Atlanta Blogging Workshop Review

According to social media expert Erik Qualman, more than 200,000,000 blogs exist. Now, I love my little blog, but it has mostly been written with topics that were of interest to me and a select group of people (“Hi Mom and Dad!”). It’s past time to take my blog to the next level and highlight my copywriting capabilities.

So when I found Hollis Gillespie and Mike Alvear’s Atlanta Blogging Workshop advertised in Creative Loafing, I was ecstatic. Usually I wince every time I shell out more than $25 on myself, but ongoing education is so important. Especially for solo-preneurs like myself where my company’s greatest asset is…me (gulp).

The six hour seminar surpassed my expectations. Although I suspect many of the participants left the workshop with information overload and a long to-do list, I walked out with a clear direction of where to take my blog and what to do next.

Hollis and Mike co-taught, facilitating the exchange of ideas and sharing success stories. They held the class in a cozy, adorable, crazy studio decked out in outlandish décor. Although “finger food and champagne,” was advertised, there was enough food to feed the snackiest of snackers like myself. Delectables came at us all day in the form of fruit, muffins, cookies, cake, pesto pizza, chips, and more. I certainly think better when I’m served mimosas in the afternoon and dining on scrumptious food. The 13 or so of us participants sat in comfy chairs clustered around a long conference table.

Without giving all the seminar content away, I’d like to share a few workshop highlights. It was comprised of the following components:

-we reviewed several sample blogs as case studies to identify success factors
-we went around the room and each participant was able to explain where he or she was with their blog and any challenges they were having. ¾ of the room only had concepts of what they wanted to accomplish and had not created a blog yet. It was great to provide ideas and suggestions to people and in return get feedback for my own blog
-we were taught core blogging concepts such as having a narrow, niche concept, promoting your own work, having passion for your work, and the importance of writing killer content

And lastly, Hollis said something that resonated with me. One of the participants didn’t know what topic he would blog about and was a little lost trying to come up with ideas. So Hollis asked him: what would the world be missing without you in it? Blog or not, we should all consider the answer to this question. Life is about living with purpose and passion. Cheers!

Put Your SEO on Steroids with Blogs

I love webinars and encourage everyone to sign up for webinars with interesting topics. It’s a great way to continue your ongoing education and keep on top of trends (which is very difficult to do sometimes!). Even if you can’t make the webinar at the scheduled time, the host usually sends out a link afterwards so you can listen at your convenience. One of the webinars I “attended” recently was “Put Your SEO on Steroids with Blogs.” I wanted to share some important takeaways from the perspective of focusing on the content, which is what I do as a copywriter. Plus, I am a HUGE advocate for businesses using blogging as a marketing tool and a way to communicate with potential and current clients.

My Webinar Notes:

-blog traffic spikes in the morning and at lunchtime: people like to check blogs first thing while drinking their coffee or right around noon to take break
-make other bloggers a key target for readership
-the user is looking for the answer; that is what you need to center your posts around
-organize content around keywords. My note: don’t make your posts sound ridiculous. If readers can tell what your keywords are, you are doing this incorrectly
-make a list of your top keywords. Think what TERMS drive your business
-what is the language of the customer? Use these words in your copy
-again, think about what people are going to type, and talk about that
-nobody wants LONG thought leadership posts. They want 1) the quick answer to their problem and
2) multimedia
-people skim content online; they want credibility, so give something of value
-to get higher in search, create more content
-a great blog post idea: tell the stories of your company: what problems have you seen? How does your product solve a problem?
-the key getting links (important in SEO) is to write good content
-the TITLE of the blog should be based on keywords as well

For non-techies, SEO is a difficult concept to wrap your brain around. It is certainly very trendy right now, and the amount of information on the web is overwhelming and at times, contradictory. This webinar was worth the hour it took to review the information .That takes a lot for me to say, as I am very protective about my time! Tip: if you attend the webinar from a download after the “live” event, what I think is fabulous is the ability to speed ahead or go back using the fast forward and rewind buttons. Note – I am not affiliated with this webinar. Just a fan!

FaceBook Makes it Hard to Lie

“Facebook…it’s not like being at home and writing in your diary. It’s out there for the whole world to see.” - Nathalie Blanchard

Are you FaceBook friends with your boss or colleagues? At my previous job, I was. And that made it extremely hard to lie or hide details of what I did on weekends or vacations. Not that I wanted to be deceptive, I just preferred to keep some parts of my personal life...personal. Also, I was sure that if I ever even considered calling in “sick,” it would be Murphy's Law that the one time I did it I would be outted accidentally by a FB friend or family member. Not only did I have to be careful what I posted on FB, but what my friends posted. I am 28 but I still flinched when a friend recently posted several pictures of me with a beer in my hand at a local Atlanta bar for a birthday party.

In light of this it was no surprise when I read an article in the AJC, “Facebook photos cost Canadian her benefits.” Basically, a Canadian woman was on sick leave for depression and receiving monthly benefits when an agent found her FaceBook photos partying it up on vacation. Her benefits were promptly cut. FaceBook photos showed her at a Chippendales bar (sounds fun!), at a birthday party, and on a sun holiday. Recently, a teacher in Atlanta was forced to resign because of European vacation photos showing her holding a glass of wine. An anonymous “parent” (who is more likely a disgruntled colleague) complained about it.

