Successful Blog

What Makes a Healthy Investment?

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Understanding Return on Investment

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The hardest part of building a business is the signal to noise ratio. Every second someone offers something to tilt our sails in another direction. What keeps successful business folks unwavering and always on course?

Serious businesses are future oriented. They chose how they will grow and plan a way there. That growth is viewed through a lens of return on investment. The return keeps the path moving forward.

A healthy investment is built on three major parts:

  • a flexible, realistic vision for growth
  • an actionable plan based on tested models that mitigate unnecessary risk
  • a support system, including advisors, to keep the vision and investment on an upward track

It’s easy to throw time and money to the wind, hoping they will grow.
A healthy investment builds in strategic controls that generate a more likely and higher return.

What sort of investment have made in how you want to grow?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Expert Models, An Actionable Plan, and the Support of a Mastermind Team! Register now!

Missed Opportunities and High Returns of Attending a Conference

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With a Little Help From Friends — Old and New Ones!

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Deciding to go to SxSW was easy. Well it was easy last summer when Sheila Scarborough and I had this master plan. I would go down to Austin and stay at her house. We’ve known each other since two days before forever . . . it seemed a logical next step — everyone says it’s the show for bloggers. Everyone seems to go there. It seemed that I should too.

Sometime in January, I started to wonder, why was I making this significant investment? Would it really help my business? Adding friends to my Twitter account didn’t seem like enough reason to melt my credit card for a trip to Austin. At best, my answer was nebulous.

I was torn. I saw serious potential, but I’ve also gone to conferences where no business happened.

Missed Opportunities and High Returns of Attending a Conference

I had to be sure before I registered that serious business conversations would happen. I needed a high return on my investment. The registration would be more than worth it, if I could grow my business and add more value to SOBCon08.

I realized the only way to ensure a high return was to plan one. Here’s how you might do the same when you come to SOBCon08 or any upcoming conference you’re considering.

  • Know what you’re investing in. Ask yourself these questions:
    • Is the value for me in the speakers? the workshops?
      the chance to meet other folks there?
      How can I make the most of those opportunities?
    • What do I want folks to know about me and my business?
    • What do I want to learn from the people there?

    I knew I was going to SxSW to let people know about my business and SOBCon08. Just being clear on that made a difference. It affected what I put on my name tag and which business cards I took.

  • Touch base with people you want to meet and let them know why you want to meet them.
    • Most conferences have blog or a wiki where you can do that.
    • Or write a blog post inviting folks to let you know that they are going.

    I contacted certain folks that I wanted to see — Ian Kennedy, Chris Brogan, Fraser Kelton, Alex Iskold. We made plans.

  • Know which sessions you want to attend. Every conference offers different value in content and session format. I knew that SxSW panels would be podcast later. So I carefully chose the few I really thought were important to see in person.
  • Don’t overschedule. Leave some room for folks you don’t know will be there . . . I got to meet Jason Falls, J.C. Hutchins, David Beaudouin, and Beth Kanter.

Simple enough suggestions, but I asked — lots of folks came without a plan.

Frankly I’ve had my share useless, no-return conference experiences. They make it easy enough to convince myself that I can’t afford the time and cost of any conference. One thing they have in common is that I was a passive attendee — not invested in my own attendance.

It’s the plan that ensures the return. Now I pick the conferences most relevant to my business. Sometimes I suffer a pinch of cash flow, but I make a plan to ensure a return on my investment. My business grows, my network gets richer, and my blog gets more traffic. The plan keeps me focused, organized, and feeling in control of capturing what I’m after.

SxSW was a high return investment experience. I had fewer than 50 conversations, but they were the right ones with the right people. I came home with two new clients, another sponsor for SOBCon08, and a new project that I’m working on. That would have been a lot of missed opportunities had I not made the commitment.

Getting a return on our investment is the core of business. Key to investing is identifying true opportunities. Without investing we’re just going, moving forward not growing.

No one can attend every conference. But when one offers real potential, it’s worth thoughtful consideration. With a plan, we can ensure a high return on our investment. Missed opportunities are expensive too.

How do you decide between the high returns or missed opportunities of attending a conference?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. All that expertise in one room! Register now!

