Successful Blog

Let My People Talk

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Thanks to Lisa D. Jenkins for supplying todays guest post.

Lisa D. Jenkins has over a decade of experience marketing festivals, special events, non-profit organizations and small businesses. She speaks, consults and educates on the integration of social media into current marketing efforts, with a focus on measurable results; recent clients include Lewis-Clark State College Community Programs, Idaho Small Business Development Center, Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association, and Hells Canyon Visitor Bureau.

In my comment on Amber Naslund’s current post, I referred to a thought pattern wherein some community caretakers fall into a sort of “I built this community, it’s mine” mentality.  Pride in accomplishment I understand, but impeding the growth of reach I do not.

I’ve watched from the sidelines as a healthy, vibrant branded community failed when people were repeatedly challenged by profile administrators who felt the need to dictate how and when a conversation should take place.  The resulting tug of war was short-lived.  Community members moved on to a space where they were appreciated, encouraged to express their opinions and excitement without being snarked at.  (“Snarked at” is a technical term that, used here, means asserting one’s authority in an aggressive and unnecessary manner.)

I help create communities in the hope that people will come, join in the conversation and share the message with their friends and family.  I strongly support the idea that these communities need a knowledgeable facilitator to protect the integrity of their subject, but I do not believe a facilitator should stunt conversations they themselves have not started.

What do you think?

Hearing the Conversation

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kathyrnj_button

Blogs tell stories. 

There are different elements within a blog that make people care about your blog. Joel Kelly would suggest these are “the story, the content and the offer”. All of this makes sense but, what happens when the story you’re trying to tell isn’t the one people hear? What happens when the conversation that occurs as a result of your story isn’t the one you were hoping would happen? 

People are commenting but totally missing the point of your story? You were writing about X and the conversation that happened was all about Y. 

It’s always great to start a conversation, especially one that leads to building a community, but what if you want to talk about your remarkable insights into marketing strategies, your product or service or just delight people with your amazing writing talent and your audience only picks up on a tiny detail you revealed about your personal life?

I keep mulling that over in my mind. I’ve listened to Brian Clark talk about finding your intersection, your purple cow (although I thought he said elephant). I started blogging on my own site this week. Maybe it’s too soon to tell what people want to hear from me. Or maybe I should take the advice of CCseed and wait for the people to find me that do want to hear what I think I want to say.

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Or, maybe, the way I see myself as a writer, as a person, isn’t really what others see.

We’re all storytellers. Whether we practice the art through blogging, writing, painting, photography, film making, song writing, poetry  (I could go on) it doesn’t matter. 

What matters is we’re all telling a story.

Have you had any experience with this?

from Kathryn Jennex aka @northernchick

How Can You Get Your Online Social Skills Working Offline Too?

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One Room, One Community of the Most Incredible Ones

Every year when I plan the content for SOBCon, I realize it’s an amazing proposition for every person — speaker, attendee, sponsor who walks into that room. It’s one room, one most welcoming community but intimidating too because it’s made of up of the most incredible ones.

It’s like walking into a living Internet. Shiny minds everywhere …

How can anyone be visible in a room like that? Yet we were. I’ve thinking about what made the conversation work for even the newest members of that highly charged group. What I was that the skills we learn on the interwebs can serve us in the most power-charged rooms of real people.

We just have to translate back to real people what we already know. Here’s a few I saw in action that helped folks connect last week.

  • Focus is attractive. We like people who know what they’re about. Rick Wion’s unabashed passion for his client, Klondike bars, drew a conversation around him. Gail Goodwin’s vision for the Global Hug Tour got a whole room ready to wrap their arms around the world. Go buy a hug now.
  • Change the plan when it’s not working. Greg Ross, from Colgate said best when he said, “The suspense we’ve built is far more the video will deliver. Let’s move on.” How cool was that?!!
  • Disruption can be fun, when it’s respectful. Elevator pitches in a real elevator got us to forget our self-consciousness and laugh. Thanks @DaveMurr and @RamseyM
  • One question can start a conversation. Amy LeForge said so much in her story of changing what she feared. What she heard was that so many others felt as she had when she stood back last year.
  • Community is about learning, not teaching. Walmart, Colgate, Allstate, WeSeed, Metzger, BuzzCorps, AirCell, TheImageStudios, One2OneNetwork, BlogCatalog — all sponsors — came to learn from the community and left with a roomful of friends and a passel of ideas.

