Successful Blog

Don’t Miss the FREE SOBCon Webinar at Noon EST Monday – Feb 15th!!

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Brogan, Garrett, Naslund, Strauss, and Starbucker

We’re delighted to invite you to a conversation about strategy and tactics and the relationships that move our businesses online and off.

Join us at noon EST on February 15th, to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss

SOBCon2010 Webinar
Mon, Feb 15, 2010 12:00 NOON EST – 1:30 PM EST

Just click this link.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/197073915

We’ll be talking the entire SOBCon Program and how the virtual meets the concrete in own online businesses.. We’ll also be announcing the winner of the SOBCon FREE Trip and a new special limited time offer! I’ll add an update to this post with the name of the winner after the webinar.

Meanwhile, here’s what SOBCon looked like last year … via @ramseym

We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.

What could you do with a weekend of the time, expertise, and support you need to focus your business?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc You need to be there.

Class with Masters Degree Students at CityU London – A Year Later …

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If You Don’t See Me Monday Morning

Last year I had the distinct pleasure of presenting a class to the masters degree publishing students at City University London, School of Journalism. This year, we’re doing it again.

The journalism school at City University London, — which “has accrued legendary status within the media,” according to The Independent — will be the setting for a transatlantic conversation on social networks, online business, and digital publishing. Course Director of MA Publishing Studies, Mary Ann Kernan, arranged for her MA students in the Work Placement Module to meet virtually with publishing veteran and social web strategist — Liz Strauss (um, me) — in the university lab.

The purpose of the class is to explore the values of digital publishing in this time of rapid change just as students begin their own “placement blogs.”

The Students: The group is masters degree publishing students, faculty mostly from the Journalism School, and other university attendees interested in the subject. The City University of London Work Placement class enrollment is half male, half career changers, with several world citizens. They’ve have a thorough grounding in the strategic impact of digital on the publishing industry; several will be doing digital projects on their imminent placements at firms such as: Penguin, HarperCollins, LittleBrown, a literary agency, CUP, Haymarket Mags, Sage, Wiley; in a variety of depts and potential roles.

Preparation — the Application and Equipment: The meeting will be via Internet, using the lab’s Adobe Connect application, my dual screen PC, and the City U’s lab equipment. Every student will connect via his or her own computer. Last year after several hours of attempting a full connection, the video only worked in one direction — from the UK to the US. We weren’t quite sure what caused the problem. The audio was up and working. The chat was fully functioning. We moved forward. This year, it appears that all is in working order for the connection.

The time will be roughly 8:00 a.m. in Chicago and 2:00p.m. in London.

Class Content — Last year the class was an exciting conversation with the next generation of digital publishing professionals. We discussed the use of blogs, Twitter, the variety of e-commerce opportunities for publishers. How one year has changed the conversation. This year the content has shifted to:

  • How social platforms work and work together and how the cultures of each are unique. Also where blogs fit in that equation.
  • Integrated strategy, tactics, and campaigns for individuals, communities, and mass audiences online and off.
  • Digital natives versus online cultural natives.
  • b-to-b, b-to-c, and b-to-n.
  • Repurposing content.
  • Brands as publishers.
  • Mobile tech.
  • Questions to drive their dissertations.

Today will be my third City University of London session. The first was 2008 ( with both the school of Journalism and the Cass Business School. We look forward to continuing our ongoing relationship as we both learn more about each other and how the technology can serve us across the Atlantic.

It’s virtually thrilling.

Any questions?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Look Who’s Entered to Win a FREE SOBCon Trip — OR Get a $250 Discount

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150 People to Fine Tune Your Web Presence

sobcon-vmc

Suppose you could take a weekend retreat away from the noise of the Internet …

  • to focus on your business with the support of a mastermind team
  • to get quality time to interact with the top people in social media
  • to get the best information AND time to discuss how you’ll apply it
  • to work with sponsors who are doing the same thing
  • in a room limited to 150 people — all focused in the same direction
  • without worry because the food and the wireless are outstanding.

Imagine a weekend work retreat with these people totally invested.