SOBCon Winner of the Chrisg – Blog Catalog – Authority Blogger Contest!!

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Congratuations!

Blog Catalog
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Blog Catalog SOBCon08, and Chrisg contest came to a close at midnight last night.

One lucky winner is on his way to Chicago to spend a weekend with a crowd of bloggers focused on models, mastermind teams, and building an actionable business plan.

What the Chrisg.com, Blog Catalog, SOBCon, Authority Blogger has won:

    $1000 budget to pay for SOBCon08 registration and travel expenses and a slew of other prizes, but most especially:

    • a copy of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
    • A hour of consulting with Chris Garrett, face-to-face if possible.
    • The complete Authority Blogger online course when it launches.

    And the winner is . . .

    The winner is Andrew Dubber of New Music Strategies

    Read the story about it at Chrisg.com.

    I can’t congratulate Andrew without thinking of all the folks who enterred. We value your contributions. I personally learned a lot by reading what you wrote. Thank you to everyone who thought that participating was a worthwhile thing!

    Go read the links to the entries in the comments to Chrisg’s contest post. Most of them are there. (If you’re a contestant who emailed your link, I encourage you to add it there so that folks can read yours too.)

    To Andrew and to everyone else coming to SOBCon08!
    See you in Chicago!

    Yea!!!

    –ME “Liz” Strauss
    Work with Liz!!

    Work with Liz!!
    SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

SOBCon08: Who Could Ask for More Value Than That?

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SOBCon07 Was Something Special

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From the minute the first of you showed up at the Sofitel. It was like magnets. No one was alone. People found each other and started to talk. A few found us and immediately the conversation began. We just watched as people jumped right over the small talk to get on with knowing each other.

You even said thank you in a most awesome way.

Generosity of spirit is viral. Picture 110 people in a hotel ballroom, all generously sharing business ideas and secrets, building on each other’s creativity, and offering their experience as a gift. I can’t remember the last time I was in a space where that kind of spirit abounded on such a large scale. Conflict tempts us to hold our cards close to our vest, to be cautious, to be stingy with our warmth and spirit. That stinginess begets more of the same. Generosity of spirit is so much easier…all we have to do is make the choice to do it. Thank you, my fellow SOCcon-ers.–Tammy Lenski

This year had to be even more. How could we offer less than that?!

SOBCon08 Magic — It’s What Happens In One Room

We set out to build a conference that had all of the values of a great blog. Thank you, Brian Clark for pointing out what Tony D. Clark said about that.

Thank you, too, to Chris Brogan for a great peek at what you’ll be talking about — one of the best social media documents on the web.

The value only begins there. . . here are just a few more presenters.

Every one of them is handing over something

Then, of course, there’s you. You’re coming together from Scotland, England, Denmark, France, Mexico, and Canada. That’s going to be one incredible room of international experience.

Models and Mastermind Teams that build to a Plan. A support system that goes deep and lasts long — maybe a lifetime. Who could ask for more value than that?

Are you coming? Can’t wait to see you.
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

International SOBCon08 NEWS and Updates!

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Updates and News

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We’re all looking at less than 6 weeks until we’ll be in Chicago. People from Scotland, England, France, Denmark, Mexico, Canada, and the US are coming — It’s hard not not be singing!

I thought I’d remind you of something I promised last October over on the SOBCon08 blog.

. . . you’ll have plenty of reasons you’ll be glad you made the investment to come.

Here are just 3 of them:

  • SOBCon Quality. We’re keeping the size intimate — quality time with quality people.
  • Actionable Ideas We’re pushing every topic from the Theory into Practice — solid plans tailored to your needs.
  • Interactive format We’re redefining the word conference even further — authentic experience working together.

The biggest reason, of course, is the people you’ll get to spend quality time talking with. Imagine who’s going to be on that one weekend together — talking business and blogging until 3 in the morning.

Some Housekeeping

Hotels are filling up and the room block releases soon. What does that mean? Well, it means two things:

  1. We’ve laid out funds to reserve rooms at a rate lower than the rack rate at the preferred hotels. Your chance to get that rate will likely disappear with the loss of the room block.
  2. Rooms that go unbooked, we’llhave to cover ourselves. It’s a risk we felt important to take so that none of you were left with no where to stay, but if you can book before April 1. You’ll be saying us an unnecessary expense.