That handful of skills made ones — individuals — stand out in an outstanding room of people.

How can you get your online social skills working offline too?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

A Community Gathers SOBCon 09

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I grew up in a small community and gatherings were a regular thing. The community gathered, through some type of religious affiliation or volunteer organization, and the people came together. There was the planning that occurred up to the event, the talk surrounding who was going, and the conversation about looking forward to seeing so-and-so. People came together to learn, to discuss ideas, to renew old friendships and make new.

People worked hard and long to arrange schedules, offer up what they could, and sometimes make sacrifices to attend these community gatherings. I feel it’s all very much the same, as we have been getting ready to attend SOBCon 2009. I appreciate all that everyone has done – I want you to know that.

The theme this year of the “Biz School for Bloggers” is the ROI of relationships. I want to learn as much as I can from all the various sessions and bring back new tools to help me move forward. I also am very much looking forward to expanding the relationship part of that equation and adding a new dimension to the relationships I have developed through this blog, Twitter, and the online community in general.

Tomorrow I head to Chicago to meet people from my community. The journey to this point has been a crazy one! I’ve been ill and felt defeated. I lost hope and motivation. But, right now, I am holding the ticket in my hand and am more than ready to get on that plane!

Because I was so late in actually knowing whether or not I would be attending (seriously – I just found out for SURE yesterday!) I was holding back from announcing my excitement. But tonight it’s actually palpable out there on Twitter. I want to thank all of you, and you know who you are, who offered encouragement, support and really kept me going in my quest for a Chicago adventure.

I look forward to meeting you all. I feel like I have known many of you forever. Those in our community who cannot make it – trust me, I understand. Please ask us who will be there for the information and/or things you need.

And please comment about the relationships you’ve built through this community, through Twitter, and through your other online communities!

from Kathryn Jennex @northernchick

WILF Comes to SOBCon

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Today we have a guest post from Robert Hruzek, a SOBCon alumnus that I had the pleasure of meeting last year. I am looking forward to spending more time talking to him this year!

What I Learned From...
What I Learned From...

Howdy fellow SOBCon folks!

Hey, if you’re scratchin’ your head and wonderin’ what the heck WILF means – and what it has to do with SOBCon – well Bubba, wonder no more!

It stands for “What I Learned From…” and is a groupwrite project we run on the first Monday of every month over at Middle Zone Musings. Yup; every month!

In fact, since we started back in May of ’07, there have been 23 editions of WILF with a total of 650 entries to date! Pretty amazing, when you get right down to it.

As the name implies, the purpose of the WILF groupwrite project is to encourage folks to share something – anything – they learned from… well, whatever the topic that month happens to be. And, in doing so, they collect a link (and sometimes two) back to their blog. It’s that simple.

So what does that have to do with SOBCon? Well, for the month of May, the topic is (sound of drumroll) COMMUNITY – which happens to tie right in, don’cha think? So for the next project I’m extending a special invitation for all my fellow SOBCon’ers. (Is that a word? Who cares?) And, it’s not limited to those who will, y’know, actually be there. Nope; it’s a lot bigger than that!

In fact, this topic is for anyone who:

  • A) plans to be at SOBCon09,
  • B) has attended any previous SOBCon,
  • C) hasn’t made it yet but wishes they could one day,
  • D) never heard of SOBCon and accidentally stumbled across this post, or
  • E) has a cat who walked across the keyboard when you had the SOBCon website up on the screen. Or whatever.

(I think that about covers everyone, don’t you?)

So, no matter which letter of the alphabet you happen to, uh, B (sorry), you’re invited to join the fray and tell us what you learned!

Here’s how it works.

Write an article sharing something you learned, either from SOBCon, or because of it, or would like to have learned from it, or – hey, you get the idea, right? Length isn’t important –you can be as eloquent (or as brief) as you like. (Note: there’s only two rules: Be nice – and keep it “G-rated”)

Then, you post it on your blog sometime that week and email me the link at rhruzek [at] sbcglobal [dot] net. I’ll collect ‘em all, then post the entire list of entries at the Middle Zone. The list will then point everyone to YOUR brilliant blog! Plus, you’ll have a great compendium of lessons learned, to boot! I’m tellin’ ya; ya can’t beat that with a stick! (Well, I guess you could… but that would be, y’know, wrong!)