I can easily see how occurences like these came about. On my FaceBook account, one former classmate posts endlessly about his unraveling marriage and impending divorce, often heavily cursing. Another girl posts about how much she hates her life and how hard the dating world is. It’s very depressing and I don't think that will get the guys to line up. But again, both examples are of people who should be writing in their diary instead of FaceBook.

My husband, who refuses to get a FaceBook account, constantly harps on the fact that people are giving way too many personal details out and it’s going to bite them in the butt. I expect that situations like this Canadian girl and the Atlanta teacher find themselves in are going to be occurring more and more. This is not a new concept by any stretch but people still aren't getting it. My take? Zip it, people.

Thoughts?

Trends in Sales, Web Marketing, and Business Development

Last Thursday I attended B2B Marketing University in Atlanta that was sponsored by Silverpop. It was an interesting concept – invite your target audience to an educational seminar in which there are NO product pitches whatsoever (having it at a top-notch hotel and feeding attendees doesn’t hurt either). Genius. Certainly companies and backgrounds were mentioned but it seemed done more so from the standpoint of establishing credentials.

Over the course of three hours I took five pages of notes, front and back, which I’ll be sharing on this blog. Although I’m no longer in B2B Marketing, it was important for me to be there to learn what the “big boys” are talking about and see how this translates to Small/Medium Businesses (SMB). It is ESSENTIAL in this day and age to stay updated on trends that affect a business owner’s market. One of the speakers even uttered my mantra: “change is the only constant.” Companies that resist change and evolving are going to quickly get left behind.

A few themes developed for me as I was reviewing my notes, and instead of writing one gi-normous post I’ll write a future post on “Tips and Information for SMB." So below are a few of the trends that everyone should become familiar with, according to Silverpop and its comrades:


• The buyer is changing – companies/freelancers are shortlisted before they’re ever called
• Social media is critical to making buyer decisions. So why should a business owner have a blog, submit articles to content-sharing sites, have a Twitter account? Because if he/she doesn’t and their competitor does, it’s an easy decision for the buyer.
• If you can’t be “found” easily, it sends up red flags. When I google a company and can’t find it, it screams out “sketchy” to me.
• There is a fundamental shift focusing on raw leads to managing buyer dialogue to nurture sales-ready relationships
• A trendy new term is “inbound marketing.” Inbound is the ability to 1) Get found and 2) shape community dialogue (this is done via a blog, social media site, etc)
o A fictional example, but one that people can identify with is Dunder Mifflin’s failed “Infinity 2.0” social media project from the popular TV show The Office
• Static websites are dead; websites need fresh, relevant information for SEO purposes. What does this mean for people who have to continuously pay webmasters to update? I don’t know. But for those who don’t have sites yet, keep that in mind.
• Trending words are “manage,” “manage,” and “manage.” Manage the process. Again, back to entrepreneurship 101 of having a proactive not reactive business model.
• Change is the only constant. Get onboard and stop resisting/whining. I tell my husband this all the time as he hates FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc.
• More ROI pressure is being put on vendors. Example: I gave you a $1, now how much is your service giving back?
• Marketers have to adapt, but it is not completely out with the old, in with the new
• Buyers want relationships
o I disagree. I think the word ‘relationships’ is getting old, fast. Buyers want a company with personality. They don’t want you to be their best friend and you shouldn’t like that. But you should stand for something, know how to communicate that, and show up (meaning, be found). • Trend: do to your customers what you’re doing to them. If they mention you on twitter, you do the same. If they comment on your blog, you do the same. Mirror
• Lastly and very important, the difference between “Email Marketing” and “Marketing Automation:”
-EMAIL MARKETING: is more B2C
-MARKETING AUTOMATION: B2B or Complex sales process

Cyber-risk and Liability Associated With Your Blog

It was bound to happen, but this article just astounds me: Backup For Your Blog. I clicked on the article because I thought it was literally going to tell me how to protect and backup my material. Rather, it talks about how increasingly blogs for corporate use AND personal use are being scrutinized for potential litigiation risks. The article cites these two examples:

-Last month a Chicago landlord sued a former tenant alleging defamation after she claimed in a tweet that her residence had mold.
-In San Francisco, a chiropractor sued a patient for alleged defamation after the patient posted a negative review on Yelp. The case was settled early this year.

What about freedom of speech? I rely on sites such as Yelp and Kudzu for reviews on most new services, restaurants, contractors, etc that I use and bad reviews are just as pertinent as good reviews. I don't know the whole story but it is scary that revealing a negative experience can turn into a potentially devastating lawsuit. Of course, a level of responsibility for your words and actions is still required as once you publish on the web, you lose privacy and anonymity.

My husband doesn't have FaceBook, Twitter, a Blog, or use LinkedIn and he is constantly telling me that I put way too much personal information out there, even on "protected" sites like FaceBook. I am much more careful now with what I say than I was six months ago.

