WoW

Word of Mouth Marketing in 5 Easy Steps…sounds like fun.

Good word of mouth Drury Inn, an inn that gives you free long-distance calls. We all know the first thing you do when you get to a hotel is call home and get screwed on those costs if you use the hotel phone.

People love to talk…you want them to talk about you. Remember when Krispy Kreme came out? What was the thing about their doughnuts? They were HOT! No advertising was used in spreading the popularity of this great American Icon. What happened? They lost their special “thing” then they started shrink-wrapping those delectible pastries and selling them where? Gas stations!! No one talks about the food they get in gas stations. They are slipping now as a result of the loss of word of mouth marketing.

Word of mouth marketing is:

1. Giving people are reason to talk about YOUR stuff.
2. Making it easier for that conversation to take place.

[Read more…] about Andy Sernovitz Speaks at SOBCon

Rodney Rumford comes from PodBlaze, among other ventures. Video trends and the convergency of video, blogs, community, and connections using VideoSticky.

There are 80-100k new videos uploaded every day. They can’t all be bad, though most of them are. Streamers had greater Internet usage than non-streamers by 67%. YouTube has allowed people to realize that they can deliver content with a new media.

Video engages users and creates longer site visits. If you offer video, you offer extended branding and as a valued resource.

Bloggers have the opportunity to differentiate and lead because people consume content in different ways. Some prefer text only, text and audio, text and video, etc. Why force your personal views upon them…”My web My way.”

Provide context for video content (Yay, I did that last week with my quest video post) and promote deeper people connections. Share a channel of relevant video content with your blog readers. You don’t need to create video to liven up your blog.

[tags]SOBCon, SOBCon07[/tags]

[tag]Ben Yoskovitz[/tag] writes at Instigator Blog and is here today to talk about [tag]podcasting[/tag]: take advantage of your opportunities. Opportunities abound.

Podcasting is easy, but it takes more time than blogging and the comfort level isn’t always there. Start simple with inexpensive equipment and Skype for interviews.

Use Audacity/GarageBand 3 for editing and podsafe for free music. Host yourself or use a hosting service to record, publish, and host your podcast.

Things to keep in mind:

• length doesn’t matter
• quality needs to be high
• use music
• write a script, but keep it an outline
• keep it in a conversational tone
• link to others; best blogging practices
• draw in your audience

What is the future of podcasting? We are all media channels and we have strength in numbers. Niches will rule (Yes!!! I might do something right! Now for the podcast…) Audio books will take root and become or take over the ebook.

[tags]SOBCon, SOBCon07[/tags]

You need to have a unique blog. People will unsubscribe it is not unique. [tag]David Armano[/tag] blogs at Logic + Emotion.

How do you define success? A great blog experience combines excellent content with conversation + stimulation. In the end, you connect with your communities. That is one of the best metrics of success.

Blogs as brands. Think of 3 brands. What kind of brand do you want to be like? The unique ones, probably. You’d want to be BMW or Apple rather than Kodak or K-mart.

Do you have a [tag]blog brand[/tag]? Are you representing your [tag]personal brand[/tag]? [Read more…] about David Armano Speaks at SOBCon

Hi, how am I?

This is how her conversations with one of her good friends start. It’s “pick me up” session to build the other one up. Blogging is not about me, me, me, though. A common misconception of blogging is that they are selfish diaries about your cat and what your cat ate for lunch. No one is going to accuse Successful Blog of being selfish, that is one thing for sure.

You need to think of blogging as a business. Businesses come and go, but the people and your relationships with those people remain no matter where they go.

Don’t stand a the podium and talk down to the readers. Engage them and get conversational with them. You can get people to read things that they don’t have an interest in by making your discussion conversational. [tag]Conversational writing[/tag] is not about writing how you speak, but how you think. Use contractions, leave out your “ums.”

I’m sorry I don’t have more of her talk, but I was running her slideshow. 🙂

[tags]SOBCon, SOBCon07, Liz Strauss[/tags]

Author of 10 Ways to Make it Great, Phil is known as The Relationship Geek.

What is a geek? Smart, conversation, funny, expert, passionate. If you are those things, you are a geek. How can you take your blog to the next level and be a bigger SOB? Not to our families, but to the blogosphere. 🙂

Phil started with a Blogger blog and wrote quotes and junk that wasn’t himself. Someone called him out on his blog and told him it sucked…it wasn’t him! No one was reading, commenting, or anything that blogging gives you back in return.

Blogging is not meant to be done alone. We need to have a relationship to have fun. There are 75 million blogs, and 110 people here. We can build relationships and a community here to take our blogs higher.

Core competancy: know yourself first. What is your message? [Read more…] about Phil Gerbyshak Speaks at SOBCon