OK; mark your blogging calendars, folks, ‘cause the kickoff for this special WILF will be on Monday, May 7 (right after SOBCon weekend), and will be open for entries through Sunday, May 13. (But don’t worry if you’re late – I can always add your link to the list later.)

Hey, I look forward to seein’ y’all in Chicago. Tap me on the shoulder and introduce yourself, won’t you? Just look for the hat.
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Robert Hruzek
Robert Hruzek

Robert Hruzek currently lives in Houston, Texas, and thoroughly enjoys being married to The Most Wonderful Wife in the Whole World (sorry fellas, it’s no contest). He is usually employed as an engineering project manager, a job which has allowed him to travel, live and work in many interesting locations within the United States and around the world.

Robert writes on the Web at Middle Zone Musings. It’s described as a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. He doesn’t ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Why not drop by, grab a seat, take a load off, and relax…

What I Learned By Eating Pizza from the Wrong End First

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Today we are featuring a guest-post from Robert Hruzek:

blogging-buddies[Note from the Proprietor: The basis for this post comes from an – well, let’s call it an “incident”, shall we? – that happened last year at SOBCon08 in Chicago. Unlike your typical episode of Dragnet, however, names have NOT been changed to protect the innocent because – hey, let’s face it – there ARE no innocents here!]

All right y’all; I have what is (or if it ain’t then it should be) the Question Of The Ages: Is there, in fact, a “wrong” way to eat pizza?

The reason the question comes up at all is because of a little-known incident that happened at last year’s SOBCon08.

An Urban Tale

I arrived in early afternoon on Friday (May 2), ready for pretty much anything – or so I thought. The incredibly talented, always witty, and tremendously all-around good guy Brad Shorr gave me a ride from O’Hare to Hotel 71 in downtown Chicago. It was an extremely bighearted gesture that ranks right up there on the kindness scale with, er, doing your homework for you, helping you on moving day, or donating a kidney. (Don’t mind me, y’all; Brad kindly offered to do it again this year, so I figured I’d better keep, y’know, layin’ it on thick.)

Anyhoo – as assorted SOBCon’ers drifted in over the course of the afternoon, we gathered at the sidewalk café out front of the hotel. The weather cooperated nicely, and it was kinda like old home week. We shook hands, posed for countless pictures, and generally had a great time getting to know each other face to face. It was a great way to start the weekend, I’ll tell ya!

Now besides Brad, one of the OTHER folks I really looked forward to meeting was Joanna Young. (I’m not sure, but I think Joanna may have won the “I travelled farther than you did” award, having flown all the way from bonnie Scotland for the weekend.) After nearly a year of getting to know her and Brad via each other’s comment boxes, we’d developed quite the friendship, and it was time the three of us finally met in person.

(As you can see from the photo, we make quite a fine-lookin’ bunch, don’cha think? I’m the handsome galoot there on the left. Although I’ve asked around, I still don’t know who the Bubba behind us was – the fellah with the funny white hat.)
While we all glad-handed each other, the café waiters kept pretty busy delivering a steady supply of snacks and drinks, among which were several of those little hors de oeuvres type pizzas. (Hors de oeuvres, as you probably know, is French for little tiny food – not something we see a whole lot of in Texas.)

I helped myself, along with everyone else, and it was only after a few bites I noticed Joanna had committed an incredible faux pas, actually taking her first bite of pizza from the wrong end! I would swear (if I was the swearin’ type – which I’m not) it was as though a dark cloud passed in front of the sun, the birds stopped singing, and the air became suddenly very still. (A lot like those E.F. Hutton commercials when that guy is about to tell you what “they” would’ve said…)

Well, not wanting to be a party to, y’know, the end of the universe as we know it (and of course bein’ the soul of tact), I naturally did the gentlemanly thing and discretely pointed out the minor error in judgment. (If memory serves me right, I believe I pointed at Joanna, hollering out something along the lines of, “I can’t believe you just took a bite of pizza from the wrong end!”) [I’m almost positive that last never happened. – Proprietor]

I’m tellin’ ya; if you weren’t there you missed a definite Kodak moment! For about 27 milliseconds, Joanna’s eyes got about as big as that plate the pizza was sittin’ on. But then of course (after nearly falling over in a dead faint – or nearly taking a swing at me – I’ve never been quite sure which) she quickly realized I was merely yankin’ her chain.

