Successful Blog

Roving Sheila at SXSW 03-11-07 and 03-12-07

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South by Southwest, SXSW, is a yearly conference in Austin, TX.serving the film, music, and interactice industries. The photo shows the goodies they gave out this year.

Laptop_keys_courtesy_Flickr's_DarkSideX

Guest Reporter Sheila Scarborough

Hi Successful Bloggers,

To the regret of every geek within 200 miles of Austin, the online media/Internet buzzfest of SXSW Interactive ends tomorrow (although the film and music festivals continue. Party on, Wayne/Garth.)

There have been a number of interesting panels in the last few days, so I want to give you a Roving Reporter peek while you recover from Liz’s Virtual SOBCon.

** From a great David Shipley/Will Schwalbe panel on email disasters, the thought that “email problems are not a tech issue, but an emotional, anthropological and psychological issue. Mistakes are made in this medium by people who really should know better.”

Why?

The absence of tone in email encourages misunderstandings, so as an email writer, use more descriptive, clear language….make your emails come alive. It’s just good writing.

The speed of email encourages sloppiness, and since there’s no direct human interaction, you also get “disinhibition” AKA “cluelessness.” That ironically sounds like being drunk!
The medium also gives more opportunity for cowardly actions like firing people via email so that you don’t have to face them.

Good email? Short paragraphs, clear subject lines, good writing (even using emoticons to add flavor) and mostly, mindfulness. Follow the Golden Rule with email and you can’t go wrong.

** Random Twitter comment — “So I’m addicted to World of Warcraft. Drinking wine, twittering and playing WOW on a Saturday nite at SXSW — Help.”

** Gina Trapani of LifeHacker and Penelope Trunk (career advice writer) plus more awesome panelists with freelance entrepreneurship advice: Have an elevator pitch, which is just an answer to the question, “What do you do?” (And make sure that it makes sense; your mother should understand your elevator pitch.)
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Thank You for the Virtual Conference

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Thank You

Thank you to everyone who attended today’s conference in any way.You all kept me running. But it was beautiful to see so much dialogue and information shared and exchanged. It’s just a peek of what it will be like at SOBCon.

SOBCon would like to thank . . .

8:00 – Robyn McMaster on Laughter and Mistakes
9:00 – Sandra Renshaw on Graphics
10:00 – Mark McGuinness on Creativity
11:00 – Joe Hauckes on Navigation
12:00 – Rodney Rumford on Videoblogging
1:00 – Chris Garrett on Blogger Blunders
2:00 – Ellen Weber on Sleep and Music
3:00 – Wendy Piersall on Blogging Beyond the Blogosphere,
4:00 – Mike Wagner on Branding
5:00 – Terry Starbucker on What to Look for
6:00 – Chris Cree on Business Blogging
7:00 – Phil Gerbyshak on Being a Relationship Geek
8:00 – David Armano on the 4 Cs of Blogging

— ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
The Secret’s Out: SOBCon 07 Is in Chicago May 11-12!

Register Now! for SOBCon 07, May 11 and 12 in Chicago, Illinois. Limited seats available.

Mini-Session 13: The Four Cs of Blogging

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Guest Speaker: David Armano

The Four Cs of Blogging

The 4cs of Blogging

Thank you, David!
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Visit Daivid’s blog, Logic+Emotion to experience the intersection of Marketing, Brand Engagement + Experience Design—where passive consumers become active participants.
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Group Discussion . . .

David regrets that a last minute meeting was called at his office, making it unlikely that he’ll be here for a QandA. We’ve still got the insights that he brought to the conference.

So I’ll start with a question. Which of the 4 Cs do you think most bloggers pay least attention to?

During the Virtual Conference today, you can take $100 off registration to SOBCon 07.

Mini-Session 12: Relationship Blogging

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Guest Speaker: Phil Gerbyshak

  • Want more people to comment on your blog?
  • Tired of blogging in a vacuum?
  • Want to make friends with your readers?
  • Wondering how to score some great interviews for your blog?

The Relationship Geek will answer these questions and more from 7 – 8 PM.

Thank you,
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Visit Phil’s blog, Make It Great!, where he offers a daily dose of relationship blogging — one of the many things Phil that has earned him the title of Relationship Geek. –ME “Liz” Strauss
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Let’s open the Q&A . . .

I’ll go first. Phil, what do you do when something’s gone wrong, and you’re not feeling very much like the Relationship Geek we all know you are?

During the Virtual Conference today, you can take $100 off registration to SOBCon 07.

Mini-Session 11: Turning Business Blogging Around

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Guest Speaker: Chris Cree

Most of us are at least a little bit familiar with how valuable a blog can be for a business.

Improving search engine rankings, raising company visibility and awareness, driving traffic to the main business web site, and building business reputation are among the many benefits that can be seen when a business starts blogging effectively.

Turn About is Fair Play

Tonight, though, let’s turn it around.

Let’s talk about the idea of turning your blogging hobby into a business.

How do you do it?

How can you make the transition from hobby blogger to business blogger?

Placing ads of some kind on your blog is one way to start.

But what else is there?

Here are some ideas to get the conversation rolling:

  • Freelance writing
  • Publish and sell e-Books
  • Become the go-to expert in a narrow niche
  • Consulting
  • Blog set-up and maintenance
  • Blog Design
  • Create plugins & widgets specific to individual businesses

The ways to earn money on the internet are only limited by our creativity and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface with things like AdSense.

Let’s think outside the box and kick some ideas around.

Thank you, Chris!
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Chris Cree helps business fuel growth through blogging at his SuccessCREEations –ME “Liz” Strauss
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Let’s open the Q&A . . .

I’ll go first. Chris, what is the single greatest benefit of business bloggers?

During the Virtual Conference today, you can take $100 off registration to SOBCon 07.

Mini-Session 10: 5 Things I Look for in a Blog

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Guest Speaker: Terry Starbucker

5 Things I Look For In a Blog –

  1. Fine Style – The look and the “feel” of a site on first glance sets the tone for the reading to come; if the presentation is messy, than the writing probably is too.
  2. Good Headline Writing – I like to be “grabbed” by pithy and oftentimes whimsical headlines that pull me into the post
  3. Positivity – Now I couldn’t call myself a “Half-Fuller” if I didn’t prefer a positive take on your subject matter, would I?
  4. Subject Matter Passion – Care about what you are writing about, put that on the page, and I’ll gobble it up
  5. Simplicity and Elegance of Prose – I can’t help it, I paid attention in English class – I love the proper and concise use of the language (including punctuation and spelling.

Thank you, Terry!
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Visit Terry’s blog, Ramblings from a Glass Half Full, to get and keep a positive view on people, life, business, and what things are about. –ME “Liz” Strauss
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Let’s open the Q&A . . .

I’ll go first. Terry, what is the one thing that will get you to keep coming back to a blog??

During the Virtual Conference today, you can take $100 off registration to SOBCon 07.