BlogWorld NY 2012

NMX Welcomes Megan Enloe as Podcasting , Community Manager

The NMX community team is growing by leaps and bounds. In addition to adding Jessica Spiegel as Community Manager for our travel blogger conference, TBEX, we’re also pleased to announce the addition of Megan Enloe as our new Podcasting Community Manager.

We’ve been throwing around the idea of having different community managers for the specific niches, especially in podcasting and video, because we feel we haven’t done enough to reach the individual communities. There’s no one better to handle this task than Megan who is a passionate podcasting fan and supporter. In fact, Megan’s Twitter handle is @podcastjunky, so she proudly owns that title.

In addition to being a fan of podcasting, Megan runs the Podcasting Community on Facebook (where she invites all podcasters and podcasting fans to join the community) and works as a social media consultant.

Megan will be holding podcasting related discussions on the NMX Facebook page, and on a soon to be created Twitter account. She’ll also be reaching out to individual podcasting communities to see how we can best serve them and join our communities together. In addition to social engagement, Megan will assist our Podacasting Track Leader, Cliff Ravenscraft in finding speakers for the podcasting track at NMX.

We’re very pleased to add Megan to our growing team.

Photo Credit: Bruce Bailey

I love Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Except for the fact that they are too expensive and break-down too often. Other than that, they’re great.

Ok, snark aside, Harley-Davidson (from now on abbreviated as H-D), the brand, the company–the culture?–has accomplished something incredible.

While all other motorcycle manufacturers have taken a nose-dive with their profits, H-D remains incredibly successful. Why?

Because they know how to build a community around their motorcycles, and by the time you finish reading this post, you will know H-D’s secret sauce for building a community and a culture around their brand.

Let’s rev up our engines and pop a wheelie, shall we?

Get Out the Way

If you’re hoping to build a community around your blog, brand, product, service, etc., the best thing you can do is do what H-D has done. Get out the way.

In other words, create an environment for people to congregate in, and enable them to make connections with one another, and then just get out of the way.

All successful implementations of online community building, have that one simple thing in common. Create an environment for people to congregate together, and get out of the way.

This is why Facebook, Twitter, Triberr, and countless other online communities, are successful. They’ve created a way for the members of those platforms to connect with one another, and the less noticeable the technology is, the better. The less noticeable you are in the online-building equation, the better.

Facilitate connections amongst the members, and watch magical effects take place.

How Not To Do It

A notable author and a marketing powerhouse, Jim Kukral, recently asked me how to turn his Author Marketing Club site into a community.

At the moment, authors can submit their books for distribution to readers, and readers can sign up to get a list of free Kindle books delivered to them every day. A neat service, but NOT a community. Why?

Both authors and members are “walled off” from one another. They are visible to Jim, but they are NOT visible to one another.

This is how all email-based subscription services work. They are good for “pushing” information, but they are useless in helping you create a community and a culture around your blog/brand/product/service/etc.

Jim is limited by the fact that no blogging platform–not even WordPress–is build for engagement. It’s built for publishing.

The member-site plugin Jim is using is built for selling products, and capturing emails. Both are fine and useful functions for sure, but NOT conducive to community building.

How TO Do It

Facebook is a popular platform for building pseudo-communities.

I call them “pseudo-communities” because you don’t own the Facebook Group you’ve created, Facebook does. And you don’t own Facebook Likes people give you, Facebook does.

And if Facebook decides to shut you down, change their model, or go out of business, all your community-building efforts are essentially wasted and you have to start from scratch.

So, what’s the answer?

A few weeks ago, Triberr deployed something called Atomic Tribes (AT). It’s a feature that addresses the issues I’ve discussed above.

• The members can “see” one another
• Members can “congregate” around a Tribe Counsel wall (essentially a Facebook Wall function)
• Members receive your new blog posts, RSS-to-Email style
• Members share your new blog posts automatically to their Twitter followers and Facebook friends (soon LinkedIn will be added)
• You can export member Emails (in development)

To experience what it means to be a member of an Atomic Tribe, I invite you to join mine for a while, take it for a spin, and if you like it, get one for yourself.

Do What Harley Does

Harley-Davidson motorcycles transcend the technology on which they’re built

• To ride a Harley has deeper implications on who you are as a person than riding any other motorcycle.
• To own a Harley is the first step in being admitted into an exclusive club.

