About a week ago I posed a question over on my own blog Quantity vs Quality – Which is Better?

I was curious. Given a choice, which one would bloggers prefer?

In order to be able to attach a number value to the answer I put up a little poll. Now it certainly isn’t a scientific survey. But it does give us a little insight into how bloggers think (at least the ones who read my blog, anyway).

The discussion in the comments section of the post was lively. Some folks wanted more than two choices. “Both” seemed to be a popular demand as several folks really like to see “more and better”.

But I purposely forced a choice to be made to see which way folks would go if they had to decide between one or the other.

The results were overwhelming. Unanimous, in fact. [Read more…]

At SOBCon, we’re going all out to make this event insightful, memorable, content-rich, educational, different and fun! We’ve put together a powerhouse line up of presenters with one goal in mind – Help equip you to take your blogging to the next level.

So we thought you might appreciate a peek into who all these people are. We wanted to give you a savory taste of what you can expect from your interaction with each of them when you join us for SOBCon ’07.

Phil Gerbyshak – Relationship Geek

Phil Gerbyshak is a relationship geek who makes it great. Put simply, Phil creates and grows relationships on his blog, and in his world, and he’ll be sharing his tips on “how to be a relationship geek,” with 3 simple, but not easy, methods:

Know More – Learning more about your brand, and yourself, helps you to learn more about why others are attracted to you, and what you can do more of (and what you can stop doing)

Share More – Your knowledge…Your network…Your love…Your time…Your attention. These are things to be shared. Don’t keep them to yourself. Phil will share how he does that without burning out.

Grow More – At the end of the day, we all want to get better, to improve our life, to improve our relationships, to grow our knowledge to grow our network, to make our blogs, our business, everything, better, GREATER. Phil will share his tips on how to grow your life from good…to GREAT!

Reserve Your Seat Today

You don’t want to miss this conference. Come join us, interact with all our presenters, and learn how to take your blogging to the next level.

We look forward to getting to know you a little better there!

What Does It Mean to Take Your Blogging to the Next Level?

It means engaging your potential, reaching for the vision and executing what you see. At SOBCon, we’re going all out to make this event insightful, memorable, content-rich, educational, different and fun!

Take Easton Ellsworth’s word for it.

SOBCon 07 will be different from any conference you’ve attended.

The speakers will be incredible. But they’re not the main event. You are.

You have to be there. YOU will shape and define SOBCon. And SOBCon will reshape and redefine you and your business.

You will discover how to use emerging technologies to supercharge your business and connect to people more effectively on the Web.

The virtual mini-conference was just an appetizer. The seven-course meal is coming.

The SOBCon Next Level Quest

Together we will strategize, discuss, and learn how to

• Respect that in business and blogging all things are based in connecting relationships
• Treat our blogs like a business, or a business-like hobby
• Define a vision for our blogs that inspires others to be part of it
• Identify like-minded bloggers whose blogging goals match our own
• Evaluate our blogs through the eyes of a first-time reader
• Use links, trackbacks, and comments to lead to increased participation, and extended reach that could develop into business ventures
• Ensure presentation, navigation and all reader experiences are intuitive, simple and elegant
• Know our brand values as readers define them and be able to articulate the unique and remarkable values we offer
• Understand basic tools that are useful in adding video, podcasting, social media, and voice commenting
• Reach out beyond the blogosphere to non-blogging readers to become a resource they rely on
• Recognize the traits and characteristics of a successful and outstanding blog

Presenters with specialized expertise will get the conversation started, and together presenters and attendees will work interactively to get you where you need to go — to take your blogging to the next level.

Are you ready to take your blog to a new level?

— Liz Strauss and the SOBCon Team

Like so many in the blogging world Mike Sansone is one of those folks who doesn’t sleep much.

But a guy maintains a powerhouse blog like ConverStations with over 2,000 folks subscribed to his feed, consults and coaches with business leaders to help them start and improve their business blogging sites, hosts the ConverStations Workshop Podcast, and has a family doesn’t have much time left over for sleep.

Mike is the unofficial leader and champion of a steadily growing group of Iowa business bloggers which some of us have been known to jokingly refer to as the Iowa blogging mafia.

Here’s some of what Mike says about himself in his bio:

My passion is to build community – offline and online. I’ve done this through property management, online community programming, volunteerism, and – for a short time – as an assistant pastor at a Baptist church in Maryland.

I earn my keep as a Blog Coach, helping companies and professionals launch and improve their business blog sites.

• I believe that we’re all contagious (whether we admit it or not) and we each choose which contagion to spread.
• I believe that at the core of ourselves, we are each still very much like the 5-year olds we once were, just wanting to be liked, have fun, and be curious.
• I believe that I’ve used the word “that” too much in this biography. I believe I can see you smiling as you read that. I believe if you’re not smiling right now, you will be after you say this out loud: supercalifragilisticexpealidocius (good thing that’s not a website).

What do you believe?

Mike will be bringing many of his Iowa associates to SOBCon ’07. And we’ve got him lined up as part of a powerhouse panel that will be covering marketing, branding, business blogging and more.

You aren’t going to want to miss it. Register to reserve your seat today.

Hi everybody, Starbucker here. I started blogging on my site “Ramblings From a Glass Half Full” about 15 months ago as a lark – because one of my friends at work suggested it.

Little did I know what my little “hobby” would allow me to do – radically change and expand my world, where I could learn many more things and meet many more people. It was a wonderful surprise, and I remain awed at the power of this medium.

Eventually, I needed to go beyond a relationship on a printed blog page. I am by nature a very social person – I like the connection one makes with a real handshake or a hug. It’s a very “human” thing to want to make personal connections.

I wanted to meet some of these bloggers – I had to, to really take what I was doing up a few notches. First, I met Phil Gerbyshak in Milwaukee– believe me folks, what you see on his blog page and in his books is great, but experiencing the “fullness of Phil” firsthand is truly inspiriing – this man’s energy will blow you away.

Next, I visited Des Moines and spent a day with many of the ever-growing family of bloggers that are building a unique and supportive community in Iowa – Tom, Mike S, Drew, Tim, Mike W, Sandy, Doug, Mitch and Brooke.

Here is what I said when I posted about that day: [Read more…]

We are working very hard to make SOBCon ’07 and “attendee centric” event. Our attitude is that everyone who attends brings value to the table. This conference is about helping you take your blog to the next level.

So it is in that spirit of adding value to our attendees that we are pleased to announce what event sponsor Evoca has agreed to do for all of you.

Evoca is offering all attendees to SOBCon ’07 a one year complimentary Professional Account with their service.

That, my friends is a $60 value.

And it’s your’s just for attending SOBCon ’07!

With that account you get 200 minutes of recording time. And you can record to that account either using Evoca’s browser mic, your telephone, or even record straight from Skype!

Here’s what their web site describes their service and how it works: [Read more…]