 31st 2008,
and get $200.00 off!

Only 150 attendees this year,
so don’t wait too long!


SOBCon09 Banner

SOBCon08 “I Was There” Banner


Download these banners for your blog and website!
Be sure to link to www.SOBEvent.com

Words of Wisdom

“SOBCon is the ROI of Relationships”
— Liz Strauss Twitter id: @LizStrauss
Co-founder of SOBCon

“Set out with the intent each day to be happy”
— Christine Kane Twitter id:@Christinekane
SOBCon07 & SOBCon08 attendee

“You’ll walk away with 150 friends for life!”
— Terry Starbucker Twitter id: @Starbucker
Co-founder of SOBCon

“I feel empowered to talk about my dreams… about the mistakes I’ve made and that I won’t be judged”
— Chris Cree Twitter id:@ChrisCree

SOBCon07 & SOBCon08 attendee


Blog Talk Radio

Michelle Vandepas
, SOBCon08 attendee hostsSOBCon09 Blog Talk Radio!
Listen to SobCon 09 on internet talk radio

Listen Now!

Liz Strauss
Terry Starbucker
Chris Garrett
Vicky Hennegan


Upcoming Guests:

Chris Cree
David Bullock
and …You?
<<Your Name Here>>

…contact Michelle!

Subscribe to the Blog Talk Radio RSS Feed.

Hook Up On Twitter…
Karen Putz, @DeafMom
Michelle Vandepas, @DivinePurposeMV
Shashi Bellamkonda, @Shashib
Brad Shorr, @BradShorr
Robert Hruzek, @RobertHruzek
Tom Clifford, @ThomasClifford
Joanna Youhng, @JoannaYoung
Chris Brogan, @ChrisBrogan
Melissa Pierce, @MelissaPierce

<<Your Name Here>>
Contact @eeUS and say
that you want to be in next months Newsletter!
C’mon talk to us!

Blogger Biographies…
Liz Strauss
Liz is a blogger, writer, social media expert, communicator and networker.Her e-book, The Secret to Writing a Successful and Outstanding Blog is now available.
What does Liz do?

I help businesses, universities, and service professionals . . .

increase ROI and attract fiercely loyal fans . . .

by communicating with customers as people.

“I am a writer who uses the language to paint and to play word music, places my heart and head in the spaces, and writes in the hope that one person is better for having read what I wrote. ”       — Liz Strauss

Chris GarrettChrisg.com is where Chris posts his daily thoughts and advice on the business of new media, blogging and online marketing.

The aim is to teach you ways you can create compelling content, provide your audience w/ more value, build trust and loyalty, and generate more rewards within your own blog, whether for business or personal reasons.

Chris Garrett is a professional blogger, Internet Marketing Consultant, new media industry commentator, writer, coach, speaker, trainer and web geek.

Back To The Summit!
SOBCon09
Biz School for Bloggers
May 1-3, 2009
in Chicago!

Friday, May 1st:
Noon-5pm Registration
Noon-1pm Lunch for Intensive Session Attendees
1-5pm Pre-Conference Intensive Sessions
6:30-10pm: Conference Opening Transition & Networking Event
Saturday, May 2nd:
8:00-6:00 Biz School for Bloggers
Workshop Sessions — plan to sit with your partners
Breakfast, Lunch, and Break Snacks included

Sunday, May 3rd:
20 Slides in 5 minutes — watch for info on when to send a proposal
Office Hours — meeting times with our potential and current partners to get work done.


About SOBCon
SOBCon is a unique group of Successful and Outstanding Bloggers who work together, think together, and help each other move forward in what they do.

Every year we meet in Chicago to swap strategies and stories of what works for our blogs and our businesses on the Internet and on the ground. Every day we meet via text, telephone, and in person to work together whenever we can.

There’s only one rule:
BE NICE.

SOBCon09 will be in Chicago, May 1-3, 2009


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Filed Under: Attendees Tagged With: bc, newsletter

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