And Harley-Davidson has accomplished this by creating opportunities for its customers to connect with one another. THAT is the one and only difference between H-D and other motorcycle manufacturers. And THAT is the only reason H-D is successful while others are struggling for market share.

Be like Harley. Facilitate connectivity and just get out the way.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about community from Dino, check out his session, “How to Build a Community of Fanatics” at NMX in Las Vegas this January. 

The first thing we saw upon accessing our beach house was the stunning view. How could we not be inspired?

Last week,  the entire NMX team converged upon San Diego county to have our first ever, in person, team-wide meeting.  This was no easy feat. As several of us don’t live in the  San Diego area, our meetings are generally conducted via Skype, telephone or over dinner when we get together at conferences, but even then we don’t usually have the whole team together at the same time. For NMX co-founders Rick Calvert and Dave Cynkin, the meeting was something to be proud of as it’s proof of the growth our organization and our conferences are achieving.

The NMX and TBEX team converges on the deck to give our post show analysis.

In the past year there have been many new hires to the NMX team. We acquired TBEX, the travel blogger conference and added to our sales and marketing team. We even brought in a new Conference Director for the Social Media Business summit. New Media Expo is no longer a six man operation.

Our meeting took place in Encinitas, California, in a house overlooking the beach. Our week was spent renewing bonds with existing team members and getting to know some of the new members of the team. We laid out our job duties, defined the purposes of our content and conferences, analyzed our June conferences and planned our Las Vegas conference. There are also rumors that I will neither confirm nor deny of a late night hot tub party.

Now  back at our desks, the NMX team is focused, pumped and in take no prisoners mode. New Media Expo is going to rock because we’re committed, and we can’t wait for January to come.

What follows are some of the highlights of our team retreat and time spend at the NMX Beach House.

Before we began our meeting, we each had to tell a little about ourselves, including what we like to do during our down times. Bet you didn’t know that our staff accountant spends a lot of time on dirt bikes or that our Director of Marketing races sailboats or even that our CMO is a national champion in taekwondo, did you?

CEO & Co-Founder, Rick Calvert, explains to us the differences and unique aspects of each of our conferences.

Our co-founders, Rick Calvert and Dave Cynkin, took time to discuss the differences in the content and community for our different conferences. New Media Expo (NMX), our flagship event, is a conference for content creators.  Social Media Business Summit (SMBS) is a conference within a conference geared towards helping businesses use and measure social media, and TBEX, our newest acquisition, is a conference for travel bloggers.

Technology Director Chris Castro helps to coordinate giant white boards listing all staff duties and tasks.

We also put together giant white boards listing everyone’s duties so we’re clear on everyone’s gigs in order to best work together without stepping on toes. With all the new hires, and very few of us working in the same office, this was a good thing to go over.

CMO & Co-Founder Dave Cynkin recorded it all.

Now, you may be wondering, where’s Dave?  Dave did plenty of talking but when he wasn’t presenting or listening, he was recording the entire meeting. Not sure what we’ll do with it all – I think there’s good bribery material there.

Soon after arriving, the team relaxes and gets to know each other. From Left to Right: Patti Hosking, Shane Ketterman, Carrie Herbert, Jill Angus, and, on his first day on the job, SMBS Conference Director Mark Fidelman.

For the brand new members of our team, there couldn’t have been a better way to learn who we are and what we’re all about than in such a relaxed atmosphere.

James Craven, Allison Boyer, Deb Ng and Rick Calvert get some beach time in.

Our house was high on a bluff with no beach access, but that didn’t stop some of us from making at least one trip to the beach to enjoy the sunset. TBEX Sales Director James Craven, Community Outreach Coordinator Alli Boyer, Director of Community Deb Ng, and CEO Rick Calvert weren’t about to let the opportunity pass.

Rick Calvert and Chris Castro cap off a perfect week.

Those of us who were left on Thursday night, our last night, were treated to music from Chris Castro and Rick Calvert, the perfect way to end a perfect week.

As the entire world turns to marketing their products or services online, there is one question that pops up more and more every single day: “Do you have any idea how we can spread the word about _______?”

The simplest answer? Link building.  I can hear you saying, “Seriously, link wha?!” I define link building as acquiring links from other websites to boost your online presence and search engine rankings. Which is essentially a fancy way of saying “spread the word!”

In the old days, people used to build links in bulk. You’ve probably even received the spam from time to time…something along the lines of “would you like to join in our gigantic link exchange?” It didn’t matter if the websites in question related to one another or not. Links were just swapped willy nilly with anyone who would listen.