Also we’ll need final numbers to commit to food and seating by April 11. So, even though, if you’re like me, we like to book at the last minute — my credit card likes that too — if there’s some way that you could register early or let us know that you plan to come, we can make sure that we don’t end up in a bind for great food.

Already our audience includes entrepreneurs, company bloggers, nonprofits, and some corporations. The folks at the Summit are so excited about the event that they’re extending an invitation to corporations who use their facilities. The Summit thinks that we have a lot to offer their patrons regarding about what we do.

And the Network Solutions folks are going to start taking appoints for in-depth blog consultations for 30 lucky attendees starting on April 1.

It’s going to be an exciting event!

Oh and don’t forget Chrisg’s contest with over $2000 worth of prizes sponsored by Chrisg and Blog Catalog!!! Make sure you sign up for Chris’ Authority Blogger newsletter to be eligible for the full prize and to see all the competition announcements.

Lot’s of reasons not to be an April Fool!! Can’t wait to see you in Chicago!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

$2,000 of SOBCon and Chrisg Consulting Prizes

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Be a Winner! Come to SOCon08

Blog Catalog

Are you looking to be an authority blogger? Join the Authority Blogger Contest!

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Blog Catalog SOBCon08, and Chrisg have come together to make an exciting new contest offer. It’s all set to help you launch your yourself this year as an authority blogger with the plan, the models, and the support that you need to be off to a successful career.

What IS SOBCon08?

As you may already know, SOBCon08 is small and focused on buidling an actionable business plan. It’s a series of mastermind meetings. The folks from Blog Catalog are joining us there to grow their business and they want you to grow yours! So they’re support the event with this contest over at Chrisg.com

Check who else is on the SOBCon08 the program

Speaker/presenters include: Anita Bruzzese from Gannett USA Today, on online reputation management, Brian Clark, Copyblogger, on online business models that work, Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress, one focusing your business to get noticed, Chris Garrett, on managing the editorial, Muhammad Saleem, on what makes an appropriate social networking portfolio, Chris Brogan, on social media choices that produce, Dave Bullock, a sales model that converts, Liz Strauss, how to build an irresistible offer and Wendy Piersall on success management.

So get on board with the contest!

Authority Blogger Contest Prizes and Rules

It’s always fun to start with the prizes. What the Blog Catalog, SOBCon, Authority Blogger will win:

    $1000 budget to pay for SOBCon08 registration and travel expenses
    which also includes:

    • a copy of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
    • 60 attendees will get free design and SEO consults from Network Solutions experts.
    • a $99 lifetime hosting offer from THC
    • a pro account at E-Junkie
    • a free subscription to Blogger & Podcaster Magazine and a chance to join their new USA Today guide
    • a professional video interview on you and your biz for BlogTV sponsored by Fuel My Blog
  • A hour of consulting with Chris Garrett, face-to-face if possible.
  • The complete Authority Blogger online course when it launches.
  • An introduction to all of the speakers at the event.

It’s a fabulous prize package!

To Enter:

  1. Write a blog post explaining why you’re the best candidate to be the next authority blogger. What you’ll add to the event, what you hope to learn from a personal consultancy with Chris Garrett and the wealth of great business bloggers in that weekend in Chicago. Be sure to write with authority. Tell your compelling story.
  2. Have your post published by March 31st.
  3. Leave a trackback to this post on Chrisg.com or a link in the comments, so that we know you’ve enterred.
  4. Your post can include pictures, but should be no longer than 1000 words.
  5. Liz Strauss, and Chris Garrett will select the winner on 1st of April.
  6. In the case of a draw a representative from Blog Catalog will have the deciding vote.
  7. Yes registrants can enter!
    The winner will be selected based on the strength of the argument, the understanding of Chris’ meaning of Authority Blogger, and story of how attending SOBCon08 will contribute to their future.

Make sure you sign up for Chris’ Authority Blogger newsletter to be eligible for the full prize and to see all the competition announcements.

Don’t miss the deadline, then you really would feel like an April fool.

Good luck!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!