Read the full article - very insightful.

What the Future Holds for Sales and Marketing in 2012

This morning I attended a TAG Marketing presentation on “What the Future Holds: Marketing and Sales in 2012.” It was very interesting and more than a little scary at the pace of technology, where we are, and where we will be in a few short years. As I’ve been hearing over and over again, adaptability and innovation are the two most important traits for companies to survive and thrive. Change happens very quickly these days. Here are a few items I compiled from the meeting:

Antiquated -> Present and Future

Ranking Reports -> Traffic
Leads -> Conversions
Homepage -> Custom landing page
Search Engines like Google -> Searching on Twitter
Search Engines -> Decision Engines
Googling to find a plumber in your area -> Reaching out to FB friends or LI contacts to find a plumber
TV ->YouTube
User experience ->Does this convert to sales?
Laptop ->Cellphone
Generic, broad-based marketing and sales ->Niche and Personal

-more credibility in marketing and sales is necessary
-integration (of social media) with traditional media
-increased focus on usability, user experience
-social media marketing is past its experimental phase. The question is, are we participating in the conversation or not? You can’t control what’s being said about you, but you can participate in the dialogue
-single source: clients are increasingly wanting a company who can do it all
-all marketing will become interactive
-keyboards will become obsolete
-88% of the revenue comes from the top 16% of salespeople
-in sales, you must show value and solve clients problem before or by the first call
-lead with value

My Initial Twitter Experience

I REALLY didn’t want to begin twittering and have resisted for a long time. I am already feeling the time-suck of social media by writing two different blogs based on two completely different interests, trying to beef up my LinkedIn account and navigate all its capabilities, maintaining a personal FaceBook page where I post pics of my baby, and helping my company utilize our corporate Delicious and FaceBook pages.

I decided to start VERY slowly with Twitter. I created an account and then sat on it for days. Then I gradually searched and followed experts and thought leaders to see what they were doing. I have changed my profile about 10 times and will probably keep changing it until I decide what my objective and strategy is for Twitter so that when I finally narrow my focus I will already be up and running. Three of my observations:

-I am not tweeting with my best friends and I don’t necessarily want to. I am on Twitter to follow the experts in a field and soon hope to establish my own niche and develop an expertise. This is not my FaceBook account and the two audiences are very different.
-Again, it’s not so much the tool. Twitter is just another medium in which experts get their message across.
-I really like that I can access Twitter from my BlackBerry. While the application is a little slow, it gets the job done.
-Writing a compelling message in 140 characters is actually pretty difficult

Social media will dominate you and your time unless you proactively take control, know your purpose and objectives, and set aside time in your schedule. Most importantly ABIDE by that time. If you have a Twitter account, follow me here: @jennymunn

Event: TAG Enterprise 2.0 - Selling Social Media Within Your Organization

This morning I was getting ready to leave for my first TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) meeting and my car wouldn't start. So I yelled at my husband to come help me because I was going to be late and there were specific people at the meeting who I wanted to introduce myself to. I caught him just before he jumped in the shower and so he came running down in his towel and showed me how to jumpstart my car. Thankfully I was still a few minutes early for my meeting so I was able to network a bit. I took a picture of the speakers (it's very close because I like to sit in the front row) - from left to right, Sherry Heyl with Concept Hub, Jeannie Ericson with PBA's Lens on Atlanta, and Andrew Wilson with the ACVB. Not pictured on the panel were Sue Klumpp with nuBridges and Lisa Aloisio with Brandware.

The content of the meeting was very good. The topic was "Selling Social Media Within Your Organization." Personally, I run into a lot of resistance when I encourage people to implement a social media component to a meeting or conference, so I was eager to hear what the panelists had to say. And I was surprised to find that my friend Sherry Heyl was moderating the panel as she is chair of this group and I didn't know that. Here are my top takeaways:

-what companies need to know nowadays is that you can't control the conversation. It's happening, like it or not.

-social media has turned into a sexy buzzword, which it is not. It is business as normal and should be treated so accordingly.

-time management should be a non-issue if you are using social media to fit with company strategies and objectives.

-to introduce social media to your organization, you need to justify either the cost-savings or explain how it will bring new business and drive leads.

-know who are your customers and how can you connect.

-introducing social media in your organization: you have to do it to prove it, but there is a huge risk associated with that and a lot of resistance. Be careful.

An objective I encounter pretty frequently is that no one is sure which department should spearhead the effort. My brilliant idea is that a committee should be created, comprised of one member to represent each department in IT, Marketing, Communications, and Sales. Although someone does need to do the initial work to begin encouraging a social media program, it definitely needs to be a very collaborative, engaged, and controlled process with parameters. Overall, great meeting!

Interesting Hospitality Industry Articles...

Interesting news I read this morning...

1. City Tweets to Curb Tourist Drop-Off Good for the city for keeping up with trends

2. Rite Aid Nixes Baltimore Convention. Boo!

3. Second Life's Linden Lab Sells Virtual Realities to Businesses. Maybe the future of meetings, teamwork, and corporate communications?