Here are the entries to win …

  1. Jon Swanson @jnswanson wrote How Becky McCray Changed My Life
  2. Leia Ferrari @lferrari2 wrote My BlogCrush confession
  3. Cynthia Smoot @ohsocynthia wrote Getting Back to Basics …
  4. Kristin Rielly @geekgirls wrote Opportunity Can Be the Greatest Motivator
  5. Ria Sharon @RiaSharon wrote How Our Relationships Matter
  6. Deb Brown @debworks wrote The Virtual Meets the Concrete
  7. Ellen Nordahl @ElleLaMode wrote Inspiration to Embrace Uncertainty
  8. Laura Maly @laura_maly wrote Online Thoughts Crash Into Reality
  9. Esther Crawford @faintstarlite wrote My Internet Addiction
  10. Glenda Watson Hyatt @glendawh wrote Lives Change When the Virtual Meets the Concrete
  11. Jasmin Tragas @wonderwebby wrote Virtual Adventures and Girl Scout Cookies
  12. Ken Trump @safeschools wrote Inspiring Person: Liz Strauss
  13. Paul Merrill @paulmerrill wrote How Chris changed my life
  14. Teri Conrad @tlchome wrote The Doctrine of Stephen Jagger
  15. Susana Molinolo @foodplayground wrote #SOBCon2010
  16. Lynne Jarman-Johnson @LjjSpeaks wrote Work + Fun = Passion
  17. Erno Hannink @ernohannink wrote Als online ondernemer doormodderen of in stroomversnelling – SOBCon 2010
  18. Stephen Sherlock @SherSteve wrote Hitchhiking with Aloha
  19. Hope Bertram @windycitysocial wrote SOBCon2010 – Getting to know Hope
  20. Connie Roberts @ConnieFoggles wrote Connecting Is The Easy Road To Blogging
  21. Carole Hicks @carole_hicks wrote SOBCon2010 – The People Who Have Made a Difference For Me
  22. Deb Hildreth@adlex wrote I am …
  23. Hollie Pollard @commoncentsmom wrote They Don’t Even Know
  24. Chris Burdge @b_WEST wrote #SOBCon2010
  25. Pieter van Osch @pyotr wrote Online Creativity Accelerated by Off Line Event
  26. Lisa Grimm @lulugrimm wrote Reflection: Inspirations From the Web
  27. Dave Murray @DaveMurr wrote #SOBCon2010 – To Everyone, Thank You for Being Here and for Helping Make This Ride All the More Meaningful
  28. Nathan Hangen@nhangen wrote 3 People/Places that Have Inspired and Educated Me for Online Success
  29. Nerissa Marbury @OneEpiphany wrote The Person I Secretly Admire (or use too)
  30. Lynn Reidl @lynnreidl wrote Peace of Mind: a Concrete Reality
  31. Phil Gerbyshak @philgerb wrote Big C Communities Matter: #SOBCon2010
  32. Tamara @unexperiencedmom wrote Liz Strauss Labeled Me an SOB!

    33. And this just in from

  33. Jordan Cooper, stand-up comedian @NotaProBlogwho wrote Nigerian Spammers Changed My Life

Would you write a blog post to get a chance to win a FREE SOBCon Weekend?

An Expense Paid Ticket!! AND the BlogIt EarnIt Discount

Here’s what they did to enter …

Now, we’ll put all of the entries in a random drawing and choose one lucky winner. We’ll announce the winner at the Webinar on February 15th. The winner will receive:

  1. a free ticket to SOBCon2010 – $895.00 value
  2. airfare and three nights at Hotel 71 – up to $1105 in hotel and airfare

A total package value worth as much as USD $2000 – nontransferrable, nonrefundable.

And remember as a thank you for sharing a story, we’re sending everyone who enterred a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings!

If you can’t make to SOBCon2010, you could “pay it forward” and pass the discount on to one of your friends — or offer it back to us as a gift for us to pass on for you.

Don’t Miss the FREE SOBCon Webinar Monday

Join us at noon EST on February 15th), to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss

We’ll be announcing the FREE SOBCon Trip contest winner and a new special limited time offer!

SOBCon2010 Webinar
Mon, Feb 15, 2010 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/197073915

We’ll be talking strategy and tactics for our online business.