These days, link builders put a lot more meaningful work into it. It’s not just about building links – we build relationships. Building relationships with like-minded folks and relevant websites not only yields more attention to your business, but also helps you get to know people who share your interests and passions.

There are three stages to the link-building process: research, outreach and follow-up. One leads right into another, and in each stage you can set the wheels in motion to build those great relationships that will be beneficial for both parties for years to come.

Research

First up is doing some research to find a batch of relevant websites. The best way to do that is to start off with a few websites that you know and trust from your little corner of the world and then branch out from there.

What other websites does this site mention? Who else links to this site? Are the site owners active in social media?  As you build your list, make sure to keep a record of your findings. When you’re starting a lot of new relationships, it helps to keep track of who owns what website, all of their social media information, what kind of content they like, etc.

If you’d like a basic template of how to keep up with this information, we’ve built one for you and you can download it here.

Outreach

Once you’ve collected a list of websites you like and want to build a relationship with, it’s time to reach out to them. Social media is a fantastic way to begin your outreach. As you’re finding relevant websites, start following them on Twitter or create a Twitter list of all the folks you’d like to focus on. Compliment them on a great post once in a while. Share their stuff. Once you’ve built up a rapport, shoot them an email to see if they’d be up for running a guest post by you, writing a review of your product, etc.

The number one thing to remember throughout the outreach process is to BE GENUINE. Remember, your research has led you to the doorstep of folks who share your interests. Keep that in mind as you get in touch. You have a lot in common with the person you’re trying to build a relationship with, and sharing your enthusiasm will go a long way.

Follow-up

So you’ve built some great relationships and acquired some great links and mentions along the way. Now what?

Don’t drop those new relationships like a bad first date – remember to keep them going. Participate in the conversation on other websites by posting thoughtful comments. Share content from other sites with your own following. Keep up the conversation via social media.

Finally, keep the cycle going. Follow-up leads to more research with your new batch of favorite sites, which leads to more outreach. Wash, rinse, repeat. Remember: links (relationships!) = more visibility = higher search engine rankings = more business for all.

Learn more about the basics of link building and the tools you need to get started. Follow one business though the three-step process over at RavenTools.com. 

Running a successful blog is no easy task. Just the thought of being responsible for creating original and quality content on a daily basis can be quite stressful. For times like these, many bloggers are looking to hire new content writers for their blogs. Not only will this bring a new twist of writing to your blog, but it also frees up your time so you can take care of other important areas such as monetizing your site and working on your long term marketing and business plans.

There are many places to look for writers for your site, but not all of them are created equal. In this post we are going to list a few places that you should be listing your blog writing jobs and maybe even help you find some long term writers for your job.

Create Writing Jobs on Content Marketplaces

Over the past few years we have seen a lot of expansion in the content marketing places available. Everything from micro job sites to writing full articles and ebooks on demand. The goal of content marketplaces is to match advertisers, site owners and writers together. As a blog site owner you can post the details of articles you would like written for your site, then one of the hundreds of thousands of writers on the site will complete the job for you. A few of the many content writing sites out there are Blogging.org, Fiverr.com and TextBroker.com.

Post Your Blog on Blogger Job Boards

One of the best ways to find quality blog writers is by posting on blogger job boards. The reason why job boards are an excellent place to find high end writers is because they are usually targeted towards people who already know how to write good content and know their way around WordPress. There is usually a small fee to include your listing on a job board, but it is well worth the attention and job applications you will get from the posting. You can see some of the top blogger job boards from my previous post on this topic.

Use Freelance Sites to Find Quality Writers

We mentioned content marketplaces and blogger job boards, but if you are looking for writers with a full resume who can complete many different tasks online, you may want to focus your search towards freelance job sites. Sites likes Elance.com and Freelancer.com are excellent for posting writing jobs. Once you listing is live on their network, you will get a ton of people who would like to work for you. Each will have their own resumes, work examples and feedback from previous clients. Hire one individual for your job, or a whole team. Both sites are setup with a great platform for managing your jobs and workforce.

There are plenty of content creation and job based sites for you to look through, but it’s not as simple as just posting a job and picking anyone who replies. As a site owner you will need to review content and make sure it’s in perfect English and high in quality content. Lots of people are out there and looking for writing jobs, which means it’s a very competitive market, but it also means you can hire writers at competitive rates. Take the time to do your research, build a quality team of writers and watch your blog rankings and content explode!