Anyway, it’s no exaggeration to say that little memory remains a cherished favorite from my entire SOBCon08 experience.

What SOBCon is All About

Now, you may be wondering about that last statement. After all, this happened before the conference had even started, y’know? And over the next two days we were privy to all kinds of great workshops, keynote speeches, and working sessions, all filled with powerful – possibly even life-changing – information.

But in truth, it made me think about something much more fundamental. For instance:

  1. SOBCon is About Blogging. Hey, the S.O.B. acronym says it all, doesn’t it? Successful and Outstanding Blogger. After all, I bet the likelihood is probably fairly high you initially connected with each other via this incredible now-not-so-newborn medium called blogging. I’ll tell ya, the ONLY reason I knew of this event is via Liz Strauss and the amazing blogging community at Successful-Blog.
  2. SOBCon is About Writing. Over time (and through the patient encouragement of several special folks I trust), I came to realize that for me, blogging was more than just tellin’ folks what I had for breakfast, or which episode of Seinfeld was lined up for the evening’s entertainment. Nope, somehow it transformed itself, like a lump of bauxite into a polished aluminum aircraft wing, into something ‘way more powerful: writing. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, if you slave over a keyboard, searching for just that perfect word – if you find yourself considering what kind of reaction you’ll get from those words – if you truly care about what you write, and how it’ll be received by your readers – then surprise! I’d say you’re a writer.
  3. SOBCon is About Business. Although the initial SOBCon back in 2007 was kind-of a prototype event, since then the focus has more narrowly been lasered in on the business of blogging. And that’s a good thing! The fact is, most of us are probably in various stages of turning our writing into a business, and I’m no exception. Although just a hobby at first, nowadays my thoughts turn more and more to making an income – maybe even (dare I hope for it?) a genuine living – from the words I spend so much time crafting. If that’s you (or might, one day, be you) then you owe it to yourself to come to Chicago and find out how it might change your life! Besides, ya gotta start somewhere, right? If not now – when?
  4. SOBCon is About People. Without a doubt, though, THE most important thing SOBCon taught me is this: When you get right down to it, it’s about the relationships we develop that really count. And the fact that we’re actually a pretty diverse group of folks merely underscores that fact, y’know? Despite that fact – or more accurately, because of it – we represent an amazing force in this ol’ world! Hey, it don’t matter one whit if you eat your pizza from the pointy end or (shudder) the round end. The only thing that matters is our mutual care, respect and support for each other’s abilities – and potential. I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s what I call a game changer!

So What About You?

Now, if you’ll pardon my, um, waxing eloquent (which is an ancient Chinese saying that translates roughly to lay it on thick and polish it to a nice, shiny coat), I said all that to bring us down to this one final question:

sobcon09-goingIf you’ve ever looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, “Self, maybe there’s something to this blogging thing after all. Maybe I should find out more about where it’s goin’ – and where it might take little ol’ me.”

Well, if that’s you, my friends, then my totally unsolicited, but completely heartfelt advice is for you to beat a path to Chicago on May 1st for SOBCon09! (In fact, come a day early for the festivities!) Hey, I’ll be there, and I hope you are too. Just look for the hat!
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Photo: Blogging Buddies, by Joanna Young
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Robert Hruzek
Robert Hruzek

Robert Hruzek Robert Hruzek currently lives in Houston, Texas, and thoroughly enjoys being married to The Most Wonderful Wife in the Whole World (sorry fellas, it’s no contest). He is usually employed as an engineering project manager, a job that allows him to travel, live and work in many interesting locations within the United States and around the world.

Robert writes on the Web at Middle Zone Musings (http://middlezonemusings.com/). It’s described as a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. He doesn’t ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Why not drop by, grab a seat, take a load off, and relax…

You may contact Robert by email at: rhruzek [at] sbcglobal [dot] net.