We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.

What could you do with a weekend of the time, expertise, and support you need to focus your business?

We’re all coming for the same reasons.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc Make the investment.

Thanks to Week 225 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

authentic-organizations
guerrilla-comm-blog
random-acts-of-data
sound-n-sight
wheel-on-the-web

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 02-12-10

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Engaging Brand Blog
I remember Dad giving me a great piece of advice when I was trying to think of a way of redesigning our customer service offering…he said “Think and be lazy!”

“What, why be lazy?”

“Because customers want simplicity, they will pay a premium to people who make their life easier, simpler”

Jonathan Fields – Awake at the Wheel
No live tweeting, Facebooking or blogging – BE HERE NOW! You can tweet, email and Facebook your ass off during the breaks! And, no recording devices, cell phones or pagers. Cow bells…absolutely. We can never have enough cow bell!

Craving Balance
So these three anti-productivity productivity practices will bring your life into sharp, direct, clear focus and give you immediate spaciousness, completion and integrity.

Chris Brogan
In the drawing above, I list your blog as part of your content ecosystem. Here’s why I recommend you start thinking this way: because your blog is only one destination and it’s only reaching one channel of a much larger opportunity and demographic. The minute you see your blog as only “a” channel, that’s when you start thinking of other outreach opportunities.

Brian Solis for Mashable
There’s a saying in theater: A big part of acting is reacting. This is especially true when we consider how many individuals, brands, and organizations engage on the web today. Instead of seeking inspiration and direction from those around us however, we simply react to activity, which may or may not benefit us in the long run.

Top Rank Online Marketing Blog
And yet, there are just as many B2B organizations successfully conquering social media. While their stories might not be as well-known, we think these 5 B2B social media winners are doing a pretty doggone good job. Tell us if you agree.

Related ala carte selections include

The Broad Brush
sharing …


Sign up for the SOBCon Newsletter and get special offers including the

FREE Webinar February 15 at Noon EST
with Amber Naslund, Chris Brogan, Chris Garrett, and Liz Strauss

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Four Human Reasons People Participate and Keep Coming Back

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It’s about Me!

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When new clients start talking social media, it’s not long before they get to “engagement.” They want to know what moves crowds and individuals to genuine participation. What attracts us? What connects us? What keep us coming back and bringing our friends with us?

What makes one space more fun to participate in than another that looks like the same thing?

Why we participate might vary with each participant, but participants all have things in common — simple human reasons that give experiences meaning.

  • Fame — some folks come for recognition. When we participate, our words get seen and read. Sometimes they’re shared. Every blog post, tweet, status update, and comment aggregates to form our reputation. And now that we friend and follow others, we have even more direct channels to share our words of wisdom and attract a following.

    Will your online experience attract the group you want — the authorities, the elite, or the “Internet famous?”

  • Fortune — some folks come for contests and giveaways, but leave when the prizes quit coming. Some folks are interested in information or training that will raise their income. It’s a tricky business to combine participation and money without it beginning to feel like I’m working for it.

    Will your online experience offer enough to keep folks coming back?

  • Friendship — connections on the social web are clicked on and off in seconds. So the key is conversation between people with common ideas or values. Conversations between like-minded friends grow exponentially faster than their real-world counterparts. Without barriers of time and space, meeting is simpler and more convenient. I leave a message you respond later.

    Will your online experience make it easy for folks to talk to people like themselves about things that they care about?

  • Fun — the distraction of new people and new ideas. The level playing field in which introverts and extroverts both have to type makes it fun. Spice it up with some game that brings out personality … keep it simple and easy. It’s endless conversation in a coffeehouse that’s always open.

    Will your online experience be fun for folks who want to be with other people?

When we’re looking at an online experience, we have to consider what the human payoff is. What is the most basic reason that people will come and come back? That reason will underscore and validate that the environment we’re building is right for the ones we want to come to share it. Incorporate the values of the folks you want to be there, and people will participate and keep coming back.

Seems simple doesn’t iit? Humans will be human.

Which reason do you think attracts most folks to participate on Twitter?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Register Now!! for sobcon-vmc